Tag Archives: birds

Late Tuesday in Bird World

15 March 2022

It has been a very sad morning in Bird World with the death of what appears to be, now, the oldest chick on the Captiva Osprey nest in Florida. Lori Covert the landowner has contacted CROW, that wonderful wildlife rehabber on Santibel. Permission was given to remove the body of the osplet for testing. CROW arrived and removed Big beginning at 15:21:15-15:21:26. You can see how quick they were to come once they had the OK and how they did not disturb the nest.

Big was 27 days old. He or she would have been 28 days tomorrow.

They do not want to cause any undue stress or frighten the other two on Did Big choke on a pellet? He had been gagging several times this morning. Casting pellets is a natural part of a raptor’s life. What cannot be processed in the crop is compacted into something not unlike a small charcoal pellet. The birds then regurgitate these. Researchers like the pellets because they can study what the birds have been eating. But a pellet or the H5N1 highly pathogenic Avian Flu is on speculation. It appears that Big died after moving up to eat but couldn’t. That was approximately 08:33. I sincerely hope that this is not a case of H5N1 and look forward to the announcement. The other two osplets both ate at 15:40.

Little Bob (Mini on chat) and Middle Bob appear to be fine. They are interested and can eat and that is a great sign!

It used to not unsettle me when an adult or a chick died. Perhaps it is just everything that has happened for so many years catching up with me but I was particularly upset at the loss at Captiva this morning. Thankfully the garden critters were robustly going after the two new seed cylinders that were put out yesterday. Dyson could not decide where to settle. He wanted the oil seeds that had fallen out of a bag on the snow but he also wanted to eat off the cylinder and he was intrigued by the peanuts in the square tray feeder.

Despite his altercation with the cat, Dyson remains pleasantly plump after the harsh winter and the back half of his tail is growing back. Horrah!

The Blue Jay family – OK. One member of the Blue Jay family has returned from their migration today. I could not get the camera quick enough for a photo but I hope to attract it with a cob of corn on the deck. i wonder if it is Junior? Mr? or Mrs? And where do they go?

It was a good day for a walk in the woods. Our temperature is a balmy +2 C. The snow is definitely melting and there is an open water area now at the Fort Whyte Nature Centre. There were three Canada Geese there today!

There were a number of Black-capped chickadees at the feeder and when I arrived the little Downy Woodpecker with the broken beak was just flying away. Too quick for me to catch him but for those of you who asked, it is still alive and eating well out of the cylinder feeder! That is certainly good news.

What I needed was a walk in the woods where it was absolutely quiet. The snow is now wet enough that it did not crunch. All you could hear on occasion was the songs of the birds.

Walking in nature is good therapy.

I am happy to report that all of the eaglets on the Dale Hollow nest have eaten. Little Bit was sure enjoying a fish that had been brought to the nest.

The middle on moved up and got some food, too, after Little Bit. You can see the huge difference in size now between all three chicks. Big just looks enormous!

This was Little Bit sleeping before the feeding over on the rim of the nest. It looks bigger stretched out and was clenching its talons and letting go and clenching them again. Was it catching a fish in its eaglet dreams?

Sweet baby sleeping in the shade. For those of you that do not know, the black dot behind the eye and corner of the beak is the ear. It will get covered with feathers. You might also notice that Little Bit is getting some of its darker thermal down and losing its baby fluff. Looks like a few little feathers poking about perhaps.

I just checked and Little Bit was fed at 16:20. So all is well at Dale Hollow as evening approaches.

Big Red gave Arthur some incubation time today. That is fantastic. She doesn’t allow him much but it is nice to see him so alert taking his turn with their first egg.

Arthur is very handsome.

I don’t think you could find a more gorgeous female Red tail Hawk than Big Red anywhere! She is so stunning with her really dark morph.

Big Red took a dinner break at 17:29 nest time.

Do not worry. This egg is fine. We learned that due to Milda leaving her eggs in almost freezing weather for 5-6 hours. They both hatched. Everything is good. Big Red has been having chicks for 17 years. She is an expert. I certainly am not. LOL. Remember. I wanted to give Rosie and Richmond sticks!

There was a very sweet posting by the SF Ospreys today on their FB page:

I really wanted to dump a lot of sticks for these two down in the parking lot! As many of you know, I look for ways to make the lives of our birds better. Part of that has to do with the elimination of lead in all fishing and hunting equipment. The other has to do with rat and mice poison. Well, look what a Place Called Hope just posted!

At the West End Bald eagle nest, Akecheta brought in a Cormorant to the nest. This came after there was something that looked like an Armadillo. Both were road kill. Thunder decided to feed the three eaglets the fresh fish! The West End nest is doing well.

Shadow and Jackie at the Big Bear Valley Bald Eagle nest are also doing just fine. The little one is growing like a very bad weed.

I checked on Kincaid, too, at the Kistachie National Forest nest in Louisiana. He is wing flapping and showing his preference for some prey and not others but I do not believe that he has branched yet.

That is it for me today. I am still recovering from the loss of Big. Looking forward to the test results. If it was a pellet then we should know that very fast. If it was something else, we will have to wait for test results that can take days.

From all the critters in the garden, thank you for joining us today. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or their FB pages where I took my screen captures: A Place called Hope, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Friends of Big Bear Valley, West End Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, KNF Bald Eagles, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Dale Hollow Lake Eagles, and SF Bay Ospreys.

Big Red lays 1st egg for 2022!

14 March 2022

I grew up in an area known for Red-tail Hawks. Indeed, the book, Winter’s Hawk. Red-tails on the Southern Plains by Jim Lish outlines the history of the hawks in Oklahoma and their persecution as ‘chicken’ hawks. It speaks to the challenges that the juveniles face to survive. They love the wide open fields for hunting. The images in the book show them on the telephone lines in the rural areas of my former home. When I lived in Oklahoma, I never noticed a single Red-tail Hawk. Indeed, my very first face to face encounter was in my urban garden with the Sharp-shinned male, Sharpie. I had watched a couple of Red-tails raise their young on the ledge of New York University’s library and then the mother was killed by rodenticide. The eggs did not hatch that year. It was suggested that we turn our attention to Big Red and Arthur on the grounds of Cornell University.

Years later I am still moved by the dedication of Big Red to her nest. First with her mate, Ezra, and now with her young male, Arthur, who hatched in an adjacent territory and replaced Ezra in the fall after Ezra was killed in 2017. This will be Big Red and Arthur’s 5th breeding season.

Big Red is an incredible bird. She hatched in 2003 near Ithaca at Brooktondale and was banded that October 20. She is now 19 years old and still as excited as ever to prepare her nest and lay her eggs.

There is much speculation on when Big Red will lay her first eggs. She came to the nest today, 14 March, at 13:03 and she has not left. She has fiddled with some sticks but, in general, she has stood on the nest. Will today be the day for the first egg?

It is 14:58 and Big Red is still on the nest. This makes it nearly two hours. She sure must be thinking she is going to lay an egg and doesn’t want to be too far from the nest when she does!

The wind is starting to gust. Big Red is still stomping the pine and looking down. She seems to be looking for Arthur also. Gosh, Big Red, you are making me anxious now!

Big Red began being quite uncomfortable at 15:09. The reveal of the first egg of the 2022 season comes at 15:11:59!

Wow. This is wonderful. Congratulations Big Red and Arthur!

Thank you to the Cornell Bird Lab for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

Monday morning in Bird World

I never do well with Daylight Savings Time. Never. So I am late getting started on my blog this morning and have an appointment. This will be a quick view of some news and a couple of nests we have been watching.

It was Laddie LM12 that I tried to get you to see on top of the Silver Birch at the Loch of the Lowes. He is on the nest this morning getting it ready for the arrival of NC0!

Laddie, you are very handsome and you are looking good. You had a good migration. Positive wishes for Blue NC0 to arrive soon!

One of the things that I like about the Scottish Ospreys is that no one is allowed on the trails on or on the lake from the time breeding season starts til the end of September. Nothing to disturb the wildlife. After that non-powered boats – think canoes – can go on the water. That is fantastic. I wish other places would adopt that practice.

Rutland Water has announced seeing one bird but they have not IDed it yet. eBird shows major Osprey activity with birds flying north out of Spain! They are on the move.

Andy isn’t quite as busy with the fish at Captiva Osprey nest this morning but he has already brought in three deliveries before 10:00. They came at 07:35, 08:33, and 09:27 which was fed to the osplets at 09:31.

These deliveries are going to go a long way to return this nest to the calm that it had earlier. Little is eyeing the fish and has already eaten some and Big has turned around and is full. Life is good.

The three at the West End Bald Eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta are also doing well. As far as I could tell with the bobbling grey heads and big little eagle eyes, all of the babies ate.

Proud couple. They had to fight off the Ravens yesterday again. It is good that Cheta is staying close to the nest for security.

Peeking out first thing in the morning.

“I want some fish!” Oh, gosh, they are so cute with their hair all sticking up on their heads and those big eyes. The third one has to wake up. It is on the far left.

These parents feed these kids so fast. Some eagles are slow and methodical. Thunder is “here, eat it quick!”

Sleepy head is waking up.

Here you go.

I think it is Big that just woke up, Little, and then Middle on the right.

The Finnish Osprey cam at Saakset is now on line. The Osprey are not expected home until at least the 22nd but they are ready. Laddie is 8 days early!

Look for a comprehensive report this evening! Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Loch of the Lowes, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, and West End Bald Eagles.

Late Sunday in Bird World

13 March 2022

As we all know, behaviours of nestlings can turn on the weather. After seeing the three osplets at the Captiva Nest behaving nicely at meals today, it was heart wrenching to watch the Dale Hollow Bald Eagle nest. Just about the time that everything looked good on the Dale Hollow nest, the oldest of the siblings took it upon itself to make certain that Middle and Little Bit got nothing to eat. In other words, she asserted her dominance. It seems that the recent snow storm probably caused these issues. This is precisely what happened at Captiva. Now that the weather system has passed and lots of fish have been brought to the nest, Captiva has returned to its normal state of calm. I hope that the same happens at Dale Hollow. Little Bit is so small, much smaller than Little Bob at Captiva. Fingers crossed.

Neither of the two smaller siblings got any of that meal. River was feeding and pulling off the bones to feed Big. It looked like the remainder of a Coot.

Thankfully another fish came on the nest. Big was right up there but, Big got full and there was fish left. Hoorah! The good thing about prey items coming in close together when there is a dominant sib.

What really impressed me was Little. When it looked like River was going to give the bite of food to Middle, Little stretched its neck and did a grab. It caught River’s attention! Look at Little in the image below stretching that neck. This Little Bit is hungry and is determined to get some food now that Big has eaten its fill.

Now that Little Bit has River’s attention it is getting some nice bites and a little crop is forming.

I noticed that Little Bit kept looking at the fish and at one point was pecking at it. Is this Little One going to be like Rocket at the NEFlorida nest and start pecking at the open fish on the nest when it is hungry? leading to a really early self-feeding? It certainly stretched that neck and did a grab. Give it a week and we will have a really good snatch and grabber in Little Bit.

There is a breakfast fish left on the nest. It is not clear if there are any fish hidden under the straw. Happy Eagle Dreams everyone.

River returned to the nest and was feeding the eaglets again at 18:10. Just look who is up there at the front. Oh, this is good. Everyone will get some of that fish before bedtime.

It was a whole different story at the Captiva Osprey nest. Andy brought in the 11th fish for Lena and the three kids at 17:26:07. You could almost hear the osplets saying, ‘Oh, please Dad, no more fish. Please, no more fish’. There has to be a point when they are just so full they cannot consider another bite.

By 18:24, all three were passed out in food comas. Think we will see a bit of growth tonight?! Maybe. Hopefully they will sleep well for Lena and Andy. What a day it was. I thought 10 fish was a record but 11! The one thing I did not notice was a lot of recreational boat traffic for a Sunday. Maybe I missed it. Could that and a slight dip in temperatures help Andy fish like this?

It is hard to believe but all of these little eaglets will go from being about 7.62 cm or 3 inches to 91.44 cm (nearly a metre) or 3 feet tall in 3 months. Yes. You read that correctly. Pretty unbelievable. All that prey is turned into eagles the size of the parents.

Life is good over at the West End Eagle nest. Look at those little fuzz balls. So cute. I love it when they put their wings around one another.

Then it switches. The wee one is in there somewhere. There is lots of food on this nest. The parents eat really well and feed the babes til they are full.

Thunder might should have been called ‘lighting’ because that is the speed that she uses when she does a feeding!

Akecheta loves being a Dad. Every time I check on this nest he is brooding. What a great partner you are this year, Cheta.

It is 16:14 on the Big Bear Valley nest. I have never heard or seen wind like this. The gusts have gotten stronger throughout the afternoon. Jackie is hanging on with the baby underneath her. There have been six feedings at the nest today so everything is fine. They are just going to have to hold on – nothing new for Jackie and Shadow. They can handle it.

Oh, the camera could do with a really good wipe at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest of Samson and Gabby. Rocket and Jasper are so gorgeous. They have both been self feeding and parents come and go helping out once in awhile. I have not seen any move to branch yet with either Rocket or Jasper.

Gabby loves being a Mum and she is going to enjoy every minute with Jasper and Rocket that she can.

Cheta just doesn’t want to get off the nest this evening!

Have a look at these two! R1 and R2 have grown like weeds!

Right now you can tell R1 who is on the left from R2 because there is a large white patch on his chest. But gosh, if it wasn’t there, it is very hard to tell the two apart. This Papadam chair nest has really worked well. Just look at both of them standing up so straight. They will be up on that branch before long.

Or maybe they won’t branch and will flap on the rim and fly off. R1 is doing a great job of getting some exercise into its wings.

As the sun sets, it has turned out to be a really good day for all of the nests! I am so hoping to have some news about Grinnell and Annie who seem to be in some kind of standoff with one another and of course, our dear Ervie. Wasn’t that a wonderful picture of him in the pine tree? There will be more Osprey arrivals in the UK tomorrow. Wonder who we will see?

Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone. Look to the birds for joy in a weary world.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagles, West End Bald Eagles, the WRDC, NEFlorida and the AEF, and Friends of Big Bear Valley.

Late Saturday and early Sunday in Bird World

12-13 March 2022

I was really concerned about fish arriving today with the weather system moving through Florida potentially causing Little to not get any fish on Saturday. Little (aka Mini on the chat) has lost a lot of his ‘get up and get in there to eat’ energy due to Big’s beaking. Almost three days without much food and Little, Middle, and Mum, Lena, were looking pretty bad Friday morning. It has been hot and humid and they were clearly getting dehydrated. Andy saved the day – or should I say that something gave way so that Andy had good fishing on Friday. He brought four good sized fish in to the nest and one snack. I only counted two fish coming in on Saturday but I could well be wrong. Little got a real good feed at the end of the day.

This fish, the last one for the day, was delivered at 16:24:52. Andy has just dropped if off and is flying back out to the Gulf. You can see that Big still has a crop from the earlier feed.

There is Little up at the table. He has now completely lost his baby down and has his beautiful dark grey thermal down. The copper red feathers run from the tip of the back of his neck down his shoulders. if you look at the two older siblings you will see their blood feathers coming in – the flight feathers and there contour feathers are also just starting.

I was just so thrilled to see Little eating that well, joy isn’t the right word. Joyful relief? He was so thin Friday morning.

The other two moved up as they got their second wind. Little didn’t move.

Little just kept eating and one of the older siblings turned to face the other way. Good for Little!

It has been raining on and off but everyone looks dry now. Lena is trying to gather up the chicks so she can brood them and keep them warm. Sweet.

It is just 12:19 at the Captiva nest on Sunday and already there have been seven fish deliveries!!!!!!!! Yes, you read that right. 6. The fish were delivered at 07:53:03, 08:16:44, 08:31:37, 08:42:08, 09:12:52; 10:06:24, and 12:19. It has been difficult to see the chicks but I understand that there has been no beaking from Big Bob. This is fantastic news. The bad weather coupled with few deliveries during the last storm clearly caused Big to behave badly. Hopefully the civility will last.

The first six fish that Andy has brought in were Needlefish. They are not that big but Andy must have found a stash of them!

“Needle Fish” by anselor is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

The 11:37 fish was a catfish. It is big! Here it comes. Look at the top left. And then look at the chicks looking up as that whopper arrives.

He shows it to Lena, takes it and eats the head and returns the partial catfish at 12:19.

Thunder is brooding and incubating and the third chick is really making progress on hatching as I write this. Thunder is a great Mum. I love how she feeds the chicks. Here is a bite for you and here is one for you. Back and forth so they have time to swallow but in a nice rhythm so that both are very civilized.

The third chick hatched sometime right before 22:15 or thereabouts. Thunder was taking out the eggshell halves. It is going to be busy busy in the morning at the West End nest!

Then there were three in the morning. Akecheta dug the egg cup so deep that it is really difficult to see all three of the chicks.

Akecheta stayed by Thunder during the night guarding his family – now a family of five instead of two for this first time dad. The Ravens that have plagued this nest will be bothersome and can predate the chicks until they are approximately 5 weeks old. So both Thunder and Akecheta will need to be vigilant.

Golden glow on Thunder as the sun rises on Catalina Island.

Akecheta has been working on the egg cup. I hope he is making it a little wider! You can see the three. Squint for the wee fur ball.

The babies at Dale Hollow are all being fed for the night. River wants them to stay in the dry straw and not be crawling all over the place like they do ordinarily. She has been good, then, to bring the fish to them! All have eaten and somewhere on the Internet is a video of the three of them crop dropping at the same time. Must find it.

It was a cuddle puddle at the Dale Hollow nest this morning. The snow is melting. One of the parents will be nearby serving as security while the other is out hunting for food. The chicks are doing well.

There has been a possible fledge at the Osceola Bald Eagle nest in Florida. This was one of three nests that only had one chick – the other two being Kistachie National Forest and Berry College.

It was a real fledge. OC9 has flown out of the nest and has returned also. This morning she was eating at the nest with the parent when they came in, flying back and forth from the branch to the nest and is now off to explore the world. This is excellent news. This fledgling OC9 needs to return to the nest for about a month. She will perfect her flying and continue to be fed by the parents until she can hunt on her own. Perfect. When they dart out and never return, there is always cause for concern. So well done OC9.

Speaking of fledges, E19 and E20 have both branched and, like the juvenile on the Osceola nest, could fledge any day.

E20 did some great hovering on Saturday. Have a peek.

It will not be long til Kincaid at the Kisatchie National Forest (KNF) nest is branching. He is really working his wings lately.

I have not checked on the Redding Eagles for some time. Liberty is 23 years old and she is incubating two eggs at the nest high up in the Cottonwood Tree on the Sacramento River. Her third mate is Guardian who is 8 years old. We are about one week away from pip watch at this nest!

You may already know the Two Harbours Bald eagle nest high on the cliffs above the town of Two Harbours on Catalina Island. It is a new nest to me. I am including it for a very good reason today. Two Harbours is the home of Chase K81 and Cholyn K82 proud grandparents to their 2009 fledgling Thunder’s trio.

Chase hatched at the San Francisco zoo in 1998. He was fostered at the West End nest which is now home to Thunder and Akecheta. In 2003 he bonded with Cholyn. Cholyn hatched from an egg taken from the West End nest to the SF Zoo – hence the sequence of their wing tags. She was fostered at Pinnacle Rock. Cholyn and Chase are 23 years old and they are incubating one egg so far at the Two Harbours nest this year!

There is snow on the nest of Big Red and Arthur from the storm that went through and the Port Lincoln Osprey Project’s camera on the barge is still off line. However, we do have news of Ervie. Here is his most recent tracking. He is staying right where he has been along the North Shore. Wonder if he has found his forever territory?

I hope that PLO do not mind but Rob Watson sent them an image of Ervie sitting in the top of a Norfolk Island Pine up from his house yesterday. Wonder where that tree is on that tracking chart?

Ervie is certainly intent on watching something. Ervie, you are lookin’ good.

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

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams and/or their FB pages where I took my screen captures: Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Dale Hollow Eagles, Explore.org and Institute for Wildlife Studies, KNF Bald Eagles, SWFlorida Eagles and D Pritchett, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Redding Bald Eagles, and Osceola Eagles.

Hatch at West End Eagles

12 March 2022

Congratulations Thunder and Akecheta on your third hatch of 2022.

Mum Thunder was on the nest and at 10:12 tried to get both halves of the shell out from under her. It would be really crowded under there with three chicks and 2 half egg-shells.

Congratulations West End Bald Eagles!

Oh, the feedings are going to be interesting tomorrow. Akecheta is going to need to bring in lots of fish soon.

Thank you for joining me on such a happy occasion. See you soon.

Thank you to the West End Eagle cam and the Institute of Wildlife Studies for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

3rd Hatch making good progress for Thunder and Akecheta!

12 March 2022

Akecheta looks down proudly at his two babies as the third is almost hatched at the West End Bald Eagle nest on Catalina Island.

Thunder and Akecheta may not have had any fledglings for 2020 and 2021 but, they will make up for it this year. The third egg has almost completely split the egg as I write this!

They are both going to be so busy. If you want to join in the fun, I will post the link to their streaming camera at the end.

Here are some captures at the West End nest today. Cheta looks like he is trying to figure a way to feed the chicks while brooding!!!

Isn’t that the cutest little fluff ball?

The two siblings together looking out as the youngest is trying hard to get that shell off!

Or is Cheta trying to feed himself and the babies!!!!!!! He sure loves being there when the little ones hatch. He assisted chick 2 by removing half of the shell. What a dad.

Cute.

It is hot at the nest today. Cheta and chick 1 are panting.

Our gorgeous dad – hot but happy – waiting for his third baby ever to hatch!

It’s 12:11 and Thunder has come to the nest making the cutest little chirping sounds wanting a turn. I wonder if she knows how Cheta tried to feed them?!

It is not going to be long until the third chick is fully hatched. The crack around the middle of the egg looks like it might be complete.

Here is the link:

Awwww. It is so hot up on top of that rock on Catalina Island!

Thank you so much for joining me. It is eggciting and it will be fun to watch these two, Thunder and Akecheta, as they manage all those babies!!!!!

Thank you to the West End Eagles for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

Late Friday and Early Saturday in Bird World

11-12 March 2022

It was sure easy to fall asleep Friday night after the tide turned, so to speak, at the Captiva Osprey nest. There were five fish deliveries on Friday. Mind you, one of them was about the size of a sardine and lasted 3 minutes but the last one coming in at 15:21:01 filled up the entire family. It did not just go to Big.

The weather might not be so great tomorrow but today was a good day. Little Bob (they call him Mini on the chat and call Middle Bob Little) crop dropped and then went back up to the table to get some more food. Good for him. He has really suffered the last few days. Little Bob winds up with a nice crop, too. Huge actually.

At one point, they were all lined up being nice like the good ole’ days.

On Saturday morning, Andy brought in a whopper of a fish, headless, at 07:31. Lena fed the chicks slow and that fish wasn’t finished for a long time. Little Bob (Mini for chat followers) was intimidated but once he got over there – after the other two were full – there was food left for him and Lena.

It is interesting how Little Bob sometimes keeps his distance from the fish. He used to get right up to Mum.

Lena is looking good today. She was very thin and sunken yesterday morning. One really has to hand it to her. She often has to deal with long droughts but the chicks are still alive and seemingly doing good.

It was family meal time at the Big Bear Valley nest of Jackie and Shadow. Just look at how big that nestling is! That egg looks wee in comparison now.

Some bites for Mum and then one for the little one.

Have a giggle! This is too funny to miss!!!!!!!!!

Early Saturday and the wee one has been fed at Big Bear – twice! There should be no bad weather at any of the nests in California.

It looks like the two eaglets at the West End Bald Eagle Nest on Catalina Island are going to have catfish for dinner.

The Wildlife Institute also uses ‘the name the eaglet’ as a good opportunity for fund raising. Here is that information for the West End babes:

It is a really fine Saturday morning in California. I could take images of proud parents Thunder and Akecheta all day long. They are two of the most photogenic eagles I have seen.

Did you know that Cheta began courting Thunder when he was three years old?

Gosh they are a beautiful couple with one of the most stunning landscapes for a nest I have ever seen. Just look at them. They remind me so much of Jackie and Shadow and certainly their success parallels that of Jackie and Shadow and both have beautiful territories that were devastated by DDT.

Thunder and Cheta will be a lot busier later. The third egg has a pip. It was officially seen at 08:19:59.

The three at the Dale Hollow Lake did good yesterday. Little is getting fed! Sometimes it seems that it doesn’t so watching this and seeing it happen live was good.

Here is a short video of River bringing in a fish and feeding all three chicks!

Dale Hollow has gotten hit by the snow storm that is plowing through a huge swath of the US for the weekend. Not worried about Mum and Dad but Little Bit. Fingers crossed there is fish under that snow and Little Bit gets a good meal.

As predicted, this same snow storm is hitting the nest of Big Red and Arthur in Ithaca, New York.

The surviving eaglet at the Duke Farms Bald Eagle nest is doing very well. It was flapping its wings around the nest bowl all afternoon.

This is Duke Farms Eagle nest this morning. Mum and chick are covered in snow.

B15 is all tucked in and trying to keep warm at the Berry College nest of Pa Berry and Missy. B15 is well equipped now to thermoregulate but gosh, it might be nice to cuddle with Mum.

They don’t have snow but they are getting the torrential rains at the southern end of this system at the NEFlorida Bald eagle nest of Samson and Gabby and their two eaglets, Jasper and Rocket. It is really going to take some Florida sunshine to dry out this soaking nest. They have rain and more rain!

Others are working on nests like Rosie and Richmond and Jack and Harriet at the Dahlgren Osprey nest. It is wet there, too, but now snow today. There is a long way to go but they are making headway. It is another thing on the Whirley crane where the Ravens dismantled Rosie and Richmond’s nest and now they are taking every stick they bring in! Crazy.

Here is a video of Richmond and Rosie working on their nest – furiously working!

That is a look at what has been happening at only a handful of the nests out there to watch.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Friends of Big Bear Valley, Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, Captiva Osprey and Window on Wildlife, NEFlorida Eagles and the AEF, Duke Farms, Berry College, Dahlgren Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, the DHEC River and Obey.

Happiness Spilling over at the nest of Thunder and Akecheta

10 March 2022

There is something so joyful about a first time eagle parent and Akecheta sure gets the gold star for staying diligent and being ever so excited today. Akecheta wears a wing tag with the number A-61. He hatched at the Los Pinos nest on Santa Cruz Island in 2016 so he is six years old this year. He also has a silver band on his left leg with his numbers and an orange band on the right. His mate is Thunder and she wears the wing tag K-91. She hatched at the Two Harbours nest on Catalina Island in 2009. She is 13 years old this year. Akecheta has been Thunder’s mate since the 2020 breeding season. They had many problems including Akecheta, at the young age of four, not really realizing the importance of nest security. Eggs were lost to ravens – two clutches – in 2020 and in 2021 issues with eggs in nesting materials. This year is very different so far! In a good way. Akecheta is smitten with those babies and is being devoted to his family both in getting fish and in security. It is beautiful.

There were 3 eggs laid in the 2022 season on 29 Jan, 1 Feb and 5th February. The first two eggs have hatched on the 8th and 10th of March. Looking for the third to hatch on 12 March. Oh, goodness. What a difference in dates! Today the mods were happy to report that E2 had its beak wide open for food at 12:36:02 and that E1 had its first poop shot at 13:04:56. If you read about bonking on this chat, just smile. The nestlings’s vision and muscles are not developed. It is not intentional at this point.

Watching out for the Ravens that are flying around.

Alerting.

Such happiness – two fuzzy babies. Thunder is so happy!

An Eagle kiss between Thunder and Akecheta. Beautiful.

Akecheta is so excited and wants to do everything! Brooding, security, and fish deliveries!

Sweet little baby.

Yes, you are very cute. Look at that hairdo!

Proud Papa. Thunder can hardly get in any brooding time.

Why do some of the eagles have wing tags and not others? The ones with wing tags were part of an effort to reintroduce bald eagles into the region since they were wiped out by DDE prior to the 1980s. Here is a really thorough article on the hacking effort of reintroduction that both Thunder and Akecheta were part of:

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/chil_eaglecam/wing-bling-reference-chart-santa-catalina-and-san–t11469.html

Everyone is pretty much aware that there are at least 400,000 barrels of DDT that were dumped into the water around the islands. Some of these are leaking. It might turn out that the eagles and their chicks become part of an even greater study as to the continuing impact of this deadly chemical on their chicks and their future breeding.

Today, this family has just put a glow on my face today! I wanted to share that with you. Here is the link to their camera:

Thank you to Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

Thursday in Bird World

10 March 2022

Dyson, Scraggles, Little Red, and Mr Downy were all out in the garden along with the pile of European Starlings and Sparrows plus a couple of Grackles who have returned early. It is cold, -22 but, no snow just bright, bright sunshine. The most interesting book came in the post yesterday. It is Winter World. The Ingenuity of Animal Survival by Bernd Heinrich. It is not just about birds but it is very interesting and full of science that I didn’t know. Originally published in 2003 in hardback. Lots and lots of sound scientific information on how my garden friends survive the winter including the squirrels, the birds and other animals and birds such as weasels and Kinglet’s. I have wondered what all of the Crows eat and there is even a chapter on that. What I have learned is that trees with edible berries are not only beautiful but so helpful to our wildlife friends – including insects – in keeping alive in the cold.

There is a lot to be thankful for and people who are out working to save the lives of the most endangered of our feathered friends. It was wonderful to see a posting about the hatches of the Kakapo. In all, they are doing remarkably well.

As the sun was setting, there were some remarkably loving and tender moments at the Big Bear nest of Jackie and Shadow.

Just look at the crop on that wee babe. Everyone is home sharing dinner together!

The little one was fed really early. The wind at Big Bear Valley is so strong that it almost blew Shadow off the nest! I wonder how good his fishing will be this morning?

Jackie is keeping the wee babe full. Just look at how big this chick is compared to that egg it was squished in last week.

Everyone is sharing a second breakfast together. Lovely.

It also appears that Jack and Diane are not letting the loss of three eggs dampen their day! They have been bringing strips of bark into that nest and on Wednesday were even mating on the nest. Talk about optimistic! We wish them all the luck in the world on what might be a second clutch.

The three eaglets at the Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagle nest of River and Obey are doing fine this morning. It sure is nice to see the sun shining down on that nest for a change!

The twins are just so much bigger than Little Bit. You can really see that this morning. If it gets caught in the middle of them, it is hard to get out.

I will give River a great virtual big hug. Look at how she is leaning over to feed Little Bit.

Big Red has really been putting the final touches on her nest on the Fernow Light Stand on the Cornell University campus. Her and Arthur have been working diligently between the snowstorms to get it in tiptop shape. Looking good!

At the Captiva Osprey nest there was only one fish delivered yesterday. Big ate almost all of it. Andy has just delivered the first fish of the morning. It is 11:24 and it is small. Already everyone knows that Big will get it all – again. So what is going on? Apparently there have been huge flocks of pelicans flying into the area early in the morning. There is certainly a lot of competition for food. I hope that he will be able to get more fish on the nest today. From the experiences at Achieva Credit Union last year, the other two are still OK. Tiny Tot once went 72 hours without food – about the same size as Little Bob now. But let us all wish for some good fish for them today.

And then there were two! Congratulations Thunder and Akecheta at the West End Eagle nest on Catalina on your second hatch!

This little one probably hatched around 04:00. It will need more rest until it is ready to eat.

I love how Cheta is watching how Thunder feeds the babies. He is going to be really busy supplying fish now that there are two of them – and, of course, security at this nest is paramount.

Just a beautiful Bald Eagle family!

What a lovely way to end the morning – with Akecheta learning how to feed his now two little ones. There is one more egg to go! This family will be very busy if it hatches. If it does we will be looking for that on Saturday.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: The Kakapo Recovery, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Dale Hollow Lake Eagles, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Explore.org, and Achieva Credit Union.