Tag Archives: Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre

WBSE 27

The following was posted on the Sea Eagle FB Page. I took a screen shot of the entire entry to share the good news with you. Thanks so much to Rohan Geddes for getting those great images.

Lady and Dad roost on the Parramatta River near to the Discovery Centre. I have put the red pushpin at the location of the Discovery Centre. You can see the Parramatta River just at the end of the walk. Many who visit the area have coffee along the river (see Orange Cafe sign) and watch the sea eagles if they are roosting.

This is just great news. Such a relief.

These are such challenging times for these juveniles. They have to get their flying – and as the poster says – their landing – under control while still navigating to get food from the parents. The fact that 27 is so close to the river shows great promise.

There has been only a glimpse of 28 and it is unclear if that was the one on the afternoon of the fludge or later. Send them both lots of positive wishes.

Just a couple of other mentions. The Collins Street Four are on the move. They were out of sight of the camera yesterday. Do not worry! They are running along the gutter to the other end exploring. Yesterday one started and all the others followed!

Yarruga continues to eat and grow stronger. Yesterday it was almost standing upright!

The Port Lincoln osplets had fish at 06:25, 12:56, 14:16 (Mum brought fish in), 17:32 was a fish tail, and 19:24. Here is a peek at that last feeding of the day:

Thank you for joining me this morning for this update on the WBSE fledglings. It is sunny and cold, 2 degrees C, on the Canadian Prairies. There are a few Slate-grey Juncos hanging on but the garden is fairly quiet this morning. I wonder if there will be any Canada Geese landing this evening? If so, I hope to get some good images for you. Take care all. Stay safe.

Thank you to the Sea Eagle FB where I took a screen capture of the posting of WBSE 27 and to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project and the 367 Collins Street Falcons by Mirvac for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots.

Catching up with WBSE 27 and 28

The WBSE are both in the 11th week after hatching. With the average of 75-80 days after hatch for fledgling, WBSE 27 and 28 are ready. Their feathers have developed, they have grown, and you can see them getting excited with all the wing flapping and catching air enabling them to rise above the nest.

What are they watching so intently from the nest? Is it a Pied Currawong?

Of course, the Pied Currawong are right there. The Pied Currawong is closely related to the Butcherbirds or the Magpies in Austrlia. They are a medium sized passerine. They have a large black beak with yellow eyes.

Here is a short video of the calls/songs the Pied Currawong make:

The Currawong become more of a menace around fledging time. Their attacks increase in number and they could injure the chicks, knock them off the branches, or chase them out of the forest before they can imprint the route back to the nest in their mind’s GPS system.

Lady was on the nest honking and flapping her wings at the Currawong so the eaglets could finish their lunch. At other times, the eaglets have to learn to defend themselves or hunker down really low in the nest. Because the WBSE are at the top of the ‘food chain’, they will always be followed and attacked by the smaller birds. What do the smaller birds want? They want the WBSE to pack up and leave!

Lady is honking really loud, warning the intruder to leave.

Lady was in the nest much earlier feeding both of her eaglets. Many of you have probably noticed that despite the fact that the nestlings are fully capable of self-feeding, she seems to enjoy feeding them.

The eaglets know to stay alert for intruders while flapping their wings and jumping to stretch their legs.

They honk at the Currawong just like the adults.

The Pied Currawong are very brave. Indeed, their attacks on the almost-fledglings is relentless. Ironically, I don’t believe the WBSE eat Currawong. Sometimes I think that they should rethink that!

Both of the nestlings have branched. They are standing on the parent branch looking around. Soon they will fledge.

It has been a wonderful season for Lady and Dad at their nest. Both of their eggs hatched and both of the nestlings thrived under their care. Both are healthy and fit and we hope that they both fledge successfully, returning to the nest or other areas so Lady and Dad can continue to feed them while they learn to fly better.

We wish them a long and successful life. It has been a remarkable year.

Lady and Dad are ‘honking’ their duet in June. It is a really special way to end another good day!

Thank you for joining me this evening. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the Sea Eagle Cam @ Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took these screen and video captures.

Birds ‘Down Under’

Go and grab the tissue box or a handkerchief, you are going to need it. Lady Hawk has put out the season highlights for the Royal Cam family – LGL, LGK, and Tiaki! And while you are watching it, Tiaki is off being an albatross 95 km off the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand. She is going about her day, flying, landing on the water, and looking for squid!

Holly Parsons posted an article about Tiaki that appeared in a NZ paper. You might enjoy reading it. There are some interesting facts such as 2.3 million people watched the Royal Cam chick from 1 December til fledge which amounted to 400,000 hours of streaming cam time! Wow.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/300416181/royal-cam-star-tiaki-leaves-the-nest-as-bumper-albatross-breeding-season-wraps-up?fbclid=IwAR3mU94gmZpSDSRkFJ5U6MyqECSisvbspK0u9XXu3fAh3GXRGeUHegbLXDw

Clearly none of us knows what it is like to have to incubate four large peregrine falcon eggs for over a month but, early in the morning the Mom in the scrape box in Melbourne has been getting much more restless. Will all four hatch within six hours? Wow. That will just be crazy. I hope little Dad has been stashing pigeons somewhere close. If Mom refuses to give up her incubation duties, we will know that she is listening to the chicks and there could be a pip or a crack.

Thank goodness the earlier rains have stopped!

Here is the link to this streaming cam so you can watch the action when these sweeties hatch:

It will be about a week before there will be a hatch at the scrape box on the water tower at Charles Sturt University in Orange. Mom is trying to catch all the sleep she can before the trip join her and Xavier.

It would be wrong to put the link to the camera in Melbourne and not the one to Xavier and Diamond. This couple is such a sweet pair.

It is a little wet at Port Lincoln Osprey barge this morning. Mom is, no doubt, giving Dad some ‘Door Dash’ orders for breakfast.

The little one doesn’t seem to mind the few drops of rain. I just can’t get over how well these chicks blend in with the nest. Nature is the best designer!

If you have hesitated to watch this nest, I encourage all Osprey lovers to embrace it. The chicks are doing so very, very well. Here is that link:

The White Bellied Sea Eaglets are doing well this year, too. This nest has also experienced little aggression and both eaglets are thriving. Lady was in early to feed them.

They are beginning to explore the lower branches. It will be a blink before they are really branching. It has been a pleasure to watch the lives of these beautiful sea eagles this year.

I will update you on the feedings on the Port Lincoln Osprey nest later today and if there is any confirmation of pips or cracks at 367 Collins Street.

For now it is 31 degrees C or 87.8 F on 29 September on the Canadian Prairies. Unbelievable. It is a great evening to go and check on the ducks.

Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me. Be kind to all living things.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: the Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, The Falcon Cam at Charles Sturt University at Orange, and 367 Collins Street by Mirvac. Thanks Lady Hawk for the video!

Checking in with the Australian Birds

Yesterday I waited until the trio at the Port Lincoln Osprey nest had their morning feast before I headed off to read and sleep. There was a smile on my face. The chicks had a huge fish to share with mum at 8:57:45. They looked like they were going to pop those crops! I did one last check and goodness gracious, one of them was having some extra bites at 10:20:16. I hope Mum got some good fish! Where in the world are these osplets putting all this food?

Here is an image of that breakfast fish. It is a nice one and all of the chicks ate well and behaved themselves.

Nice crops.

It’s clown feet time! Just look at how full Little Bob is – and the size of those feet.

Mum offering a chick some more bites. Just in case they might still be hungry. What a great Mum she is!

Dad made another delivery at 13:32:17. The chicks still have some crop left from the morning ‘whale’ of a fish.

Bigger crops. These three should sleep for the rest of the afternoon.

There is another small fish delivery at 17:00:36.

That little fish was gone very quickly.

And another fish was delivered at 18:18:57.

No one went to bed hungry.

It has been raining in Orange and Melbourne. There is no indication that there is a pip in any of the eggs at the 367 Collins Street scrape. That said it is really hard to see because the couple chose to use the scrape at the far end of the ledge away from the camera.

You can see the rain gathering in the gutter area. Stay dry falcons!

It is supposed to rain for the next couple of days. Maybe the eyases will wait. What lousy weather to hatch if you do not have any protection from the rain like the scrape box of Xavier and Diamond in Orange. It is about 8 days for hatch there.

Xavier arrived with a full crop and soaking wet to see if Diamond wanted him to take a turn incubating. While Diamond made up her mind, Xavier caught a little sleep. Oh, what a sweetie. Look at his crop – wow.

But look at how dry it is for these two. I wonder if anyone in Melbourne would consider putting some kind of a cover over those two scrapes for next year? Can’t do it now as it would stress out and disturb the birds but, maybe next.

Lady Hawk recorded WBSE 27 and 28 doing the morning duet with their parents. Oh, I remember when WBSE 26 sang with its parents. That was such a delight. Now we have these two joining in the family tradition. As you can see they are both doing fabulous.

There nest is quite dry. Sleeping duckling style!

That is the morning check in with our Australian nests and scrapes. Let’s hope that the forecast for rain in Melbourne is wrong! Otherwise, every bird is doing great. No worries here.

Thank you for joining me. It is another blue sky sunny day on the Canadian Prairies. We are blessed. Take care everyone. Stay safe.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: the Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Sea Eagle Cam @ Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, The Falcon Cam Charles Sturt University at Orange and Cilla Kinross, and 367 Collins Street Falcons by Mirvac.