Tag Archives: Blue 494 in Brittany

Wednesday in Bird World

Lady Hawk has posted some close ups of the Royal Albatross cam chick, Tiaki, doing some wing exercises. Tiaki is all grown up, a beautiful juvenile, the daughter of LGL and LGK. She will fledge soon beginning her five or six year journey at sea – never touching land – til she returns to the headland to begin finding a mate. Perhaps one day Tiaki’s chick will be the Royal cam chick. I do hope so. It will mean that the seas are safer places for our beautiful squid eating birds.

“Masked Bobwhite (female ) (subspecies of Northern Bobwhite) | BANWR | AZ | 2016-04-15at07-43-413” by Bettina Arrigoni is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The Audubon Society has posted some really good news. The Masked Bobwhites are once again seen in southern Arizona. They were believed to be on extinct or on the edge of extinction because of cattle grazing in the Arizona deserts. Today they are listed as ‘critically endangered’.

They are a small round quail. When I was a child, we would travel to visit relatives in Arizona every summer. Oh, was it hot! But there were always Bobwhites. It is nice to hear that they are now returning.

https://www.audubon.org/magazine/spring-2021/the-decades-long-effort-save-masked-bobwhite?ms=digital-eng-social-facebook-x-20210900-nas_eng&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=20210900_nas_eng&fbclid=IwAR3FdSaYj3uy5eJPlW1b1mf1vqn6tl3tEgRrhpa7ErJl356QCTvPxxgFzaE

This photo was taken on the 10th of September. I wrote about it at the time because in migration news, this is great. The son of Aeron Z2 and Blue 014 at the Pont Cresor nest in the Glaslyn Valley – and the grandson of Monty and Glesni – had reached Brittany. That was 12 days ago. He would now be further on his migration, perhaps stopping in Spain. The photo of Blue 494 was taken by Colette Leclerq.

Photo by Colette Leclerq, Brittany France

Speaking of migration and waiting and wanting news of Blue 464, it is more than time to check on the Black Storks from Latvia and Estonia.

First up, Karl II, his daughter Pikne, and his son Udu. They are from the Black Stork nest in the Karula Forest in Estonia. This map is taken from the Karl II migration pages of the Forum.

Udu is now in Hungary near the fishponds at Banhalma. Karl II remains around Kherson Oblata in the Ukraine. Pikne has doubled back and remains in Moldova. What I think is interesting about this map is that Udu has turned and is heading towards the Asia Minor route. There was a question as to whether he might go the western route to Africa but it seems he will be flying over Greece.

This is the data from BirdMap. You can access the BirdMap here:

http://birdmap.5dvision.ee/EN

I was wanting to see about the Black stork Julge. He is Jan and Janika’s only surviving chick this year. He is now in france. You can see him still heading over the westerly routing.

The birds that are in the centre of Africa are two Ospreys!

So far everything looks in order and everyone is still safe.

I cannot bring you a late afternoon update on the Port Lincoln Ospreys. The camera was frozen for most of the day and has just returned to normal. Mom has the kids covered tight. It is only 8 degrees at 16:00 with winds blowing over the water at 11 kph.

I can show you a bit of what a beautiful day it was on the Canadian prairies. I really need to practice with my camera and my tripod. These are some images today taken at a distance of about 68 metres. I found the tripod tricky to use – I need a counterbalance for it – so these are all hand held. The set up was heavy. But there were a few passable images.

A female Mallard. This species is very common in Manitoba. They have, on occasion, fooled me so I have had to go to our local eBird expert. This is a real beauty.

The Canada Geese would like the entire pond to themselves. They swim after and honk as they pursue the ducks.

There is your dabbling duck. She knows that goose is there but is trying to ignore it.

The park was just beautiful. It was 25 degrees today. One of the fountains was not working and that end of the pond had men working. Still the geese on the other side were a bit curious.

All of the Wood Ducks were either up on the islands or down by the fountain that was working. This is a female and she is such a cutie. I sat and watched her swim in and out of the water droplets for quite awhile.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Tomorrow is a day away chasing shore birds. I hope to have a posting tomorrow evening (Thursday). Take care everyone. Stay safe. Stay Positive!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen shots: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Friends of Ospreys, and to the Eagle Club of Estonia, BirdMap, and the Latvian Fund for Nature.

Sunday in Ospreyland

The sun is shining bright, the birds are singing and it is 24 degrees C on the Canadian Prairies. Yes, you read that right. 24 C. No wonder my Hibiscus is doing well. We have the temperatures of the tropics! It will be 28 before the day is over. The only way to tell it is autumn in a couple of days is to look at the colour of the leaves.

The weather is not the only thing wonderful to wake up to. Thanks to the difference in time between Australia and Canada, the happenings on the Port Lincoln Osprey nest in the late afternoon are what I wake up to. And, my goodness, they are good! Dad came in with a really nice fish at 15:37. The Osplets were fed at 13:15, 15:37, 16:47, and again at 17:30.

All lined up nicely. These wee ones know precisely what to do. The feedings are starting to get a little longer as the trio grow. The oldest two hatched four hours apart on 13 September at 22:03 and 14 September 02:30. Little Bob hatched at 00:51:50 on 15 September. The close hatch times will really help this nest!

As we begin week 2, I am aware, like so many of you, that the potential for PLO to succeed with three fledges will be revealed in weeks 2 and 3. We are all very hopeful this year.

Look at the crops!

Dad eating some leftover fish.

Mom in the nest on the left and Dad on the perch on the right. It was a good day at Port Lincoln! Well done Mom and Dad.

These little ones are awfully squirmy. It is a wonder Mom gets any sleep. One of them wanted to peek out at 00:20:59.

Things are going so well. Port Lincoln needs good weather, good fishing, and a dad in tip top condition to get the food on the nest.

All of the UK Ospreys have begun their migration. George Anderson wrote an excellent article on migration and how climate change could impact our beloved birds. Here is the link:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2021/09/osprey-migration-facts-map/?fbclid=IwAR2uWIlfHTouFdcVIaHh6-bf3zOVAv9C6rn1KaScjlE1WkaOvJ7aUeAKGqU

My friend, ‘T’ wrote to tell me that the Dyfi on line shop will be opening in October. If Monty was one of your favourite Ospreys, you might want to check out Emyr Evans’ book, Monty. It is reasonably priced and I am told full of everything you could ever want to know about this beloved male. If you missed it, Monty and Glesni’s grandson Pont Cresor’s Blue 494 (son of Aeron Z2 and Blue 014) was photographed in Brittany on his very first migration this week.

While there are many other sightings of the birds, it is also confirmed that LR2, son of Laddie LM12 and Blue NC0 from Loch of the Lowes, was photographed in Trebujena, Spain this past week also.

This is a short trailer for a documentary about Ospreys. The images are stunningly beautiful. You need to have a look.

This documentary is due to be show on Nature on October 25th in North America. As I gather more specific details, I will post them.

Take care everyone. I am off to track down a Juvenile Green Heron. Wish me luck! Thanks for stopping by.

Thank you to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project’s streaming cam where I took my screen shots.