Tag Archives: birds

The Good, the Ugly, the Terrific in Bird World

23 March 2022

I am going to start with the ‘Ugly’ so that the ending of this posting can possibly be joyful. Please forgive any typos or grammar today. It has been crazy!

The Dale Hollow nest continues to be quite unsettled. Yesterday morning both of the chicks enjoyed about half an American coot each. They were still filled late in the afternoon. As many of you know the camera was turned away from the nest for some time. It was speculated by many, including me, that River had been digging in the nest and fed Little Bit’s body to Big.

There was, however, an unidentified object on the nest that I have now IDed. I finally put a scope up to view it. Go down to the bottom. Those are the whitish-pink feet and talons of a nestling Bald Eagle. Move up. You can see the wing. The ‘fur’ is the thermal down of an eaglet and it is not Little Bit who did not have her down and was not that big. This object is no longer on the nest. But it is decidedly a nestling eaglet.

Is it possible that the reason the camera was turned away was the delivery of live nestlings to be eaten taken from another nest?

Middle has had nothing to eat since the Coot. There was an unidentifiable object that appeared to be a pelt of some kind brought on and today at 13:24:29 River flew in with what looked like a sheet of dry fish skin. Big clearly wanted to send a message to Middle. “There is only enough for me!” and Big went on the attack before the dried skin landed on the nest.

There needs to be a couple of big fish or another Coot brought on to this nest right away to calm Big’s warpath down! So where are the fish? or the Coot? It is nearly 14:00 – every other Bald Eagle nest had food early this morning!

Update for Dale Hollow: At 14:18:49 a big fish with head is brought on to the nest. The adult begins to feed Big immediately.

Middle is listening and carefully watching. He begins to mov slowly around to the right of the nest rim at 14:26:22.

At that same moment, the adult moves the fish and Big who stopped being fed notices Little and goes on the attack.

Middle is so terrified that once it gets up to the beak of the parent – thankfully they turned to face the rim so it could be on the opposite side – it first refuses. Middle takes its first bite at 14:40:36.

It is extremely difficult to see how much fish – during the feeding – that each of the eaglets got.

At 15:16:07, you can see that Middle has a nice crop. There is also some fish on the nest.

So, Middle has eaten today and that is wonderful. There is enough fish for each of them to have something later but…that will depend on the mood of Big. It is terrifying to the garden birds when Sharpie comes and is successful in its hunting. I cannot image what it would be like to live with something like a ‘hawk’ right in the nest with you. Middle will need to continue watching and listening. He did well today. It was only when the adult moved the fish that Big noticed Middle was moving. If that did not happen, Middle would have quietly gotten up front. Still, after being beaked many times, he moved up to eat. It is wonderful.

I was getting ready to close and well, Middle gets the ‘Gold Star’ of the day. It quietly went up to one of the two pieces of fish and began self-feeding. Not the full blown self-feeding we think of but it was holding the tail piece down and getting fish. Big had no idea what was going on!

River has flown in to feed both of the eaglets the remaining fish. Big did beak and tower over Middle because it was already up there ready to eat.

It did, later, get some of the fish.

Middle has a nice crop and has moved away from the feeding area.

At the Dulles Greenaway Bald Eagle nest, Martin has been fishing. He brought in another big one for Rosa’s pantry with several on the nest! This little one is never going to have to worry about being hungry.

Martin took time to feed Rosa some of the fresh fish before the baby was fed. Sweet.

No one is going to mess with the three eaglets at the West End nest of Akecheta and Thunder. Dad is doing a great job shading the babies from the hot California sun today.

For those of you who might have missed it, Big Red and Arthur now have 4 eggs on their Cornell University campus nest. Four. The newest egg was laid at 12:17:40.

Here is the link to Big Red and Arthur’s camera, one of only two RTH cams:

My first and continuing loves were hawks and falcons. While Big Red was laying that 4th egg, Annie was spending an awful lot of time in the scrape box. In fact, it is 13:47 in Berkley California and Annie is still there. She first arrived at 07:39 staying until 10:18. She returned for a really quick visit at 11:06 returning at 12:40. She has been in the scrape since then.

If you have not watched Peregrine Falcons raise their chicks, I highly recommend that you do. You will learn a lot and can compare them to the bigger raptors.

Congratulations to Harry and Nancy at the MN DNR nest. Their first egg hatched yesterday. Poor Nancy was soaked to the skin but she kept those eggs and that baby warm and dry. This is a really beautiful couple. Here is the video.

This is today. You can just see the one fur ball. Harry was an amazing day last year at the age of 4. Looking forward to this season. Just hope the rain and cold will blow away!

‘B’ sent me a note while I was out shopping for birdseed. R1 at the WRDC nest flew back into the nest at 13:10. Thanks ‘B’. I would have missed it. This is wonderful news.

If you are looking for the eagle cam link at the Miami Zoo, here it is:

https://www.zoomiami.org/bald-eagle-cam

E19 has been enjoying the pond at the Pritchett Farm. I wonder how many times the eaglets watched their parents enjoying the water? Beautiful view.

Mr North is on the Decorah North nest in Iowa. We are on pip/hatch watch.

It is time to turn the attention to the Ospreys in the UK. At the Loch of the Lowes nest, LM12 or Laddie has been working to create the most wonderful nest for Blue NC0 since March 13. NC0 arrived at 18:19. The same bit of cool greeting for Laddie when he flew in as met Blue 33 (11) at Rutland. Go and get a fish Laddie. She has flown a great distance to get back to you safely. Oh, it is getting dark. Hurry up! or she will be hollering all night.

Last Osprey breeding season, person or persons took a boat and chainsaw and cut down the Osprey platform at Lyn Brenig. This halted the breeding season of the Ospreys that were there. They never recovered. A new pole has been installed and the streaming cam is now live.

At Rutland Water Manton Bay, Blue 33 (11) and Maya are working on the nest. Maya is supervising after Blue kept hitting her with that branch.

Here comes Maya with soft nesting material. Blue brought Maya a nice fish later and there has been mating on the nest.

Reports of an Osprey just south of Loch Arkaig. Is it Louis? We will find out tomorrow!

It is all good. Middle at Dale Hollow is full and sound asleep.

If you missed the talk on restoring Bald Eagles to the Channel Islands, here is the link. Explore.org does a lot of very interesting presentations – not just on eagles! The one prior to this was about the need to maintain the large Sequoyah Forests and how this might done.

It has been a pretty terrific day in Bird World except for the Sauces nest of Jak and Audacity. It appears that their egg might not be viable.

We are almost at the point that other than tossing him off the nest, Big’s actions will not mean much other than intimidation. Thank goodness. Both hatched on 28 Feb so they are 25 days old today. Oh, River started feeding the remaining piece of fish. Big ate first but she positioned herself and Middle moved up and is being fed. It is 17:17:41. Look at middle’s fat legs and bottom. This eaglet is filling out. Tears!

Will close on this magical moment.

Thank you for joining me today. It is lovely to have you here with me and the raptors. Take care!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Dale Hollow Eagle Cam, Dulles-Greenaway BE, Rutland Manton Bay, Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, Pix Cams, Decorah North, WRDC, MN DNR, Cal Falcons, Cornell Bird Cam RTH, and the West End Bald Eagles.

Tuesday in Bird World

22 March 2022

It is impossible to convey how joyful the image below makes me. River has been diligently shading Middle and Big since they finished an entire American Coot around noon.

As you can see both eaglets have big crops. Middle’s is enormous. That kid really likes American Coot!!!!!!

River stayed with the eaglets on the nest for most of the day. There were high level alerts between her and Obey and they both went into defensive mode. The two chicks ate and ate and still have a bit of a crop after some crop dropping. They will be fine til tomorrow but let us hope that something big comes in to the nest so things stay relatively peaceful. Middle is growing and that is a good thing and he is getting better at strategizing.

Middle is, however, scaring the wits out of me! I really hope that he doesn’t tumble over the edge when he tries to get upright. Oh, gosh, golly. What next?

At the MN DNR nest of Harry and Nancy, it was a cold torrential downpour this morning and the weather is still miserable in Minnesota. Nancy is doing everything to protect those precious eggs.

Poor Kincaid is one soaked eaglet and its nest is wet to its core. You can see all of the turtles that have been brought up for lunch by Louis! Goodness. This was another nest that often had American Coot along with the fish and the turtles.

It isn’t raining yet in Pittsburgh. Thank goodness. DH17 just hatched this morning. Two little Booble heads for Mum and Dad! DH16 wants to eat and the wee babe just wants to sleep. Cute.

The winds have really calmed down at the Captiva Osprey nest. Lena must be so happy. She was almost blown over last night! Just take a look at these two gorgeous osplets.

In the image Lena is moving around the edge of the platform to provide shade for the osplets. That is Little – yes, Little (or Mini) under Lena’s tail. Can you believe it?

And there is beautiful Middle Bob up front by Mum. The plumage that is coming in on these chicks is so gorgeous.

Both watching Mum fly!

The fourth fish delivery to the Captiva nest came around 14:00. Look at how well the chicks plumage camouflages them on the nest.

Everything looks good at Eagle Country. The two chicks of Abby and Blazer – well, it doesn’t seem right to call them chicks anymore. Gosh, they are beautiful and big! Won’t be long til fledging.

Well, what is up with Annie and Grinnell? Some are worried because the young females continue to come to the ledge of The Campanile wanting to court Grinnell. He has tried to get them to leave without a lot of success. Meanwhile, he tries to reassure Annie that he is the one. The pair have been caught on camera courting in the scrape. Annie, who normally lays her first egg on 10 March, is a bit late. She has been spending more time hanging around in or near the scrape. Thanks to ‘B’ we have a good time line of Annie’s activities this morning. ‘B’ notes the following (I missed it because of Dale Hollow): “Grinnell arrives on the wall to their balcony at 7:55, drops down to the scrape at 7:57.  Annie arrives on the wall almost immediately as G drops down, then Annie joins Grinnell in the scrape at 8:00:16, sixteen seconds late for their 8:00:00 pair bonding appointment.  G leaves within about a minute, but Annie remains, lying in the scrape until 9:30.  Annie moves to her roost on the lamp at that time and remained there until 10:23, when she returned to the scrape, where she remains now at 10:35.  Doing a little scraping, picking at rocks, lying.” Thank you, B. 

Annie has a really nice crop. I sure hope that meal was provided by Grinnell! Annie is gorgeous. They are even grandparents.

Here Annie is in the scrape.

Annie returns to the scrape. I sure hope we see some eggs in this scrape, soon

Martin and Rosa are taking really good care of their one and only chick for 2022. It is growing quickly – getting all the food that could be meant for 1 or 2 more. What a darling.

The first hatch at the Redding Bald Eagle nest of Liberty and Guardian is certainly cute and fuzzy. It hatched on 20 March at 21:20 so it is 1.5 days old. The remaining egg is pipping!

Oh, those first little bites are so tiny.

Well, this is really how to feed three eaglets so that you have three fledges! Thunder and Akecheta are a great team. This keeps the volume and any rivalry down when they do their tandem feedings which is often.

In Manitoba we have the Peregrine Recovery Project and two of the breeding males have arrived back in our province a little early. One was trying to work on the scrape box on the Raddison Hotel and the gravel was still frozen. Meanwhile the Canada Geese continue to fly in while the Snowy Owls are departing for the north.

It is a beautiful day so far on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. What a gorgeous place to have a nest. There is the Queen of the Red tail Hawks, Big Red.

I want you to take in this beautiful Welsh landscape. Pastoral. Now look at the Osprey nest. The good people of Glaslyn have built up the edges for Aran and Mrs G on their return. Everything is fixed and wired. All the Ospreys have to do is bring in the nesting material!

I sure wish someone would have done this for Richmond and Rosie. Seriously there are twigs all over the Glaslyn Valley for Aran and Mrs G but no so plentiful on a shipping yard with concrete! Rosie was making progress yesterday and then the wind flipped her off the nest along with all her hard work.

The Dahlgren Osprey nest was a new build platform. Jack and Harriet have both been working and the locals are leaving more stuffed toys for Jack to take to the nest. Today’s delivery was number 2 toy. Jack and Richmond both have something in common. They love to bring bright and unusual things to their nest. Cute. Jack does get out of hand, helped along by the good citizens of the community. I don’t think I have ever seen an eagle bring a toy to the nest. Have you?

This is the most recent report from the Kakapo Recovery – it is a struggle with these amazing non-flying parrots. Those who work with them are so dedictated.

Thank you so much for all your notes and suggestions for viewing. I hope to have a listing to share with everyone in a couple of days. It has been a good day except for the weather and intruders. There are pips, hatches, eaglets and osplets eating, Ospreys arriving, intruders, tornadoes, torrential rain, high wind gusts, and all manner of anything that can happen at a nest.

Oh, River brought in a small rat or squirrel. It looks like Big will eat most of it. I am kinda’ glad about that if it is a rat.

Middle has now moved up and has not fallen off. Relief.

At 16:49:11 the camera goes to the lake. There were some horrible sounds at 17:07:23. What was that? I hope it is just my over active imagination.

There must be intruders about. Fingers crossed everyone!

Middle doesn’t need a rat to eat. He had half an American Coot this morning and some leftovers from it -small pieces later. He still had a nice crop. That said, I am certain he would get right up there for ‘rat’ if Big left any for him.

Thank you so much for joining me and thank you for all of your notes, your comments, your questions, and your recommendations. They are always appreciated. Please take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: The Kakapo Recovery, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Dale Hollow Lake Eagles, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Pix Cams, Dahlgren Ospreys, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, MN DNR, KNF, Dulles Greenway Eagles, Redding Eagles, Eagle Country, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife, and Cal Falcons.

Thank you, Obey!

21 March 2022

Note: I have not included any graphic images of the early afternoon events. If you have watched this nest you will understand the ways in which Big has attacked Middle – leaning over it, pecking and pulling at its head. The day began and ended well.

It has not been a good afternoon for the Middle chick at the Dale Hollow Bald Eagle nest. DH15. It ate well at the 06:43:46 feeding and again at 08:34.30. While it is true that Bald Eagles do not have to eat every day, Middle is a chick on the nest and should be getting regular feedings in order to develop properly and have good feathering. Stress causes what is known as ‘stress lines in feathers’. What Bald Eagles want are healthy strong chicks with excellent feathering.

Big was set off when River only brought in a fish head at 12:54:06. Middle did not get any of the fish head but was attacked on two separate occasions with Big maintaining an intimidating posture. Indeed, even after Big ate it went after Middle. That was 13:12:30.

River came in and fed scrapes and an old fish tail to Big at 14:25:11.

HD15 Middle has been prey crying.

At 16:51 a small headless fish is brought to the nest by Obey. River arrives shortly after at 16:53:07. Big attacks Middle at 16:53:59 Middle does not get any fish.

At 17:21:06 Middle sits up. Big looks at him. At 17:21:07 Big attacks Middle for just getting up. It is very clear that Big now perceives that there is only enough fish for it. Middle has had enough fish. She is however continuing to intimidate Middle so that he will not eat. Will more fish arrive today? A huge fish to calm Big? We wait.

At 18:27 the chicks appear to hear ‘something’. They become alert. Big still has quite a crop. Middle has no crop. At 18:30 Obey arrives on the nest with a large headless fish —— just like Bald Eagle dads do. They eat the head and bring the body to the Mum and the chicks.

Big begins to eat. Middle is keeping its head down. He is hungry but also very scared.

Middle is trying out strategies. It wants to go between River’s legs like it did in the morning where it can eat and be protected.

Middle winds up, however, going on the left side of River where she feeds him. He is protected from Big!

Middle gets fed well.

Big gets some more bites.

Middle moves and River steps on its back.

This scares Middle. He does not appear hurt but he moves away.

Slowly he returns to eat.

Big is full and Middle continues to be fed by River.

Big is too full and lays down to sleep. 18:58.

Middle gets the last bites. That big fish was completely consumed.

It is really good for Middle when fish, large enough for both, come on the nest. Remember the size of the eaglets. More larger fish will be needed on this nest, not fewer. Middle is learning some devices to protect itself and eat – eating between River’s legs and going to the opposite side where Big is. Let us all send warm wishes and positive thoughts to this nest so that the fish – big ones – continue on this nest. It looks like they need four large fish a day to keep the nest stable. We still have to take this nest a meal at a time and enjoy the good times. At some point Middle will, hopefully, be large enough that Big leaves it alone.

Thank you for joining me. It was a good beginning of the day at Dale Hollow and a good ending. Take care Everyone.

Thank you to the Dale Hollow streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

Dale Hollow – still some beaking amidst the good

21 March 2020

It was a grey morning when Big and Middle wake up. Both immediately begin preening. Big is getting its blood feathers along the wing.

At 06:43:46 River flies in with what looks like to be a medium sized fish. Both babies are sleepy heads.

River offers Middle the first bite at 06:45:13. He moves to take it. Despite Big not seeming to be interested, this is a mistake.

Big is the dominant bird on the nest. Middle needs to be careful not to wake up Big’s bad side. Big gets angry and lashes out. Poor Middle is terrified and immediately moves to try and get away. Big could fatally injure the wee one.

Big will eat and Middle will keep a very submissive and self-protective pose until 06:47 when it moves to the rim of the nest closer to Mum River. River offers bites to Big who doesn’t seem to be interested. Middle notices and moves close to Mum’s beak eating quickly at 06:48:50.

River drops a piece of fish she is trying to give Big. Middle looks at it but is extremely aware that Big is moving. This clearly frightens Middle.

Big is moving so it can do a poop shot. Look at that PS. Gracious.

Big then moves up to River to eat.

Middle might look calm but it isn’t. It is frightened by the actions of Big, a reminder of what happened to it less than 48 hours ago when Big took its wrath out on Middle til late in the day on the 19th. Many of us thought Middle would not survive.

Middle is getting smart but it needs to continue to be extremely cautious. Middle moves between River’s legs to snatch some bites where it is protected from Big. The time was 06:54:43.

By 06:57:54 River has reached the fish tail. Little would like some. Big will eat most of the tail at 06:58:44 but then it drops a large piece. River gives Middle some of the tail at 06:59:13.

River moves to get another piece of fish that is on the nest at 06:59:35. Middle continues to eat. It is interesting that Big is less interested in food. Does it need to cast a pellet?

Obey arrives on the nest at 08:15:58. The eaglets have finished eating and River is shading them when he arrives. You can see that there is another piece of fish on the nest and behind River there is another. Fish magically appear from inside all that straw!

Obey does a quick check, an alert call, and he is off. By this time Big is hungry so River gets to the fish tail and begins to feed Big at 08:20. You can see the other piece of fish, a large portion, to the left of River. Middle stays in submission in the middle of the nest while Big eats.

At 08:26:22 Middle moves around to position itself for food. Middle is watching Big careful to not make Big angry.

Middle gets its first bite at 08:26:40. Middle has really perfected its move up to the beak and the snatch and grab. Both will eat until 08:34:30 when Middle is the only one left eating. The feeding is finished around 08:36:42. Middle had dropped its crop earlier and is now getting another one. Yeah!

At 10:20:17, Middle is crying for fish. Big is over at the rim and River, hearing Middle, moves up to the piece of fish near the feeding area.

River reaches down to feed Middle and Big immediately moves!

Another mistake! Middle cannot eat before Big. It is 10:20:33 and Big attacks Middle. Remember that Big is so much larger that it can still kill the smaller Middle relatively easy. Not good to wake up Big’s bad side.

Big moves up to eat for a few minutes. Middle stays in submission.

Then Big moves to the rim of the nest. Will Middle get any food?

Yes!

Middle moves very carefully over to the right of the nest.

Middle eats for awhile and then River offers a bite to Big at the rim.

At 10:24:54 something wonderful happens. Middle does a poop shot. This is so good. The plumbing is working fine.

Afterwards, Middle moves up and continues to eat. Big is quiet. Thank goodness.

By 10:26:48 Middle appears to be full and moves over to look at what is going on in the woods.

Big and Middle eventually wind up beside one another at the rim. Everything is amicable. Both are hot. Why is River not up here shading her chicks?

The two of them move around the nest trying to get cool. It is now 11:05 and the nest is quiet. No more feedings.

This nest is hardly settled. Middle is learning tricks to survive but has to remain very careful at the beginning of each feeding. Let Big go first and hope that lots of fish land on the nest. We have to take this nest at almost a feeding at a time for now. Send positive wishes!

Also a correction to an earlier post: Abby and Blazer’s two eaglets hatched on the 11th and 14th of February not March. Thanks ‘S’. LOL. They would not be ready for branching if it was March!!!!!!!!!

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

Thank you to Dale Hollow Eagle streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

SE19 fledges, noon feed at Dale Hollow, and other news in Bird World

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

Happy Breakfish at Dale Hollow

20 March 2022

The atmosphere on the Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagle nest was decidedly different this morning. Yesterday, after DH15 Middle had eaten, it was hoped that the tide would turn at this nest for the better. I remain cautiously optimistic at this point.

River brought a large fish to the nest at 07:17:49. DH14 Big moved up to have her breakfast. DH15 Middle remained at the centre of the nest listening. While Big is eating, Middle is going to quietly move around the right rim of the nest in hope of getting some breakfast.

River walks away from the fish and over to Middle offering it bites of fish. It is 07:37:33. This is a clear change in River’s behaviour. Until last evening, River had ignored Middle’s cries for food. Now she is reaching out to it to feed it. This is wonderful.

River moves back up to the fish extending her neck to Middle with bites of fish encouraging him to come up where the fish is. For some time Middle is uncertain. Big is watching and Middle is scared. However, what Middle does do is the ‘snatch and grab’.

Because he is scared, he drops bites which River picks up and offers to him again.

It feels slow but it is actually quick – Middle gets the confidence to move up to the table. He is encouraged by River.

Middle has a really good feeding. He beings to slow because its crop is full. River eats a few bites, continues to offer to Middle, and then Big moves up to the table. It is 07:47:11.

River offers Big some bites.

I had to re-wind several times but, lo and behold, Middle does the snatch and grab on some pieces meant for Big. This is a very good change. Indeed, you might begin to think that River pauses to see if Middle will grab.

We have to pause and take this all in. Within a period of nine minutes, Middle has gone from being frightened to eat to snatching and grabbing fish flakes that had previously gone to Big. Incredible.

River stops the feeding at 07:48:07. She aerates the nest a lot and broods Middle.

Obey joins River and the two chicks on the nest at 09:25:36.

River and Obey seem concerned about possible intruders.

Obey flies off to do security on the territory and River aerates more of the nest. you can see how much of the morning fish remains on the nest.

Middle is sleeping and having nice fishy dreams while Big moves up to be offered some more of the remaining fish.

There is not much fish left when Big finishes eating. She has an enormous crop! Middle is being cautious and has moved over to the rim.

Both chicks are sleeping with crops when River flies off.

Big moves over by Middle. I have to admit that I held my breath because of the concern over Big harming Middle. But…nothing happened.

This is the last image of the nest when I quit the morning report. All is well. The huge fish that arrived three hours earlier is all gone but a few flakes. It appears that there are intruders in the area so we do not know when another fish will come. We take this nest a day at a time but clearly there has been a shift in behaviour by all three. River is offering food to Middle and has now noticed that Middle is not afraid to snatch and grab some bites intended for Big. Middle has gained confidence while, at the same time, Big has established dominance and the ‘I eat first’.

Let us all wrap this nest with the most positive wishes we can. This morning was nothing short of joyful.

It is so nice to send a very positive nest report! Today we are on pip watch at the Redding Bald Eagle nest and expecting the third egg at Big Red and Arthur’s nest at Cornell (it might have happened while I was writing this).

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

Thank you to the DHEC for its streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

The continuing sadness at the Dale Hollow Nest

19 March 2022

I wanted to use the word ‘madness’ in the title instead of ‘sadness’ but I do not want to be one of the sensationalizing tabloid type newspapers.

WARNING: This is not graphic in terms of the images except for two. The text information helps to understand this nest on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee better.

It is most helpful to have the data of hatch times and feeding times so that you can get a clear picture of what has happened at a nest – the good and the bad. I now have all of the fish deliveries for the Dale Hollow Nest and the precise times of the three hatches. This is extremely informative when compared with other Bald Eagle nests.

I also want to say that if you look at some of the other nest chat’s you will notice that they list the poop shot times. This is really important. I did not observe either DH15 or DH16 having any PS for a number of days. These were not continually recorded. The internal organs of the chicks, as they suffer dehydration and starvation, begin to shut down.

This nest started out somewhat promising. My observation is that the female has done an inordinate amount of hunting and fishing for prey when she would normally be on the nest brooding the chicks especially at these early days. The nest had both rain and snow.

Hatches:

  • DH14 (Big) – 25 February 2022 at 11:16
  • DH15 (Middle) – 25 February 2022 at 11:51
  • DH16 (Little Bit) – 28 February 2022 at 13:21

Prey Deliveries:

  • 26 February – R fish head at 07:51; O squirrel at 08:12; O catfish head at 09:54; and O catfish head at 13:59
  • 27 February – There was no prey delivery
  • 28 February – There was no prey delivery
  • 1 March – There was no prey delivery
  • 2 March – R fish at 05:52:57. All nestlings have a crop drop. DH14 has a ps.
  • 3 March – O fish at 16:35
  • 4 March – R fish at 08:52:08
  • 5 March – O fish with a minnow in mouth at 16:42:08
  • 6 March – O fish at 05:55; R fish at 09:20:30
  • 7 March – O fish at 12:23; O fish at 15:19:42
  • 8 March – There was no prey delivery
  • 9 March – R crow at 06:55; R fish at 15:33:12
  • 10 March – R fish at 09:13:30; O fish at 11:33:41; R fish at 14:42:13
  • 11 March – ? fish at 10:52; O fish at 16:49:35
  • 12 March – O fish at 12:43:27; R fish at 13:01:27. Snowed overnight. All chicks lined up and eating.
  • 13 March – O fish at 11:47:14; R squirrel at 15:31:48; O fish at 16:56:20
  • 14 March- There was no prey delivery
  • 15 March – R fish at 09:14:51; R fish at 12:51:32. Minnow in mouth of 12:51 fish fed to DH14
  • 16 March – R fish at 07:23:01. THIS IS THE LAST MEAL THAT DH15 AND DH16 WILL EAT AND HAVE A CROP. BIG IS ALREADY CONCERNED WITH LITTLE BIT. BOTH MIDDLE AND LITTLE EXHIBITED SNATCH AND GRAB BEHAVIOURS.
  • 17 March – R fish at 14:29:13; O fish at 18:16. DH14 is the only chick to eat save for a few bites to DH15
  • 18 March – R fish at 07:07:04; O fish at 12:09:33. DH 14 is the only chick to eat. DH16 endures two days (17 and 18 March) of brutal attacks from DH14. At 15:30 DH14 begins a reign of terror on both DH15 and DH16. Beaking and intimidating both. This lasts until 19:20. DH16 dies of injuries and starvation around 19:11. DH14 had a huge PS.
  • 19 March – O fish at 07:04:56; R fish at 07:24:17. DH14 is the only chick to eat despite there being part of the first fish and most of the second fish on the nest. DH15 attempts to get some fish by trying to self feed. DH14 continues its reign of terror. DH15 at one point appears to want to jump off nest.

The last feeding on the 16 March where DH15 and DH16 get bites.

On the 19th of March, today, two fish. DH14 ate all but the tail of the first and will not allow DH15 to eat.

A second large fish comes on the nest and DH14 again eats and proceeds at all times to stop DH15 from eating.

DH15 trying to self feed. This chick is starving. It kept beaking the mothers beak last night begging to be fed.

Adult returns and DH14 eats again. Middle gets no food. Again it will try to self feed.

Efforts to keep DH15 away from the food have involved intimidation and physical attack.

Adult goes out of way to feed DH14 more fish.

There is food on the nest but DH15 has not eaten except for a few bites late on the 18th of March.

In an article, also posted at DHEC, the Canadian biologist and eagle expert, Dale Hancock, says, “Sibling rivalry is where the bully takes all or most of the food until that bully is full, and only then does it sit back and let the next chick get fed.” He continues, “If lots of food is available then all three chicks will get fed and survive – but not always will all chicks survive. This is nature’s successful plan but not a plan that is easy to observe.”

I have not used the word bully for DH14. These chicks are/were trying to survive in very dire circumstances that began to unravel at the beginning of hatch. Whether or not the lack of prey and lack of brooding is a constant at this nest is unknown to me. This is my first year of observations. I do not recommend this nest in the future despite the fact that circumstances can change. The frenzied killing and intimidation over a period of nearly four hours straight yesterday leaves me very cold towards DH14 and yet it is only trying to survive on a nest that is unstable. Whether or not this was a lack of prey in the area, intruder threats or both, and lack of parental care remains unclear.

All of the information on the hatch times and the prey deliveries and times have come from the log of the Dale Hollow Eagle Club (DHEC).

Good Gracious. Little Bit moved!

One of my readers, ‘L’ just sent me a message that Little Bit on the Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagle nest moved. I do not want to make light of this little one’s suffering and pain but, this is astonishing. Thank you, Lisa. This is one very tough little eaglet. For the record, it is 3 days younger than the Big one and has not eaten in 82 hours.

WARNING. THESE IMAGES ARE GRAPHIC

This was Little Bit after the twisting, peaking, and thromping at 12:37.

At 15:49 there appears to be a very faint heart beat. Little Bit is blinking its eyes. This is the toughest little eaglet I have ever seen in my life. Sweet Baby.

Little Bit played possum at Dale Hollow – how will tomorrow turn out?

Thursday, 17 March 2022

I always hope to give accurate information on the nests. I believed Little Bit to have died earlier. Instead this ingenious starving little eaglet played the best possum I have ever seen! So I want to correct that and add in subsequent information.

Today, Little Bit at Dale Hollow endured more than an hour and a half of pecking from her big sibling preventing her from eating along with the middle sibling. The two have not had food since early Wednesday morning. I thought Little Bit was dead. Instead, he was playing possum and doing a grand job of it. I am shocked at what this chick endured and persevered – at the same time, I have to warn you that just because the little one survived until the next fish arrival, the terror reigning down on this nest is not over and the accurate word remains, ‘siblicide’. The deliberate killing of a brother or sister.

Before I proceed, it is believed that the oldest sibling is a female and that the youngest one is a male. Some of these images are horrific – they are even worse in video which is why I chose stills. Little Bit is still alive at 19:25 when he joins its siblings under River.

At 18:16:01, a parent arrives on the nest with a fish.

That delivery aroused the interest of Middle and Little Bit. Big immediately went to thwart them from wanting any fish.

Big rushes over walking on top of Little Bit to get to the Middle sibling.

Middle sibling has its neck down for protection and in complete submission. Big is standing on Little Bit now. It looks like River is going to reach over to feed Big.

Big settled in eating knowing that the siblings would not dare bother him eating.

Big ate his fill and there was still some meat and that lovely fish tail left. Before River flew off, Big went over to stop the two siblings from getting up to Mum to eat.

With her chick fed, River flew off the nest at 18:27. This is so odd to me. A parent seems to show up with a fish and then they leave.

Big has a ‘big’ crop. Indeed, Big is so full that she has trouble moving about the nest. This does not stop her attacks on her two siblings, however.

For a moment, Big went off to go into a food coma.

That food coma did not last long. Middle dared to raise its head and Big went back over to the two siblings. Big is a big clumsy because its crop is so full.

Big begins beaking Middle.

When Big is finished with Middle, he decides to go after Little Bit. It is a ferocious attack involved multiple pecking at the spinal cord on the back, tossing the nest and thrashing the chick about, and kicking.

I honestly do not know how Little Bit is still alive. If there is to be a miracle and this little boy survives this nest, he is going to be one tough eagle.

At 18:42, Big is not content and shakes Little Bit’s head and kicks him with her feet.

The skin of these birds must be really tough.

Big looks over and is pretty satisfied that he has ‘taken care of’ the two. Remember, to Big, this is about survival and Big is determined to be the last one standing.

No. Big is not finished. Big will not leave Little Bit alone.

At 19:03, Obey appears on the left rim of the nest.

Little raises its head and leans it on Big.

Obey goes over to where the fish tail is located.

Obey stirs up the nesting material as Big looks on. Big is leaning on Little Bit. Middle is moving up with the grass on its back thinking Dad might feed it.

At 19:09 Big goes to sleep.

The River flies up to the rim of the nest at 19:11. Middle scoots up to the Mum. He is under the grass. Little Bit raises his head and so does Big. River roots around. In my head I went Yippee…thinking of the fish tail.

River begins to feed Middle the fish tail at 19:15. Little Bit sees this. Will he get up to eat, too?

At 19:18 Little Bit is on the move. Will he make it in time to get any fish at all?

Little Bit did make it up to Mum and Middle. River turned her back. I cannot tell you how much, if any, fish Little Bit got to eat but Middle did have a tiny crop. You can see it in the image below.

Little Bit will join Middle and Big under Mum.

This entire afternoon reminds me of Tiny Tot Tumbles on the Achieva Osprey nest who was believed dead several times and wound up being the dominant bird on the nest. I do believe in strange miracles. But I also do not want Little Bit to suffer. We wait now until tomorrow.

Late Thursday Bird World News -.

17 March 2022

Before I begin what is a much happier news letter, there is something that I need to do. It appeared that Little Bit at the Dale Hollow nest had died. However at 17:47 Little Bit came out of playing possum (I swore the chick was dead).

That movement caused Big to turn around and attack.

The status of Little Bit is unclear. What is known is that Big has not let Little Bit or Middle eat today. The situation remains dire and sad at Dale Hollow. Little Bit and Middle have not eaten since Wednesday morning. I am absolutely amazed that Little Bit is still with us.

Lena had been keeping Middle and Little (or Little and Mini) shaded and in flies Andy with a really nice catfish at 16:13! He looks like he is posing for the camera. Thank you, Andy. We know you are a great provider.

The chicks were hungry and I bet Mum Lena was glad to see a fish. We have to remember that the Ospreys get that hydration from the fish as well as their food.

Just look at that crop!!!!!!! I cannot tell if this is Little or Middle. Oh, looking back over the footage, I think it is Little.

Indeed, Little Bob was still eating at 17:27! Lena has been feeding babies for 1 hour and 14 minutes. Lena will not stop until all are full. She is a great Mum and to be appreciated.

Lena even got to have some nice catfish herself! The two chicks, Little now completely full, are off watching the happenings on the Gulf. They are content. Everyone on this nest will sleep well tonight.

All of us need a giggle after what has happened at the Dale Hollow Nest. I needed something ridiculous. On the chat of the West End Bald Eagles, someone said that Akecheta is being a Poptent. Those babies are being shaded and protected!

It is 15:47 in California and Thunder has just joined the rest of her family.

Akecheta is such a proud papa.

It is 18:51 in Ithaca, New York and Big Red is just coming back to the nest from her last break and dinner for the day. What a fantastic Mum you are Big Red! Did you know that it is extremely rate for falcons or hawks to have siblicide on their nests? It is much more common on eagle and osprey nests.

Big Red is a delight as a mother and I cannot wait to see the pile of critters that Arthur is going to bring to this nest. Sometimes the nest cup is lined with fur. It also gives you a chance to play the game that everyone does on a hawk nest: Name the Prey Item.

Here is a really short video of Big Red laying her second egg.

Mary Cheadle, the force behind the Lock Arkaig FB Group, has created a list of all the UK streaming Osprey cams. I am so grateful to her and I know Mary will not mind if I share that list with you.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/friends-of-loch-arkaig-ospreys/livestream-nest-cams-2022/347793833357367/

Many of us have been wondering where the rest of the prey is for Annie from Grinnell. We haven’t seen anymore. Here is a superb article on the happenings of the Cal Falcons, Grinnell and Annie, for the past few months. Do take the time to read it if you are a fan of these two super peregrine falcons.

Annie the Falcon Came Back from Presumed Dead, but Life Hasn’t Returned to Normal for UC Berkeley’s Cal Falcons

These are just some quick looks at a couple of nests in Bird World. The article about Annie and Grinnell is really good. I hope you enjoy it. I cannot imagine that Little Bit will be with us in the morning but I am shocked at the way this chick played possum. Amazing. Still, what you are witnessing is siblicide.

Thank you for joining me. Everything is so good at Captiva. We are blessed. I hope we know what the results on Big’s necroscopy are tomorrow. Take care everyone. Stay safe.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Dale Hollow Lakes Bald Eagles, Cornell RTH, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, and West End Bald Eagles and the Institute of Wildlife.