20 March 2022
I haven’t yet checked every nest because I have been constantly monitoring the Dale Hollow situation with Middle and Big. It has been a day of great achievements on that nest and other exciting news from nests all over.
There was a fledge and could be another at the SW Florida Bald Eagle nest of M15 and Harriet.
This was the official announcement:
E19 had been up on the branch with the parents. It was early morning and foggy. M15 flew off and was seen flying around the nest tree enticing E19 to flap and hop on the branch. At one point the cam operator didn’t know if E19 would go first or E20 flapping from the nest to another branch. Here are some images.
Several hours later, E19 took the plunge and became a fledgling! Here is the video clip taken by the folks in that white vehicle at the centre of the screen.
Congratulations to M15 and Harriet, the Pritchett Family, and especially to E19! I wonder if E20 will go today? or tomorrow?
At the Cornell Campus, Big Red laid her third and most likely last egg of the 2022 season at 09:27. At this point, Big Red and Arthur will begin hard incubation. Congratulations to Big Red and Arthur!
If you were looking for Bald Eagles eggs in the Decorah Bald Eagle nest in Iowa, forget it. A Canada Goose has taken over the nest. Believe me when I tell you that you are really going to enjoy watching this nest. The female will lay between 4 and 7 eggs which will be incubated for 25-30 days. The male will serve as security guard. When the goslings are 24 hours old, the parents will fly to the ground calling the goslings to leap. Within a few minutes all of the little ones will be down on the ground following their parents. It is a nice change from the Bald Eagles!
It appeared that B15 at the Berry College Bald Eagles had officially branched. Everyone is waiting for the official word on that – did B15 fly up high enough?
It has been a good morning on the Captiva Osprey Nest. Middle is standing more on its legs and Little is working with the nesting material. Both have eaten and both appear to be in excellent health! They are getting along find and we simply cannot ask for anything better than that.
That is Middl (or chat Little) in the back standing up as the sun rises and spreads a golden pink glow on the nest.
Little (or Mini) in front with the lighter plumage (he is younger and this is how you can tell him now easily) moving sticks with its beak.
Both chicks lined up at the table having a nice fish for breakfast. No animosity or rivalry here.
The joy continues at the Dale Hollow Nest. At 11:58:39, it appears that River flies to the nest with some new nesting material. Big thinks it is fish and moves up to the table. Middle is at the far rim of the nest. Obey then flies in with a small fish at 12:01:01. River feeds part of the fresh fish to Big and then stops feeding her. River then pulls another small fish out of the straw! That was at 12:16:56. She feeds Big. At 12:17:13 River abruptly stops feeding Big and walks over to Middle who has moved up a bit and offers it fish! This is HUGE. We are really passing milestones on this nest quickly today. Then River moves the old fish in the straw to the table. She has 1.5 small fish left. She feeds Bit again at 12:17:34. Middle very cautiously moves around the nest to the right. At 12:19:40 he is in position for snatch and grab which he does splendidly. Big does nothing. At 12:19:59, Middle is at the table being fed. It appears that River fed him the last half of the fish. This is just incredible. The fish need to continue to show up or be pulled out of the nest if in hiding to keep up the good momentum but…for now, let us celebrate another big win today at the Dale Hollow nest for Middle DH15. Here are some images:
Obey has brought in the fresh fish. River had been feeding Big a few of the scrapes left from the morning. Middle just wants to stay out of Big’s way.
River moves to get the fresh fish and bring it up to the table. Big does not move away. Little still in position at the rim. Little is watching and listening. This is what the siblings who have abused do. They know their environment and they watch and wait. They have to – their life depends on it. Good skills for living in the wild.
River actually stops feeding Big and reaches out to Middle who has moved up. Middle does a great snatch and grab. Big does nothing.
Middle moves around from where it was along the edge of the nest always aware of Big. He will move up to the food table and eats properly.
In this image you can easily see how much bigger Big is than Middle. Middle remains at the table until he is very, very full.
Middle might be hoping that River is going to offer the fish tail but she doesn’t. They are both full. Big is passed out at the edge by the rim.
Another good feeding. Tears and more tears rolling down my cheeks. We will take it one feeding at a time. So far since Saturday evening everything has been good on this nest. I remain cautiously optimistic.
At present we have another nest with three chicks. Akecheta and Thunder are going to have to really bring in the prey and maybe do some tandem feedings as these three get bigger. The baby is four days younger. This has to be kept in mind as we move forward.
There is a pip for Liberty and Guardian at their Redding California nest. Last year these two fledged three. The pip is right on time. Congratulations Liberty and Guardian.
The hole is right under the feather hanging down the lowest on the egg closest to the screen. Once we see the external pip, hatch will happen between 12 and 24 hours! Yippee. A new bobble head.
Here is the link to the streaming cam of Liberty and Guardian. It is a good nest to follow now that the older eaglets are becoming fledglings.
I am so behind catching up with Grinnell and Andy. You can hear noises on the camera once in awhile but I have not seen much action on the camera when I checked. Today, however, Annie first arrives in the scape around 08:11 with bloody talons. That tells me – hopefully – that Grinnell has provided her with some prey breakfast.
Annie shuffles the gravel and is scraping.
Oh, thank goodness.
Annie returns to the nest at 09:38:05. Here she is teasing us at 10:04:05. Annie sure isn’t giving away any news this year. She has held us in a state of worry that she was going to abandon Grinnell for another nest. So happy to see her here in the scrape at The Campanile. I mean it has to be “Grinnell and Annie” – .
Right now even with Annie teasing us, everything in Bird World feels good. As we all know things can change quickly but for now all of the nests appear to be fine. I am told by ‘S’ in Latvia that even the young mate of Milda, Voldis, is doing better. ‘S’ wonders what kind of year it will be at the Durbe Nest of Milda in Latvia with this young man. We will just have to wait. We all need to remember that young mates can be fantastic – Arthur at Cornell, Harry up at the MN DNR nest, and Cheta who did not do well his first two years but who is trying to make up for it now.
Thank you for joining me this afternoon. Take care all. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, Cal Falcons, SWFlorida and D Pritchett, West End Bald Eagles, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, and Explore.org
