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:
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.
The sky is a bright blue with a few clouds and the sun is pouring down on the birds in the garden. The temperature is -15. Dyson and Scraggles have been chasing one another and Dyson has now lost the back half of its tail. I wonder if that wasn’t the evidence of an injury that I saw last week? No worries. Dyson is fine and fat and is still eating the right mess of seeds that he managed to dump! Mr Downy has been at the suet feeder this morning and there have been 63 Starlings in the mix with the House Sparrows. There are now two Grackles that have arrived. It seems early for them. Spring is definitely coming.
Starlings are incredibly beautiful. Just look at the untouched colours in the bird below. Gorgeous.
Duke Farms has put out a statement about Little.
The little one at Dale Hollow continues to worry me, too. It was spunky and up there with the twins. I wonder if it has gotten sick from the rain and the cold and the damp?
It has literally been the weirdest day at the Captiva Osprey nest I have encountered since Andy and Lena began incubating eggs. Lena flew off. Andy flew in with a fish around 14:00 – the chicks have not eaten all day. He tried to feed them. Lena returned. There was a kerfuffle on the nest and, in the end, Big is eating all of the fish. Little and Middle will likely have to wait, hoping that another comes in before Big gets hungry. Both Middle and Big recognize that Big is the dominant bird on the nest and gets first dibs. Ah,…it was so different a little over a week ago when all lined up and ate together each leaving the table with some food in the belly.
Big Bob ate the entire fish. I do not know if Lena got more than a few bites. It is now 14:54, almost mid-afternoon and the other two remain hungry and hot along with Mum. Oh, I hope Andy can get some good fishing in. Big Bob is so full he would probably ignore a fish if it arrived on the nest right now. Fingers crossed! Maybe Lena will go fishing, too. That would be quite helpful — just like Diane on the Achieva Credit Union nest last year. Diane really saved the day when she started bringing in her catfish.
It is still snowing at the nest of Big Red and Arthur.
This morning the camera zoomed in on the most beautiful Red-tail hawk in the world, Big Red. She is also the most famous – know around the world!
Toni Castelli-Rosen posted the following chart for Big Red’s egg laying today on the Cornell Hawk Cam Chatters FB group:
The West End Bald eagles are really happy today. The male, Cheta, is not know for hanging around the nest and that is all he has done since the wee chick hatched yesterday. Like Jackie and Shadow, this couple had two years without any eaglets because of the Ravens. Let us hope this diligence continues!
Here is the link to this nest if you do not have it on your list:
All is well with Jackie and Shadow. The little one is doing so well and the feedings and fish deliveries continue.
It is good to leave on a nice note. The chick at both the West End and here at Big Bear are strong and well. Andy will get a fish on the nest again at Captiva. His fishing could have been hampered by those in boats. There seems to be a lot of them about today. Those osplets are fine albeit hungry. Andy and Lena are great parents. A really nice way to end in the day in a few hours would be to see Ervie again! Oh, that bird just lifts all our spirits!
Thank you for joining me. Take care everyone. Think spring!!!!! It is coming.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Cornell Hawk Cam Chatters, Captiva Ospreys and Window on the World, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Dale Hollow Lake Eagles, Explore.org, and the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.
There is not much that would bother me today. It was so wonderful to see Ervie last evening. It was just such a relief. It is one thing to see his tracking and know he is alive but it is entirely another thing to see him alive, well, and eating a fish – even if it is a puffer.
Ervie is obviously catching his own food and doing well. How he lost an entire talon and got his green tag scraped up in places will always remain a mystery. It had to have been really painful. Perhaps he got his foot caught in something? If so, I am thrilled he was able to get out! He also looks very healthy and that is a good thing.
Congratulations to Thunder and Akecheta (West End Eagles on Catalina) on the hatch of ‘his’ first chick and the first time in two seasons that they had success. In the previous two years, the Ravens took the eggs when they were left alone by Cheta. He has matured and understood what happened and – wow. Here is a video of that hatch!
It looks hot already in the San Bernardino Mountains at the nest of Jackie and Samson. Mum has been panting. Shadow has filled the pantry and the little one will be 5 days old today at 16:00 nest time. All is well.
Jackie and Shadow chatting first thing. I think Shadow thought he would get a turn looking after the wee one.
Look how much this baby has grown! Wow. So cute. If you are watching life, check out the front sides of the parents, it has been peeking out. So sweet.
The little eaglet was alive in the middle of the night and this morning, barely, at Duke Farm. It is so much younger and so much smaller and has now not eaten for at least 36 hours. My heart aches for it. It has gotten up to eat and not been fed.
It raised its little head up in the middle of the night when the parents changed duties. Oh, how I wish the Dad would give it a good feed.
Sweet little thing has no idea what is going on when it raises up to eat and the food is on the other side. The development was so off on this nest to the disadvantage of the wee one. There is enough food. Mum could walk around and feed it. She won’t. We all know the story…sadly.
It has not been a good morning for the third hatch at Dale Hollow Bald Eagles either. River has moved to several parts of the nest to feed the chicks but Little seems not up there and going after the food like in previous days. The nest looks wet and damp to me. I hope that it will dry out. Not a good environment for wee ones.
I did not expect to wake up and worry about this nest of River and Obey’s. Oh, let us hope that it dries up soon. It looks like the water of the lake is really rising with all the rain that they have had in the past few days.
There has not been a fish delivery at the Captiva Osprey nest yet today. As I write this it is nearing noon nest time. Big Bob will certainly be in rare form when it arrives.
Lena roosts on the edge of the platform nest at night now. The babies are not babies anymore and do not fit under her even though she might want to try.
Lena is hungry this morning and is looking around for Andy but to no avail. Wonder where he is?
Ospreys choose platforms and the tops of dead trees so that they can see all around them. No surprises for them. At the same time it leaves them open to the heat of the sun.
Big is definitely getting its coppery feathers today!
As it approaches noon and gets hotter, the chicks try to get in the shade of Lena. Little has been partially successful.
The chicks have lined up to eat but no Andy. I hope he brings in several fish in a row. Lena really needs to eat and Little could use a lot of fish today.
Lena seems to have given up on Andy and might have gone out fishing herself for the babes. Nope. She did return. No fish. Wish for fish!
Arthur was working on the nest for Big Red this morning. He flew in around 08:39 and now it has started snowing. I wonder if they will return to work on the nest later?
The female juvenile Peregrine Falcon that has been wanting to get friendly with Grinnell at The Campanile flew up to the ledge with a Mourning Dove this morning. She proceeded to pluck it and eat it and had a massive crop at the end. Grinnell has been aggressive to her but we wait to see how all of this plays out.
Grinnell took on a defensive posture towards this female yesterday. Cal Falcons caught it on video for us:
Things are a little more certain at the Manchester, New Hampshire scrape where the resident falcons were seen mating today.
This is the link to the cam that faces outward in the scrape box:
This is the link so you can see all the action inside the scrape box in New Hampshire:
Harriet has been working on the Dahlgren Osprey platform. They were given a brand new one. There are still a lot of sticks to go before any eggs can be stable in this nest. I now wonder, after seeing the Papadan chair nest at the WRDC Bald Eagle nest in the Miami Zoo, why some mesh is not installed for the Ospreys?????
Poor Richmond and Rosie. Richmond is being attentive and brings Rosie a fish giving us a glimpse of their nest for this season. Boy do these two have a lot of work!
Rosie and Richmond got a great start and look what the Ravens did!
Thank you so much for joining me this morning. Send warm wishes off to the wee ones that are struggling and wish for lots of fish for Captiva! Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagles, Duke Farms, Peregrine Falcon Network, Dahlgren Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Captiva Osprey Project and Window on Wildlife, and Cal Falcons.
It could not have come at a better time. I sat staring at my notes about Little at the Duke Farms Bald Eagle nest. Sadly, I wrote down that I thought the wee one would not be with us tomorrow. At one time Big was tramping over Little and even though Little stood up and wanted food, it was not fed. My heart felt like someone had torn it apart. Then, ‘B’ sent me a note. “Ervie is on the nest”. Tears. How many times has that Port Lincoln Osprey brought sunshine to my life? and to yours?
Ervie flew in with another puffer at 13:25:05.
Here comes Ervie! I continue to wonder if Ervie prefers puffers? if they are so easy to catch and he knows where there are a stash of them? or if Ervie only comes to the nest to eat the puffers? perhaps he has developed a taste for them?
If you don’t look too close, you might think that this is just a normal fish.
Ervie worked that fish – which seemed to be mostly tough parts and skin – for at least an hour and fifteen minutes. In the process, several of us noted what had been posted on the Port Lincoln FB page – news about one of the talons on his right foot being missing. It appears that it is growing back in.
One of the chatters was curious about when Ervie lost this talon. Does anyone know how long it takes to grow a whole new talon? They are keratin, just like our nails. Clearly, Ervie’s feet looked a little worse for wear. They must be one of the most important parts of an Osprey’s body – that fine tuned machine where every aspect helps to hunt and retrieve fish. It was reassuring to see it growing back in.
I took some video clips to share with you. I hope you enjoy these. It was such a delight to see Ervie on the barge. I missed him the other day. These moments are so precious. I hope he comes back soon!
Ervie, you are much loved!
Thank you to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures and video clips.
I was very concerned about Middle and Little Bob at the Captiva Osprey nest after Big Bob’s bopping. Big has certainly caused a fright in Little Bob that really causes him to hang back now instead of getting up there in front, no matter what, like our sweet Ervie.
Well, a Sheepshead came on the nest and after Big got his fill there looks to still be enough to give a good feed to both Little and Middle with some for mum Lena.
Middle is certainly getting its fill but what about Little?
Shadow and Jackie are such an amazing couple. I love how they chit chat to one another. Shadow has been bringing in lots of fresh fish to the pantry for all three of them to eat.
Jackie and Shadow are such proud parents. They are not only making certain that the little one is fed often and there is plenty in the pantry but also that any would be predators do not get even close to their nest. Very protective of this only little eaglet – their miracle.
Jackie has taken care of the feedings today giving the wee chick a chance to try and eat bigger bites.
Open wide! That little chick nailed that big bite. Four days old almost. Doing great.
Simply adorable. Just look at Jackie’s eyes. Such a very proud and happy mama.
Sooner than we think, this yet to be named eaglet at Big Bear will be branching just like OC9 at the Osceola Bald Eagle nest of Starlight and Skyler in Florida.
At the WRDC nest of Ron and Rita in Miami, the parents have been giving branching demonstrations to R1 and R2.
“Now look. It is really easy! Just do like I am doing. Soon you will be flying!”
Thankfully the nest of River and Obey at Dale Hollow Lakes is drying out. My goodness they must have been inundated with rain. The three little ones, the twins and the baby, are doing fine. From the time they were a couple of days old, River has had them working their legs scooting around the nest. They are all doing really, really well.
If you look carefully, the baby, at the back, has a crop from an earlier feeding.
Still it is going to crowd up to the front with the twins and it is going to get some of that fresh new fish, too.
River is a really laid back Mum. She reminds me of my grandmother. I wonder how many chicks she has raised? She is at least 23 years old so chicks for the past 21 years?? Very experienced! Nothing seems to rattle her.
The snow is melting at the MN DNR nest of Harry and Nancy. Look closely. You can see the tinge of spring green beginning to appear. What a beautiful day. You could hear flocks of geese flying overhead.
I still worry about the youngest one at Duke Farms. It is just so much smaller than the eldest. It has had trouble getting up to the table and, yet, just about the time I am ready to wring my hands, a good feeding comes along.
It is also a really gorgeous day at the Redding Bald Eagle nest of Guardian and Liberty in California. Golden Rays falling down on this nest. They have lost one egg to breakage but, hey. Two healthy eaglets will be just fine.
While eggs are being incubated at Redding and chicks fed elsewhere, Big Red and Arthur continue to work on their nest on the Cornell Campus. This morning Arthur brought in some nice bark to line the nest cup. He worked hard at placing it precisely where he thought Big Red would want it. Of course, when he flew off she rearranged the whole thing! Arthur tries hard. We could be within five days of eggs! That would match the earliest Big Red has laid her first egg. I am realistically thinking another week to ten days.
Talk about working together quickly to save an Osprey. Desy got caught on a TV antenna and the Port Lincoln Osprey group were called into action!
Desy is improving and he now has his own special fresh fish tank in front of Bazza’s house. Apparently Desy, like most Ospreys, prefers eating live fish! This news is good. Ian Falkenberg hopes to put a satellite tracker on Desy once he is ready to be released in the Lough Bay area. It will be a first for Port Lincoln (the tracker on an adult bird) and should provide much needed information on their dispersal.
Sadly, Meg, the Osprey from Thistle Island has been found dead. She has been sent for an autopsy. There were no outward injuries and she appeared quite healthy. My condolences go out to everyone with Port Lincoln Ospreys who work so hard to increase the numbers and care for these amazing birds.
I went back to check on the Captiva chicks. Andy, thank you. Another fish has come on the nest. Big is full. Little, Middle, and Lena are going to enjoy most of this fish. What a relief!
Middle Bob passes out.
Little would like some more but he has eaten well. Lena really needs some fish and she is going to finish this one off. Meanwhile, look at the image above. That is Middle Bob’s fat little bottom sticking up in the centre of the image. Cute. You can also see that Big Bob is really getting those copper-red feathers at the back of his head near the neck.
Wait! There’s another fish delivery and look who is up front!
There is some major crop action going on. And it is a bit confusing with the extra fish on the nest – the one in front of Little Bob above. Lena moves the fish she is working on to the middle of the nest and begins feeding the chicks and eating herself leaving the new fish in the back corner.
Little Bob is at the far end. You can see his head in front of Middle Bob. Big Bob, despite its enormous crop, seems to be thinking of a third or fourth helping.
Lena is feeding Middle Bob and Little is trying to snatch some bites.
At 15:24 Little Bob is getting fed and will have a nice crop just like its sibs. That is wonderful. It has been really hot and Little has often suffered when Big eats most of the fish. I suspect that Little will crop drop shortly.
Andy seems to have good fishing today. Nice to see Little Bob full.
I cannot think of a nicer ending to a blog than having Little full to the brim late this afternoon.
Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. Send all of your positive wishes to the little ones struggling and all those birds migrating to their spring and summer breeding grounds. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and FB pages where I took my screen captures: Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Osceola Bald Eagles, Dale Hollow Lakes Bald Eagles, Redding Eagles, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Labs and RTH, WRDC Bald Eagles, the MN DNR, Duke Farms, Explore.org, and Friends of Big Bear.
There was a lovely soft glow from the sun rising over Big Bear Lake when hick at 05:53.
Shadow does a fabulous job feeding his baby. You would think that he would have fed dozens of chicks by the ease that he takes care of this little one. So delicate.
Everyone was anxious to get a glimpse of the egg as Dad fed the 3+ day old chick. That egg is 40 days old today and that is late for a second egg to hatch. It might not happen and, in the long run, one really healthy chick, able to get under Mum and Dad during bad weather is fine with me! There has been some speculation that the chick you see in the images is actually the chick from egg 2, hatched at 37 days making the remaining egg 44 days old. No one will ever know for sure. What matters most is that Jackie and Shadow have one gorgeous healthy baby!
Jackie had a nice break and returned to feed the chick its second breakfast at 07:16.
Turn around little one!
That wee one had its third feeding around 08:27. The bites are getting a little bigger and the feedings are now a little longer. The baby is growing. It will be four days old this afternoon.
Big Bear has posted a short video of Shadow feeding the baby yesterday:
While the weather looks promising in Big Bear Valley, it is soaking wet on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee at the Dale Hollow Nest. River is having to be a huge umbrella trying to keep those very active chicks dry and warm.
It is also wet but, not soaking, in Ithaca at the nest of Big Red and Arthur. Yesterday Big Red and Arthur worked on the nest. Arthur even brought in a prey item for Big Red which she happily accepted at the nest quickly flying off to enjoy it.
We have not seen Ervie at the Port Lincoln barge. His tracker is due an update but for now we have the one for the 4th of March which shows him still staying along the North shore.
The White-tailed Eagles up in Latvia and Estonia are mating and defending their nests. These eagles do not migrate. I am particularly excited about Milda who lost her long time mate, Raimis. She has had several potential suitors. I hope that this year she raises a successful clutch. Her and what appears to be her new mate, Mr S, were mating early this morning at the nest near Durbe, Latvia. Indeed, these two have been mating on or near the nest for at least a week now.
This is the link to the streaming cam of Milda’s nest near Durbe:
It isn’t noon yet on the nest of Ospreys Andy and Lena at Captiva and already the three osplets have had three feedings this morning. Big Bob has been at Little Bob once in awhile but all three have eaten well. Little Bob isn’t going to let Big Bob dampen its day!
The fish that Andy has been bringing in this morning are Mullets, a common fish for the Ospreys in the UK, too.
Look at how big these three are getting! Wow.
Lena is doing the best she can to keep her growing Bobs in the shade away from the hot sun on the Florida coast this morning.
There is so much going on now with the birds and their nests. Eggs are being incubated by Bald Eagles throughout the US. The eagles in Europe that do not migrate are working on nests and mating. The European Ospreys who winter in the Iberian Peninsula and Africa are beginning to migrate home. Who will land first in the UK is the common question on everyone’s mind. Of the streaming cams, my vote is on Maya and Blue 33 at Rutland Manton Bay. Richmond and Rosie continue to try to build their nest amidst the ever growing thievery of twigs by the Corvids. It is a very busy time. Annie and Grinnell are bonding. I am not happy with Big Bob’s recent hostility to Little Bob at Captiva and the same is happening at Duke Farms albeit the chick is younger and fighting to get some fish. Little Bob will be fine. Send positive wishes to Duke Farms!
Thank you for joining me this morning. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: the Latvian Fund for Nature, the Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Duke Hollow Lake Eagles, and Port Lincoln Osprey Project FB Page.
There were several conflicting weather forecasts for the area that included the nest of Bald Eagles Jackie and Shadow. Along with thousands of others, I was hoping that the forecast that said the snow and wind would taper off between 18:00-19:00 was correct – and not the one that said 22:00.
Around 18:00, you could see the lake. Relief.
Shadow comes to the nest around 18:06. Jackie gets up. The baby is fed a wee bit and Shadow eats some of the fish.
What is so special is the look on the eyes of these two parents. It is like they still cannot believe, after trying so hard for two years, that they have a wee baby in that nest. It is more than adorable.
You can see the indentation where Jackie kept the baby and the egg warm.
By 19:00 lights could be seen in the distance.
The forecast is so much better. Jackie and the Baby had a good night. Did you know that Bald Eagles are known to lower their body temperatures by 1.5 degrees F. This saves calories in keeping warm so they do not require as much prey or to go hunting in very extreme weather. Because Bald Eagles are such large birds their sheer mass also helps them retain heat. Jackie and Shadow’s brood patch – skin to egg and/or chick – between the breast plates – keeps the chick and eggs at optimum temperature. Not moving also retains energy along with their 7000 plus feathers to keep them warm. Jackie can tuck her legs and feet up under her to keep them warm. She can also do the same with fish – keeping a piece from freezing solid under her tail.
Jackie fed the chick at 05:51. All appears to be just fine on the Big Bear Valley nest as the sun rises over the lake.
Shadow is going to bring in another big fish and he will feed the chick at 07:57.
According to the moderator on the chat, the only muscle that has developed in the chicks is the hatching muscle at the back of the neck.
Shadow really enjoyed brooding his little one and feeding it. Jackie will come in and take over and feed the chick again at 09:06.
There has been no indication by anyone at Big Bear Valley that there is a pip in the second egg. At times it certainly appears like there could be but it could easily be just a speck of dirt or nesting material.
The weather couldn’t be more different – from the high mountains in California to a Florida island in the Gulf of Mexico. Lena has to work hard to keep the shade on her growing family.
Andy brought in a fish at 08:06:31. By the time Lena finished feeding the three, they all had big crops!
Little Bob often does a duck and cover when Andy lands. Several times Andy has landed on it! Little Bob was, fortunately, fine. That looks like a nice breakfast fish, Andy!
Little Bob is right where we expect him to be — right by Lena’s beak.
Everyone had a big crop and Mum, Lena, took off for a short but much needed break.
The plumage is such good camouflage now that it is often hard to find the chicks within the twigs of the nest. I wonder at what point these chicks are too large for the crows to predate? Must find out.
The three are so big now that it is hard to cover them and keep them cool.
There is sad news coming out of the Redding Bald Eagle nest of Liberty and Guardian. Yesterday afternoon one of the three eggs broke.
The other two eggs at Redding appear to be fine.
Guardian is doing a great job of incubating the eggs this morning. Quite handsome he is!
The two eaglets at the nest of Abby and Blazer in Eagle Country have grown! My goodness. Both are doing really well. They are losing their baby down and getting that nice thermal layer that will keep them ever so warm in the future.
Oh, that image below is so serene and peaceful – th golden glow of the morning filtering in as the wee ones are fed.
I have been ignoring Dale Hollow because of the hatch at Big Bear. It is hard to believe but chick 1 will be three days old at Big Bear. It made me realize that the trio at Dale Hollow will, in a blink, be as big as the eaglets at Eagle Country. Best check on them and see how they are.
It looks like Obey has been fishing on a Sunday morning. There are at last three new fish on the nest.
I love the image below because of the little one. This baby is so cute. Chubby little bottom and tail and those precious wings.
Sleeping with the fishes. Is River wondering if any of the wee babes are going to try and take bites out of the fish this early????
The three are lined up with the oldest on the left and the youngest on the right. That wee little one survived the twins. Thank goodness.
Jackie wasn’t the only Eagle Mum that had to contend with snow last night. Nancy at the MN DNR nest was buried in the white stuff, too.
Last year Nancy and her four year old mate, Harry, fledged two beautiful eagles.
It certainly is a beautiful area for a nest!
I have not paid as much attention to this Minnesota nest amongst all the others. It is difficult to keep up with all of them. This is a good nest to watch. Just ignore the call for donations. The DNR makes way too much money on selling hunting licenses!!!!!!!
Looks like it is time for a switch in incubation duties. Last year it was easy to tell who was who because Harry did not have his pure white head yet. This year he is five and a fully fledged adult eagle.
Here is the link to Harry and Nancy’s camera:
I am going to close with a return to the nest of Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear. It is 10:15. Shadow has brought in another catfish with its head on it. Both him and Jackie stand and marvel at their wee babe. You can just feel the joy coming off of their feathers. The camera zooms in to check on the other egg.
It is hard to say if anything is happening in that second egg. Honestly, if it doesn’t hatch, all is fine. This nest has, historically, had problems with storms when chicks are about six weeks old. It is too difficult for the female to get them under to brood and keep warm and, several times, one has perished. In 2018, Jackie lost one of her chicks, BBB, to a storm and freezing rain and another, Cooky, in 2019. Both died of exposure with the other eaglet surviving.
So I am fine if this is an only chick. It is sad to raise the babies for six weeks and then lose one.
I once asked why certain nests are popular and others not so much. There could be a huge number of reasons including as ‘B’ suggested YouTube and FB nuances. Still, there is something very special about this couple at Big Bear. Is it Shadow’s utter devotion and his antics with sticks? is it Jackie’s unrelenting need to incubate and brood 24/7? is it the conversations between them? or the joy and satisfaction looking down at their baby? I am not sure but what I do know is I can hardly take my eyes off this nest — in the same way that I could hardly keep away from the Port Lincoln Osprey nest with our dear Ervie.
Thank you so much for joining me today. It is blue skies, sun, and melting snow on the Canadian Prairies and I am way late in getting out to feed my birds. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures: Friends of Big Bear Valley, Eagle Country, Redding Bald Eagles, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, MN DNR Bald Eagles, Captiva Osprey and Window on Wildlife.
There is snow falling on Big Bear Valley. While Shadow and Jackie have over 7000 feathers in various layers to keep them warm and dry, our little chick doesn’t. It has only its soft natal down. Jackie and Shadow will both have a brood patch. It is an area between the breast bones. When egg laying is imminent, the feathers begin to fall off leaving an area of skin. That skin will keep the chick warm as the body temperature of an eagle is 105 degrees F. Eagles do well in cold snowy weather, possibly better than in the heat of summer – except for the wee ones.
The chick has already been fed at 07:45 by Shadow and by Jackie at 09:57. This feeding appears to be the third and began roughly at 12:50.
beautiful image of the parent looking down on the wee babe.
I often have trouble figuring out who is on the nest unless they are standing beside one another. Jackie is so much bigger but Shadow is inclined to have to move the sticks around. Is this Shadow on the nest?
Having moved the stick to the edge of the nest bowl – to keep the chick from running out? It is actually a good idea. Last year, the chick ran out from under Missy at the Berry College Eagle nest and perished in the cold. Smart to put that there!
You will see that the snow is falling and gets worse towards the end of this this short feeding.
The little one is alert and the adult is working hard to make sure that every bite counts. It doesn’t always with the newly hatched.
This baby is adorable balancing itself with the tip of its wings. I cannot see any indication that anything is happening with the second egg. In some ways it would be better to have only one in this weather. As they get bigger it is always easier to fit one six-week old chick under the adult than two. They have to be kept warm and dry.
The snow is really starting to come down. The chick must be chilled. Look at its tiny pink feet. It has managed to get some nourishment and there appears to be a tiny little crop.
Here is a look at Shadow delivering that large fish with its head entirely in tact. Looks like Shadow and Samson both like to wear skinny black jeans.
Safely tucked under its parent it will dry quickly from the little snow flakes that stuck to its down and will be toasty warm.
This is the forecast for the Jackie and Shadow’s nest:
There is a huge piece of fish that you can see in the image below. Lots of food for this week one and some for the adults, too.
The preliminary test results have been released on the Hilton Head Island eaglets that fell out of their nest. Their deaths were caused by the highly pathogenic Avian Flu that is spreading, sadly, to other parts of the east coast and Florida. It is believed that a duck brought to the nest was the carrier. The parents may not get ill as they are larger than the wee babes. This is very sad news.
Far away in Australia, OGK flew in last evening to find that his Quarry Track chick had been left alone by the Mum, YRK, the previous night. It is the beginning of what is known as the post-guard stage. The chick is left alone and both parents are out foraging to be able to meet all of its food requirements as well as theirs. No doubt QT chick slept much better with Dad guarding it the following evening.
Here is an extremely short video clip of the trio at the Dale Hollow Bald Eagle nest on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky. The adults are River and Obey. It is cute – shows how those little ones can really move around the nest when they want to!
Dale Hollow also posted a 5-minute video of on of the feedings. These three are so cute. It is so nice to watch them move about the nest and, just think, in about a week and a bit, this will be happening at Big Bear!
At the end of Ferris Akel’s tours, he always goes through the Cornell Campus looking for Big Red and Arthur. He has found Arthur hunting along the 366 highway.
Ferris looked and looked for Big Red and he found both her and Arthur on top of their favourite building, Bradfield. Big Red is doing a lot of preening. This is getting so eggciting. There is already a lottery on the Cornell Red Tail Hawk FB group for when the first egg will be laid.
Andy has brought a late Saturday fish onto the nest at Captiva. It was 16:47.
Lena is feeding her three chicks, each more ravenous than they have been as they are in super growth stage. Little Bob has pushed himself right up there so he will get some. No worries about anyone being hungry tonight.
It is the end of a good day. All of the nests that I regularly keep track of are doing well. Port Lincoln is, of course, a lonely site of a nest. It would be good to see Ervie. But, enjoy the birds. We cannot take anything for granted. In a blink something can happen. So enjoy the moment.
It is -4 and grey on the Canadian Prairies. Sharpie has been in and around the garden looking for lunch several times today. I am always glad to see him. Little Woodpecker – both Mr and Mrs – have been eating suet and there are lots of European Starlings and House Sparrows. I have not seen the three Grey Squirrels today but Little Red has been in and out.
Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Captiva Osprey Cam and Window on Wildlife, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Ferris Akel Tours, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, and Cornell Bird Labs and NZ DOC.
Oh, it was fantastic to see our granddaughter and her partner. It has been so long! We had Jackie and Shadow on all the evening thinking that bells and horns would sound – or something – if there was a pip.
Friends of Big Bear have posted on their FB page that Jackie and Shadow have a pip!
It is possible that you already know this and are one of 5240 persons watching with tears in their eyes. This fabulous couple certainly brings the emotion out in all of us. Let this be their year to triumph.
From pip to hatch can be 24 hours. Send them all your love and best wishes. This beautiful Bald Eagle couple certainly deserve it!
Grinnell and Annie met in the scrape box of the Campanile, the headquarters of their University of California at Berkeley territory. It was a moving exchange – full of ker-chuffing and bowing. In a world that seems to be turning itself upside down, watching Annie and Grinnell gave me some peace. Everything in the world of the Cal Falcons is just fine. Have a look:
The sun is shining down on The Campanile but it is a gloomy day on the Port Lincoln Barge made more so by the fact that Ervie has been absent for a few days. There have been Cormorants and an army of pigeons cleaning up for Mum so she doesn’t have to do it in the summer, but no Ervie. Wonder where he has been?
This is Ervie’s tracker for today. It doesn’t look like our favourite Osprey juvenile takes time to sit. Look at how many times he goes in and out of the shallow water near the shore. Is this Pufferfishville??
People have to be watching Ervie. Let us hope that they will send images in to Port Lincoln!
So many of the birds entering breeding season are having to defend their nest. Today it was Rosie and Richmond’s turn. Poor things. They need to fix up their nest with twigs not fight crows and ravens. Don’t blink, the action is quick!
I feel like we should be sending boxes of twigs out to Richmond and Rosie through courier. The Ravens take what they bring in!!!!!!!! Rosie says it isn’t funny. She is mad.
Shadow is incubating the eggs and Jackie is standing over him like a proud Mum to be. 5778 souls are watching, waiting, and hoping.
The little one at Dale Hollow, DH16, has been getting some bites along with the twins. Remember if you are watching, the older two will eat more than the youngest. This one will catch up. Things look good.
The only owlet at the Savannah Skidaway Island GHOW nest has its eyes open.
Mum Owl has been actively listening as if there are intruders about today.
Harriet has returned to the nest at Dahlgren in King George County. I wonder if she is dismayed to find the old nest that collapsed completely gone and replaced. I wonder if she is as bewildered as I am looking at all that empty space and now wondering – after Achieva – if eggs will fall through???
I love the design of the Papadan nest at the WRDC in the Miami Zoo of Ron and Rita’s. Oh, maybe someone will put some kind of screen that won’t harm the birds under there! It would certainly be helpful – and maybe a hundred twigs to help them get started. That would have been a nice gesture. I know that Ospreys are particular but maybe it would have saved them some time getting started.
It is time for me to stop. I can smell the Blackberry cobbler that is finishing baking. Will see how my Vegan stuffed peppers turn out. They are next to hit the oven.
Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me on this quick check on the birds. I have a hard time not checking on them as you can see.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Dale Hollow Eagles, Cornell Bird Lab and Skidaway Audubon, and Dahlgren Osprey Cam.
