Tag Archives: Canada geese

Ervie, Indigo…and more news in Bird World on Sunday

13 November 2022

Good Morning Everyone.

Saturday was one of those quiet stay-at-home days. It gave me a chance to think of the ways that those of us who live in wintery climates cope with the weather. As it is, the sow is dancing down right now. The European Starlings are eating suet and Butter Bark and Mr Crow cawed so much that I gave him high protein kitten kibble. Oops. The Starlings have found the kibble!

Inside the house, the candle holders have been cleaned and given new candles. An apple crisp is in the oven. So, instead of starting out birds today, we will begin with something simple to make your house cosy on a crisp day. Put 1 sliced orange and 1 sliced lemon in a 2 litre (qt) pot. Leave the peel on – that is where the lovely oils are. Add a few bay leaves, 2 or 3 cinnamon sticks, a good tablespoon of cloves, and cover the whole with water. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and let it simmer. You can add water as needed. I used to add tea bags to the brew. It is a lovely spiced tea but needs some straining. The other thing you can do is to take the peels of your oranges and lemons and use them. I always have bags in the freezer! It is part of a strategy to have zero waste.

Making News:

Our darling Ernie. Poster child of handsome beginning to do some moulting.

For the very first time successful fledges at Maine’s Hog Island Boathouse Osprey platform. Dory and Skiff are making the news! Congratulations to this Osprey couple who successfully fledged three osplets from the Hog Island Osprey platform this year. What an amazing family this was to watch.

https://www.audubon.org/news/for-first-time-osprey-chicks-have-successfully-fledged-hog-islands-boathouse?ms=digital-fund-social-facebook-x-20221100-nas_eng&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=20221100_nas_eng&fbclid=IwAR0MljZqxAZltUyO7_by2nUPzcfcBfWzx-esyVLSDPFOy5xb6Rua96Dd8b8

Oh, so very grateful to Cilla Kinross for finding Indigo and showing us how this handsome lad is doing after fledging. Isn’t he a stunner?

Tweed Valley fledged three ospreys this year. Two of them have perished. The other, Glen, found himself on a couple of container ships before finally making it to Spain! Here is the latest on this youngster.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-63584969?fbclid=IwAR1vsE2ErGcB71e711Z9k01Xt4GWUC4PDPCn03KH3yCzRLdl3MECQnPSDz8

In the Mailbox:

‘EJ’ sent me some grand news. It is amazing what we can do when we get together to help benefit the environment and wildlife. A community joined together and raised 2.2 Million GPB to purchase a tract of land to enlarge a nature reserve. Just think – this could be a way of halting development in areas that are needed by the wildlife. Is there land where you live that is adjacent to a nature reserve that could benefit from such an endeavour? Keep this positive action in mind if ever you get a chance to work with your community.

“File:The Ewes Water Valley – geograph.org.uk – 1538379.jpg” by James T M Towill is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

You can read about this successful project here:

https://www.scotsman.com/heritage-and-retro/heritage/langholm-moor-ps22-million-raised-to-complete-community-buyout-3793764

Australian Nests:

All eyes are on Port Lincoln. Ian Falkenberg was up at midnight finishing up the permit forms – that myriad of red tape that Port Lincoln has to do in order to ring the osplets on the nests. Fran and Bazza said that he was up again at 0600 getting ready. So, today, Big, whether you like it or not you will be weighed, measured, hopefully a sample of your blood is taken for DNA, and you will be given a sat pak. Big, we all know that you are one big cranky girl that won’t let any bird get in your way. You are now the only hope of Port Lincoln for 2022 – you carry a heavy responsibility. Please do not ever land on a hydro pole no matter how much you might want to.

Ian Falkenberg has made the call to postpone putting the tracker and ringing until later today or tomorrow. This cannot be done in wet weather. In addition, it really is now or never. In the UK, birds are not banded after 45 days because of the great fear of scaring them off the platforms and fledging early.

Mum and her ‘Big’ Girl crying out to Dad.

Dad brought a fish in around 0815. Big kind of rushed Mum once she had the fish. Mum got the catch anchored to her talon and flew around the nest arriving on the other side where she had control of the fish. It was headless so Dad has his share, too. Mum and Big had a nice chunk.

A small headless fish arrived around 1515.

The rain began. Mum and Dad had been perched together. Mum flew over to the nest to Big and Dad joined them at 19:44.

It appears that three of the Melbourne Four have now fledged. One remains at night and some of the others show up on the ledge for prey deliveries.

At Orange, Rubus is shedding many of the dandelions and is watching for Xavier and Diamond to deliver prey. They do not disappoint. Here was yesterdays recap from the moderators: RECAP 10 41 15 D w/ prey, Rubus takes; 11 25 12 X w/prey, D arrives/feeds: 13:31:22 X w/juv star, feeds, X takes: 16:30:10 X w/prey, feeds 18 53 31 Xw/prey, Rubus takes, D arrives , tug o war, D feeds.

There was a tug o war and lots of excitement. Just look at how much of the baby fluff is now gone.

Other Bird News:

One of the things that changes for me – during the winter – is that I do not travel on the roads as much nor do I go to the nature centre 5 days a week for a walk. Saturdays become very quiet and one of the joys is having Ferris Akel in the background doing his live stream around Wildlife Drive, Montezuma, Sapsucker Woods, and Ithaca, New York. We have a few ducks still in the City and a few geese were flying overhead this evening. Someone even has a Baltimore Oriole in their garden today – with the snow! I am, however, having duck withdrawal and Ferris does seem to find them this time of year! I really recommend Ferris Akel’s tours on Saturdays beginning about noon Eastern time. Ferris is humble always saying he doesn’t know this or that but, he does. I have learned so much for him. In fact his tour is often on in the background to whatever else I am doing. You can also check out some of the archived tours of Ferris by going to YouTube and entering Ferris Akel Live.

‘A’ said that she had learned to embrace ‘brown’ never realising that there are so many shades and hues. Fantastic! That brings me great joy. Most of the female birds are considered dull compared to the flamboyant colours of some of the male species. Here is a female Ruddy Duck. Just look at all those wonderful browns and tans, there is a touch of caramel and espresso, and that lovely sort of grey-brown.

All of the birds are at a great distance from where Ferris is streaming. The images are then quite soft. Nonetheless, I hope that you enjoy the few that I am including.

Just a slightly different angle.

A female Shoveler. You can never mistake a Shoveler for a Mallard. Just look at that bill. It is massive in comparison to the size of the head.

There were American Coots and I know that none of us will ever make the mistake of saying a Coot is a duck. It isn’t.

Oh, how I love Sandhill Cranes. They glean the farmer’s fields just after the seed crops have been harvested. There are many in Southern Manitoba in October doing this exact same thing. Gorgeous.

I don’t blame the Canada Geese getting out of Canada. Gosh, golly, it looks like much more fun in the pond at Sapsucker Woods than it is walking around in the snow in Canada and not finding any food.

What shocked me is precisely how much smaller the geese are when compared to the swans.

Just look at that. It makes the Canada Geese look like miniature ducks. Seriously. And I have always thought of them as large.

There was a juvenile Bald Eagle lurking about at Sapsucker Woods also.

Looking for some lunch?

No 6 The Red List: The Hawfinch

Ah, this is another one to pull out those shades and hues of brown. With its head the colour of rust or Corten Steel, its black bib and black eye surround, and heavy beak, this beautiful little bird, the Hawfinch, has a jaw and beak so strong that it can exert pressure of more than 50 kilograms on a seed! The strong triangular beak is black in the winter changing to a blue-black in the summer. Notice the rusty head in comparison to the grey-brown back and that intensive brick-brown eye. Both males and females are similar in appearance.

Hawfinch bill

Hawfinches like to live in woodland where they will feed off various hard seeds. Some, if you are lucky, can be found around gardens eating cherries. The male builds the nest out of dry twigs and grasses lining it with lichen. The female will take over in roughly a fortnight.

Today there are less than 1000 breeding pairs of Hawfinch in the UK. There are a number of causes. Nest predation by Jays and Grey Squirrels is one of these. In Wales, the culprit has been trichomonosis. Trichomonosis is an infectious disease caused by the parasite Trichomonas gallinae. The parasite attacks the upper digestive tract, mainly the crop and esophagus making it difficult for the bird to eat. It can also impact the liver, lungs, and air sacs. The fourth hatch at Melbourne last year died of trichomonosis as did the Mum at the Janakkalan Osprey nest in Finland this past summer.

That’s it for today. I hope that each of you have a wonderful weekend. It looks like it could be dry at Port Lincoln so maybe, at the age of 57 days, Big will be ringed and get that sat pak. We wait to see.

Thank you for being with me. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their posts and streaming cams which make up my screen captures: Friends of Osprey, Audubon, Cilla Kinross and the Orange, Australia Peregrine Falcon FB, BBC, Tweed Valley Ospreys, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, and Ferris Akel Tours.

Iris is still here and more news on Tuesday in Bird World

13 September 2022

Good Morning Everyone! It is 11 degrees C (51.8 F) and will only rise to 17 C (62.6) – a great day for a long walk! As the temperatures begin to fall and the summer clothes make way for sweaters, it is a reminder to enjoy every moment outside that we can – here on the prairies of Canada. Winnipeg has been known to actually be colder than Mars in the winter so every precious minute outside is a gift.

Oh, it was a nice day yesterday. The best treat was I found the little duck. It is the tiniest wild duck I have ever seen in my life. There is still a lot of down and its wings seem ‘small’.

5 September:

12 September. The head is larger and it appears that some more feathers on the back have grown in. The little one was so busy scooping up what looks like confetti made out of leaves. It is called Duck Weed and is not the best thing to have growing on the ponds but – the ducks love it!!!!!!! In fact, ducks will eat whatever food is in front of them including pondweed, sea weed, reeds and flowers as well as berries and seeds and we have seen them eat frogs, too.

The Canada Goose couple that had lost one another the other day and were honking up a storm had taken possession of the only island in the pond. It seems that the water level is rising due to the staff at the centre draining one area to move the water to another. The geese were sharing with some Mallards but they were not moving and giving up their lease!

Aren’t they a gorgeous couple?

In past years there seem not to have been as many juvenile American Coots. They are everywhere at the nature centre – hiding in the reeds, riding on pieces of branches, or just standing quietly around a corner this year and I have seen others at ponds around the city.

You can see how thick that duckweed is on the pond. Someone of it should be cleaned with a filter – and maybe that is what the staff are doing.

Over the years the Mallards have just gotten more beautiful to me. They are common and often over-looked because of it. So many sweet little females around the edge of the pond.

Most looked nice and full from their foraging. It was bottoms up everywhere!

Oh, look at those beautiful primary and secondary feathers. Let us all hope that our wee one will have as many by the end of October.

In the Mailbox:

No questions just outpourings of love for Izzi who was the subject of yesterday’s archival photo. Oh, what a character he was and each of us that watched Xavier and Diamond’s scrape and Izzi so intently has so many stories of his antics.

Making News:

A Bald Eagle death in Canada attributed to Avian Flu. This is very sad. It was believed that the H5N1 was slowing down. Now it might be spread again by migratory birds.

The EU is being heavily criticized for not protecting marine life from overfishing. Why is this in a bird blog? Well, the birds that eat fish need them so the setting up a moratorium for fishing for human consumption might help.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/12/eu-slammed-over-failure-to-protect-marine-life-from-destructive-fishing

One of my favourite books, Goshawk Summer, has won the Wainwright Nature Writing prize. James Aldred spent the early part of the pandemic in the New Forest. His assignment was to document the life of a Goshawk family. Written like a daily diary, Alden captures the solitude of the forest and the magical experiences of the chicks. “The wood holds its breath, the only sound the begging of the chicks and the gentle breeze through trees. The forest hasn’t been this peaceful for a thousand years.” Despite Aldred being a wildlife photographer there is not a single image of the Goshawks in the book but, they are not necessary. Through his words their presence is evoked as clearly as a newly cleaned window.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/sep/07/wainwright-nature-writing-prize-goes-to-inspirational-goshawk-summer

Two lucky Bald Eagles were helped in Maine when they were relieved from being entangled with one another. They were mid-air and crashed into the water. Both could have died with out the help of the kind couple.

Maine couple frees entangled bald eagles that crashed into the water

Nest News:

I wasn’t quite sure where to put this wonderful news. Many of you will have already heard that Iris – thought, perhaps, to have migrated from her spring and summer home in Montana – was eating an enormous fish she had caught on the Owl Pole today in Missoula. The oldest Osprey in the world looks magnificent.

Here is a 4 minute video of this magical event.

12 September is a very special day. It is the day that Gabby normally returns to her nest near Jacksonville, Florida that she shares with her partner, Samson. Out of 4 years, 3 of the returns have been on the 12th of September. How incredible. Samson has been waiting and looking and bringing in some sticks. Gabby did not disappoint! She arrived today!!!!!!!!!!!!! The couple got busy working together getting ready for the wee eagles this year. Oh, it is so wonderful to see you home, Gabby.

Good night Samson and Gabby. All is well with the world. See you tomorrow.

Lady Hawk caught the reunion on video!

Padarn appears to still be with Idris at the Dyfi Osprey nest in Wales.

Blue 497 is still on the nest at Glaslyn and Aran delivered a really nice fish for tea time.

Did you know that both Padarn and Blue 497 hatched on the same day? It was 26 May. 497 is the oldest and Padarn is the middle chick. Both, as we can see, are still at home.

Idris brought a flat fish later and is looking around for Padarn. Is she gone?

Everything seems to be fine on the Sea Eagles nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest.

The eaglets had an early breakfast. Looks like one of the Silver Gull chicks from the old barge down the Parramatta River.

Even with a great big nest SE29 and 30 prefer to snuggle together. Lady keeps watch.

A lovely family portrait.

At the Port Lincoln Osprey barge, Mum has been rooting around in the nest and rolling those three precious eggs. It is the 14th of September in South Australia. Is it really possible that in 4 more days we could have a hatch? At times it felt like it has taken forever and on other days it seems like we just had the last egg laid. Does it feel that way to you?

At the 367 Collins Street scrape, Mum got up to stretch her legs. Gosh these birds must get stiff sitting on those eggs for so long —- yes, I am projecting human needs on them! If they had a little buzzer to remind them to stand up and get the circulation moving it might help. Oh, she made me ache as I watched her raise off those eggs. She was hardly gone…someone played a trick on this female. They told her that she had to do all the incubating herself. Hopefully she will give Dad some more time.

Oh, just when you say the birds eat off camera, someone brings a nice juicy pigeon and there you go – eaten on the nest! It is like having a sick child and taking it to the doctor and your little one is immediately well on arrival!

Migration News:

Just imagine 428 million birds making their migration flights tonight.

Remember it is time for lights out. If you want to check your own area of migration, go to this link and put in your postal code or the name of your city – sadly lower mainland US only.

Home

Karl II’s family migration – Waba is still around the area of Manachyn and has flown a short distance south where he has discovered a little lake.

Bonus is still in the wetlands along the Prypjat River south of Makarichi.

Kaia is still around the Desna River. So all three appear to be doing well. What a glorious relief. No news from Karl II.

From the Archive:

Do you know my name? I was the only eaglet on an enormous nest. My parents names are Liberty and Freedom. When I branched and started jumping and flapping my wings, your got very worried.

I hope that your day is as lovely as ours on the Canadian Prairies. Thank you so very much for being with us today. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their blogs, tweets, videos, and streaming cams that make up my screen captures: Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Wreckhouse Weekly News, The Guardian, Bangor Daily News, Montana Ospreys and Cornell Bird Lab, NEFL-AEF, Lady Hawk, Dyfi Ospreys, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, BirdCast, Looduskalender, and Glacier Gardens.

The eaglet was Kindness who hatched in Glacier Gardens, a large botanical garden within the Tongass National Park, Juneau, Alaska. The year was 2021.

Late Friday and early Saturday in Bird World

10-11 June 2022

Oh, it is Saturday. I hope everyone is doing well. In Winnipeg we had a huge unexpected treat. At least 100 Canada Geese in a single formation flew over the City at 1930 heading north. Are these late arrivals due to the flood? I also saw two other smaller V formations with about 39 geese in each. What a treat. It was mesmerizing and they were so high up you could barely hear their honks. No pictures other than the extraordinary one emblazoned in my mind.

Orion, Martin and Rosa’s eaglet, fledged from the Dulles Greenway nest on the 3rd of June. What a beautiful flight it was! Since this he has been perfecting his take off and landings at the nest. What a gorgeous fledgling.

‘L’ sent me two links to the Osprey cams at Patuxent River Park. One nest has one nicely chubby but hot osplet and the other has three. It looks like the river is covered with lily or lotus pads.

Looking at those images reminds me of the fostered osplet placed on nest 2 last year and it falling off the edge into the water! What a scramble it was to find someone to help because the park office had just shut down. Thankfully the chick was saved by a dedicated staff member who listened to all the messages and took her canoe and partner out to find the little one. So grateful.

Kana’kini fledged on the 10th of June. She is currently above the nest on a stone cliff. It looks like an excellent place for a prey drop from either Thunder or Akecheta – or will they want her to return to the nest?

Here is a video of Kana’kini’s fledge and her return:

Oh, wow. Lancer, Chase and Cholyn’s eaglet is now 9 weeks and 3 days old on the 11th of June. Or in days – 66 days old. We have a little while to go before fledge but not long.

There could be a fledge by Star or Sentry at Liberty and Guardian’s Bald Eagle nest in Redding. Both eaglets are high up in the nest tree looking out even though an adult is on the nest.

Spirit is doing what all eagle fledglings should do – return to the nest for food provided by the parents. Spirit flies in several times a day. She eats, sometimes she sleeps duckling style – flying has to be tiring. And sometimes she sits for a bit with one of her parents and sometimes both. How privileged we are to be able to watch that little check develop into this strong juvenile.

Three fish were delivered to Spirit today – wow. Way to go Jackie and Shadow. The last image shows Spirit with a huge crop.

Food is a great motivator and Spirit loves her dinner. Jackie and Shadow are very smart to keep feeding their big girl very well and keep her coming to the nest til she is really ready to leave. So grateful for their wisdom.

Mr President and Lotus’s eaglet has also branched and will be fledging soon. This reminds me. I had a question today about the adults feeding their eaglets. First, Takoda had a fish around 0600 on Friday the 10th. The adults will withhold food to teach the eaglets to eat everything and store it because they do not know when more food will be available. They also withhold food to encourage fledging. Likewise, they will feed an eaglet to full and bursting if they do not want them to fledge at that particular time. The adult eagles are very wise – they do what is necessary when using food as a motivator.

It is not the first time in British Columbia, Canada’s most western province, that a Bald Eagle took a hawklet into their nest for dinner and wound up raising it. The other hawklet was in a nest in Victoria. It fledged. David Hancock and Christian Sasse often presented video clips and discussions about this phenomena. That one could be seen catching and eating fish. This one is on Gabriola Island just off the coast of Vancouver Island a little north of Victoria. The hawklet has been in the nest for a week and is being fed by both the eagle adults.

The eagle is feeding the hawklet Saturday morning. Lovely.

Please note that there is no rewind. You can watch the action here:

Eagle Nest Cam

Idris landed on the Dfyi nest at 04:19. Chicks just waking up – a little earlier today – ready for breakfast.

Lots for everyone. Big and Little are up front while Middle is going to sleep a bit longer.

The Dyfi are looking for name suggestions for the three osplets of Idris and Telyn this year. Here is the announcement:

There have been two more fledges at the Manchester Peregrine scrape. Both Cinquey and Blue flew out this morning. This leaves Colby – the baby – who isn’t such a baby anymore!

The three little storklets of Jan and Janika have been seen begging at the decoy mum. Amazing.

The weather is nasty up in Scotland. Louis did deliver a fish and now he is hunkering down with Dorcha and the kids on the Loch Arkaig nest. Let us hope this system goes through quickly. They are such wee babes. I hate this prolonged wet weather. It causes so many issues.

The bad weather has left the Loch of the Lowes. All that remains is the very strong winds. Laddie has brought in a fish and the two big ones were eating first with Little Bob hanging behind. He has now moved over as the older ones are getting fuller.

It has dried out for Seren and Dylan and the three Bobs at Llyn Clywedog. They have also been fed and all is well. Everyone is growing – even the little one.

It has been windy at Glaslyn and Aran has been fishing. Mrs G might not like flounder but the osplets don’t care!

Meanwhile down in Rutland it is a gorgeous day. Blue 33 has just delivered another fish to May and the osplets.

Both fledglings at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest continue to return happily to the nest to be fed. They are really honing their flying skills and getting those wing muscles strong. Fantastic to see them both doing so well.

The two chicks of Richmond and Rosie in SF Bay are certainly not ready to fledge but they are becoming more and more interested in what is happening around them at the Richmond Shipping docks. They are 25 and 24 days old.

Lady and Dad have their second and final egg at the White-Bellied Sea Eagle cam in the Sydney Olympic Forest. I have not seen an official time posted but it appeared to be laid around 01:12 on 12 June nest time. Now the long wait during incubation!

Other nest news: If you are a fan of Loch Garten Ospreys, there was a hatch this morning! And for those that follow the Royal Albatross, OGK has been confirmed to have returned to feed QT chick. Fantastic news. Little Bit 17 is waiting with the two older sibling for more food deliveries. Dad brought in a fish around 08:20. He did get some raccoon yesterday which he ate on the porch side. Fingers crossed for some big fish today for all of them! At the Decorah North Bald Eagle nest, DN15 fledged. Mr President and Lotus were on the branches at the National Arboretum nest where Takoda had a nice fish very early this morning – around 0559.

Quite a busy Saturday.

Thank you so much for joining me today. It is a beautiful day in Winnipeg with the promise of rain tomorrow. The wee bunny is still visiting the garden – it is safe and away from houses that have dogs or cats. It is wonderful to see him eating away at the grass. Dyson has been seen along with Scraggles but it is difficult to get photos because the lilacs are simply full of leaves. It is a real forest out there for them this time of year!

The Hibiscus are also blooming. Thankfully all of the critters leave the flowers alone so that the butterflies and bees can enjoy them.

Take care everyone. See you tomorrow! Have a fabulous Saturday wherever you are!!!!!!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or video clips, FB posts where I took my screen captures: Dulles Greenway, Patuxent River Park, Explore.org and The Institute for Wildlife Studies, Friends of Redding Eagles, FOBBV, NADC-AEF, GROWLS, Dyfi Osprey Project, Peregrine Networks, Eagle Club of Estonia, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery, and the Woodland Trust, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife, CarnyXWild, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, LRWT, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, SF Bay Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, and the Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre.

Eagle Nest Cam

Late Wednesday in Bird World

25 May 2022

Whew! I am still scrambling from looking at so many streaming cam nests this morning. There are so many different things happening from pips to hatches to fledges to deadly intruders. I took the afternoon off and went out to our nature centre for the 3 km walk. It was just beautiful – not too hot and the rain that came didn’t happen until later.

I was greeted by the cutest little Yellow Warbler the minute I stepped on the path.

One of the real treats was a lone Pelican flying overhead with its fish in its mouth. It was so high in the sky and the image is so very cropped but still, it is recognizable as an American White Pelican. At least 50% of North America’s American White Pelicans come to Lake Winnipeg, Lake Manitoba, and Winnipegosis during the summer. There is also a significant population at Lockport, Manitoba at the dam. I photographed those last year and will do so soon again.

There are several Canada Geese incubating eggs either in the nest boxes or in sites that are raised up close to water. These goslings are so lucky that they will be hatched inside the fence of the nature centre. They will not have to contend with concrete highways and parking lots like so many that have lost their habitat do.

One of the most intriguing images was a tree that had a number of birds on it. At first it appeared that it was only Double-crested Cormorants but then…you begin to see three other species – 2 Bald Eagles (it really is their tree) and a Hawk. There were, in addition, two more Cormorants I cut out of the image so that I could blow it up enough so that you could see the ones that aren’t Cormorants. So on the top left is a Baldie. Central Bottom is a hawk it appears. And on the bottom right is also a Bald Eagle. The eagle couple live year round in Manitoba.

There were Purple Martins, Red-winged Blackbirds, Yellow Rumped Warblers, Black Capped Chickadees and some Mallards today.

In other Bird World news today, there is a pip in one of Mrs G’s eggs at the Glaslyn nest.

Mrs G is sleeping and not giving away any news but part of a shell has been seen on the nest.

There are now three osplets at the Foulshaw Moss nest in Cumbria. I might have mentioned this earlier. This is a favourite nest of mine. Blue 35 is a great mother – especially if the third hatch is small. Thanks to her and to the great fishing of White YW Tiny Tot, Blue 463, became the dominant nest on the bird and fledged. I think White YW is quite handsome.

The fish deliveries and eating were good at ND-LEEF. Little Bit 17 isn’t quite so little anymore. Thankfully.

Alden delivers another moth to the scrape in The Campanile at UC-Berkeley. He is calling to tell Annie. The chicks were much more civilized this time. So cute. So innocent. Annie and Grinnell certainly picked a kind friend to help out if something happened to Grinnell.

Idris and Telyn with their first Bob at the Dyfi Nest in Wales. Just look at that fish Daddy Longlegs brought in for the family! Congratulations again Dyfi!

Here is a video of that happy moment when the first hatch at Dyfi in 2022 became real.

Laddie’s eye looks amazing. He is delivering fish and Blue NC0 is feeding all three chicks! Life is good at Loch of the Lowes.

Father Kestrel at Robert Fuller’s Kestrel scrape in Yorkshire, UK has done an amazing job feeding and providing security for his eyases since the female was lost.

Lots more nests to check on tomorrow! Remember that Cal Falcons has changed the time for banding Annie, Grinnell, and Alden’s chicks to 8am Pacific Time Friday the 27th of May. Thanks so much for joining me this evening. I hope that each and every one of you had a fabulous Wednesday. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Robert Fuller, Dyfi Osprey Project, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, ND-LEEF, Cal Falcons, and the Cumbrian Wildlife Trust.

Early Monday in Bird World

9 May 2022

As citizens of Manitoba, we are really learning about what it means to live on the floor of what was once Lake Agassiz —- in other words, a flood plain. Two more Colorado Lows are set to dump more water on a province that is flooded south of Winnipeg and north of Winnipeg. One big lake save for those communities who spent funds on creating their own dams. The loss is enormous but looking at it from a wildlife perspective, one has to wonder where all the deer, the nests, and the animals have gone. I have seen one image of deer walking along a railroad track that runs from Winnipeg to the US border trying to find dry land and food. That border is now closed as are many highways and even some bridges in my City. Years ago one of our Premiers decided to build what was teasingly called ‘Duff’s Ditch’. Well, everyone should be grateful to Duff Roblin for having that kind of insight. The City is mostly dry and safe.

There are few birds in the garden as the raindrops begin to fall on a grey day.

I am as nervous as Blue 33 (11) is as he comes in and off the nest at Manton Bay checking on Maya and the eggs. There are three. At one point you could only see two, has there been a hatch? So, we wait for confirmation one way or the other! I cannot see any egg shells so I suspect that pesky egg is hiding!

It is certainly time to begin checking on the Black Stork nests in Estonia and Latvia. There is something curious that I noticed which I suspect my friends in Estonia have known all along. Jan and Jaanika laid their eggs a whole month earlier this year than last. In 2020, the eggs were laid on 12 May, 14 May, 16 May, and the 18th of May. Hatch from 14-17 June. This year the eggs were laid on 15, 17, 19, 21 April, 23 and the sixth and final egg on 25 April! This is excellent – the timing. Last year the couple was so very late that Janika started her migration before the chicks had fledged. It was a very difficult time and the food for the chicks was supplemented by fish being brought to the nest by the wildlife specialist, J Kuze.

The Black Stork in Estonia is so rare that every effort is made to help them that is possible.

I am not a stork expert. It would seem, however, that the parents cannot support six storklings very easily and they will probably select the three strongest. But, we wait to see.

Here is the link to Jan and Jaanika’s streaming cam in Jogeva County, Estonia:

I also checked on the nest of Karl II and Kaia in the Karula National Forest in the south of Estonia. The eggs for this year were laid on almost the identical dates as last year. Those days were 24, 26, 29 April and 1 May. Hatch began in 2021 on 28 May.

This is the link to Karl II and Kaia’s nest in the forest.

Sadly, it appears that Grafs and Grafiene did not return to their nest this year in the Sigulda Region of Latvia. Did they not survive migration? or did they decide to locate their nest elsewhere? I do know the answer to this but I will try to find out.

There is only one osprey nest in Latvia. This year only the male returned, Theo. He tried to attract many females to his beautiful nest. It is hoped that a young female, tagged UV and an Estonian female, will stay with them. Mating was attempted this morning but UV was not receptive. Sadly, this nest is a bit haunted. None of the former chicks have survived due to goshawk predation.

Here is the link to the Kurzeme camera of Theo:

In comparison, the Osprey nest of Ivo an Iiris in Tarta County, Estonia has done well. All of the couple’s chicks fledged last year!

Pip watch will begin on the 21st of May. That is only 12 days from now. Here is a link to Ivo and Iiris’s streaming camera:

Gosh, Big Red is gorgeous. It is so hard to believe she is 19 years old. She is in such good shape this year. What a beautiful golden glow on her and the four eyases as a new morning wakes up on the Cornell Campus.

This is a great nest to watch! There is plenty of time to watch these eyases develop, fledge, and then learn to be a ‘hawk’. Arthur will teach them flying and hunting with Big Red joining in. There is nothing better than seeing the parents teach the chicks how to hunt a squirrel in a tree!!!!!!

The two eyases at the Red-tail Hawk at the Presidio Trust Building in San Francisco are doing fine. These two are really growing. Look at the size of that wing. Wow.

Peregrine Falcon chicks are doing well this morning, too. The chicks at the scrape in the tower of Chichester Cathedral just had their afternoon tea.

All five eyases were fed and happy this morning at the Manchester, New Hampshire scrape.

Sleeping babies at Utica, New York scrape. Will the other eggs hatch? We will see.

Henry and Poppy do a great job taking care of their two chicks at the Cromer scrape. If you are interested in their day to day activities, there is a great blog with this nest that has images and comments of everything that happens on the nest. I will post it after the image of the chicks!

https://www.cromerperegrineproject.co.uk/post/cromer-peregrine-activity-log-08-05-2022

If you are wondering about the third egg at the U-Cal Berkeley scrape of Annie and Alden, don’t. It is non-viable. If it were going to hatch it would have happened on Saturday. What will they do with it? Incubate it, roll it around, or break it – or maybe Sean or Lynne will collect it for the museum when they clean the scrape.

Two healthy chicks are good. They are incredibly adorable.

All three eaglets are accounted for on the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta.

TH1 at the nest of Chase and Cholyn is getting its blood feathers. There are a few lingering dandelions on the top of the head. It will not be long until this wee one looks like its cousins at the West End.

I checked on two nests in the East – PIttsburgh Hayes with its triplets and the National Arboretum nest. They are all awake and looking good this morning.

The three are beginning to fill up the nest!

Breakfast time for DC9. Looking good. There was a little concern earlier for DC9 because a bird had been brought on the nest as a prey item. Everything seems to be alright.

I want to leave you with a smile. A Canada Goose has chosen a planter on the deck of a Calgary, Alberta couple to lay its eggs three years in a row!

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/a-calgary-couple-s-unusual-houseguests-return-every-spring-to-lay-eggs-in-their-planter-1.6445267?fbclid=IwAR0ofbF90vvx29SCgnb-y60yl1bmVOCUlRz_3iiz5Cs_CasPpui7bPNEof0

Lots happening today. Some exciting. Some sad. The youngest golden eaglet has been killed at the Estonian nest. It had been beaked by its eldest sibling earlier and prey became scarce and the oldest killed the youngest today. That was the Golden Eagle nest in the Soomaa National Park in Southwestern Estonia. As I mention often, the rate of siblicide is much higher in nests other than falcons and hawks.

Thank you for joining me on this rainy grey day in Manitoba. Take care everyone. See you soon – hopefully with a news of the first Osprey hatch in the UK!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: LRWT, Eagle Club of Estonia, Latvian Fund for Nature, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Presidio Trust, Chichester Cathedral, Peregrine Networks, Utica Falcons, Cromer Peregrines, Explore.org, Pix Cams, and the NADC-AEF.

Fantastic Thursday – It’s all about Mother Goose!

28 April 2022

It is Thursday but, for some reason, it feels like Saturday. I could not possibly tell you why. Does this ever happen to you? It has also been quite a number of hours waiting. Waiting for the goslings Mum to take the leap and them to follow at Decorah and waiting for L4 at Big Red and Arthur’s nest on the Cornell Campus.

It is nearing 08:30 Saturday morning in Decorah, Iowa. The precipitation that was falling earlier appears to have stopped. One little gosling was thirsty and drank the drops on Mother Goose’s feathers – and so did Mother Goose. How long has she been on the nest without getting off? 48 hours? She must be hungry and very thirsty since she has not been able to leave since the wee ones began hatching. It is quite windy. Will that impact the timing for leaving the nest?

They are certainly squiggly and – well, curious little ones. Adorable.

Mother Goose’s body and system of wings and tail opening and lowering reminds me of one of those big cargo planes where they raise the tail up and lower a ramp. Did they look at a goose for the design?

Watching and listening for her Mate.

It is 10:46 in Decorah. Mother Goose continues to look and listen for the ‘Go’ sign. I wonder how much those wind gusts impact the decision? There are five, BTW, goslings. It appears the sixth egg has not hatched.

There are 1878 people watching and waiting the Decorah Mother Goose nest. Splendid. It is a joyful change. Those fuzzy little yellow goslings with the black legs and webbed feet, black bill, and black dot on their head and back are darlings. They are also precocial. They hatch with down, can walk and swim, and can feed themselves. They will stay to learn from Mum and Dad and for safety.

The first time it didn’t work. Mother Goose jumped down at 12:02 CDT but the goslings did not follow. Mother and Father Goose called and called. It was windy. So, Mum returned, gathered up the kids and got them warm and waited for a bit. Then she tried it again! This time everything went perfectly. She hesitated at the spot where she was jumping so the goslings would see and follow her from there.

This time they seem to be paying more attention to what Mum is doing.

Gosh they are cute.

At first, we held our breath. Only three???

The parents were calling and looking for the other two.

Four of the goslings are with the parents. One is missing in the tall grass. There are volunteers from Raptor Resource Project on the ground helping to find the baby. There is lots of grass for it to eat and water. It is just a matter of time til all are together. It was a beautiful nest to watch.

Thank you to the person who did the video of the goslings getting down. Notice that the Sparrow and the Starling come in to get some of that nice fluffy down for their nests.

There are the four. The parents are hanging around. With them and the boots on the ground, I am really hopeful that the youngest gosling will be reunited with its family shortly. It hatched last night and is 24 hours younger than the other siblings.

One woman said that this is more nerve-wrecking than watching an eaglet fledge. Yes, it truly is! Especially when you think they will get caught in the twigs on the nest trying to get down.

We are waiting for L4. There may have been a pip on the 25th of April at 0655 but this is still only a possibility. The little one is still hammering away. Because so many people watch the eagle and osprey nests, it is worrying when you realize that there will be a week’s difference between L1 and L4. Falcon and hawk nestlings are not like eagle and ospreys. Yes, they appear to be ‘beaking’ but it is because their eyesight has not cleared and every black beak with pink inside – just like Big Red – is a potential food source. The experts have said there should not be any worries as long as there is lots of food. That said, this is the first time Big Red has had 4 eggs. So we wait. Hopefully that hatch will occur today.

Big Red likes to keep her kids full to the brim and Arthur is an excellent hunter. There is a pile of prey on the nest already and apparently there are lots of squirrels and chipmunks, voles, etc in the Finger Lakes area this year.

Progress. I sure hope that L4 doesn’t tire itself out getting out. It happens.

The first osplet has hatched at the Dahlgren Osprey Nest for Jack and Harriet at 22:06:43 on the 27th of April (yesterday). Their nest is located at the mouth of the Machodoc Creek in King George, Virginia. Thankfully many of the toys that Jack brings in have found themselves either blown off the nest or moved to the edges so that they do not harm the wee babies.

Jack brought in a nice fish. Harriet would much rather have a fish than have a toy! It is hard to see but the chick is in that deep egg cup. The first feeding of the wee one happened around 10:00 Thursday the 28th.

If you are looking for more Osprey nests to watch or want to check out a new one, here is a good resource with a description of each nest and a link:

https://www.mangolinkcam.com/webcams/birds/ospreys.html

Ospreys come to Canada near the end of April or early May for breeding. One of our national news casters covered the arrival of the couple at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia named Oscar and Ethel.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/dartmouth-ospreys-thriving-in-new-nest-site-1.6431333?fbclid=IwAR0p-oXCG5r8-5eQWKTsJZqimU0h3hgZ3kLnpmCyYUwEVwpH9tDkxWLM6Vk

I am looking forward to the flood waters subsiding and travelling on some of the rural roads to check on the Osprey nests in Manitoba.

At the Osprey nest in Lyn Brenig, Wales, LM6 and LD2 have their second egg of the season. Oh, bless their hearts that they returned. The community worked so hard to get a new platform up where their old nest had been when it was chainsawed down last year. There was no promise that they would return but, now – wow. Two eggs with the promise of a third probably.

This is the link to the Lyn Brenig streaming cam:

We are about a week away from the hatch at The Campanile. Alden has been a terrific mate. Him and Rosie seem to be working – as my mother would have said, ‘like a well oiled clock’. Here they are changing incubation duties.

Life seems to be good in Bird World. I did a quick check on all the nests and even the ones that have eaten duck seem to be alright. What an exciting day with those goslings finally getting off the eagle’s nest and down into the water. They are so adorable. I will now turn my attention to Big Red and L4 while I continue reading that amazing book, The Eagle Man about the life of Charles Broly. It is excellent. What is surprising, so far, is that many of the concerns that the Broly’s had in the early 1950s still seem to be prevalent today. One day I hope to get around to writing a review for all of you. If you see a copy, grab it. I would not have thought a book about eagles and eagle banding would be a page turner but it is.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for the streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Explore.org, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Dahlgren Osprey Cam, Lyn Brenig Osprey Cam, and Cal Falcons.

Wonderful News in Bird World

27 April 2022

Yesterday Dr Sharpe rescued Chase and Cholyn’s only eaglet from the side of the cliff face.

Today, Lori Covert, the owner of the property which is home to the Captiva Osprey and Bald Eagles nests saw the entire family flying in the mangroves. Yes! The entire family: Andy, Lena, Middle (or LittleO) and Little (or MiniO). What a relief to know that Little MiniO is fine and well and being cared for and with the parents!

Middle of LittleO flew up to the nest for some fish and this finding means that Andy is finding fish for Little or MiniO and feeding her off nest. Fantastic news.

More good news comes from Wales. Last year someone with a chain saw cut down the platform that LJ2 and LM6 were using for their nest. It was traumatic that they did not have chicks last year. A new platform has been erected and the pair have laid their first egg this morning at 08:24. And, yes, there is heightened security at the site this year.

https://north.wales/news/osprey-lays-first-egg-of-season-after-return-to-llyn-brenig-following-chainsaw-attack-on-nest-37175.html?fbclid=IwAR3FXtR4ewJQ17EOAB6sgOhXoIQ4AoMIQWl0Nvp2vtAc_-PuNrrXk4Burp0

‘B’ sent me a video that is a recap of the season so far at the Cal Falcon nest. You might want to have a look. Even though it is hard, it is wonderful to be able to see and remember Grinnell.

The two eyases at the Anacapa Peregrine cliff scrape are doing fantastic, too.

Here is a link to that cam:

There are at least four goslings, perhaps five, now at the Decorah Mother Goose nest. Everyone is anxious for Mum to fly down and the goslings to join her. There is at least one more egg to hatch and she may wait to see if it will hatch. There are also wind gusts at the site.

She is very patient with that little one.

Each one of the triplets is accounted for on the West End nest. They have been wingersizing in the afternoon and I just checked and they are all home. Relief.

There was a shift change at the Cornell Red tail hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur.

That gave us a chance to see the three Ls and to check on the hatch of L4. You can clearly see the egg tooth working away. And it was moving so the chick is alive. I understand that part of the shell as fallen in on itself. Big Red may do her famous rolling trick to help it once it gets closer to hatch.

The pantry is well stocked. Arthur has been very busy.

Everyone go awwwwwwah. Arthur is so cute and he does just fine brooding the babies. He loves to look after them!

The eaglets at the MN-DNR are alive and the leaves and tree are swaying in the wind. The camera had frozen this morning.

The two eagles at the Dale Hollow nest are also doing just fine. They are sure interested in the world beyond the nest!

That is a quick rap of the good news on the nests today. Thank you so much for joining me. Remember to head over to the Decorah Eagle nest to see the fun with the Canada Goose and her goslings! Take care. See you soon.

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Explore.org, Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife, Cornell RTH, DHEC, and MN-DNR.

Will the goslings jump today?

27 April 2022

In case you are interested in a chat that will open for Mother Goose I am sending this out now.

The Raptor Resource Project will open a chat at 14:00 today Central Time. Looks like the focus will be on that Canada Goose and the goslings. Some think they will be dry enough and have their fuzz to jump today. Here is the link below.

Note: Mother Goose jumps first. Dad will be down at the base of the tree to help. Then the goslings will take their leap of faith. They will follow the parents down to the creek below the tree. Goslings are precocial. They can walk and eat and will be covered in down. They are also immediately good swimmers!

RRP will open a chat at 2pm CT here https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-eagles/

And how are those MN-DNR eaglets doing? The two eaglets on the MN-DNR must be the soundest sleeping eaglets in the world and that is because the camera was frozen for almost two hours. Just about gave me a heart attack. Thankfully the MN-DNR responded to my e-mail and realized what had happened. The camera is now working.

Lesson: Always check to see if any branches or leaves are moving. :)))))

OK. This is just a quick one. The link to the camera for the goslings is:

Take care everyone!

Thank you to Explore.org and the MN-DNR for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures and to Paul Kolnik who sent me the information about the chat. Much appreciated. Happy to pass it along.

Monday Morning in Bird World

27 April 2022

Good Morning Everyone. I hope that all of you are well and that the sun is shining bright where you are.

Middle or LittleO at the Captiva Osprey nest roosted on the rim of the nest box. He spotted Andy and started fish crying. You could have heard him all the way to Fort Myers! At 07:30:05 Andy delivered his middle child and oldest surviving of the 2022 season a really nice catfish for his efforts!

Here comes Andy! Good one, Dad. Middle (LittleO) is really hungry.

Andy gets his talon nipped again.

Catfish are really bony and a challenge to eat. I wonder if Lena will come and help?

No. Middle (LittleO) had to work on that bony fish all by himself. He flew off of the nest at 09:02.

The clean up gang came up to the nest to see what was left of that nice fish.

To my knowledge, there has been no sighting of Little (or MiniO) since she fledged.

There was an early morning fish delivery at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. Civility continues. The time was 08:13.

Both siblings have nice crops and there will be fish left for Mum.

Chase has two big fish on the Two Harbours nest for Cholyn and TH1 this morning. After all the activity with the eaglet falling out of the nest and being rescued yesterday, it is hoped that nothing eventful happens until banding day!

Big Red is not giving much away but that 4th egg still has a lively pip happening. Cornell says that part of the shell is crashing so that is a good sign.

These three have been having a banquet of critters.

Arthur – isn’t he a darling? – got a chance not only to deliver prey to the pantry but also to brood his chicks! Fantastic.

The goslings are hatching at the old Bald Eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa. Mother Goose is really protecting them. So cute! It looks like four so far. Two more to go. There will be six in total if all hatch.

Here is a video of the hatching:

Here is the link to the camera for Mother Goose! Don’t be fooled by the Bald Eagle – this is Decorah’s old unused nest leased to Mother and Father Goose. When will the goslings jump? When they are all hatched, are dry, and have developed their protective fuzz. Probably tomorrow morning.

DN15 and DN16 are having a lovely morning with their Mum, Mrs DNF (Decorah North Female) looking over them. Because of the recent Avian Flu deaths in the Midwest, I will continue to check in to make sure everything is alright on this nest. They are looking good this morning.

All three of Thunder and Akecheta’s eaglets are up on the nest this morning! It looks grey and dreary there.

Rosa and Martin’s Only Eaglet at the Dulles-Greenaway Nest has certainly grown. It is waiting and hoping that someone is going to bring breakfast!

I am very concerned about the MN-DNR and have written to find out the status of the two eaglets. I hope that they are both just very very sound sleepers and this is not another two eaglets taken by H5N1.

At 06:03 both were tucked up under Nancy.

At 08:09 a parent was on the nest checking on them.

One ate at 08:00.

I will report later if anything is confirmed at this nest. This would be such a loss.

I hate to leave on a what could be a sad note. The number of cases of Avian Flu in the Midwest are growing. If you would like to see the spread of this deadly virus, here is a link to the USDA data:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-wild-birds

Thank you for joining me. Please take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: MN-DNR, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Explore.Org, Institute of Wildlife Studies, Dulles-Greenaway Bald Eagles, UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey Nest, and Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife.

Saturday in Bird World

23 April 2022

UPDATE: All of the Denton Homes nestlings are now deceased. Sending positive energy that the parents do not also die from Avian Flu as well as the other nests in the area. Condolences to all at Denton Homes on the loss of these three precious eaglets.

Thoughts go out to all of the nests in the area including Mother Goose on the abandoned eagle nest and Mr and Mrs North at Decorah North and their two eaglets.

The three eaglets of Thunder and Akecheta still cause us to hold our breath when they go near the edge of the nest. In their discussions yesterday, Sean Peterson and Lynn Scofield of Cal Falcons said that there is no Avian Flu present on the West coast (yet).

Thunder and Akecheta brought in 9 small fish for the trio yesterday. They have all learned how to ‘hork’ – eating the prey whole almost choking it down! I hope they continue to bring in fish to the nest – no more Coots!

Baby has a full crop and is getting shade from the adult on the nest of Chase and Cholyn at Two Harbours. Blink and the wee fuzzy one turned into an eaglet!!!!!!!! with thermal down. Gosh.

Middle (Little) had a fish tail and a pin fish this morning. He is on the nest being extremely vocal about wanting more food.

Little or MiniO fledged on the 22nd of April at 06:46:14. It is not clear if this was intentional or the wind gust took her off the nest. She has not been seen since fledging. The moderator of the chat said that Lori Covert intends to look for Little MiniO when she returns (I do not know when that is).

The hatch of L2 at the nest of Big Red and Arthur is proceeding nicely. This image is now about 3 hours old. That little one is almost out then. A good shove to the shell might do it. Earlier it appeared that a third egg might have a pip.

Arthur is keeping the pantry stocked.

The arrival of a Robin prompted Big Red to get up and eat a bit. You can see the crop on L1. Both L2 and L3 are now hatching. You can see the progress in the front two eggs. This nest is going to get super busy – and exciting – as these chicks hatch. Notice the bright yellow cere on L1. How gorgeous. The cere is the fleshy covering at the base of the upper beak.

L1 can hear its sibling and is mesmerized by that beak chipping away at the shell. If you look lower L2 has cracked its way around the egg. It will not be long.

There is some exciting news (for me anyway) coming out of the UK. Mrs G and Aran’s 2017 third hatch, Z8, was spotted at Loch Gruinart.

Z8 hatched just before midnight at the Glaslyn nest on the 29th of May 2017. He fledged at the age of 54 days on the 22nd of July 2017. This is the first official sighting of him! Excellent. I hope that we hear more about Z8 now that he has been spotted in Islay. He was a third hatch osprey!

Here is the FB announcement:

Other good news is that chick 3 who had remained in the crumbling eagle nest and nicknamed ‘Velcro’ has been reunited with chick 2 in the temporary nest in Illinois. These folks worked long and hard for these amazing eaglets who have not fledged but are the size of a Canada Goose. Congratulations to everyone at the Illinois Raptor Centre for this incredible effort.

To read about this journey, please go to the FB page of the Illinois Raptor Centre and scroll down – read from the bottom up – from when the nest collapsed.

The two Dale Hollow Eaglets have done so well. The sibling rivalry or food competition is all over between Big and Middle. They are now 55 days old and one of them is standing on the rim of the nest today.

They may have had some lean days but today was feast day and both have eaten so well and have such filled crops that they are ignoring a fish on the nest! Does it get more wonderful than that?

Everything seems to be fine other than being damp and getting potentially more rain later at the MN-DNR nest of Harry and Nancy.

It is 15:04 on the UFlorida Osprey nest. Little Bit continues to cry for food. The older siblings have no crops. It is very hot on the nest and all are food crying now. Wish for a miracle! That is what it is going to take – a miracle. The pattern has been for only one more fish to come in before bed and the two big ones are already ravenous.

As I wrap this up we are still waiting for fish to drop from the sky on the UFlorida Osprey nest, a hatch at Cornell (or two), and Little or MiniO to return to the Captiva Osprey Nest. Some believe they might have heard her calling. Send positive wishes to all the wildlife struggling on the Canadian Prairies with the torrential downpours and the flooding.

Thank you for joining me. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages: Loch Garden and Other Ospreys FB, Illinois Raptor Centre, Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, UFlorida-Gainesvlle Ospreys, MN-DNR, DHEC, and Explore.org.