The first ‘star’ of the UK streaming cams (I am not counting Blue 25) to arrive home is Blue NC0 at Loch of the Lowes. She lost her partner, Laddie LM12, and lost her nest last year. Indeed, not a chick hatched; it was such a muddle at LOTL. Let’s hope Blue NC0 will have a mate and keep that nest!
The sun is shining bright, the sky is blue with some clouds, and the Dark-eyed Juncos and European Starlings arrived in the garden three or four hours ago! There is not supposed to be more snow for another five or six days – thankfully.
Mr Woodpecker came for some of the suet a few hours later. Normally he goes to the suet cylinder with the wooden flap that helps him sit better but today he decided he wanted the peanut suet.
I love the rustic garden we have created that allows us to interact with wildlife in an urban setting rather than setting boundaries to keep the birds, the squirrels, the rabbits, and sometimes a raccoon separate and apart. We seem to have all found a way to coexist which certainly brings a lot of joy.
I received a note from a friend of forty years this morning. They live in a beautiful flat in New Zealand near a place where they can observe ducks and swans but, with the sale of the family cottage, they are now longing for a home with a large garden. Whether it is a large or small space, each of us can bring joy to our lives by helping our feathered or furred friends. In fact, it is often so much easier to manage a small space with a single feeder. Everything helps! Yesterday a huge flock of robins came to our neighbours. She didn’t have seed of any kind but she had dried cranberries, frozen blueberries, and some apples she chopped up. The Robins were very grateful.
The day started off really well for Little Bit at the UFlorida Osprey nest in Gainesville. Mum called and Dad brought another fish to her at 09:34.
Little Bit – in the middle – stretches its neck really far and gets some amazing bites of fish. This little one is not bothered at all when it comes to putting its head in front of Big sibling. Did I actually think at one time this wee baby would not survive? He is so feisty and what a great Mum he has. She tries each beak when she has flakes of fish. Not one of the chicks is ever left out. Slow and methodical. I am so impressed by her.
Big Bob (left) has its dark oily head today and has been seen doing a lot of preening as its new darker-grey wooly down comes in. Little Bit (middle) still looks rather soft and young. It is healthy – look at that fat little bottom. Middle Bob (top right) is in between the other two siblings. Tomorrow Middle Bob will look much more like Big Bob. The dinosaur phase is upon us.
Yesterday, at the Captiva osprey nest, the last fish was delivered around noon. Was recreational boat traffic the cause of no deliveries later in the day? I always wonder especially on a holiday weekend.
The first fish today came in and Middle grabbed it. I think Lena was planning on dividing it up but she didn’t get a chance. [Chat uses the term ‘Little’ when I say Middle]. I hope Andy brings in another fish soon for Lena and Little [Mini].
Idris brought in a super fish for Telyn at the Dyfi nest and then incubated the eggs for her so she could have a good feed.
Idris is one of my favourites.
Aran and Mrs G have both been on the alert this morning at the Glaslyn nest. No eggs so far – that’s a good thing.
Aran looking around from the rim of the nest.
Mrs G. looking at the intruder above the nest.
Both on the look out from the perch. There are still floaters around looking for a mate and a nest. They often cause a bit of chaos.
Yesterday, Blue NC0 laid her third and, hopefully, last egg of the 2022 season. If all three hatch, Laddie LM12 is going to be one busy male at the Loch of the Lowes. Last year the couple fledged two chicks.
Here is a short video clip of the third egg being laid.
Maya and Blue 33 (11) will have the first Osprey chicks to hatch on the streaming cams in the UK. I will alert you as we approach pip.
All three eaglets at the West End had a nice early breakfast. Thunder told them to stay away from the edge!
There were some gorgeous views from the Two Harbours nest at sunrise.
Chase wanted some time with the eaglet so he brought in a big stick and coaxed Cholyn off the nest. Sounds just like Shadow at the Big Bear Valley nest! You can see that stick to the side of Chase.
The Pittsburgh Hayes eagle nest would sure like some of that warm California Sun today. Everyone looks miserable. I can only imagine what that stock of fish smells like.
Unbelievable. Only Bob at the National Arboretum nest is no longer a fluffy little white teddy bear. Just look at that eaglet with that big crop. There is still some white natal down on its head.
The image below is the eaglet on 6 April. Twelve days ago! The saying is: An eaglet grows from three inches to 3 feet in 3 months. That is incredible.
Mother Goose has her eggs in the old abandoned Bald Eagle nest at Decorah North in Iowa. She seems to be doing fine. No disturbances and unlike dear sweet Diasy, Mother Goose has help.
The camera operator searched and found the Bald Eagles working on their new nest this morning. It is really windy!!!!!!!!
Harry and Nancy were both on the Minnesota DNR nest as snow was falling this morning. Everyone was having a big feast. Each parent was eating and feeding an eaglet. Beautiful.
Liberty and Guardian were both on the Redding Bald Eagle nest this morning too. It looks, from the size of all of these eaglets, that we are really going to be busy when they all start fledging at once!
Would you like an opportunity to name the two Redding eaglets? Here is where you go to fill in the form:
Names already used include the following: Liberty, Patriot, Spirit, Guardian, Conehead, Freedom, Hope, Peace, Shasta, Justice, Stormy, Windy, Lassen, Pi, Paddy, Poppy, Birdie, Bogey, Solo, River, Sky, Hope, Honor, Glory & Rebel.
The whole family was on the nest this morning at Big Bear after Shadow brought in a really super fish.
What a peaceful image. Spirit looking out on Big Bear Lake while Jackie finishes up some fish. Spirit has such a huge crop! Glad there was some fish left for Jackie.
While the ‘New Guy’ is incubating, Annie chases an unwanted male from The Campanile. Oh, and we so wished Annie would have some peace and quiet.
We are waiting for the announcement of the name for ‘The New Guy’.
Jan brought some moss to soften the nest that he shares with his mate, Janika. Their artificial nest is in Jogeva County in Estonia. It was built in 2021. Black Storks are very rare in Estonia and everything is done to encourage them to nest successfully. If you look carefully you can see that there are two eggs already in the nest.
Big Red and Arthur have been taking turns incubating the four eggs. In fact, this year, Arthur has become a bit bolder in his attempts to get Big Red off the nest so that he can care for the eggs, too. We will be on pip watch at the end of the week. I won’t be able to sleep!!!!!!
In past years we have seen Big Red encrusted in snow, blow off by high winds, and drenched by torrential rains. With four eyases it will be imperative that they get under the adult until they are able to regulate their own temperature if bad weather hits the Cornell campus.
Big Red is certainly a good name for the Queen of Red-tail Hawks. She has the most gorgeous deep red plumage whereas Arthur is lighter.
You can really tell the difference in the couple’s colouring by looking at BR above and then Arthur below.
It has been a wonderful day, so far, at the nests. That is a great way to begin the week. Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey Cam, Captiva Osprey Cam and Window for Wildlife, Dyfi Osprey Project, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Scottish Wildlife Trust, LRWT, Explore.org, Pix Cams, NADE-AEF, MN-DNR, Redding Eagles, FOBBV, Cal Falcons, Eagle Club of Estonia, and Cornell Bird Lab RTH.
Hi Everyone. It has been a nice day on the Canadian Prairies. The Dark Eyed-Juncos, that I have mentioned earlier, are descending on lawns all over our City today. It is lovely to have them back with us!
Cal Falcons posted a link to an Instagram feed that features some beautiful images and a lovely tribute to our beloved, Grinnell. Please read the text. Go to the feed to see the images. If you missed this, here is the link:
Cal Falcons also had a super cute image of ‘New Guy’ relaxing on the ledge. Like everyone in Berkeley, I hope – as I know you do – that the rest of the time for hatching and feeding eyases and fledging is completely and utterly boring and uneventful. This Peregrine Falcon nest has had enough drama!
New Guy is really growing on me.
Thought the day could not get any better until it was discovered that both female CJ7 who has been longing for a mate and found one too late last year – and Blue 022 – who became smitten with her – have reunited on the Poole Harbour nest!!!!!
If this couple hatches osprey chicks this year, it will be the first time Ospreys have hatched in Poole Harbour in over 200 years. And that is a big Wow in the Osprey world.
Aran returned as previously reported and him and Mrs G are getting reacquainted. Aran is one handsome Osprey!
Here is the link to the streaming cam for Mrs G and Aran at Glaslyn:
One of the things that I really admire about Emyr Evans and the Dyfi team is the amount of data they collect on their Ospreys. Here is Telyn on the nest.
Idris is unringed. Tely is Blue 5F. Idris is known for his great fishing abilities and his long legs which often earns him the nickname, ‘Daddy Longlegs’. Here he is enjoying a fish on his perch today.
If you look at the chart below, you will see that Idris replaced Monty at the Dyfi nest in 2020. They fledged two chicks and in 2021 they also fledged two chicks, a male and a female, not recorded yet on the chart.
This is a highly recommended Osprey nest to watch with chat. Emry Evans often stops in to answer questions and say hi. Here is the link to the streaming cam.
There are expectations that Blue NC0 is thinking of laying her first egg of the season with mate LM12, Laddie, grew more intense today as she kept close to the nest.
Ospreys have been breeding at the idyllic site for more than 50 years.
No eggs yet. I often think that Laddie could treat NC0 a little better. Last year she proved that she was as good a fisher as he was – if not better – hauling in large fish for the kids as they grew bigger and demanded more.
Here is the link to the camera at the Loch of the Lowes:
Blue 33 (11) and Maya always seem to be ahead of everyone else! They arrive early and get down to business. Their three eggs were laid on 31 March, 3 and 6th of April.
Their nest is often comical and/or sweet. Blue 33 is a great dad. There is fish on the nest at first light for Maya and the kids once the osplets hatch. Here is the link to their webcam at Rutland Water:
It is always a great day when Middle Little at Dale Hollow eats well and has a big crop. That would be today. Click on the streaming cam and Middle Little is looking good.
A big headless fish came in at 13:01:04. The parent did not immediately feed the eaglets but returned at 14:50:37 and fed Middle Little with Big looking on (below).
Middle Little did a lot of snatch and grabs when Big came up to get some nice fish, too.
Middle Little’s crop looks like it wants to pop. All is well.
The Ospreys at Skidaway Island have checked on their nest on and off while the Great Horned Owl raised Little Grey. Little Grey has branched and the Ospreys are anxious to reclaim their nest and start working on it.
As I have always said, Thunder and Akecheta’s triplets just put a smile on my face. This nest has done fabulous this year – no pecking, no fighting, no one scared to eat. Well done!
Thank you so much for joining me today in Bird World. Always good to have you here. Take care everyone. Stay safe!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Cal Falcons, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, People’s Post Code Lottery and Scottish Wildlife Trust, LWRT, DHEC, Cornell Bird Lab, and Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies.
