It is only 11 degrees C but the sun pouring through the Conservatory is ever so warming. Enough that I have to open up one of the windows and let the cool breeze from outdoors filter through the back of the house. I can hear Little Red somewhere in the Lilac bushes telling the Sparrows what he thinks. Has he noticed the new solid seed cylinder?
The event we have been waiting for happened at 07:15:58. SE 30 fledges!
Making News:
A short but lovely article on a ferry trip from Ullaport to Storoway and the sight of Gannets flying. If I close my eyes, I can smell the sea air and hear the sea birds – so many of them. How many more will Avian Flu take from us? or climate change?
Hot on the heels of the Lincolnshire raids and the finding of three birds of prey killed, there is news of another raid in Shropshire. The growing concerns in the UK over the raptors killed near or on Red Grouse hunting estates might mean that, at some point, the penalties will be enough to stop them killing the Hen Harriers and White-tailed Eagles. The real solution is to also save the Red Grouse – simply ban hunting and killing of birds.
At 367 Collins Street, Mum was acknowledging a prey delivery at 0625. She flew off the ledge a minute later.
Dad arrives at 0627 on the ledge and goes over to watch over the four eyases. He seems overwhelmed by how much they have grown overnight.
Mum returns with what appears to be the ‘last legs’ of a pigeon.
It didn’t last long at all and by 0634, Mum is off the ledge and out to find more breakfast prey. No little crops visible.
Oh, what a great pair. Dad lands on the ledge with a fresh plucked pigeon and Mum arrives to fetch it and feed the eyases. Brilliant.
The breakfast feeding at Orange was much improved this morning on yesterday. Rubus had 23 good bites – not counting the ones Diamond put in its mouth and took out. Indigo appeared to have 5x that amount. Indigo is a wonderful big sibling – sitting up and being so very calm. Rubus is definitely much less wobbly today also. Both had crops at the end of the Starling feed which began with the delivery from Xavier at 06:38:55.
SE29 was not seen on the camera at the Sydney Sea Eagles nest yesterday. SE30 spent the night with a parent sleeping on the parent branch. Early this morning Lady flew in, chased by Currawongs. with a fish for SE30. SE30 was watching the Curras dive around the nest tree. I wonder if they are intimidating enough to keep 30 on the nest. I so fear that they will rush it out of the forest. And I do wish we knew the disposition of SE29. Has anyone seen her? She did so well coming to the nest for food. I hope that she is down by the river with Dad!
In this image, SE30 has an enormous crop. Did I miss a feeding or 30 finding a fish on the nest?? SE30 is clearly watching the Currawongs in the image below and not as interested in the fish Lady has brought.
No, the Currawong did not phase SE30. What a beautiful flight at 07:15:58.
What a beautiful take off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lady was in shock.
It is 0726. SE30 has not returned to the nest tree yet. I wonder if it is sitting over by the camera?
Sadly, Mum flew off the nest early and Big started in on both Middle and Little. They continue to wait for a fish arrival. I hope a big one arrives soon.
Oh, I was so happy to be watching when SE30 fledged. What a beautiful sight and what a great year that it was at the Sydney Sea Eagle nest. I cannot imagine a year as perfect.
Thank you for being with me. I knew that you would want to know about SE30’s amazing fledge. Wish for fish for Port Lincoln. I will be back with you tomorrow morning. Take care.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Ospreys, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, 367 Collins Street, and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross.
It was really a difficult day to sit and think of hurricanes and osplets beaking one another. After Ian made landfall, I headed for the nature centre to check on that wee duckling. For the second visit in a row, I did not find it. I did find, however, a Solitary Sandpiper, some other Mallards, a couple of Northern Pintails, various Vireos, an adorable squirrel to mention a few of the birds that greeted me today.
A baby American Coot.
The White-breasted Nuthatch stayed at the peanuts for a really long time. The nature centre has a ‘hide’ (a building of sorts with openings where you can watch the birds and not disturb them). It was fantastic to see this beautiful bird make its gravity-defying struts over the wire mesh container.
What a darling. This little Red Squirrel had no idea I was watching him. He is in a perfect spot below the feeder with the American Goldfinches who are dropping seedings all over the place.
A very nice gentleman saw me looking at the Coots but pointed this Solitary Sandpiper out to me on the shore. There had apparently been a Green Heron here the week prior.
This is believed – by me – to be a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet female. But I am waiting for e-Bird to write back with confirmation. Our bird books with their images are often lacking in the kind of detail to make a certain ID and Merlin and I seem not to get along very well!!!!!!!!!!!!
They are moulting – these American Goldfinches.
Being out in the forest with the birds and a few people passing by, with school children researching leaf configurations, and Canada Geese honking in the sky was fantastic. It is the best way to relieve any kind of stress. Shinrinyoku – forest bathing.
In the Mailbox:
Mark your calendars for October 8. This is Cornell Bird Lab’s Big Bird Count Day. I will be posting more information nearer to the time.
As we sit with our eyes glued to the eggs on the ledge of 367 Collins Street waiting for hatch, ‘A’ sent me a note and reminded me of the day the eggs got pretty wet from the rain. Oh, I needed that reminder. It is possible that they will not all hatch. It is possible that none of them will hatch. And bless this young couple if all four do hatch! That new male will really have to show that he is up to the task of feeding a family of 6 including himself. The old dad sure was!
Making News:
The news continues to be about the impact of Hurricane Ian on our beloved raptors. Captiva/Sanibel took a direct hit from the hurricane’s core with winds at 155 mph.
Across the State and a little north is Jacksonville which is home to Samson and Gabby’s nest. This is a video of the impact of the winds on their nest.
Across the country, in the Channel Islands, Thunder and Akecheta were at their nest. It looked like there might have been some intruders as both appeared to be alarming at times. They are a super Bald Eagle couple and it is nice to see you, Cheta.
Australian Nest News:
A super nice fish has shown up at Port Lincoln at 08;28:53. Fantastic. Hopefully these osplets will calm down a little.
It is really nice to see Little Bob right up there in the sweet spot. That fish should fill them all up and put them into super food comas. Mum can have some fish, too, and the kids can sleep.
Little Bob is getting some really good bites and both the older siblings seem, at this moment in time, to be behaving and letting Mum share the fish all around.
A food delivery came around 0740 for the Mum at 367 Collins Street. She flew off the ledge but when she returned she ran from the opposite end of the ledge to the nest. She carefully placed herself over the eggs and rolled them.
My heart goes out to this Mum. She has had food -thankfully but, no real help with incubation. She has almost had to do it all. In Orange, Xavier is so anxious to incubate the eggs and take care of the chicks that it just puts a smile on your face.
How much longer will we get to enjoy the not-so-little Sydney Sea Eagles? They are jumping and flapping and seem to have mastered self-feeding in spite of themselves! Still, it is nice to be fed by Mum and I am sure Lady knows that the days are limited for her to feed her babies.
Thank you for joining me this evening for a brief check on the nests. Head over to Port Lincoln and re-wind to catch that 0830 feeding. Take care of yourselves and continue to send the warmest wishes to the people and nests being impacted by weather around the world. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and videos that make up my screen captures: Northwest Florida-AEF, Explore.org and IWS, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, and 367 Collins Street by Mirvac.
It is actually the 22nd of September in Port Lincoln, Australia and the morning delivery started off a little ‘cock eyed’. Dad delivered a fish, Mum fed the kids a couple of bites, and then Dad came and took it. He had already eaten the head but it was noticeable that he was hungry. He ate another portion, looked around a bit, and then delivered the rest to Mum and Big and Middle Bob. Those kids were hungry, too – and so was Mum. Let us hope the deliveries get closer together to ensure the continued peace on the nest and there is peace. Mum gives one a bite and then a bite to the next. The bites are not little flakes but, surprisingly, large and the kids gobble them down! Osplet 3 is working on getting out and the cap of the pip was seen to move in the middle of the night. So things are happening.
I hope you enjoy these screen captures. I could not wait to show you. These two are little darlings.
Dad finished his fish and waited on the ropes before flying over to Mum. Why did he hesitate? There was at least one gull flying around hoping to grab the kid’s breakfast and Dad wasn’t going to let that happen!
The gull came and did a clean up after Dad flew off to the nest. With its bright orange legs and beak, I believe this is a Pacific Gull but, every Australian, please correct me if I am wrong!
The gas tanks in the osplets were empty but by the end of the feeding they both registered full.
Thank you so much for joining me on this quick update to what is happening at Port Lincoln with Big and Middle Bob – and Mum and Dad. Take care everyone. See you soon — maybe Little Bob will be here by tomorrow. That would be grand.
Thank you to Port Lincoln Ospreys for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures today.
Thursday was a gloomy day on the Canadian Prairies with delightful periods of sunshine popping in and out – like the squirrels and the Blue Jays gathering peanuts to store for the winter.
One visitor, in particular, managed to let me get her photo – Dyson. It is difficult to tell if she is still nursing babies but, she is in good form. So grateful.
I do not know where her nest is precisely. It used to be in the century old Maple tree in the front of the house until the City cut it down this summer. Now she runs along the back lane to the West. Her tail is beginning to grow out.
Squirrels are like the Blue Jays. They can also let part of their tail break away if they are being attacked in order to survive.
One of the other garden surprises today was the visit by at least two different Blue Jay fledglings and Junior. Everyone is stashing peanuts. It is said that September is the month when the Jays do the most gathering. As a result, the pile is always large. Some Blue Jays over winter while others migrate. Will wait to see what happens.
It’s Junior. How can we tell? As the adult, he is the only one of the Jays moulting as the three youngsters only hatched in the spring. Notice that he is just getting a hint of his new crest and he does not have all of his tail feathers. The feathers that he has are nice and healthy, brightly coloured. Blue Jays can live to be 7 years old. Junior is now about 5. His parents are not longer with us as of this year. He has a mate and they were so lucky to have the 3 fledglings – they outsmarted the Crows and the Cooper’s Hawk!!!!!!! And even the GHOW. Their nest is across the line in a Maple tree. Like Samson, the Bald Eagle, Junior took over his parent’s nest.
The Sparrows find the 17 degree C a little chilly. There is a nip in the breeze and many perch on the ends of the lilac branches to get warm in the sun.
And here it is Friday mid-morning and it continues to rain. The trees and plants are loving it – the birds not so much! I see only two brave souls at the bird bath…oops, no…about 60 now!
Making News:
Ervie was flying close enough to the barge this morning to say ‘hi’ to Mum! Oh, cheeky Ervie. You just wanted Mum to remember that you are a year old now. Oh, and you were thinking she would invite you home for a fish dinner?? Oh, poor Ervie. You almost have brothers and sisters. Mum is busy. Hopefully you can have some fishing time with Dad.
The Ojai Raptor Centre reports that our beloved Victor continues to make progress and his zinc levels are normal. Oh, gosh. Isn’t that wonderful? Look how handsome this Two Harbours fledgling is!
A new subarctic seabird is breeding on the Diego Ramirez Islands. Have a read — oh, and they are using the Grey-headed Albatross’s nests!!!!!!! Thank you to Holly Parsons for posting this on the Albatross Lovers FB Group.
With Idris having departed the evening of the 13th and not seen since, the staff at Dyfi Osprey Centre will turn off the streaming cam in just a few hours. Here is that pastoral view.
The view at Glaslyn
At Loch Arkaig.
At Loch of the Lowes.
One of my friends in the UK said that it is best if we start knitting Osprey toy lookalikes until the end of March or beginning of April when the Ospreys return. That would actually be a great charity idea!
Travel safe and always with full crops our dear UK Ospreys. Full crops over the winter and safe and swift winds home in the spring.
New News:
Well, SE29 has been getting the fish deliveries on the Sydney Sea Eagles nest but, Lady, always keeping a watchful eye makes certain that SE30 gets some! Lady has blossomed over the past four years into a fantastic Mum.
The sea eaglets jumping and flapping at 0644 in anticipation of breakfast arriving.
Look at how clean the eaglets feet and talons are compared to those of Lady.
Attempts at self-feeding will continue until these two will remarkable appear that they have always been able to hold the fish down and pull with their bodies to get the flakes off. Early days of training.
SE30 waits very patiently. Remarkably civil these two. Both females? Both males?
Lady lets SE29 try and then feeds both of her babies so that each gets a good start to the day.
The second male at the 367 Collins Street Peregrine Falcon nest in Melbourne continues to make his presence felt by continuing to land on the ledge but, is he actively wanting to be involved in the raising of these eyases? or is his presence going to harm? It remains unclear as we are now 11 days from hatch watch.
His presence is clearly causing the older male whose scrape box this was to be reluctant to incubate the eggs. So what will happen when prey is needed for the eyases and Mum needs a break in feeding them? Who is actually protecting this Mum and the scrape box?
This is an image posted on 367 Collins Falcon Watchers of the two males. The original male – father of the clutch we believe – and the visitor on the right. Don’t worry! It is the camera angle that makes the one on the right appear larger.
Our cute little dad has very large yellow circles around the eye. The oneon the right does not and has a line on the right of black on white. Note: Most male Peregrine Falcons have a prominent yellow eye line like Dad 1 here and Xavier.
A close up of beautiful Mum has been posted accompanying a link to the tracking data for the nest if you are interested.
Let us all hope this works out well.
It is raining and about 11 degrees C in Port Lincoln. Rain is good but let us all hope it dries up before hatch watch on Monday!
Diamond was busy rolling the eggs before the IR camera came on Friday evening. Less than 2 weeks!
The Bald Eagles in Florida and the SE US are working on their nests – Pa Berry and Missy have been doing so for over a week now, Samson is happy Gabby is home – and those on the Channel Islands are busy, too. Oh, and I thought we would have a break after all the Ospreys migrated. BUT not all the Ospreys have migrated. ‘H’ caught Dory on the Hog Island nest in Maine! So Dory, Skiff, and at least Sloop are all still at home with no hint of starting their flight south!
‘H’ and I both think Sloop is a female from all her behaviour over the year. She can join the club of being kept home and fed well so that she is fully developed like Sarafina, Blue 497, and Padarn.
In the image below, Dory has flown onto the nest in the late afternoon on 15 August. Sloop has also been fishing – seen returning to the nest empty taloned but wet twice. Thanks ‘H’ for keeping us up to date on this nest. Much appreciated.
Migration News:
One of the Finnish Ospreys has spent a week in Ukraine and has safely departed. This is a good sign. Warm thoughts for Karl II and his family who continue to be feeding at various parts of the country.
Bonus remains in Belarus near the Pripyat River. He must really be getting a lot of nice fish and frogs there.
This is an image of the area that Bonus is fishing.
Kaia remains near the Desna River in Ukraine. No word from Karl II.
From the Archive:
I am ‘the most’ famous Red-tail Hawk in the world. Who am I? Where is my nest? Who is my current mate? and do you know how old I will be in 2023?
Thank you so very much for joining me today. I hope that each of you is well. Please take care. Looking forward to seeing you again soon.
Thank you to the following for their posts and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Ospreys, Ojai Raptor Centre, Dyfi Ospreys, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, People’s Postcode Lottery, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Wildlife Trust, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, 367 Collins Street Falcon Watchers, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Audubon and Explore.org, LAJI-FI, Looduskalender, and Cornell Bird Lab.
I am Big Red. My nest is on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. My original mate was Ezra and my current mate is Arthur. I will be 20 years old in 2023. I was banded as a juvenile at Brooktondale, New York only 7.5 miles away form my nest now in the fall of 2003.
As I was driving out of Winnipeg it seemed like a good idea to give you a sense of the area where I am going to look for Bald Eagle nests.
My first stop is at Gimli, Manitoba on the West side of Lake Winnipeg. Lake Winnipeg is said to be the 8th largest freshwater lake in the world. With all of the rain and the storms this past spring – and the flooding – the lake is beginning to claim some of the land along the shore. I am headed to Hecla Island to count Bald Eagle nests but, there will be a problem. The Bald Eagles traditionally nest along Black Wolf trail – on the shore! But with the flood the area along the trail is still wet, according to the park ranger I spoke to yesterday. Trees have fallen and nothing has been cleared and he tells me he is afraid of what he will find. So instead of a lot of juvenile Bald Eagles, it seems there are tonnes of cygnets this year.
My first stop is Gimli. Gimli is also known as ‘New Iceland’. The citizens of Gimli make up the second largest population of Icelanders outside of Iceland. They are very proud of their Viking heritage.
There is a small harbour at Gimli with lots of gulls hoping for some fast food leftovers. This is a Ring-billed Gull, a very common sight in southern Manitoba. White head and underbelly, grey wings, black tail, yellow beak and legs. They are named after the black ring at the tip of their bill.
How to cause a flurry of gulls? A large order of unsalted fries.
There is a small marina.
As I walked along the pier – in the midst of babies crying and children giggling, there was a very distinctive sound. Kip-Kip-Kip. You would have known it immediately. High up in the sky was an Osprey! It was soaring looking for a fish in the shallow waters.
It turned and headed to my left – far away – to start its dive. What a wonderful welcome. I hope that the sight of this magnificent raptor is a good omen!
There is good news in Bird World today. As I was loading the car, ‘CE’ sent me a message that Titi had fledged. That is the best news. Now the fears of the Goshaw getting this beautiful osplet are lessened. Time 13:33 10 August. Fantastic! Thanks CE.
The Janakkalan nest is empty tonight.
It has been raining at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. Mum needed a break and Dad came in to take over the shift just a couple of minutes ago at 11:07 nest time. Mum has been very careful to keep that precious egg dry.
A beautiful image of our Little Bit 17 sitting on his perch on the shores of the St Joseph River.
As we near the start of migration, it is nice to see that Iris still visits her nest and is still keeping it in tip top shape – just like she is. Iris is the oldest Osprey in the world at 28 or 29 years. It is not known where she winters but many suspect it is in south Texas.
The Sydney sea eagles still like to spar! Notice the two big crops. I do not really have any concerns for these two. Each one seems to hold their own. SE30 is spunky, for sure.
The big news is Titi’s flight today. The body of 1C1 was removed from Loch Garten. It had been a really sad scene with the adults just staring at their little one wondering what in the world happened. Hopefully the tests will tell us.
Mrs AX6 feeding her surviving fledgling today.
Thank you for joining me for this unexpected post. Take care everyone. I hope to have some more local images for you tomorrow.
Thank you to the following for their posts and their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Friends of Loch Garten, Loch Garten RSBP, Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Center, Sydney Olympic Park, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Montana Osprey Project, ND-LEEF, and Port Lincoln Ospreys.
It is a very early good morning to everyone- just past midnight. I am posting this newsletter early so that everyone will get to read the great news that is coming in – in case you do not already know. In the case of Victor and Little Bit, continued thanks to the wildlife rehabilitation staff that intervened and gave them a second chance on life.
My goodness, it is such a wonderful feeling as if you are floating on a cotton candy cloud when there is great news in Bird World. If you get emotional, I suggest you get the tissues out before reading further.
I want to thank ‘B’ and ‘L’ for alerting me to the special news about Victor in my inbox.
The Ojai Raptor Centre posted this announcement about Victor. When all of us were worrying he might not get well or he might not be able to feed himself ——– well, he is self-feeding and doing a grand job of it, too. He is in an outside enclosure not inside the clinic. Oh,, Victor, you have worked so hard to get well and all the staff at ORC have just being doing the best for you. Tears of joy, tears of joy.
Video of Victor self-feeding:
Video of Victor’s outdoor enclosure:
The other good news is, of course, Little Bit ND17. Images were taken and studied by several who go to the park on a daily basis to watch and photograph the Notre-Dame eagle family – Mum, Dad, ND15, ND16, and ND17 Little Bit. They have longed to get a good clear picture of 17 but wanted to be sure it was him. Here is the announcement in the Notre-Dame FB postings for today:
I was so skeptical when Little Bit was returned to the park without the ability to hunt his own prey. I am joyful to have been proven wrong! Notice the top right image. See how the hair kind of goes around in a partial donut shape. It reminds me of my late father-in-law who was bald but that circular band. It appears that some of the top is flat like strands of longer feathers covering up the places where feathers are missing. At the onset, I did not think he had a crop but, yes, that top right image appears to show that he has recently eaten. What a wonderful relief to see him looking and doing well. Thanks to everyone who worked hard to ensure Little Bit got a second chance on life and those birders on the ground who tried desperately to get images to reassure all of us. Thank you.
The Sea Eaglets are doing just fine, too. The crops of both of them are simply about to pop!!!!!!!
An hour later, Lady is urging them to have ‘just one more bite’! They are growing and will have a rapid growth spurt. Full crops will be the order of the day. Look at how the wings are forming and each has a cute little tail.
The two osplets on the Osoyoos Nest are looking good this evening. The forecast was correct and it has cooled down some – of course, it is still hot, just not as blistery. The chat for the streaming cams appears to be down. Not sure why unless it is all the spam.
Soo had a big crop at 10:46.
Another delivery.
Looks like one of the chicks got the last delivery and is self-feeding.
One crop fuller than the other chick who is fish crying.
I cannot give you a fish count but it appears that both chicks ate today and so did Soo. Fantastic.
Ervie is out flying about and finding nice fish for dinner. He must miss hanging out with Dad on the barge and going to the nest to eat his fish. I wonder if he will try to return to the barge after this breeding season?
It is good to know he is safe – GPS trackers certainly help with that.
In the case of each of these nests or particular fledglings, it is so good to know that they are either improving in care or are doing splendidly on their own. There has been no word on L3 or L4. We wait.
I want to mention a book called Beauty and the Beak. How Science, Technology, and a 3D-printed Beak rescued a Bald Eagle. It is by a pair of talented women – writer Deborah Rose and wildlife rehabilitator, Jane Veltkamp. I first heard of the efforts to save this particular Bald Eagle when I was looking for information about the McEuen Park eagles in Idaho. The intended audience would be children ages 8-12 (I think) but I also enjoyed the gorgeous photos and learning about how science and new technology saved Beauty’s life. It is another fantastic book about positive interventions. If you teach science or know someone who does, I would highly recommend this book. (Cost in Canada is $11.46 for the glossy paperback).
It is a beautiful story of compassion and the commitment of Jane Veltkamp to help Beauty the Bald Eagle.
My regular newsletter that normally appears around noon CDT during the month of August will appear in the early evening on 4 August.
Thank you so much for joining me with all these good news stories. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their postings and/or streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Notre Dame Eagles, Ojai Raptor Centre, Port Lincoln Ospreys and Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park.
I was out almost all day yesterday and returned to find some sad news. We will get this over and move on to all the good news!
The situation at the #4 Osprey nest in Finland turned darker. An intruder appeared and the chicks ‘fell or flew’ off the nest. The youngest who had not as yet flown was predated. This is also the chick that was so vigorously attacked by Mum the other day. So sad. Thank you ‘N’ for letting me know. This is 81 lost so far in the past 13 months on streaming cams.
The Mum and the surviving fledgling on the #4 nest. Keep them in your warmest thoughts.
Ervie. Bazza Hockaday was doing some photography for a client and found Ervie, too. Can you spot Ervie on top of the pine tree? This park is across from the barge – so Ervie is staying close. (Magnifying glass almost required!)
Meanwhile Mum and Dad are making sure that Mum is quite comfortable on those eggs – they are lining the nest with a Silver Gull, one of the favourite foods of the Sea Eagles.
Everyone wondered if anyone would be keeping an eye for Little Bit ND17. It seems that lots of people who loved the eagle that fought so hard to live continues to have a loyal fan club. This evening on the Notre-Dame FB page, the following was posted. It looks as if our Little Bit has been very resourceful and is doing fantastic. Tears, joyful tears!
SF Ospreys have not received the DNA results from Brooks and Molate. Brooks continues to enjoy herself at the other nest and the visitor seems right at home. He is certainly a lovely Osprey – and talented.
The ‘visitor’ at the nest of Richmond and Rosie has done something very special – it caught a Spiny Dogfish (Shark) that lives in the Bay. (Reminds me of those brought to the nest at Mispillion Harbour in Delaware – bet it is just a slight difference in name from one region to the other but the same fish). The juvenile very proudly brought it to the nest. SF Ospreys say this is highly unusual. They have only seen a juvenile do this once. Round of applause!
Here is the video clip:
At the Black Stork nest of Karl II and Kaia, Karl was busy flying back and forth to the fish basket. He delivered 3 big meals to the storklets. Kaia delivered 1 on the 2nd of August. There was some concern that Karl II’s GPS was not working but it seems to be fine now. Thank goodness. I do worry about them all the time for some reason – storklets not yet fledged and requiring much food before migration.
Bonus has been standing on the curved perch with 1 leg. Great balance. Bonus is the oldest of the four. He is 72 days old on 2 August.
The four storklets of Betty and Bukacek are doing fantastic. The female- Fifinka- often spends time on the nest of the adults and then flies to the natal nest when food arrives. Sometimes she holds back from the bigger males but she wastes no time getting there if she is hungry. In the image below she is at the top flying in.
There is no reason for it other than sheer dominance at the Sydney Sea Eagles nest. Lady feeds SE29 and 30 at least every hour if not sooner. Things were going relatively well until 0911 when 29 decided to not be nice and attack 30.
Three minutes later 29 is going into a food coma and 30 is being fed (0917 below).
SE30 keeps its head down to protect it.
Notice how 30 is slinking around the back ready to move forward and eat when 29 calms herself. Very clever tactic.
SE 30 is still being fed four minutes later. All is right with the world.
Mom and Dad on the nest of the Port Lincoln Barge early on 3 August.
Did you fall in love with Louis and Anna at the Kisatchie National Park Bald Eagle cam? couldn’t believe your eyes the day 18 fish were on the nest? did you melt and worry when Kisatchie fledged? when Kincaid hatched this year? Well, Cody and Steve have more fun for everyone. You will be able to watch 2 Bald Eagle nests from the Louisiana! Here is the announcement:
Humans and wildlife rehabbers helping another juvenile eaglet so that it has a second chance at life. These stories are always welcome!
The fish have been arriving in various sizes to the Osoyoos nest. ‘H’ sent me a note this morning saying the tally was at least 13 yesterday. Olsen is keeping up the numbers and some of them had to be good a good size. Sometimes the chicks are full and sometimes they aren’t. The last fish for 2 August was delivered at 20:01. Dad brought it in and Big Chick (BC) grabbed the tasty little twiddler. Dad rooted around and found an old piece of fish and fed Little Chick (LC). The family is nourished and hydrated. They have a break in the weather for a few days. This is all good news.
Here comes Olsen! BC rushes over to get the little prize.
Fortunately for LC, Dad found a piece of fish and is feeding him while BC works on the twiddler. It is all good.
The fish started arriving at the Osoyoos nest around 0523. The first was a small one but it seems to have changed possession at least 6 or 7 times. BC has been grabbing and self-feeding. Soo got into the action so that her and LC had some breakfast too. It is starting off to be another great day at this nest with 7 fish before 00700. Thanks Olsen!
Beautiful Iris. She continues to work on her nest. Precious are these moments – every year we wait til she leaves and wonder if she will return in the spring after migration. 29 years?
There are no updates on L4. It is now presumed that it was another window strike on the Cornell Campus. That would mean that of the four eyases – three struck windows at Cornell whose Bird Lab is one of the world leaders. Of those three, two are in care and one died. It is time Cornell made its windows bird strike proof like all of us try to do. I have not see at this time 1052 CDT an image of the head of the juvenile believed to be ND17. Elsewhere things seem to be steady but that could change as I hit the word ‘publish’.
Thank you so much for joining me today. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, postings, videos, etc: Osoyoos Ospreys, Notre Dame Eagles FB, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Mlade Buky, The Eagle Club of Estonia and Looduskalender, Center for Wildlife, US Forest Service at the Kistachie NF, Port Lincoln Ospreys, and SF Bay Ospreys. They have been turned into my screen captures.
Big Red and Arthur’s fourth hatch of the 2022 breeding season was found on the ground unable to fly last evening. He has been taken into care. Here is the announcement:
Of the four juveniles L1 was killed by window strike on the Cornell Campus, l3 is in care due to an injury, and now L4. The only fledgling that is flying free at the moment is L2.
Good Morning! I hope this finds all of you well. For those of you waiting to see Sarafina fledge, she did it at 0655 Sunday morning, 31 July. Congratulations to Louis and Dorcha and to all at Loch Arkaig!
I am so glad that Saturday is over! This means that if the forecast is correct, the nests in the Pacific Northwest that are broiling will begin to get some relief from the heat in two days. Gosh, that seems like such a long time but they have weathered extreme heat for nearly a week and all are still with us.
Olsen and Soo have really done an amazing job keeping the two osplets in the shade on Saturday and, well, anyone who has ever fished know that the fish go down deep to get into cooler water. Ospreys are only able to dive 1m or 3 feet below the surface of the water – so they need those fish swimming around near the top not going deep to get cooler. By 0930 Olsen had delivered quite a number of fish, apparently some better sized than others. I did not count them. There was one delivery around around 19:30ish. It appeared that the two chicks were super full and Soo got some nice fish, too. — They look good at the end of today. Such a relief.
‘H’ sent this image of the ‘unwanted’ fish.
At 08:55 Sunday morning, One chick is sleeping on a fish piece, the unwanted is still there, and Soo has a super nice crop. I sure hope Olsen got some good fish, too. This family is depending on him! And Olsen, you get the gold star for the week. You and Soo are doing amazing.
On Saturday, Ferris Akel ended his tour, as always, with a stop at the Cornell Campus home to Big Red and Arthur. He found L4 prey calling to Mum and Dad. Big Red was also located.
Oh, my goodness, what a handsome fledgling. L4 has lovely light grey-blue eyes that will get darker and darker turning into an exquisite espresso colour in adulthood. He will also get his red tail when he is a year old.
L4L4L4Big Red
The White-Bellied Sea Eagle nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest is becoming much calmer. There is plenty of prey. Lady feeds SE29 and 30 still about every hour. I noticed that the feedings are getting a little longer and that both chicks have nice crops at the end. It will not be long until there are fewer feedings with the chicks consuming much more prey.
What to expect as we end week 2 and prepare for week 3? The chicks will have doubled their size. You might also notice that their shape is changing – they are getting longer and so is their beak! We will begin to see them climb out of the nest or egg cup exploring their surroundings and pecking at leaves. By week 4, some pin feathers on the wings will begin to show.
The last feeding before night fall in the forest. If you look carefully you can see how the down is ‘looking different’. There will be little ‘black dots’ soon.
If you love White-tail Eagles then you will be excited to know that the oldest WTE couple on Mull Island just fledged their 25th chick! Skye is 28 and Frisa is 30. Look at that beautiful baby!
I am certain that everyone will agree that you can see the improvements in Victor. The top image is a couple of days ago- the lower one is when Victor began his physio.
I saw no images but on thee Notre Dame chat, Little Bit ND17 was seen by someone at the park. That is good news.
Our other lad, Ervie, really flew about Port Lincoln yesterday!
You may recall that the Port Lincoln Osprey Project carried in parts of a new tower platform nest for the couple at Turnby Island. Previously their eggs had been predated by foxes on the island. The new tower was to stop that predation with a plan in place to rid the island of its invasive fox population. The time for egg laying is near – and look what is causing the ospreys to alert.
Port Lincoln says this foxes’ days are numbered. He cannot, however, get to the eggs which were previously laid on the ground. Thank you Port Lincoln!
The two Ospreys at the Janakkalan nest are safe from the Goshawk again. They eat and sleep, sleep and eat…
Eating..
Dad with another delivery.
Last but he could never be least – one of our ‘saviours’ of the year – Alden. Alden who insured that Annie’s eggs and the last of Grinnell’s chicks would hatch – with maybe a contribution of his own! (No word on that yet). Alden finally found a little time to ‘loaf’.
Thank you so much for joining me today. It is a little wet on the Canadian Prairies – again. My garden is like a jungle. The three fledgling Blue Jays and the three fledgling Crows continue to visit. Images to follow tomorrow. I hope that all of you are well and enjoying some time in nature today. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, FB postings, etc which have become my screen captures: Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Osoyoos Ospreys and ‘H’, Sydney Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Sydney Olympic Forest, BirdGuides, Ojai Raptor Centre, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Port Lincoln Ospreys, and Cal Falcons.
Good Morning everyone! I hope that your Saturday will be a good one and is already off to a nice start.
Bless their hearts. Friday hit 103 F in Osoyoos or 39.44 C. It had to be hotter on top of that Osprey platform. Gold stars go to Soo and Olsen who did the best they could in dire circumstances. Soo shaded the kids – she went for dips in the lake and came back to cool them. Olsen brought in one last fish for the day at 2031. They are alive- but the heat is not going to let up until Monday night.
It got me to thinking. If the chicks were flying they could go to the lake and cool off like the ones at McEuen Park in Idaho. Will the ospreys in this region adapt by arriving earlier – say a month? Even two weeks earlier for the dates the eggs would hatch would make the world of difference. It wasn’t the heat that caused Lena and Andy to adjust their breeding season on Captiva in Florida. For years the Crows predated their eggs, so this year Andy and Lena laid their eggs one month earlier than they had ever done before. The osplets were too big by the time the Crows came to do any harm. It was brilliant.
Soo trying so hard to keep her osplets cool.
No worse for wear – they seem to be watching something happening below on the grass.
Olsen has delivered nine fish at the Osoyoos nest before 0800. Loud cheers around the world. It is another scorcher there. Thanks to ‘AM’ – the 0753 delivery wasn’t wanted and Olsen got to enjoy it all to himself. Oh, keep this wonderful family in your thoughts.
It was equally as hot at the McEuen Park Osprey Platform in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. Poor Mum. She is trying desperately to keep those big chicks shaded. Just look at them! Dedication.
There were some very unfortunate incidents on nest #4 in Finland yesterday. The cause is unknown by the female, the mother, turned on her osplets. One was on the nest and the other had fledged and returned. It was a frantic, crazed series of attacks that left you wondering if the female had gone crazy? did she think they were intruders and not her chicks? No one seems to have any answers. What is known is that fish is much needed on this nest. It does not have the level of deliveries as the Janakkalan nest does. Is this part of the issue? I was told by someone that I trust that he had seen a couple of these ferocious attacks in the past at other nests. The cause was never known and the nest settled down. — This is such a rare occurrence – an adult attacking their offspring at the fledge or near fledge state that it really does make you wonder what motivated the behaviour.
That is precisely what seems to have happened. Everything is much calmer.
Life appears to have returned to normal. Nuppu is an excellent mother. Positive wishes everyone – for fish and for calm.
Life is much calmer at the Janakkalan Nest since the intruding female that wanted to play at being a Mum left the area some days ago. Dad continues bringing in really good sized fish. One chick has fledged and the other continues to do some flapping. It is interesting that the one that can fly tends to stay on the nest with the other – eating and sleeping. They occasionally look around. So far they have been safe from the goshawk in the area. Unfortunately, we cannot see when Dad has to go into high alert as the nest’s security guard.
‘H’ sent a video showing another fantastic tug -o-war at the Mispillion Harbour Osprey platform in Delaware. This time the chick that missed out earlier got the fish on Friday. Well done. These two are really preparing for the real world of fledglings. Thank you, ‘H’.
Life on the Sydney Sea Eagles nest appears to be settling down. There is lots of food and Lady continues to feed the two at least every hour. You can almost set your alarm to the feedings. This really eases the issue of food insecurity and SE29 is clearly beginning to relax about any issues of dominance. I did not take a clip of every feeding but my goodness, there was sure a lot of harmony on this nest – most welcome! The eaglets are nothing short of adorable and it is an amazing nest to watch – the only sea eagle cam in the world.
Mum and Dad have been on the nest on the Port Lincoln barge most of the day. No Ervie in sight.
There was a very strange incident on the nest today. I made a video clip because – well, you will know when you watch it why it was difficult to figure out what was going on. Dad is in the nest digging out the nest cup. Mum flies in. Just watch…I promise you that you have never seen Dad in either of the two positions!
I wonder if Mum beaked him to see if he was alive? or to get him to turn over? Dad flies away fine. Here the pair are later in the afternoon.
On their FB page, Port Lincoln posted the following map of Ervie’s travels. I thought it quite intriguing that they say Ervie returned to the barge. Was he on the wheelhouse? I could not see him but, gosh, if he was there would love a photo!
Now that the Ospreys are mostly fledged and gaining fat for their first migrations which will begin sooner than we wish in the Northern Hemisphere, you can switch your attention to this nest in Port Lincoln Australia. I will not call it an easy nest to watch. Last year was marvellous – three lads no female – . Bazza, Falky, and our dear Ervie. There is a history of siblicide which you can read about and 2020 was rather difficult but still, I would give it a chance. There is a loyal group of chatters that are simply marvellous. The owners of the barge and Fran Solly, Take2Photography, provide loads of information and photographs. The chicks are always ringed and for the last two seasons one has received a GPS transmitter.
There is certainly love in the air at the scrape on the water tower at Sturt University in Orange. Xavier has been upping the treats for Diamond including an Eastern Rosella today. In the image below, you can see Diamond quick on his heels — a lovely treat. After watching Diamond for some years, you learn that she really does have her favourite prey items and sometimes if a European Starling appears, she just looks at Xavier and flies out disgusted. It is too funny.
I adore these two. For the past couple of years they have had only one egg hatch. In 2020 it was the ever adorable Izzi who got to fledge/fledge 3 times – he fludged and was brought back to the box, he fledged but hit a window and went to rehab and was returned to the box, and then he flew. But he loved being taken care of and everyone began to wonder if he would ever leave. Eventually Diamond put her talons down and he did. We all miss him terribly. Sadly, Little Yurruga did not survive after fledgling last year. She got caught in a horrific storm and is believed to have perished because of it. Her body was never found.
Xavier has been doing some rather dynamic scraping in the scrape creating the indentation where Diamond will lay her eggs.
There are several cameras – two in the scrape box and one so that you can follow the adults and fledglings flying around the water tower. Here is the link to one of them. There is a great chat group here as well.
This is an Eastern Rosella -the bird that Xavier brought to Diamond for her treat.
An update on Victor who is doing well. It appears that he had elevated zinc levels. He is still being hand fed but is improving. Lovely article. Have a read:
Please keep these amazing bird families in your thoughts today – especially those in the Pacific NW that are struggling with horrifically hot weather and those in care like our dear Victor. Thank you for joining me this morning. Please do take care of yourselves also – if you live in the extreme heat areas drink lots of fluids. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, postings, etc. which have become my screen captures and videos: Osoyoos Ospreys, McEuen Park, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Sydney Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Sturt Falcon Cam, Mispillion Harbour Ospreys and ‘H’.
