The last time that Little Bit had a full crop was the 26th May. He had eaten well for ten days and then the weather changed and then the weekend came and well, Little Bit was going on 72 hours without much food. All your positive wishes have made a difference. The food arrived today. But it was Little Bit’s actions that demonstrate what a brave eaglet he is – and how he knows how to ‘read’ his environment. Little Bit is very careful not to agitate 16. Little Bit appears to feel safe and secure around 15. Oh, how I wish we knew their genders.
Check it out. Food has arrived and Mum has been feeding. That is Little Bit to the right of Mum being fed! No one bothered him. Mum fed well.
You can see his beach ball size crop in the image below.
Little Bit has a huge crop showing at 17:18:09 and again at 17:52:34 – so he did not crop drop immediately from the earlier food. This means that Little Bit had food in his stomach. Crops are actually marvellous storage tanks for the birds allowing them to store food and then drop it down to the stomach when they need nourishment. It is reassuring to see Little Bit 17 with that big of a crop today. It has been a good day – few attacks from 16 and food to eat – a great combination equalling success. Little Bit worked hard to get food off of carrion (road kill) when it was on the nest. The older siblings could not be bothered. In the wild, they will have to bother – to eat what is there and eat even if they are full because it is never known when the next meal will come.
The image of Little Bit looking out beyond the nest with that big drop just brings tears to my eyes.
Little Bit has the energy and the joy of a full tummy so he flaps his wings.
Then there was another delivery! It came at 20:15:50. Little Bit is on the railing to the left.
Little Bit still has a crop from the earlier feeding. What is interesting to me is that the adult is very slow to begin feeding. This is a good thing. Slow feedings always benefit the wee ones hoping to get some bites.
At 28:50 Little Bit 17 begins to make his move from his corner by the tree. Just look. A day of eating has made such a huge difference. Little Bit 17 is getting his mojo back! He is reading his environment – this is crucial for a juvenile eaglet to survive in the wild. Don’t kid yourself. Everything that has happened to Little Bit on this nest is preparing him to survive in the wild. Watching, waiting. Knowing which birds attack and which are friendly. Good skills.
At 20:30:10 Little Bit makes his move to get under the adult to try and snatch and grab from under the tail behind the legs.
But wait…Little Bit doesn’t do that. Instead he goes right up to the adult beak and begins snatching and grabbing food — right from the beak!!!!! Food that might have gone to the big sibling waiting.
The big sibling does nothing. It has to be 15.
At 20:35:30 Little Bit is bursting full and has followed the adult. Little Bit is attempting to pull the last skin of the fish out of the parent’s beak. Yes, I am serious. Big sibling is looking on as this is happening.
Big sibling watches Little Bit play tug-o-war with the adult! Does everyone need a tissue? Little Bit’s bravery is just shining through. The adult ate the skin- they are hungry, too, but the level of confidence that has been shown today is the old Little Bit. Welcome back sweet little one.
Even with his full crop, Little Bit 17 is still eating every morsel of food he can find in the nest. One of the biggest lessons that Little Bit has learned is that you do not always have food. You need to conserve your energy and you have to eat what is available even if you do not like it.
Little Bit ‘staggers’ over to his favourite spot in the nest and heads to sleep.
Sweet Eagle Dreams to you Little Bit and to all your friends out there in Bird World.
This is just the best news in Bird World today. Thank you for sending all of your positive wishes to this nest and, especially, to Little Bit who is so deserving a full life beyond the confines of this nest! Keep it up!!!!!! We still have three weeks probably before Little Bit fledges. He needs to grow lots of feathers and get his strength up.
In other news, the eldest chick of Annie, Grinnell, and Alden – the female – has left the scrape box! Here is a video of this big milestone.
Tomorrow Cal Falcons will announce the final names. Please vote. There will be a short window of opportunity!
Thank you so much for joining me. This has been a miraculous day at the ND-LEEF nest. Little Bit is 55 days old. Fingers crossed for another good day tomorrow. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the ND-LEEF streaming cam where I took my screen captures.
The real focus on this blog is this fantastic Little Eaglet. I cannot say enough good things about him. There are a couple of other news items at the end.
If any third hatch deserves to live – and thrive in the wild – it is Little Bit 17 at the ND-LEEF Bald Eagle nest. Oh, he reminds me of Tiny Tot Tumbles from the Achieva Osprey Nest in St Petersburg in 2021. That third hatch was starved and appeared stunted. Tiny Tot Tumbles lived on old pieces of fish she could find buried in the nest until one day in April (she hatched 5 March 2021) her Mum, Diane, brought in a catfish. At some point Diane realized that this third hatch just might be remarkable. So besides being creative and doing the snatch and grab, Tiny Tot persisted and Mum fed her. For all those that doubt Little Bit 17 can grow big and strong – I have lots of examples that say you will be wrong if Little Bit survives.
This afternoon Little Bit 17 really showed the stuff he is made of – he is brave and he is hard working. He is willing to eat the prey that no one else wants to survive. He has gotten smart except that he is hungry and he will be the ‘Snatch and Grab King’ when he can.
A prey item cam on the nest at 13:21:47. I could not make out if it was the squirrel or the raccoon – both road kill so mangled and mucked up.
Little Bit 17 was up next to 15 at the top rim of the nest. A perfect place to be.
Mum comes in with something and 15 moves back to peck at it. Little Bit stays up at the rim.
Mum checks and moves her head up to the rim to feed. Little Bit moves over. He is very afraid of Middle Bob – ND16 – who pecks at him all the time.
Mom feeds for about 4 minutes and then turns around where it is not so advantageous to Little Bit.
Despite 16 reaching over to peck a bit, Little Bit did the ‘Snatch and Grab’ for awhile and got a little more food. Right now he is pretty brave as he has opened himself up to get attacked by the big siblings.
One of them takes exception to Little Bit grabbing the prey and starts to mantle and flap. Little Bit gets over.
Then Mum turns sideways and Little Bit rushes to get to the side opposite the big siblings. You can just see his tail. He got some bites this way, too. Not many but some.
I wish that Mum would just stay in one place. It would be so much easier for Little Bit to eat with the big siblings on one side and it on the other. She seems antsy.
Little Bit is now doing the ‘snatch and grab’ again.
Mum is gone. She has left a part of the squirrel on the nest. Little Bit knows it is there.
Little Bit gets it. ND15 looks down and does nothing.
Little Bit gets hold of the prey item and pulls it and pulls it. It gets stuck but he keeps on eating and pulling. The big siblings are paying no mind. They are not going to work that hard for food so they can stay alive. Little bit 17 will though.
He pulls and tugs and tugs and pulls and just keeps on eating. He is eating skin and fur and every part of the raccoon. That is going to keep him alive. At the same time he is moving back away towards the porch where he might have a little stash of food or where he can continue eating away from the two siblings.
There he is pulling and pulling.
Where in the world did Little Bit find the squirrel? Goodness! He is pulling it back into his pantry too.
By 14:40 all evidence of the two prey items are gone and Little Bit is either saving them or eating in the back area of the nest known as the porch.
At the beginning of this Little Bit’s stomach would have had a little bit of food in it from Mum. Would he have a crop? Possibly if he ate the squirrel, too. He is quite hungry but the squirrel and the piece of raccoon will help. Did I say that Little Bit is brave, tenacious, creative, hard working, and willing to eat the crap food to survive? Well, he is. Send every positive wish his way – they are all working! Tears that he had something to eat.
In other news, the contest to name DC9 at the National Arboretum nest is over. DC9’s name is Takoda which means “Friend to All”.
For followers of the Dale Hollow nest, a parent flew to the nest yesterday with food and a juvenile chased them to the nest to get it. I do not know which one. The Dale Hollow camera only caught a small portion of the action which was posted on their FB page.
@DHEC
If you are a Glacier Gardens fan, a video of the first day of the eaglet’s life has been compiled. How nice!
It is hard to believe but we will be on fledge watch for L1 at the Red-tail Hawk nest starting on Friday! The following is a list of date ranges for the chicks to fledge based on historical data compiled by Cornell:
L1: 2-20 June
L2: 5-13 June
L3: 6-14 June
L4: 9-19 June
Big Red fed them all and also greenery is starting to come to the nest. While it is good to keep away insects, it is believed that Big Red and Arthur bring the oak leaves to get the kids to picture in their mind the tree where they should fly to on their fledge or first flight.
Big Red also sits on the fledge ledge to show them the best spot in which to take their first flight.
L2 and L3 watching a parent fly around the nest.
Cutie Pie L4 with a nice big crop. Hi Little One – and those silly humans thought that you wouldn’t survive. Just look at you.
L4 would like to figure out how to unzip that Chippie but he might need some help.
The bird that is standing to the right of L4 is L2. It has a white terminal band with a dark band and then the other bands are all muddy – no clear stripes on each.
Cutie Pie is trying.
L2 is really a gorgeous bird.
L2 and L3 looking at something on the ground.
After fledging the parents will provide prey while the fledglings learn how to hunt. In the past they have moved them farther and farther away from the nest at intervals teaching them to hunt in different ways at different places.
Just relieved that Little Bit 17 had something to eat. He worked hard for every morsel. Courageous and tough. Keep him in your most positive thoughts. Cal Falcons will be posting the short list of names for a quick vote. Go to their FB page after 6pm to see the choices.
Thank you for joining me today. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: DHEC, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, NADC-AEF, and ND-LEEF.
The ND-LEEF nest is hard to watch – partly because of the camera and you cannot see what is going on in the other part of the nest. I went to check on Little Bit 17 as he had not had food for almost 72 hours — or he had had a little food off camera.
At 19:59:29 Mum is feeding the two big chicks. But, Little Bit 17 is facing the other direction on the other side of the nest. He is self-feeding. You can see it from his body’s movements – the tail going up and down as he takes a bite. There is no indication of the size of the prey/fish that he is eating but he is eating something!
Then the adult moves over to where Little Bit is on the other side of the nest. It appears that they have moved to make sure that Little Bit gets some of the food before it is all gone. The bottle neck there allows Mum to go in close to Little Bit while keeping the other two big siblings back. I see the larger sibling getting some bites. Do I dare believe that Little Bit 17 is once again snatching and grabbing like the ‘King of Snatch and Grab’ that he is? Did we get a little miracle?
Two last things before I close. Holly Parsons posted an update on the Peregrine Falcon who had the eggs in the Flower Pot at the Field Museum in Chicago hoping I would see it – and I did. Thanks Holly!
And last but never least, Glacier Gardens. I missed it completely. Liberty and Freedom have their first hatch!!!!!!!!!! In their new nest. Wow. It seems like it was only yesterday that they discovered the new nest and now a chick. Congratulations Liberty and Freedom!
Here is that announcement by Sherri van Syckel for Bald Eagles Live FB.
I am going to go out into the garden with a smile on my face. I so hope that Little Bit gets some more food and that 16 leaves him alone. I wanted to get a good look at this head so I am going back to rewind later this evening.
Thank you for stopping in. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Holly Parsons posting for the Chicago Peregrine Programme, Sherri Van Syckel for Bald Eagles Live Nest Camera and News, and the ND-LEEF.
The rain stopped but the grey skies remained. I went in search of Wood Ducks. Last year there were Wood Ducks everywhere – not this year with the flooding. Well, they are not at their old hangouts for sure. I found 11 at one park and none at another.
It appears to me that the Wood Ducks are now laying eggs on the island since the water has gone down at one of the parks. I also noticed more Canada Geese nests.
What was even more surprising were the lack of Mallards. Mallards are typically everyone at the pond. One couple swimming about and I found another in the forest where the water was still high.
I had so hoped that the ND-LEEF nest would improve today. Little Bit 17 is in the other area of the nest without the camera so I cannot check. Tiny Tot Tumbles went without food for 72 hours and she had less ‘fat’ than Little Bit. We are heading to 72 hours now. I really hope that 17 had some food earlier but without actually seeing it myself, I cannot say for sure. Sad when things between May 16-26 went so well. I want to make one comment. I have seen lots of tiny thirds – more than I want to think about. Each and every one that survived appeared ‘stunted’ at some time during their development. Each with the help of the adults got big – three last year being the dominant birds on the nest at the end. Right now, I just want 17 to survive. Then we will see. 17 is little like Tiny Tot Tumbles at the Captiva nest – he has missed out on a lot of food. She had a total of twelve 24 hour days without food. She fledged and she was awesome. I don’t want to give up hope but not every nest will have success. It is heart breaking when it doesn’t happen. The parents are virtually absent – fishing might be rough. Prey items might not be available. With a road closed, bad weather, and weekend people on the river – there is less carrion and well, getting food can be hard.
So, let’s jump to a nest with three eaglets that have thrived. It is always good to step back and be thankful for the joy! This nest had two bad years and just look. We almost had a catastrophe when one of the eaglets fell down and Dr Sharpe had to come and rescue it. But here they are this morning – the ‘Three Amigos’. Gosh, they are beautiful. I cannot praise Thunder and Akecheta any more than I have and, I really want to shout out Akecheta who grew up this year and found out what it is like to be a dad. He was loving it! Kana’kini, Ahota, and Sky will fledge and I hope we get to see them return to the nest for awhile as they get those flight wings.
Lancer is one beautiful bird over at the Two Harbours nest! Chase & Cholyn have done a great job with this Only chick this year.
Of course, we cannot forget about Spirit – a perfect name for a very high spirited eaglet.
Jackie and Shadow will be proud of their only chick of the 2022 season – a real wonderful hatch. We were all so happy for both of them after two years without having any success. They will be ready to deliver fish to Spirit once she fledges so that she has a brilliant start in life.
I love Spirit and Jackie hanging out together! Is Mum giving her daughter tips?
Here is a short video by FOBBV. Spirit almost had lift off on the 27th.
There are three healthy Bobs getting a nice meal from Blue NC0 at the Loch of the Lowes Osprey nest in Scotland. Yipppeeee.
There are absolutely no hints from Louis or Dorcha about any pips or cracks. These two can surely keep a straight face. So glad the bad weather seems to have moved from Loch Arkaig!
Dylan and Seren Blue 5F are doing fine with their three Bobs. The little one is up there and ready for food once the others are passed out.
Dylan arrives with some more fish and pauses to see how things are going. He has heard a rumour that one of the Bobs got caught up in house keeping and was pulled out of the nest cup. He has come to make sure there are still three – and there are. That little one rolled back in. Chicks are very resilient.
Seren feeding Little Bob. Life is good!
There is fish on the nest at UFlorida-Gainesville. One of the osplets has a big crop and the other is fine. There is fish available if it is hungry. Doing good!
R2 is still showing up at the WRDC nest in the Miami Zoo and Mum and Dad, Rita and Joe, are still supplying fish! How sweet is that?
Blue brought a whopper of a fish to Maya and the trio for their bedtime feeding! I sure would love to give a piece of that fish to ND Little Bit 17.
Just a beautiful nest of hawks at Cornell. Big Red and Arthur really showed everyone they could handle four eyases without even breaking a sweat! Gosh, will they try for five next year???
It’s a real hard day when a nest and a little one is in trouble. The parents at the ND-LEEF nest have been absent for the entire afternoon. It is an extremely volatile situation.
Thank you for joining me. All of the other nests are doing really well. We may even have a hatch at Poole Harbour. Remember to turn in your name suggests to Cal Falcons for Annie, Grinnell, and Alden’s chicks! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures: UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Explore.org, LRWT, CarnyXWild, WRDC, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Cornell Red Tail Hawks, and FOBBV.
Saturday was an incredible day for a long walk at the nature centre. Thankfully individuals have donated benches in their loved one’s names and they are scattered about the trails. Much of Ft Whyte has been covered with water and there are areas that are more wetlands than anything else. Those are the interesting places. The Red-winged Blackbirds and the Yellow-rumped Warblers seemed to love eating the seeds? of the bull rushes. It was a fascinating day. Way across the lake were two adult Double-breasted Cormorants and nine juveniles. The Cormorants make their nests on islands or in the tops of trees or platforms. Normally there are 5-7 eggs that are incubated for 25-59 days. This couple seems to have hatched 9!
They were at a great distance and the sky was getting very dark. Not touched up but a lovely scene.
The usuals were around – beautiful Yellow Warblers, American Goldfinches, the Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Downy and a Hairy Woodpecker.
What a striking difference between the male Red-winged Blackbird and their female mates, below. She is having a wonderful time gleaning for insects and seeds on the ground.
This female American Redstart flitted around the Cattail branches. She was very difficult to photograph! She was hovering around the pools of water foraging for insects.
The Canada Geese are still incubating. No one seems to know when the eggs are due to hatch at Ft Whyte! (or not anyone that I could find).
You often see evidence of the woodpeckers presence but, most times, you do not actually see them. So to see both a Hairy and a Downy over by the songbird feeding station was quite a treat.
A female Hairy Woodpecker.
The female Downy Woodpecker.
In fact, today was a fun day because so many of the female birds were out feeding. What a joy!
I had hoped to head out today, Sunday, but right now it is raining. The birds in the garden are not happy! Hopefully the sun will come out later for them and they can dry off and I can go for my walk.
Sadly, Saturday was not a good day on the ND-LEEF nest. The lack of prey coming to this nest is becoming highly problematic. The two older siblings have figured out how to self-feed. Little Middle 17 had an advantage when they didn’t know how to do this! There was someone on chat that made a comment that Little Bit 17 had some food from Dad last evening – a heron?? I did not see it. Perhaps some of you did. My notes indicate 48 hours without substantial food. Let us hope that the fish get on the nest tomorrow and are plentiful. In fact, one of the older siblings – I do think it is the Middle one 16 – attacked Little Bit today and Mum flew down from the branch and intervened. We need fish on this nest quickly. Send all positive thoughts to Little Bit 17.
Two fish have so far come to the ND-LEEF nest on Sunday morning. The second one right before 10:58 when Mum flies down and feeds 17. Originally the fish was left on the nest but no takers and Little Bit seemed reluctant to eat it. He is staying back in the part beyond the camera. After a few minutes Mum comes down and takes the fish. Little Bit eats. Then in a few minutes 16 steals the fish. How much did Little Bit get? It isn’t clear but when 16 stole the fish, there was only about half of it left. I know Little Bit can eat fast – he has had to. Let us hope he got enough and that another fish comes and then another. We need to get out of this bad loop on this nest. 16 continues to attack Little Bit. 16 is one nasty bird.
If you are at all sensitive, I would not watch this nest for a few days. Let it sort itself out. I am very concerned about the level of hunger and the attacks by 16 on Little Bit.
The eyases on the Red-tail Hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur are changing by the day. Those juvenile feathers continue to grow and grow. Watch their tails. It is best if they have 5 or more dark tail bands for fledging.
That is little L4 showing off his beautiful wings. Big sister is in front. It is awhile til fledge from the look of the tails!
At the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest, Middle was busy eating a really nice fish. And guess what? He did not share!
This nest is so civilized now. If you just tuned in you could never imagine that the third hatch died from siblicide or that the Middle chick had been beaked and stopped from eating. It is a lovely nest to watch.
Middle was making some headway 9 minutes later. It is hard for the osplets to figure out how to hold the fish down and unzip it at the same time. They need to watch Mum carefully when she digs her beak into the skin and pulls hard!
Both of the osplets have been eating on the UFlorida-Gainesville nest Sunday morning. Each has had a turn at a fish and there are fish on the nest if you look closely – well, pieces of them. These two are healthy and doing so well.
As the sun went down on a beautiful Saturday at the Loch of the Lowes, Blue NC0 was feeding the three nestlings. I am cautiously hopeful for this third hatch. It is a nice strong little one.
It was so windy earlier in the day that Blue NC0 was literally blown off the nest.
It is Sunday morning and Blue NC0 and the trio of Bobs are waiting for Laddie to deliver a fish!
Laddie came through – of course, he did! They have all eaten well and Little Bob felt like he wanted to start a fight. He is a little toughie. LOL. You can see the plumage changing on Big Bob.
Telyn had gone for a break at 0503 and Idris flew in with the breakfast fish two minutes later. He thought he was going to get to feed the Three Bobs but, no. Telyn had a different idea. Gosh, they are so cute…I wish they would stay this soft grey downy chick for awhile longer before becoming a Reptile-Dinosaur showing their DNA chick.
It is quite amazing how quickly they get stronger. Adorable. Nice dark bands around those eyes.
The Dyfi Osprey Project created a video log of the hatching.
Aran and Mrs G now have two Bobs at the Glaslyn Valley Osprey nest. One more egg to go!
These two look like they will be a hand full.
CJ7 and Blue 022 have already made history by laying the first osprey eggs in a nest at Poole Harbour in more than 200 years. The eggs were laid on 23, 26, and 29th of April. That means that the first egg is 36 days old now. I am thinking pip watch in a couple of days?? This morning CJ7 ate her fish off the nest so no hatch yet! Gosh this is going to be a difficult nest to see those historical hatches!
Oh, those three Bobs on the Manton Bay nest of Blue 22 and Maya are getting huge. It seems it was only yesterday that we were worrying that the flapping Perch had killed one or both of the nestlings. It was 13 days ago!
This is such a good nest. A fish is right there when Maya gets the chicks up in the morning. It must surely help to have a stocked lake that is free from leisure vehicles and people.
You can almost hear Maya saying, “Oh, please, just have one more bite.”
Maya looks like she is in shock as Blue 33 arrives with a fish.
And what a fish that was!!!!!!!!!! Oh, gosh, is it going to land on the chicks?
All lined up like the Osprey lads at Port Lincoln last season. No need to fight over food on this nest – everyone is fed regularly til they are full. Would love to send this fish to Little Bit 17.
Blue 33 also brought in some nesting materials this morning and dropped them over the chicks. The look on Maya’s face was priceless!
After Blue flies off, Maya turns and looks at the camera. My goodness she is a beauty.
I haven’t mentioned them for awhile – shame on me. There are three osplets in the Osprey platform at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, Delaware. They are doing fine and from their heads you can see they are now moving into the Reptilian phase.
Bukachek and Betty have five White Storks this morning in their nest in Mlade Buky, The Czech Republic. Everyone is so excited. There is one more egg to hatch.
Here is an adorable video of the six storklets at the nest of Jan and Janika!
There are wee ones on the nest of Karl II and Kaia, too. With all the nesting material it is hard to see how many.
It is rainy and blowing at the MN-DNR nest. Nancy has gotten food on the nest and E1, Harriet, continues to do very well. Hopefully Nancy will have a new mate next year. So many of us still miss Harry. What a real shame to lose him – he was only 5 years old. Just starting his life really as an adult. And what a wonderful mate he was while he was with Nancy!
There are way too many nests! And too many things happening. There is Annie looking up at us at 05:53 this morning in San Francisco. She is asking you to pick ‘nice’ names for the two chicks that her and Alden have raised. Suggestions stop and then there will be a vote…it seems that there will not need to be a run off for the name of the male. Grinnell is running away with the numbers! How could it not be Grinnell, seriously?
To suggest a name go to https://calfalcons.berkeley.edu and click on the Facebook tag. Scroll down a few entries and put in your desire names. Suggestions end on the 30th with voting starting immediately for the finalists once they are listed. They are giving us a short time so do not delay choosing your favourites of the short listed. I will try and remind everyone, too.
Take care everyone. Have an absolutely fabulous Sunday. Thank you for joining me today. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cal Falcons, MN-DNR, Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlade Buky White Storks, Osprey Webcam for Cape Henlopen State Park, LRWT, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Brwyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab RTH cam, and ND-LEEF.
The morning started off terrible in Bird World. Dylan was believed to be missing at Llyn Clywedog with three hungry chicks on the nest and Seren calling and calling — and another floppy fish covered the oldest Bob at the Dyfi Nest. Things turned out well and I thought it was a good idea to tell everyone immediately!
The weather is very bed at the site of the Llyn Clywedog Nest. The wind is blowing strong and it is raining. Dylan did manage to get a fish on the nest for Seren and the chicks. Fantastic. The babies were so hungry. You can see one of them at the left.
John Williams says the weather and fishing are set to improve tomorrow. Thank goodness. Most of you will recall the horrific storms, the damp and cold last season.
Telyn got up to eat the Flounder and there was Big Bob. There was also Middle Bob!!!!!!
What a relief.
Just look. Big Bob was so strong when it hatched and so is Middle Bob. Middle Bob is still a little wet from hatching. These two are going to be a handful and we have egg 3 to go.
A look at Aran and Mrs G’s first Bob at the Glaslyn Osprey nest. Cutie Pie. This is chick # 50 for Mrs G.
It seems that the Racoon event at the Fort St Vrain Bald Eagle nest is not a one off revenge attack. EJ searched and found a 2019 incident at a nest in Washington DC involving a Raccoon and an Eagle.
It doesn’t look like there has been a fish delivery at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest before 1430. These are such gorgeous chicks. That is Middle flapping his wings this afternoon.
Things are still going well at the Loch of the Lowes!
Here is a good look at that eye. Looks perfect to me.
There continue to be six storklets on the nest of Jan and Janika in Lativa. No elimination so far.
At the nest of Bukachek and Betty, there are three storklets and two eggs. So far everyone is doing well.
The eyases at the Manchester NH scrape are going in and out of the scrape to the ledge. If you go to the streaming camera and only see one or two chicks, do not panic!
Oh, Annie, Grinnell, and Alden’s chicks are getting their beautiful feathers too. Look at the eyes beginning to reveal those steel blue-grey feathers. Gorgeous. There is a reminder at the bottom that the banding is at 0800 tomorrow – Friday the 27th. Set your clocks!
Cal Falcons posted a great growth chart of these two chicks on their Twitter and FB feeds. I am certain that they do not mind if I share this with all of you. Everyone is here to learn!
Mum and chicks doing well at the Great Spirit Bluff Peregrine Falcon scrape.
If you do not have it, here is the link to the Spirit Bluff streaming cam:
Life on the Red-tail Hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur at Cornell is changing rapidly. Juvenile feathers are coming in. Indeed, with the sticks in the nest you can see how well camouflaged the eyases are compared to a couple of weeks ago.
Self-feeding is happening! Lots of little chippies on the nest for the Ls.
Gorgeous peach feathering coming in along with the belly bands!
Every time I go to the Big Bear nest, I fear that Spirit will have taken the leap. She spends a lot of time on the balcony and is now able to go back and forth from the front porch to the back. For viewers this means that she could be on the nest tree and just out of view of the camera.
Today is the last day for the Captiva Osprey cam and chat to be operational. If you would like to be notified of any videos posted by Windows for Wildlife be sure to go and subscribe – it is the bell under the streaming cam image on the right.
The streaming cam at the West End Bald Eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta is running again! Fantastic. Many of us were afraid we would miss the trio – Kana’kini, Sky, and Ahota – fledging. Oh, how grand.
We are also able to watch Lancer on the Two Harbours Alternative Nest of Chase & Cholyn.
It feels like we can all go whew but the weather at Loch Arkaig is not good. Poor Dorcha. It is great to have the cameras running at West End and Two Harbours. Remember that the banding for the Cal Falcons is at 8am Pacific Time tomorrow morning. Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: CarnyXWild, Dyfi Osprey Project, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, ND-LEEF, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, FOBBV, Cornell RTH, Mlade Buky, Peregrine Networks, Cal Falcons, and Explore.org
The Osprey season in the UK is getting off to a very stormy start. First, the Perch almost kills the chicks at Manton Bay when it flaps them, Laddie’s eye appeared to be injured, and now we have a missing Dad and another chick under a fish. The weather is terrible and fishing is difficult. Rain and damp. It reminds me of how the season began in Wales last year. I hope the weather and life on the nest improves soon.
The fish flap. The wee little hatch of Idris and Telyn is under it but it appears that Telyn does not know. She knows something is not right as she is restless but not precisely what it seems or she would be moving the fish. The good thing is the nest cup is deep and there are two more eggs and a shell under there. Fingers must be crossed and positive wishes. It seems like we just watched this happen at the Manton Bay nest of Blue 33 and Maya. I hope the ending turns out as well for the Dyfi couple.
Later. The fish has yet to be moved. Seren can’t seem to find the wee hatch. Let us just hope this turns out alright. At this moment, the chick has been under the fish 90 minutes. I hope it is sound asleep in the egg cup while all of us worry.
Dylan has not been seen since yesterday. Dylan is normally very reliable and I am worried about him and what will happen at this nest. He is known to chase intruders as far away as 25 miles from the Llyn Clywedog Osprey nest stopping to pick up Brown Trout on the way home. There are three very hungry chicks on that nest with Seren. The weather has been terrible.
Seren has been fish calling and fish calling. She just let out a few loud calls. I hope that she has seen Dylan. John Williams who is on the chat and really takes care of this nest says that the weather has been so bad that Dylan might have had to go even further to get fish today. I sure hope that is what is going on!
Seren and Dylan’s three chicks calling for food. The intruder in the area is believed to be Dylan. The weather is terrible for fishing. John Williams has said that it is to improve tomorrow but right now Seren needs a fish of any size and shape for the babies! Oh, how I wish the Ospreys would stack up fish on the nest like some of the eagles do!
LOL. Everything is happening at once. Egg 2 has hatched for Idris and Telyn and it looks as if the fish has been pulled away a bit!!!!!!
The Glaslyn nest is fine but it is very windy and damp in Wales. Aran and Mrs G have their first hatch. Quite the cutie.
Aran brought Mrs G a nice Flounder after the hatch.
Aran sees the chick for the first time.
Everything seems to fine with Laddie’s eye at the Loch of the Lowes Osprey nest. Fish have been arriving and Blue NC0 has been feeding the three chicks. The two older boys are picking on the third hatch. Just so everyone knows.
After the initial terrifying time at the Manton Bay nest at Rutland with the fish trapping the two chicks and one being left exposed (Middle Bob) for 5-6 hours, life on that nest is back to normal. The three are in their Reptilian Phase and are growing like mad. I really like how Blue 33 acts as a security guard at the nest while Maya is feeding.
Mum was on the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest this morning at 07:14. She did not have a fish and was fish calling. She flew away shortly after. It is now past 11:00 and I have not seen a fish delivery on this nest yet. (I could have missed it!)
Little Bit 17 has, so far, had two feedings. The first was at 06:34 and the second was from 08:25-08:33. Lots of bites at the first feeding and a lot of fish at the second.
Life is good at the ND-LEEF nest.
DC9 has branched at the National Arboretum nest this morning.
This is a very short report on how the Osprey nests are doing – or not – with a check in on Little Bit 17 and the Ospreys at UFlorida-Gainesville. I hope each of you has a lovely day. My report this evening will be coming very late. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: CarnyXWild, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, LRWT, ND-LEEF, NADC-AEF, Dyfi Osprey Project, and Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn.
We all love Ervie. He melted our hearts the second he hatched. For a long time, until the day he was banded, I called him Tiny Little Bob.
Big Bob hatched on 13 September at 22:03
Middle Bob hatched on 14 September at 02:30
Little Bob hatched on 16 September at 00:51
In the first two images, Ervie is four days old.
In this sequence of images, Ervie is 11 days old. The lads are in the Reptilian Phase. From left to right – Ervie, Falky, and Bazza.
Bazza was trying to assert his dominance on the nest and was not very kind to either Ervie or Falky. Bazza was known on the chat as ‘Big Bad Bazza’.
After Bazza had beaked and frightened Falky, he started on Ervie. Just look at the difference in size in their wings despite there being only 51 hours between them in age.
Ervie was always clever. He got out of Bazza’s way and Bazza went back to beak Falky. Ervie watches and listens to what is happening. It was rare for Ervie to khow tow to Bazza.
Twenty-two seconds later they are lined up being civil to one another and eating their fish. Ervie has already learned to be right up front near the beak.
Here is Ervie at 28 days old (14 October) still right up by Mum’s beak. By now Ervie is standing up to Bazza. Ervie is the first to eat and the last to leave the table most days. Even with a full crop Ervie enjoyed as much fish as he could get.
Just look at how our boy has changed in the image below. It is 30 October. Ervie is now 44 days old. The three will be ringed on the 8th of November and Tiny Little Bob will officially become our ‘Ervie’. All three will be pronounced to be males.
Ervie is the closest to the top of the frame intently watching Mum break off bites of fish.
Just adorable.
Ervie is doing ‘kissy-kissy’ with Falky. I looked at Ervie’s short stout legs and was certain that he was a female. Not according to the banders.
It was only after they fledged that the lads started being lads -fighting for fish and generally not wanting to share the nest. Ervie with his wings out wants part of the fish that Dad has delivered. It is his favourite – the portion back by the tail and Ervie is intent on getting it.
Ervie just walks through Bazza. It will be one of many ‘dust ups’ that he has with the older sibling.
On this particular occasion, Bazza is pushed off the nest and Ervie winds up hanging by his talons upside down!
Today, if we count Ervie’s hatch day, he is 253 days old. Until yesterday, Ervie has always known the ‘barge’ as his home. In some ways you could say the nest was probably a little like a security blanket. It was familiar. He would, on occasion, go down and chat with Dad in his den. No one but his brothers ever tried to force Ervie off the nest. It must have been a shock when he came to eat his Puffer on the nest yesterday (the 26th of May) and Mum ushered him off the nest.
‘A’ captured the action on the nest yesterday, thankfully. Thank you ‘A’ for sharing these with me so we can all see what happened.
Ervie has landed on the nest with his puffer. Mum is flying down to give Ervie the ‘boot’. Dad is over on the right side perch.
I have seen parents evict their juveniles from the nest – it has happened at the SWFlorida nest with E15 and with Diamond and Xavier when Mum had to give Izzy the cold shoulder. They certainly were not as ‘into your face’ as the event between Ervie and Mum.
Indeed, Ervie is, as I said, probably shocked at the reaction. One day he is welcome and the next not. He has 252 days of being welcomed to the nest – and there is nothing in Ervie’s own experience that would prepare him for his removal.
Ervie did take off with his puffer. I do wonder if the old barge is still around or if there is a close place where Ervie feels comfortable eating his fish.
Tonight there was another ‘dust up’ between Ervie and Mum. This time Ervie was hesitant to give ground. If you look carefully, you can see Ervie fly off with Mum on the nest. She will eventually go back and join Dad. It is interesting to me that it has been the female – Diamond at the Charles Sturt scrape and now Mum here on the PLO barge – to do the evicting.
Here is the video of the latest interaction between Mum and Ervie.
No doubt there will be some more attempts by Ervie to land on the nest and more evictions by Mum. We want both of them to be safe. I wish Ervie had his own private barge!!!!!
Thank you for joining me as we catch up with Ervie over the past couple of days. Take care everyone!
Thank you to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures and video clip. We are so every grateful for this opportunity to watch the lives of Ospreys in the wild. It has been a fantastic season.
There is so much news that it is difficult to know where to start sometimes. But today it is going to be in Port Lincoln, Australia on the Osprey barge. Mum and Dad were sitting next to one another on the ropes. Mum then went to the nest and was looking around. She was not happy. One of the long time watchers of the barge of this Osprey family, ‘M’ suggested on the chat that Ervie had been trying to land to eat a puffer, like he has done now for nearly 5 months. The camera did not pull back so that we could have a clear view. Something was definitely making Mum quite upset and ‘A’ writes this morning and confirms that at 0952 Ervie was trying to land.
This is, indeed a sad day for all of us that loved Ervie and wished beyond anything that the parents might let him come to the barge. Maybe he will go to the old barge with his puffers – the alternative for Mum and Dad. (Is it still there?)
Mum was still preening at 11:10 on the nest.
The feeding of five little storks! They have grown so much in a week!
While those White Storks have been growing, Betty and Bukachek at the Mlade Buky nest in The Czech Republic are welcoming their newly hatched storklets. Congratulations!
At the black stork nest of Jan and Jannika in Estonia, frogs and fish were brought in to feed all of the storklets. If you have never seen storklets fed, this is a great way to start watching. The parents regurgitate the fish for the little ones.
There is a very confusing situation at the Latvian Black stork nest of Grafs and Grafiene. The ‘real’ Grafiene returned late and now there are three on the nest with mating and fighting.
The second eaglet on the Fort St Vrain Bald Eagle nest in Colorado, US is sleeping quietly. The eaglet is 6 weeks old and I am so hoping that there is a parent near by. Last night a raccoon climbed and pulled an eaglet off the nest to feed it and possibly its babies. I hope this eaglet stays safe!
Before night, Little Bit 17 was flapping its wings on the ND-LEEF nest. They are getting bigger and he is getting stronger with every bite of fish that he eats.
A fish arrived on the ND-LEEF nest at 0820. Little Bit 17 began moving up to eat and was at Mum’s beat at 08:21:37 where he got fed. Yes! That is a very good way to start a Wednesday morning.
It got a bit wet on the nest this morning and Mum is there with the eaglets.
Lady and Dad are busy working on the nest first thing in the morning. Dad has been bringing fish to the nest every day for Lady. Lovely.
‘S’ was kind enough to forward a statement from the Scottish Wildlife Trust on the issue relating to Laddie, LM12’s eye. They said, “
Our breeding pair, LM12 and NC0 have made an incredible effort to provide for their growing offspring since the first chick hatched on 19 May.
If you’ve been watching the webcam you might well have noticed that resident male LM12 has an injury on his right eye – this may have been caused by an abrasion sustained when his protective, translucent, third eyelid, also known as a nictitating membrane, was open.
Fortunately this injury seems to minor and it doesn’t seem to have affected his ability to fish. LM12 brought two perch to his hungry family at 20:05 and 21:20 this evening.”
Laddie’s eye appears to be perfect. He has brought in a big fish for Blue NC0 to feed the babies!
The two osplets of Dylan and Seren at Llyn Clywedog are almost the same size. They are terribly cute. It is pitching down rain there today and the third Bob has hatched. Congratulations Dylan and Seren.
Both eggs have hatched at the nest of White YW and Blue 35 at Foulshaw Moss in Cumbria. Congratulations!
Congratulations to Idris and Telyn on the hatch of their first chick of the 2022 season at 1628 on the 25th of May! It is Tiffin Cake all around in Wales today I am told.
Both of the osprey chicks on the UFlorida-Gainesville nest were fed by Mum this morning. They were both full with Mum betting a chance to eat the tail at 1105. Later images show them with a nice crop each.
Look at the size of Middle’s beautiful wings!
The only surviving osplet on the Dahlgren Nest in Virginia US used to be the size of the Bobs at the Loch of the Lowes and Llyn Clywedog. Just look at how big that chick is today!
It was heart warming to learn that the Friends of Big Bear had so many letters of support to stop the development in Big Bear Valley. Jackie and Shadow are much loved. In terms of social media stars, they have the highest number of visitors to their streaming cam than any other Bald Eagle nest. This is fantastic news.
The day that Spirit flies off the nest is coming. It could even be today. She has been on the branch flapping her big beautiful wings and standing on one leg this morning.
Was Spirit getting some advice for the future?
DC9 has been sitting on the rim of the nest looking out at the world from the National Arboretum nest in Washington DC. Mr President is doing a great job taking care of his only eaglet this year. Mum Lotus has not been seen for several days now.
The triplets at Pittsburgh-Hayes are starting to get out on the branches!
The oldest US Steel Eaglet is 50 days old today while the youngest is 47 days.
Liberty and Guardian have been making regular prey deliveries to Star and Sentry throughout the day. Some viewers have worried. There is a chat associated with the nest and the moderator will list the times of prey deliveries and visits from parents. The two eaglets are so large they take up the entire nest!
The eyases at the Manchester New Hampshire scrape continue to loose more of their fluffy down revealing their beautiful feathers.
The San Jose City Hall falcons are so cute. They are starting to lose their fluff revealing some nice feathers, too. Such cuties sitting there like little Buddhas. They are 20 days old today.
Here is a short video of Pedro meeting those chicks. Look at how much they have grown.
Talk about losing baby down! The two Red-tail Hawks at the Presidio Trust nest in San Francisco sure look a lot different this morning. I have not checked on them for awhile and they are big hawks!!!!!
It is a crazy time in Bird World. So many nests and everything happening from mating to fledging – with lots of intruders! Let us hope that all of our feathered friends have uneventful days. One of our readers asked about the Berry College eaglet. B15 fledged – if my memory holds true – on the 28th of April. She was still visiting the nest to everyone’s delight at 110 days old. Good solid eaglet. Pa and Missy continued to provide food for her.
Gorgeous picture that someone sent me of Pa Berry and Missy. (Do not know who to credit). They are a beautiful couple and did a fantastic job this year with B15.
This has been a long blog today. Please pardon any crazy typos or wording – I tried to cover too many nests! I will do a short check in on some of the nests with recent hatches later today. Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Berry College Eagles, Presidio Trust, San Jose City Hall, Peregrine Networks, Redding Eagles, Pix Cams, NADC-AEF, FOBBV, Dahlgren Ospreys, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Dyfi Ospreys, Cumbrian Wildlife Trust, CarynXWild, Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, ND-LEEF, XCel Energy, Mlade Buky Storks, and Port Lincoln Osprey Project.
Thank you to ‘B’ who sent me a note saying that Cal Falcons had changed the time for the banding of the two chicks. Here is the notice on their Twitter Feed:
The time is Pacific.
If you visit the Berkeley Campus and do not have a pair of binoculars and would like to see if you can find the falcons, binoculars are now available to use thanks to the t-shirt sales! Isn’t that fantastic.
Here is an announcement from Cal Falcons about the last few days of fundraising this year:
I ordered the t-shirt on the right only long sleeved – because it is Annie and Grinnell. The cotton was lovely and soft not heavy and stiff like some t-shirts. I really liked it.
There are many places to donate or to purchase memorabilia. The joke is, like Julia Zarankin, author of Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder, I never anticipated wearing t-shirts with birds on them. I think Julia and I probably have the same size stack! I am going to put in a plug for Sean and Lynn- heavy organic material tote bags please and thank you.
If you haven’t read Zarankin’s book, it is hilarious. You will see yourself in the pages!!!!!
Thanks everyone. Be sure to change the time for the banding!
