Tag Archives: Blue 35 feeding Tiny Little Bob

Oh, Tiny Little….and friends

I thought I would check on the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest in Cumbria. That streaming cam does not have a rewind and so it is hit or miss as to what the chicks are doing. All three were on the nest and Blue 35 was feeding them. And bless his heart, Tiny Little was right there getting many bites – lots. It was magnificent. He was pecking for bites at Blue 35’s beak before she was ready!

Blue 35 is finished feeding in the image below. Honestly, if you can’t see the bands it is getting difficult to tell which chick is chick. Can you believe it? Tiny Little looked like a mere babe two days ago!

Blue 35 gave 464, who waited patiently without being a nuisance, the skin and the fish tail. Tiny is not taking his eyes off of that tail! 462 has moved up to the front where she is moving a branch. All Tiny Little wants is that fish tail!

Then 462 gets rather exciting and starts doing wing exercises. Tiny Little is still staring at the fish tail.

Tiny Little ducks when 462 starts flapping but his eyes are locked in on that fish tail, still. 464 seems to be having trouble eating. Tiny Little is probably saying, “Let me have a try!”

462 got some good lift. I thought she was going to fledge but she didn’t. I don’t think Tiny is next. To me his tail is not long enough! Tiny Little isn’t so Tiny anymore – almost overnight this third hatch changes. He is going to bed with a nice crop. Well done, Tiny ‘Not so’ Little.

Fledgling 464 left the nest and Blue 35 returned. She moved over and found the fish tail and some fish and just guess who was right there beak to beak wanting some more dinner!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is why Tiny Little is not so Tiny anymore.

It is very interesting. There were individuals who thought that Tiny Tot on the Achieva Nest would to be doomed once the older siblings started self feeding. You know – we need to give these Osprey mothers some credit. They try and make sure everyone is fed. Tiny Tot blossomed before our eyes at Achieva once the other sibling 1 and then sibling 2 were flying – and it looks like having one off the nest (sometimes) at Foulshaw is helping as well.

I reported that one of Monty and Glesni’s chicks, Merin, was breeding in the Lake District. Emry Evans posted some images of Merin and his beautiful daughters in his blog. You can have a read and see the lovely images, too. If the link does not open automatically, do the old cut and paste method. You should also be able to sign up for Emyr’s blogs at the bottom if you wish to do so. Emyr includes a very helpful family tree on his blog today.

http://www.dyfiospreyproject.com/blog/emyr-mwt/2021/07/07/merin-breeding-england?fbclid=IwAR1X6b1Qy5bYFNfXyFVgib_ah941eRBYXjaumRJsAZxMexV5xIGLknUz9wg

Janet Sampson is working on a very nice chart of the Rutland relatives in Wales. She has not polished it off completely but she said we can share as long as we give her credit. So thank you Janet Sampson! This is really brilliant.

Someone sent me a note and asked me if I had a favourite Osprey. Oh, my goodness. That is a difficult question to answer. So let me tell you a story first and then I will try and answer this for you.

I have always wondered what makes a ‘great’ Osprey. I have, in fact, praised the two nestlings daughters of Merin’s as being the most beautiful osprey chicks I have ever seen. Their picture is in Emry’s blog. That led me to wonder if it is performance or appearance or both. So, in that wonderful chat the other evening with Tiger Mozone, I asked him what makes a ‘great osprey’. {Tiger has an encyclopedic mind on Osprey history and Ospreys}Tiger answered with a question: “What do you know about horses?” “Well, some”. At one time I lived on an acreage and there were five horses. Had I heard of Northern Dancer was Tiger’s second question. I ask you, is there anyone who hasn’t heard of Northern Dancer? So there was my answer. Performance. Then one day my friend ‘T’ and I were chatting. If we came back in another life as an Osprey female who would we want our mate to be? Now there is the heart of the answer to my original question. I knew that ‘T’ would say Monty. I am actually quite fond of Blue 33 (11). Today I realized for me it would be a toss up between Blue 33 (11) and Idris if I were ever to return as a female Osprey….of the choices currently available. They perform for their families. These are the guys – Monty, Blue 33, and yes, Idris will prove himself – that get the fish out of the water and on the nest. There are lots of fish. Someone said today they thought that Idris could feed a four chick nest. I think he could, too and I think Blue and Monty could as well. Take good care of the females and the chicks, fledge those babies, and then have them return to breed successfully. That is a ‘great’ Osprey. I think Tiger might agree. Of course, every great male needs an equally great female. Nora, Glesni, Telyn, and Maya are doing fantastic. So think about your favourite Osprey.

There is Telyn feeding Dysynnis and Ystwyth late today. But this appears to be a first —— Telyn caught the flounder and brought it to the nest for the chicks! Yippeeeee.

Ferris had a great tour today. These are a few shots from the beginning to end.

There were two Green Herons along the drive.

When Ferris got to the Cornell Campus, he spotted K3 right away on top of the Rice Building.

Looking for K1, there was a lovely Mourning Dove family in the trees around the Fernow Building.

Big Red was up on Bradfield. Word came to the group that she had delivered prey to both K1 and K3 just a little earlier so they are both full and not food begging.

Isn’t she beautiful? She is already beginning to moult. In a week or so we will call her Big Blonde!

There she is again, same place.

Ferris looked in the pines. He could hear Robins vocalizing and thought K1 might be around. What he found was a lovely very young Robin. Oh, I wish this little one would hide! Those hawks would like you for breakfast – maybe. Robin is not their favourite treat for sure.

K1 was discovered on one of the light towers.

And then something happened and K3 came to join K1. K1 is on the top left and you can just see the little duckling, K3 laying flat out.

Arthur has joined Big Red. All four hawks are accounted for and they are fine. Good night Big Red, Arthur, K1 and K3. Have lovely hawk dreams.

That is it for a late Saturday evening. It is once again in the 33-34 C range on the Canadian prairies. The birds are draining the water bowls every couple of hours.

Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone and oh, tomorrow my blog will appear in the late afternoon or early evening. I have promised myself to clean out my office for several months —— it is now time! Stay safe.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I get my screen shots: Ferris Akel Live, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest, and Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn.

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.