Tag Archives: Blue 33 (11) brings Maya fish

Tragedy Strikes at Manton Bay and other Bird World news

11 May 2022

Are you following Ares and Astrid at the Utica Peregrine Falcon scrape? Melissa Richards provided a link to this great blog bringing you up-to-date on all things regarding the nest and the intruders around the nest. There are two lively chicks and two more eggs but, it appears that those two are not viable. Just remember. Most often not all the eggs on a falcon’s scrape will hatch!

Monday, May 9, 2022 – Most Likely No More Eggs Will Hatch in the Utica Nest & An Intruder in Downtown & Little Falls Falcon Update

Last year Dr Erick Greene, University of Montana and one of the leads of the Montana Raptor Project warned all of us about the changing conditions on the Clark Fork River. Besides recognizing that the extreme heat was heating the water and/or drying it up in spots, he also spoke to how this would impact the Ospreys that depend on that river system for their fish. Recently Dr Greene wrote a letter to the members of the Montana Osprey FB group attempting to stress how the fish for the Ospreys could be very limited due to changes in snow and rainfall that feed into the river system. The news coming out of Dunrovin similarly speaks to the difference for Ospreys fishing in large lakes and oceans as opposed to rivers. They said, “Rivers are notorious for their fluctuating water flows, which can substantially alter fishing conditions. In western Montana, climate change is causing adverse fishing conditions for osprey populations. Snowmelt in the mountains is now occurring earlier and faster, resulting in higher and more turbulent spring river flows when osprey families are most vulnerable and need a consistent food source to feed the chicks. Over the last decade, University of Montana researchers have documented a nearly 60% decline in osprey chick survival in nests along western Montana Rivers.”

It is good to keep this in mind when we look at our beloved Iris. Iris is the matriarch of American Ospreys. She is 28 or 29 this year. She has one of the most well maintained nests that I have seen. She works diligently. We get mad at Louis for mating with her and then not caring for her or the chicks. While many are sad that Iris does not have a mate and a large clutch of eggs, it is prudent to listen to the warnings of Dr Greene. There is not enough fish to feed chicks. They die. Instead let us adore Iris – let her incubate the eggs and then let the crows get them. Iris can have a lovely retired summer taking care of herself. I know that none of us would want to see her chicks die of starvation.

Indeed, Iris was on her nest this morning but was off it for about 7 hours. She went and got her dinner and is eating it on the owl pole. She knows what we all know. Still, she can pretend for a bit. Why not?

There she is, the Queen of the Ospreys, on the 10th of May around 11:00.

Iris left her nest and has been away for some 7 hours. The eggs still seem to be there. As evening is arriving, Iris has herself a nice fish that she caught and is enjoying it on the owl pole. You can see the mountains in the distance with some snow.

I checked and Middle at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest had a nice crop heading into the evening. Tuesday was a good day for Middle. Let’s see if we can get this to happen tomorrow! Middle is a beautiful osprey.

Sadly, the first fish delivery on Wednesday morning at 07:23:28 caused Big to intimidate Middle. After the fish landed, Middle put its head down and Big pecked at its back causing Middle to go into submission.

At 07:37, some fourteen minutes later Middle is still trying to find a way to get over to the other side and get some fish as Mum frantically feeds Big.

At 07:41 Middle managed to get to the other side of Mum and get a few bites of fish before it was all gone. It is 14 degrees C and will reach a scorching high of 29 degrees C today in Gainesville. Hot and humid. Barometric pressure is 1020 and the humidity is 82%.

When I checked on one of my favourite UK Osprey nests – and I have many – Idris was down on the perch preparing a fish for Telyn who is incubating their three eggs. He will take the head and fly over and leave the other piece for her.

Look to the left and ddown. You can see Idris with the fish on the perch on the pole.

Look at those legs. That is why Idris is known as Daddy Long Legs.

Idris left Telyn a really nice fish. This is good. The weather is going to start getting really bad over the evening.

Indeed, the winds are really gusting and Telyn is hunkered down over those eggs. It would be really nice if the summer storms in Wales would just wait until fall. The Osprey nests can do without the cold damp when chicks are hatching.

Oh, my. It is not a good day at the Manton Bay platform of Blue 33 (11) and Maya. Two eggs have hatched and the rain is pouring down. It is difficult to keep those wee ones dry and feed them. You will get accustomed to me being anxious about the weather and the little ones. They cannot regulate their own temperate. The damp seems to settle in and cause them to get sick.

Blue comes in with a fish for their lunch. It is difficult to see what is happening with the chicks and eggs. Everything is wet.

Blue is there to see what he can do to help Maya with the kids.

In the morning when it is dry there are clearly two active chicks.

At 07:19 a large headless fish comes on to the nest. Both babies are up, alert and hungry.

The chicks are eating well. At 07:19 something terrible happens. The fish is still alive and it whips over onto the chicks and the egg.

At 07:19 the fish is on the egg cup.

Maya is in shock! Her two precious babies are under that big fish.

Maya does not appear to know precisely how to get the fish off of the chicks with the least harm.

Both chicks are still moving a bit at 07:22:11.

By late afternoon (17:00), I cannot see the smaller chick moving about. We are witnessing one of the best osprey mothers that I know in dire straights. She has no idea what to do to remedy the situation and it appears that her babies could be dying.

And then it starts to rain.

It appears that the youngest chick may not have survived. What a sad, sad day for this super Osprey couple. Let us all hope that this wee babe has no injuries that we cannot see and that the rain and the damp do not impact it. The condition of the egg is unknown.

Blue is there with his sweet Maya mourning the loss of their chick while, at the same time, surely being grateful that one survived. There are fish everywhere. So much fish. So sad.

I am stunned. We see fish on the nests all the time flopping about but these two little ones, nearly newly hatched, could not bear the weight of that big fish. Personally, I feel jinxed. I am going to stop praising raptor nests. Every time I do something seems to go sideways. This is nothing short of a very freak accident but it is another reminder of the fragile lives our bird friends have. I hope that this wee one has the stamina and is able to literally weather the storm. Devastated.

At 13:15, the other wee chick is moving a bit. Maya sees it there in front of the egg all blue. Is it going to oome around or is it too late?

Maya had a very difficult time getting the chick and the egg under her with that fish still in the egg cup. I am unclear why she did not drag it out. The other chick is still moving but Maya has not gotten it under her to brood. I cannot imagine that it would survive in the cold wet. It will probably die of exposure unless there is a miracle.

My heart goes out to Maya and to Blue 33 (11). Note: At 13:42 the other chick is moving and the feathers appear to be drying but it is not clear if it is going to survive. Maya is not brooding it.

It is only 07:35 on the Canadian Prairies. We are due to have rain start soon. On the sad note of the Manton Bay nest, I am going to close. What a tragedy. All of us would have liked to have reached through that screen and helped this otherwise very collected, very strong Osprey Mum and her chicks.

Thank you for joining me everyone. I wish I had closed with better news. Hopefully this is the only tragedy of the day for our Osprey families. Take care all.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey, LRWT Manton Bay, Dyfi Osprey Project, and the Montana Osprey Project.

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.

Fishy Friday or is it Fish Friday?

My son lives in the West Indies. On Fridays, there is a fish dinner up on the coast in one of the fishing villages. Every kind of fish you could want cooked many different ways along with all of the sides and homemade strawberry ice cream. Oh, yum. The barbecued Red Snapper is so tasty! When I think of all the Ospreys eating fish on Friday it reminds me of those dinners on the island. If my memory serves me correctly almost all of the islands have a Fish Friday at one place or another. If you wind you there, check and see. And then get ready to enjoy.

Most of the time when people are watching nests not much is happening. Everyone gets excited when a fish appears and there is some action and completely distraught when the chicks are hungry. Well, it is Friday and it looks like everyone is being fed.

So far today, Tiny Tot on the Achieva Nest has had two fish. Jack brought in one around 8:41 am and a second before bedtime at 8:25.

Thanks, Jack! Tiny has been guarding the nest for you!

Tiny is really good at mantling. No one is taking his fish.

The poor little munchkins over on the Cowlitz PUD Osprey Nest had two fish deliveries today, too. One was small with the late afternoon tea time one a little bigger. It sure would help both the mental and physical state of this nest if Wattsworth would get 4 fish on that nest every day – and not twiddlers either. The kids fight because they are hungry. Getting enough fish to exist but not really thrive. Right now both of the chicks have a crop. Thank goodness.

And you may not see the fish but when you see a PS like the one in the image below, you know that those Two Bobs on the Loch of the Lowes Nest have eaten well! Laddie and NC0 are nothing short of terrific.

It seems like Idris at the Dyfi Osprey Nest has entered some kind of local fishing contest. He continues to bring in whoppers. Yesterday it was the largest mullet ever recorded at the nest. Today it was another big one. Here is the image of the one yesterday if you missed it. They figure that the fish weighs more than Idris which I find interesting because most people state that these fish eagles cannot weight carry that much. Idris you might be changing our thinking on that. It is the largest mullet ever seen on the Dyfi nest.

Idris might have heard about that wall for Monty and figures he might have a chance at one too if he is a great provider. I guess time will tell. He sure is a cutie! Look at those big yellow eyes.

Idris is up on the post and Telyn is feeding the two Bobs. I believe that these two Bobs will be ringed in the next couple of days. Super!

Idris and Telyn are over on the nest perch keeping watch over their babies while they sleep. Hopefully it will be a quiet night at the Dyfi nest.

Dylan keeps bringing in sticks trying to build up the wall on the nest for the Only Bob at Clywedog. Meanwhile, while he is thinking about that, Seren is feeding this little cutie. You can hardly see the nest. Only Bob is a pretty good aim with that PS! There must be a bullseye on that camera.

It was very sad to lose the little albino chick on the Urdaibai Biosphere Osprey Nest, the other two older siblings are doing really, really well. Like all the others they are also enjoying their Friday fish.

Between the condensation and the PS on the camera it is really hard to see the Two Bobs at the Manton Bay Nest at Rutland Water. It has been raining all day. They are hoping to ring these two Bobs but it cannot happen when the weather is bad. They have a couple more days. Fingers crossed. The rain doesn’t seem to bother Blue 33 (11) – he gets the Fish for Friday up on the nest.

All of the babies are fine and I hope you are, too. Take care of yourself. Thank you for joining me. It is always a pleasure to see so many bird lovers.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Dyfi Osprey Project, Urdaibai Biosphere Park, Achieva Credit Union, Clywedog Osprey Project and Carnyx Wild, Cowlitz PUD, and the Scottish Wildlife Trust and Friends of the Loch of the Lowes.

Checking on ‘the Bobs’

There is actually something refreshing happening in the United Kingdom. All of the Osprey hatches are called ‘Bob’. The term references the fact that after hatch they are all ‘bobble’ heads. There are Little Bobs and Big Bobs and sometimes Middle Bobs and there are also Only Bobs. Strangely, unlike some of the North American sites, there doesn’t seem much discussion about whether they are male or female – or maybe I have just missed that. When the chicks are banded, information is usually given out on their gender. At the same time, blood tests may be taken to formally determine the gender and to put their identification into a DNA data base. When the blood tests have not happened there have been, on occasion, a few surprises – a particularly large Bob thought to be a female might return from migration and be found to be a male. But, generally, they seem to get the gender right with the weight and measurements.

There has been a lot of worry about Little Bob at the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest of White YW and Blue 35. For a day or two I was even afraid to look. The Cumbria Wildlife Trust does not have a replay feature so when you are watching it is live. Sometimes the chicks are eating and sometimes they are sleeping. I was very lucky this morning and arrived there on time for a feeding – and it was marvellous. One of those feel good moments of a humid Friday! There were the three of them all lined up behaving themselves. Little Bob was getting most of the bites and then I realized I could film it for you. He is still getting some in the video but, prior to this he was getting more. The still image below captures one of those moments. The little one is beginning to get full in the video. That is a wonderful sight to see. Tears. This little one is another like Tiny Tot. Oh, send all the warm positive wishes you can!

Blue 35 is an excellent mother and she really seems to have this feeding under control today.

I want to thank the Cumbria Wildlife Trust from whose livestream I took this clip and the screen shot. Check out their live camera here:

https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife/cams/osprey-cam

The ‘Only’ Bob and Blue 5F Seren got really excited when they saw Dylan arriving with a whopper of a Rainbow Trout. Look – he hadn’t even eaten the head off! Incredible. I love the expression on Only Bobs face with his mouth wide open. Only Bob looks like he is saying, “Wow, Dad!” I bet Seren can already taste it.

Those dads often look like they could surf or ride skateboards really well.

“Only Bob, don’t you think you could have just one more bite!” I wonder what the size of that crop is after eating most of a trout? Only Bob just seemed to fall down in a face plaster. There are clearly some advantages to being an Only Bob and not living in a nest with Three Bobs.

I want to thank the Carnyx Wild Wildlife on the Web and Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymruy whose livestream I took these screen shots. Check out their live camera here:

The Two Bobs up at the Dyfi Nest of Idris and Telyn were also enjoying a great big fish that dad had brought in. It seems like the weather and the wind are really working in favour of the fishing today.

One Bob is already fool and in a food coma.

Well, I had no more than turned around and Idris had another fish on the nest for Telyn and the Two Bobs. Is there some kind of fishing competition going on today between these male Ospreys? That is a really good looking fish, Idris!

You might recall that there was a mesh bag on the nest one day and then a bin liner. Telyn removed the bin liner – and I am not sure which adult removed the mesh bag. It is a really good lesson for humans to dispose of their litter carefully. You never know where it is going to wind up – in the rivers, wrapped around the little talons of the chicks, or stuck onto an adult.

I want to thank the Dyfi Osprey Project from where I took my screen shots. You can watch Idris and Telyn live here:

The condensation on the camera at the LRWT Manton Bay Osprey Nest doesn’t really let you see the Two Bobs of Maya and Blue 33 (11) very well. Blue 33 (11) is one of our super stars when it comes to bringing in fish for Maya and the chicks. These Two Bobs are growing and growing. It is fantastic to see them. I hope those of you that read my blog on a regular basis enjoyed that short BBC One show on Rutland with the film of Blue 33 (11) diving for that fish – and being successful first try. Amazing.

Thank you to the LRWT Rutland Osprey Project for their streaming cam where I took this image. You can check out all the action of Maya and Blue 33 (11) and the Two Bobs here:

And last, but never least, is the Osprey Nest up at the Loch of the Lowes in Scotland with Laddie LM12 and Blue NC0. Their Two Bobs are doing remarkable well. I worried so much about Little Bob and NC0 not being able to handle two chicks – and then sometimes Laddie was only bringing in appetizer size fish – but things have turned around there and these two look excellent.

It is so nice to see them leaving that Reptilian Phase and getting their juvenile beautifully curved feathers. Older Bob on the left really has a lot of peach coming in. You can see that Little Bob is a bit behind but he seems to be catching up.

What a beautiful setting. It looks like Laddie has been filling up the nest with moss. Maybe he didn’t know there is a Friday fishing competition!

Thank you to the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Friends of the Loch of the Lowes for their streaming cam where I grabbed my screen shots. You can watch all the antics of Laddie and NC0 and the Two Bobs here:

They are all doing well. Aran continues to improve at the Glaslyn Nest and the community continues to care for him and Mrs G. Everyone hopes that he is completely healed from his wing injury before migration in September. Today was especially heartwarming for me to see Little Bob on the Foulshaw Moss Nest getting fed right up with the other Two Bobs. He is so very tiny and the oldest Bob has been especially cruel at times. This was just a warm fuzzy day at that nest. Let us hope it continues.

Thank you for joining me today. I hope your Friday and the weekend is as good as it has been for these Osprey families today. Take all good care. See you soon!

Watch Osprey Blue 33 (11) dive for a fish!

It is Wednesday night and the BBC One Show aired a programme on Rutland Water and the ospreys today in the UK. As the hosts know, one of the most impressive things Ospreys do – and they do a lot – is their particular dive to catch fish.

So, instead of showing you still shots here is the programme. It is just a little over 5 minutes so enjoy!

Thanks for checking in today. I really hope you enjoyed seeing where Blue 33 (11) and Maya’s nest is in relation to everything else at Rutland Water. It is a wonderful setting and maybe one day all of us will be able to visit and see these magnificent fish hawks.

Tuesday Nest Hopping

Well, dear Tiny Tot did return to the Achieva Credit Union Osprey Nest this morning. Made me feel all joyful! He was on the perch and a bird buzzed him at 12:09:58. A full seconds later Tiny Tot leaves the perch. Was he in hot pursuit? Or was he just fed up being annoyed? The adult intruder had been on the nest earlier, too, when Tiny Tot was not there but it seems to be the Mockingbird that was a nuisance. Small birds love to annoy Big Birds. And how much longer will Tiny come to the nest? I wonder.

That adult intruder comes in every so often just to check things out. When Tiny arrives, it leaves! Tiny has made an impression – don’t mess with Tiny! Good.

Here comes Tiny heading for the perch at 11:07:27! You don’t see the adult Osprey – it took off the minute it saw Tiny arriving. Jack really does need to agree on a hefty amount of fish for this little one for securing the family nest all the time. :)))))

Oh, it is so nice to see you, Tiny Tot.

Tiny Tot is on the perch. If you look to the right and slightly up you will see the nuisance bird flying away from the nest.

Tiny flew off at 12:10:28 to the left.

Across the continent, Rosie is on the Whirley Crane nest in Richmond, California, with the trio. The chicks were banded on 4 June.

Isn’t that just a gorgeous location for a nest? Richmond is a great provider. This is their fifth season as parents. Rosie will stay around til the trio are well and truly fledged and independent then she will migrate. Richmond does not leave the area in the winter so he will be there helping the fledglings if necessary until they leave the territory.

Those white storks in Mlady Buky are really growing. Just miss a day and they look all grown up! And look how clean and dry they are. This is one of the best feel good stories of this year – it really is. I would love to wake up every morning and be surrounded by people who care about all living things.

Look carefully. You can see the throat pouch in the image below. Remember storks make a lot of sounds but they do not have vocal chords like songbirds. Instead, they clatter their bill together very, very fast and the noise resonates in this throat pouch making it much louder – like an amplifier.

Looking at how quickly these three are growing made me realize that I also need to check on Karl II and Kaia’s three storklings. They are the Black Storks in a nest in Southern Estonia.

Here is Kaia looking down at the three of them. Oh, I am so hoping that enough food arrives on this nest so that the little third hatch will survive. Kaia is a new mother and Karl II’s old mate, Kita, laid 5-7 eggs and they could not feed them all. Kita was known for tossing one or two of the small ones off the side of the nest. It is understandable when there is a food shortage but it looks like Karl II might have this under control and if Kaia only lays three eggs then they might fledge all their storklings without hardship.

Karl II and Kaia take turns feeding and watching the storklings. That is Kaia above. She has no bands on her legs – makes her easy to recognize. Those long legs help her wade through the long grasses and water in search of food.

Here comes Karl II. See his band. Kaia moves off the nest for her break to eat and forage for food for the storklings. So everything is just fine on this nest also. So far the day has been good for the birds I have checked on.

Taking turns.

In Wales, the camera operator gave everyone a good tour of the landscape that is the territory around the nest of Aran and Mrs G. For those of you unfamiliar, Mrs G is the oldest Osprey in the United Kingdom. She is 21. Her and Aran lost all three of their 2021 hatches due to Aran being injured while protecting the nest. He lost some primary feathers and could not fish. The community provided a fish table. Everyone ate but the wee ones not having food for 48 hours meant they could not be saved. Aran and Mrs G are getting their strength back and Aran is now flying much better. They are a strong established couple and will return next year from their African migration to try again.

Isn’t this just the most idyllic setting? There is a beautiful pond, an old stone fence along with cows and sheep. You can almost ‘hear’ the landscape!

All the rain made the Welsh countryside emerald green.

Now look carefully. Can you spot the Osprey?

Gorgeous landscape around the Glaslyn Osprey Nest.

The Two Bobs at the Rutland Manton Nest look almost as big as Maya and Blue 33 (11). Looks like it is time for some fish!

Blue 33 brings in a nice fish for Maya and the lads.

Now this image is really making me happy. The other day Idris got one of those mesh bags that holds produce – like oranges – caught on either his talons or a fish. It got into the nest with Telyn and the two Bobs. Thankfully no one was injured. The staff were watching it closely and if necessary, they would remove it. Otherwise they were going to wait to remove the mesh when the Bobs are banded at the end of the month.

Here is an image of the Two Bobs and the mesh the other day. You can imagine how worrying this was for everyone. You can also see the flat crops of each of the osplets, the down off their heads and the feathers growing in, and their deep amber eyes. They are in the reptile phase and for some, this is not so attractive as when they have either their natal down or their juvenile feathers. They really do remind us that Ospreys were around 50 million years ago – and as my son tells me – scientists only figured out that dinosaurs had feathers a few years ago so are they birds? or dinosaurs?

Another way that humans endanger wildlife is not disposing properly of our rubbish.

And this is today. Oh, what a relief. I hope someone finds that mesh and disposes of it properly.

Mesh is gone fron the Dyfi nest! Yeah.

Wattsworth has brought in a really nice fish to Electra on the Cowlicks PUD Osprey Nest in Washington State. I sure hope she takes the time to feed each oproperly. There was an awful lot of aggression on this nest yesterday and I am going to put it flatly on Electra for the lack of feeding when she had fish in hand on Sunday.

Wattsworth delivers a big fish – now feed your babies til they are bursting Electra!

And speaking of little bobs – oh, my. The third hatch at Foulshaw Moss of White YW and Blue 35 is really a wee lad. Everything is fine as long as food is not around but there is also a lot of aggression and it seems that there needs to be more fish delivered. Come on White YW!

Bob Three is really so tiny. He is cuddled up with sibling 2 having a nap. Of course sibling 1 is so big that it wants all the food but – Bob 3 is still here with us today and that is a good day in my books.

Wee little hatch 2 at Foulshaw Moss Nest in Cumbria.

The only child of Dylan and Seren is just in fish heaven. Growing up with no competition, s/he will need the parents to help it understand how to survive in the wild – the fight for the fish! I wonder if they will do that?? Certainly Bald Eagles train their only eaglets by pretending to be surrogate siblings. Samson did a wonderful job with Legacy on the Northeast Florida nest in Jacksonville.

All that chartreuse is moss. The first time I looked I thought it was another mesh bag. Is it just me or does this nest need some tidying?

And my last check in, the two Bobs up at Loch of the Lowes with Laddie LM12 and Blue NC0. Gosh. They are looking good, too.

It is so nice to stop in and find that everyone seems to be doing alright on a Tuesday. No telling what Wednesday will bring but for now, these birds are surviving.

I want to thank ‘S’ for writing to me and telling me that Tiny Tot had returned to the nest. It is much appreciated as are all your letters. Tomorrow I am going to explain something I learned today – the difference between the Migratory Birds Treaty of 1917-18 and the Wildlife Protection Acts of each individual province including my own.

Thank you for joining me. Smile. It is a great day.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Mlady Buky, Eagle Club of Estonia, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Loch of the Lowes, Dyfi Osprey Project, LRWT and Rutland Water, Clywedog Osprey Project, Carnyx Wild, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Achieva Credit Union, Bwyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife Trust, Cowlitz PUD, and Golden Gate Audubon.

As the Nest Turns – late Thursday and early Friday edition

The Cowlitz PUD Osprey nest can be really frustrating. Or maybe it is just Wattsworth that causes my blood pressure to go up. He brought in a couple of appetizers on Thursday, 3 June. Electra promptly fed the babies who were sitting up straight and polite wanting their lunch. The fish is between Electra’s feet – it really is small.

So Electra took it upon herself to leave the two wee ones on the nest and off she went to fill the pantry – and she did! Electra had a really good feed on that fish. She was hungry and she fed the little ones, too.

As the sun sets, everyone has had several fish meals. Electra corrals the two little ones under her so she can keep them warm over night.

And, guess what? Wattsworth comes in Friday morning with another tiny tiny fish for Electra and the kids.

And speaking of fish, Jack must be really happy to have Tiny Tot defending the natal nest. Jack flew in at 5:30:17 with a nice fish for Tiny Tot.

3 June 2021. Jack delivers a much earned fish to Tiny Tot.

Tiny Tot immediately grabbed that fish out of dad’s talons and began mantling it. While it didn’t look like there were any intruders or older siblings about who would challenge Tiny Tot for his evening meal, Tiny wasn’t taking any chances.

It was a nice size fish and Tiny ate for quite awhile.

There is a real preciousness in these moments looking at Tiny Tot – so beautiful a juvenile – perched. The golden glow of the setting sun shows off the beautiful plumage.

As the sun went down, Tiny Tot was up on the perch protecting the nest. Sleep tight, Tiny. Have fish dreams!

And early Friday morning, Tiny Tot is defending the nest again against the adult intruder! Poor Tiny.

There was a nice chippie on the nest of Big Red and Arthur. Big Red kept fiddling with it hoping that the Ks would come round to wanting their last meal of the evening. It was 19:00.

They had eaten earlier and had nice crops. Just look how full those Ks are! Those peachy chests make them look like they have swallowed beach balls. Big Red has the chippie ready for a feeding thinking they might want some more but, no. None of them are lining up to be fed with their beaks open. I wonder if Big Red would like a late chippy snack?

“Would you like some of this nice chippie, sweetie?”

Big Red did not have any takers. That had eaten a lot of rabbit earlier and it looks like they just want to sleep. It will be a chipmunk breakfast unless Big Red decides to have a meal after the Ks are asleep – and she probably won’t. She is hardwired to feed those babies of hers.

It’s Friday on the Cornell nest. Big Red is sunning herself on the light stand and it looks like K1 is self-feeding. Wow. Leaving some open prey on the nest has finally enticed this one to dig in there. Good for you, Big Red. We are now moving into two to two and a half weeks til fledge.

Laddie brought in one of those teaser fish – smaller than a Wattsworth Appetizer – to NC0.

She did the best she could with the little fish she had. NC0 your babies are growing and doing great. You’ve grown into being a very good mom. Look at the head of the one grabbing that piece of fish. All of the down on its head is gone. It looks like it got black oil on its head. Reptilian phase is coming!

Your word for the day: nictitating membrane. The word comes from the Latin word nictare meaning to blink. It is a translucent third eyelid. It comes up from the bottom to the top and has been described as acting like a windshield wiper. It cleans the eye and helps produce tears. You can see NC0’s nicitating membrane in the image below.

It looks like it is going to be a nice day in Scotland for NC0, Laddie, and the Bobs. The sun is just coming up. Laddie must be out fishing.

Blue NC0 is having a rest with the Bobs.

It’s Friday tea time on the Loch of the Lowes Nest and all is well. Laddie has just brought in a brown trout and NC0 is already feeding the Bobs.

Blue 33 (11) was right off the mark. He hauled in one of his whoppers first thing for Maya and the Two Bobs. This along with the big piece of fish left from the evening prior should be a great start to the day for this family whose nest is at Rutland Manton Bay.

Look at all those feathers

Idris was also up early and had a nice fish for Telyn and their two Bobs. At one point it was hard to tell what was happening but it looked like Idris was feeding Telyn. I am told he does this. What a sweetheart!

Idris comes in with a fish for Telyn.

For sure he did feed the two Bobs some fish.

Idris is feeding the Bobs.

And as the sun is rising over the Urdaibai Biosphere just 38 minutes outside of Bilbao, Spain, our little albino Osprey is waking up. Zuri is still alive. This is such a rare event – the first known for certain instance in the wild – that everyone will be learning something from this little one. There are rumours going around that the wee one is blind and cannot hear. But, we wait. Clearly its eyes are very sensitive to the light and, yes, if he lives to fledge it will have heavy challenges to overcome because of its plumage. Still, a miracle would not hurt us and this would be a cute one.

The rain has really been pitching down in Spain. Around 13:00 on Friday, a fish came into the nest for Landra. That wee albino one was up there with the other two osplets wanting some fish! In the first image it is facing the opposite way but it moves to get in line with the other two siblings thirty seconds later. Again, a miracle in Spain might be what we all need as some pandemic lockdowns are eased and others as Portugal begins another lockdown. Go little Zuri – eat, grow, teach us.

On Friday there is some thinking that the three have an eye infection. I will keep you posted. That is not clear from the image below taken today. Some of you might recall the eaglets in the Southwest Florida nest, E17 and E18 having conjunctivitis. Fingers crossed. Send warm wishes.

Oops. Turn around! Wait…who is doing the feeding?
It rained so hard for so long. The little ones are really hungry.

We still have heat warnings on the Canadian Prairies – the sky is blue and the sun is bright. The leaves are getting even more thick and now all the birds that come to my garden are hidden by the vines that grow everywhere or the thick lilic bushes. One thing I will really miss is that lovely lilac scent that enveloped us earlier in the week. The heat has really killed the flowers. Still, it was grand to have them when we did!

Thank you for joining me. Stay safe, stay cool! See you soon. I will be checking on the little one in Urdaibai and Tiny Tot throughout the day.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I grab my screen shots: Cowlitz PUD, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Achieva Credit Union, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Loch of the Lowes. LRWT and Rutland Ospreys, and the Dyfi Osprey Project.

Wednesday edition of ‘As the Nest Turns’

Gosh, what a day it has been with the hatch of the first known albino Osprey chick at the Urdaibai Biosphere Park in Spain. Let us hope that despite the challenges that being an albino faces in the wild, that this little one thrives!

Little Albino Osprey. First known. Born in Urdaibai, Spain. 2 June 2021

And surprise. I often just check in on nests that are thought to be vacant after the juveniles fledge and lo and behold, look what is on one of the branches of Legacy’s natal tree – an Osprey! It isn’t Legacy our beautiful ebony plumed juvenile Bald Eagle but hey, it is a bird and a nice surprise!

Well, hello. Did Legacy give you permission to use her nest?

It has been raining in Wales and that means it is wet on the nest of Mrs G and Aran. Since there are no chicks to brood, the pair more than likely come to the nest to retrieve their fish, eat them on the perch or off camera, and perch and roost in nearby trees. They need to still protect that valuable nest of theirs for next year’s season and we already know that there are two year old juveniles sniffing around.

Another damp day at the nest of Mrs G and Aran

The Glaslyn Wildlife Centre has received so many questions that instead of trying to answer each one individually or go on FB with postings, they wrote a detailed blog titled, ‘The Not So Perfect Storm’. I was impressed with the range of subjects they covered and the detailed sound information provided. The topics ranged from Why Did Mrs G Stop feeding the chicks? to What will happen to the Glaslyn pair now? to describing how Aran and Z2, Aeron, who occupies the PC nest with Blue 014, worked together to drive a male osprey away that had intruded at both nests. Wow! Cooperative territorial patrols. I like that. If you would like to read this very informative document, please go to:

https://www.glaslynwildlife.co.uk/2021/06/the-not-so-perfect-storm/?fbclid=IwAR2XsSXG68wolURyB6DYXI5KLe_7yPJIJuOm2Zmx3iMGe66RHknNzBUdbgY

Idris is know for his whoppers and here is another one!
Telyn feeding the two osplets that huge fish Idris brought to them.

I posted this image so you could see the change the plumage of these two little ones. Bobby Bach is 9 days old and still retains his light grey natal down and hair on its head. Bob, the oldest, is changing plumage and as their Twitter feed said, “now resembles ancient theropod lineage of the Cretaceous period, 66 million years ago”. Bob’s hair on its head is ‘thinning’. He is getting coppery coloured feathers around its head and neck. The body plumage will be getting quite dark.

Osplet on the right still has natal down while osplet on the left is moving into Reptilian Phase.

That is the stage that Big Bob is currently at. He is the eldest chick on the Loch of the Lowes Osprey Nest and he is beginning his Reptilian Phase.

Big Bob at the Loch of the Lowes Nest in his full reptilian phase!

Then the little ones will begin to be covered with their beautiful feathers. Have a look at the pair at The Landings Osprey Nest on Skidaway Island. Aren’t they gorgeous? They have retained some of that peach on their heads or necks and look at those gorgeous dark white tipped feathers on their wings and back. Stunning. The eldest at the Landings nest is started to self-feed a tiny bit.

The Landings Osprey Nest on Skidaway Island. aka Savannah Ospreys. Gorgeous feathers and starting to think about self feeding.

In the image of the Two Bobs at the Rutland Nest today, they are just leaving the reptilian phase and starting to get their gorgeous juvenile plumage. Look at them and look at the ones above at The Landing. In a couple of days the Rutland chicks will look like them! They change so quickly.

Maya is feeding the Two Bobs

It has been raining off and on in Ithaca, New York. Big Red’s Ks have wet feathers. It is a good way to see the changing plumage from K1, the eldest, to K3, the youngest.

In the image below, K3 is causing everyone to hold their breath as it looks down from the light tower ledge. Look at the beautiful dark feathers with their peach on the other two siblings. K3 is just getting its juvenile plumage on its wings. Both of the older siblings still have some down that will be covered soon.

The Ks are curious

Here they are standing up. Note the beautiful peach on the one on the left. If I could get the middle K to turn around you would see they have some peach, too. They look like they are wearing medieval costumes complete with pantaloons, vest, and morning coat. Quite dignified. Big Red is a very dark Red -tail Hawk with Arthur’s plumage being quite light in comparison. Big Red has a magnificent dark apron.

Don’t you just love their feathery costumes?

In terms of plumage that beautiful apron or low necklace of Big Red’s is a stunner. Also note her head, neck, and shoulders.

Here she is from the back. The Ks will not get their red tail til after their first year moult.

My friend in Maine spotted the bleeding from K1’s ear over a week ago and was worried. This is today and there is still some blood there. The ears are not protected until they get their feathers. Big Red works on them to clean them. One of the reasons for the greenery – especially the pine – which is a natural insecticide – is to keep away the insects that could lay eggs in the hawklets ears. In avian studies, they have observed no ill effects to the bird.

Here is a link to a very good and not so long article about parasites in birds including their ears:

Click to access p0082-p0084.pdf

Tiny Tot has been on and off the Achieva Credit Union Osprey nest in St Petersburg on and off today. He had a nice fish delivery early this morning and is probably hoping for another!

I want to memorize the way this juvenile looks but it will be little help to me if I try to track him down as an adult. Perhaps he will return and take over his natal nest in 4 years time! or maybe he will be a little precocious like the 2 year old juvenile male at Poole Harbour and we might see him scraping with Jack in a couple of years.

Here comes Tiny, the extraordinary, our Super Hero! He will do a perfect landing on the perch pole.

And there it is. Bingo. On the top. No fumbling around.

All those feathers have grown in for our incredible flyer.

And there he is ready to take on any intruders that might want to come to this nest and take his fish today.

There are, as we have all been noticing, other birds that intrude on the territory of others. Then there are people. There were people close to one of the osprey nests in Wales and more recently, the staff put up a camera at the Bucovina Golden Eagle nest in Bulgaria. Golden Eagles are very rare. The couple has one chick on the nest. The camera spooked the male and he left the nest for several days. This meant that the female wound up being a single mom like Spilve and Milda. She had to hunt, feed, brood, and protect the nest. Thankfully, the male returned to the nest yesterday, 1 June. It is a good lesson to everyone. The slightest disturbance can have catastrophic implications for the birds. Some are more sensitive than others to human presence.

You can see the chick below and this video shows the joyful return of the Dad to the nest after many days.

I will close with a beautiful image of the Dad Stork and the three storklets earlier today. The villagers in Mlade Buky Czechoslovakia are feeding then after the mother was electrocuted on power lines. Such generous caring people. Look at the crop on that one standing! They are doing very well, don’t you think?

Thank you so much for joining me today. Please stay safe and take care.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I grab my screen shots: Mlady Buky, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Bucovina Bulgaria, Dyfi Osprey Project and Montgomeryshire Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife Trust, LRWT, Achieva Osprey, NE Florida Eagle Cam and the AEF, Cornell Bird Lab and Skidaway Audubon, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Loch of the Lowes, and Association Wild Bucovina.

Goodbyes and hellos in Bird World

Oh, my. The past few days with the dire circumstances at the UK Osprey Nests has really kept me occupied. There is growing concern at the Glaslyn Osprey Nest in Wales. The eldest chick of Aran and Mrs G died of starvation on Sunday afternoon. Ravens attacked the nest on Saturday – it was a ferocious event. Aran is now missing at least two of his primary feathers. There is hope that he might be able to fish soon; he is still able to fly. The weather has not cooperated either. Send warm wishes! The information from the Glaslyn staff has not been updated. They are doing the best they can in an extremely dire situation.

While all of this was going on, Kisatchie at the Kisatchie National Park nest on the shores of Lake Kincaid in Central Louisiana fledged. It happened on the 22nd of May at 3:22pm. Despite Anna and Louis being at the nest with fish, Kisatchie has not been seen since he flew off the nest. I hope that he has not gotten himself entangled in branches.

One of the good things that has happened is that Tiny Tot returned to the nest after a successful fledge at 9:54:24. The time of his return was 4:44:10. In sixteen minutes, Jack had a fish on the nest in celebration. Meanwhile, sibling 2 was finishing up his fish that Diane brought in earlier.

This is fantastic news. Tiny was able to imprint the way home to the nest and his landing was perfect. Tiny Tot was hungry and he was tired. He literally went into food coma!

Sibling 2 and Diane become aware of Tiny Tot’s return to the nest.

Here comes Tiny!!!!!!

Landing gear is down.

Perfect. Maybe that was a good enough take off this morning and landing today to get Tiny’s permanent pilot’s license. 🙂

Jack flew in with a nice fish as a reward. Isn’t it lovely? 2 is on the pole and Tiny is on the nest. Both returning to the nest and Diane and Jack continuing to supply them with fish as they gain in their flight training.

Tiny Tot is exhausted. Good night Tiny. It is so nice to see you back on the nest.

Tiny Tot must have decided that fledging isn’t all its cut out to be. He has spent the entire morning on the nest with no indication he plans on taking another flight today.

Idris brought Telyn a nice piece of fish to the Dyfi nest in Wales. It continues to rain and she has to keep Big Bob dry and fed. There was a pip in the third egg this morning and now there is a crack. Pipping sounds can be heard from the microphone underneath the nest. Two babies tomorrow! Hopes that this terrible Welsh weather can give all of the Ospreys a break.

Bob Three hatched at 5:21 am and here he is enjoying a nice bit of Flounder. It is still damp in Wales. Idris and Telyn – who have to be really sick of this – are doing great. It is nice to have some good news coming out of Wales.

The warm winds are coming and Telyn is beginning to dry out. There is another flounder on deck from Idris when the Bobs are hungry!

Isn’t she gorgeous?

The link to the Dyfi Osprey Project streaming cam is here:

There is also a pip happening at the nest of Seren and Dylan at Clywedog. That pip was recorded at 20:39:17. And wow – here he is. Good Afternoon Bob 1. Looks like you are enjoying some perch! Nice.

Oh, these nests are so wet. They are soaked through!

The link to the Clywedog Osprey streaming cam is here:

If I should ever return in another life as an Osprey, I want Blue 33 (11) to be my mate. It is 4:27 am. Maya has just woken up and already Blue 33 is landing on the nest with a fish for breakfast for her and the Two Bobs.

It is significantly dryer in Rutland today, Monday, than it is in Wales. The Two Bobs were even able to sun themselves in the nest later on. Blue 33 brought in some more fish and is keeping an eye while Maya feeds the babies. Love this guy! No one is going to mess with his family.

Here is the link to the Rutland Manton Bay streaming cam:

Yesterday, you could hardly see Bob 3 at the Loch of the Lowes Nest of Laddie and Nessie. I had never seen an Osprey hatchling so small.

And here they are this morning. Poor NC0 (Nessie) has three bobbing heads to try and feed. The Big Bob is very good at grabbing pieces and getting them to his mouth. The other two will figure it out soon enough. More fish dad!

It is nice to see that the weather might be improving here, too.

Here is the link to the Loch of the Lowes streaming cam:

One Osprey nest that I have been neglecting is Rosie and Richmond in San Francisco Bay. Their three eggs hatched and wow are those osplets growing. They sure keep Richmond busy bringing in the fish!

These are super parents and it is so nice to see that everything is well on this nest in San Francisco Bay.

In others news, Legacy the Bald Eagle Fledgling of Samson and Gabrielle at the NE Florida nest in Jacksonville has not returned to the nest after leaving on 22 May. There is some indication that the two eaglets of Harriet and M15, E17 and E18, have both left the nest. Will report any changes if they happen.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Send all your best wishes over to the Osprey family and the staff at Glaslyn in Wales.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams for they provide the screen shots I capture: Achieva Credit Union, Dfyi, Clywedog, LRWT, Golden Gate Audubon Society, NE Florida Bald Eagle Cam and the AEF, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Loch of the Lowes.

I want to leave you with a couple of cute images of Legacy when she was wee.

Legacy with Gabby. 18 February 2021
Legacy on 9 February 2021. Legacy hatched on 8 February 2021.

Emotional Day in Bird World

The staff at the Glaslyn Osprey Nest in Wales are issuing statements on their FB page about the situation at the nest of Mrs G, Aran, and their three little ones. Aran has returned to the nest without any fish. The three little ones are still alive but for how long without food, no one knows. The weather in the area is not improving.

The Raven attack on the Glaslyn Nest can be seen here:

Watchers of Tiny Tot cried and cheered this morning when the third hatch of the Achieva Credit Union Osprey nest in St Petersburg, Florida fledged. It was 9:52:24. Everyone is hoping to catch more glimpses of Tiny as he returns to the nest for fish dinner. Fingers crossed.

Tiny Tot grew up to be a magnificient Osprey. We wish him a life full of fish and no drama! Oh, how I would like to know where you go and what you do, Tiny Tot. You are such an example of a survivor.

From the moment that E24 hatched, he has brought us great joy. That was the 8th of February. The little one was strong and survived an irritation of the eye as well as a bout of Avian Flu. The popular choice for a name was Legacy and it was very fitting.

Tears rolled down everyone’s face when Legacy left the nest and was missing in action for three days. She found her way home on 1 May and stayed with us for more than three weeks. She flew off the nest tree yesterday, 22 May 2021, at 11:31. It feels like this is goodbye. Samson bought in a fish to try and lure him back to the nest but, Legacy did not come for it.

Legacy’s father, Samson, returned to this very nest, the nest where he hatched, to raise his family. Because of the dire circumstances that happened to Romeo and Juliet, Samson really did create a legacy to his dad at this nest. Last year him and Gabby fledged Jules and Romy and this year, Legacy (such a great choice of name). Maybe Legacy will return in four years time and raise his family, if dad is retired!

Legacy will be 15 weeks old on 24 May. She is right in the sweet spot of the average fledge.

This little one brought us great joy – seeing her fight with her parents who were being surrogate siblings. I enjoyed particularly her interactions with Samson who is just the most amazing dad. Fly high Legacy! Take care. Return to us one day.

22 May 2021. Legacy leaves nest tree in Jacksonville, Florida.

Legacy is a week younger than E17 and E18 over at the Southwest Florida Bald Eagle Nest in Fort Myers. Talk about tears. These two were bonking maniacs. Then they got Conjunctivitis. And despite all the pecks, E18 protected E17 when danger came to the nest. They have grown to be best buddies – the twins that they are. They have played in the water in the ponds, caught prey on their own, returned to be fed by Harriet and M15. Here they are today sitting by one another on the branch. They haven’t left permanently. The time is, however, coming when that could be a reality. Buckets of tears will fall not only because that event will mark the end of a very successful season for Harriet and M15 but because it might mean that these two are separated. Each to their own territory. I wish, like Legacy and Tiny Tot, that they had a tracker.

There is an interesting story coming out of the United Kingdom of a brother and sister duo like these two actually setting up a nest together. (We do not know the gender of E17/18). The scientists have indicated that they are not concerned. So we wait but we might never know, sadly, the fate of E17 and E18. Whenever that last day arrives, they are ready to survive and we wish them boy voyage.

There was enough of a break in the weather at the Dyfi Nest of Telyn and Idris that Big Bob got to have two feeds. One of mullet and another of trout. A big crack has been noted in egg 3. Sadly, Bob 2 suffocated about eight hours after it was born. It was at a time when Telyn was desperately trying to keep the chicks dry and warm.

Here is Big Bob enjoying his trout dinner! Let us hope that this dire weather over in Wales settles down so that Little Bob will not have any difficulties. It has to be a worrisome time for all.

The miserable weather has continued over in Rutland where Blue 33 has been very fortunate in his fishing. The water has been choppy and murky. You can see how windy it is by the new punk hair styles of Blue 33 and Maya.

The Two Bobs are fine. Their plumage has changed and they truly look like their ancient relatives.

The same cold rain is still up at the Loch of the Lowes. Laddie and Nessie (NC0) are doing the best they can to both feed and keep the three little ones dry.

The cold rainy weather continues in Missoula, Montana. It was 4 degrees C. Iris returned to her nest with a nice crop at 10:17:42. She had not spent the night there and she has not, so far, gotten on to the nest with the eggs. The lingering cold and wet have insured that the eggs are not viable. So Iris will not have to go through the tragedies of past years. For now, I am simply glad that she visits the nest so that we can see she is alright! That is the main thing, isn’t it? Iris is, after all, the oldest Osprey in the world and we should enjoy every minute that we can with her. She is truly a survivor and when she doesn’t return from her migration, it will be the end of an era. Buckets of tears will flow. But for now, let us be joyful in her presence.

We know that Osprey fish for their food but Iris is starting to look particularly miserable with all the rain and cold weather. This is supposed to be her summer holiday!

For the lovers of Grinnell and Annie’s little falcons, this week is going to fly by fast. We could be on fledge watch in five days! How quickly they have grown. Today, the white dandelions have almost disappeared on the two oldest. You can see that the juvenile plumage is coming in nicely.

It is a damp day on the Canadian prairies. We have had that much needed rain and sun would be welcome. Outside my window Mr Crow is being difficult. The neighbours have been leaving kibble for a stray kitten. Instead of the kitten eating it, Mr Crow has been enjoying the crunchy bits. The dish is empty!

A friend of mine who lives in Maine says that this has been a different year for her watching the birds. This year she is more aware of the challenges that they face in their daily lives than she was last year. It is so true. They have brought much joy to us, now it is time for us to optimistically step forward and figure out ways to turn their world around.

Thank you for joining me today. I want to leave you with an image of a truly great bird mom, Big Red. I cannot even begin to imagine the mourning that will go on when she is no longer with us. She is eighteen this year. Every minute is precious. Here she is checking out the chicks as they sleep. She sees some things she doesn’t like and starts being the great mom she is – she is preening!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams. This is where I get my scaps: Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Achieva Credit Union St. Petersburg, NE Florida Bald Eagle Cam and the AEF, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, LRWT, UC Falcon Cam, Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Loch of the Lowes, Dyfi Osprey Project, and the Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife.