Tag Archives: Blue 35 feeding all the chicks on Foulshaw Moss Nest

Tense Day in Bird World

It has been one of those days. Two things happened that were expected. One was a good expectation that almost turned into a tragedy – and sadly, the other one was the siblicide of one of the chicks on the Cowlitz Osprey Nest in Longview, Washington.

K3 fledged from the Fernow Light Tower at 13:42. K3 is 49 days old and is a tiny little hawklet standing at just a little less than 30 cm (12 inches) tall. The flight was dramatic. K1 had been visiting the nest. Indeed, the K1 had spent the night on the nest with her little brother, K3. They were sooooo cute.

K1 is a great big hawklet – a big female and a cute tiny little male. K1 flew over to the Oak Tree where she had fledged yesterday at 13:38. I don’t think K3 wanted to be left out of the action that his big sis had described. If you missed it, here is that fledge:

K3 flew around the Oak tree where K1 was, did a turn, and tried to grab onto Bradfield and missed. But he was not injured and has spent the afternoon exploring the ledges and being dive bombed by Robins.

Here is an image of K3 after fledging taken from the nest cam:

K3 has even had a rest. Meanwhile K1 flew back to the nest where a chippie was dropped off for a tea time snack.

After all the stress I thought that I should just follow it up with a check on Tiny Little Bob on the Foulshaw Moss Nest. There are three chicks on that nest and Great Big Bob is a bully. It was not certain that Tiny Little Bob would survive but it seems like he will. Fingers continue to be crossed. The older and bigger that Tiny Little gets the more chance he has.

When I turned on the nest cam the chicks were looking around and you just knew something was happening. They were looking around everywhere. Mom landed on the nest followed by White YW, Dad, with a Flounder!

Here is that video clip of the arrival of that fish:

Tiny Little was not comfortable eating first as you can see and then Tiny Little Bob realized that Great Big Bob wasn’t pushing for food so Tiny Little went for it. He ate for about 4 or 5 minutes without stopping. You could tell he kept wanting Blue 35 to hurry up before Great Big got hungry!

Great Big and Middle let Tiny Little go first.

Seeing Tiny Little eat made me feel really good but, of course, I am still uneasy about the size difference between Great Big and Tiny Little. I needed one of those feel good moments and that sent me checking on Richmond and Rosie. Richmond and Rosie are the equivalent of going over to check on the Royal Cam chick in New Zealand. You just know before you look that everything will be alright.

Richmond and Rosie had three boys this year. Gosh, there are a lot of male ospreys being born! I also wanted to see what names were selected for the trio. There they are on the natal nest on the historic Whirley Crane on the Richmond Shipping Yards. The third chick is on the other side of Rosie.

The Golden Gate Osprey FB – the SF Bay Ospreys – posted the image below with pictures of the boys, their ring numbers, and their names. Over 700 people voted. That is pretty amazing. Now look at the beautiful necklaces on those boys! Don’t let anyone tell you that only female ospreys have necklaces. 022 on the Poole Harbour nest has one of the best necklaces I have ever seen! And look here at Sage.

Richmond and Rosie always make me feel good. They are a stable couple with a male who provides well for his mate and children. There is never the issues of sibling rivalry and siblicide as we have seen on the Cowlitz Nest. It is refreshing and calming.

Jack brought Tiny Tot a fish at tea time so everything is all right with the world on the Achieva Osprey Nest. Oh, Tiny has grown into such a beautiful bird and a great protector of the realm. Who ever would have believed this in March? A whole lot of love went out to this third hatch – so many people wanted 3 to survive and well…just look!

There is Tiny mantling really big and tight! S/he wants that fish. Thanks, Jack!

Thanks for joining me today. Looks like it could be a stormy evening on the Canadian prairies. Take care everyone. Be safe!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my video clips and screen shots: Achieva Credit Union, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, SF Bay Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, and the Cornell Bird Lab and RTH.

Storks almost blown off nest, a second egg, and more news from Bird World

My friend T always sends me exciting nest news. So, T, thank you so much, as always. It is much appreciated. This morning T sent me a video. I almost fell off my chair while watching it. High winds and a storm in Poland and a stork nest. Not a good combination. Watch the pine trees in the background. Here is the video:

https://fb.watch/v/102cLTLx2/

And, of course, lots of news from the other nests on a late Tuesday!

Lady laid her second egg in the Ironbark Tree in the Sydney Olympic Park at 1:18 am, 23 June. Congratulations Lady and Dad! Now the wait truly begins.

Tiny Little Bob waited and watched and got some of the tea time fish on the Cumbria Wildlife Osprey Nest. He has his beautiful curved feathers coming in now and looks so grown up. All that food from the last few days are really helping this little one grow!

Of course, the Big one who is moving out of the frame on the left decides that it isn’t quite full and comes in and interrupts another calm feeding for Tiny Little and Middle Bob. I plan to keep my faith that Tiny Little Bob is going to survive, fledge, and thrive.

If you missed the great news from Cornell, K1 fledged this morning at 8:27:31. Shortly after a bucket truck arrived and lifted a vet and rehabber up to the nest to take K2 into care. We will not know the prognosis for probably a couple of days but we do know that K2 is in the best of care at Cornell. Meanwhile, K1 is enjoying herself over in the oak tree.

The following photographs were taken by Suzanne Arnold Horning and posted on the Cornell Red Tail Hawks FB Page. I hope she does not mind my sharing.

Do you remember that Big Red left the oak leaves in the nest? Well, look. K1 flew directly to the oak tree just like Big Red told her! Incredible.

Here is the video of that smooth fledge in case you missed it:

At 51 days old, K1 broke the record for waiting the longest to fledge – indeed, this entire brood has waited the longest of any of Big Red’s hawklets. Meanwhile, K3 seems to have no intention of going anywhere and I was so sure he would take the leap first. Silly me.

K3 has kept everyone on the edge of their seats – he has stared across the street at his older sibling in the Oak Tree but so far, has not fledged.

And last but not least, those two beautiful chicks of Laddie and NC0 were ringed today. Chick 1 has LR1 and is a female. Chick 2 has LR2 and is a male. I wonder how many thought that from the start? I am glad that little male hung in there. They turned out to be gorgeous birds.

Thank you so much for joining me this afternoon. I will keep you posted on the status of K2 and will definitely alert everyone if K3 fledges.

Thank you to the Cornell Bird Lab for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots and video clip, the Cumbria Wildlife Trust for their streaming cam where I took my video clip, to Suzanne Arnold Horning for the photographs she shared of K1 on the FB page, to Tatiana for always alerting me to the strange happenings in Bird World, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Friends of the Loch of the Lowes for their streaming cam, to the WBSE Sea Eagle Cam, Birdlife Australia and the Discovery Centre for their streaming cam. Thank you to the camera and the man in Poland who went to check on the White Stork nest. So glad everything was alright.

The featured image is K3 teasing us!

Late Friday snippets from Cowlitz, Achieva, and Foulshaw Moss

I cannot but think that something terribly wrong is going on at the Cowlitz PUD Osprey Nest in Washington State. The two chicks, already undernourished, are crying out for food with their heads bent over in the middle of the nest. Electra is not there. Wattsworth has not brought in any fish. Perhaps something has happened to him but Electra has proven that she is a good fisher and she literally has two starving babies. They should be growing with fat little wings and bottoms and that is not happening. Why has she not gone to catch something?

It is 16 degrees C and partly cloudy where the nest is located. Thank goodness it is not the high temperatures in Florida right now or elsewhere in the United States. The Ospreys depend on the fish for their hydration but these days are critical for the wee ones. These two should have feedings every few hours – should have had since they were born – but haven’t.

For those who watched the Achieva Osprey Nest you might well remember the physical state that Tiny Tot was in at this stage. This can be turned around. Right now it would help if Electra would bring in a big fish for these two.

Electra is back on the nest brooding the two chicks. She is loudly calling Wattsworth. I wonder if something has happened to him? has he been injured like Aran was at Glaslyn and unable to fish? has something worse happened? Still, I would hope that Electra would go out and fish. It would be 7:40 pm there Friday night. If she does not go soon it will be too late. It is difficult to remember precisely when these two had something to eat. It was sometime yesterday. This is very, very disturbing.

I have seen no food today. There are the two little ones thinking Mom has returned with fish – but, sadly, she has nothing for them.

In St Petersburg, Florida, Tiny Tot got his fish. At 8:19:06 – after he had been food calling and watching – he took off from the nest. Jack must have flown by with a fish and made a drop for Tiny away from the nest. Maybe the adults will slowly wean Tiny off of getting fish on the nest.

In the image below Tiny Tot sees one of the adults with a fish. He is calling out loudly.

He immediately takes off to go and chase them and get that fish!

Tiny Tot returns at 8:49:29. The little bit of sunlight is quickly disappearing. Tiny Tot is not giving up any secrets as to how much of a crop he has or hasn’t. However, he was gone for approximately thirty minutes. He eats a lot faster than he did when he was younger so that could have been a nice size fish.

Tiny moves up to the perch at 8:54:27 where he will spend the night. Good Night Tiny. Happy Fish Dreams!

Meanwhile, Little Bob at the Foulshaw Osprey Nest is hanging in there. He had a really good feed today. Let’s hope this nest stays civilized and that none of us have to worry about this wee tiny tot again. Just look at the size difference between him and Big Bob the old meanie.

Thank you for joining me on this quick check in with these three Osprey nests. I wish there had been better news coming out of the Cowlitz Nest. Send all your warm wishes their way. It just feels like something has happened. Wattsworth wasn’t great at bringing in massive amounts of fish but he was delivering. It would simply be a tragedy if he is injured or has been killed. The fortunes -good or bad -on the nests can change as quickly as you can snap your fingers.

Thank you to the Cumbrian Wildlife Trust for their streaming cams where I got the shots of Little Bob and his two siblings. You can view them here:

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

Thank you to the Cowlitz PUD for their streaming cam where I grab the still images of Electra, Wattsworth, and the two chicks. Here is the link to that nest:

And thank you to the Achieva Credit Union in St Petersburg Florida for their streaming cam where I get my stills of Tiny Tot. Here is that link:

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!