Tag Archives: Cape Henlopen Ospreys

Lindsay fledges, Little Bit 17 gets a whole fish, and other news in Bird World

17-18 June 2022

I really wish that I could send Louis and Dorcha some of our fine weather. This nest gas endured treacherous weather – horrific weather. Weather that you would never wish on your worst enemy. The only thing they haven’t had is _ _ _ _. Starts with an ‘S’ and ends with a ‘W’. I am not going to say it in case it happens. (I think they had that early on but not recently). Poor thing. Dorcha can hardly hold on and she is trying so hard to protect those precious babies.

You can’t see it in the image but the rain is pelting down and the wind is gale force. Not just blowing hard. Gale force.

The pounding rain has stopped for now at Loch Arkaig. I can hardly believe it – Louis has brought in a fish just after 0500. I hope the wind does not blow Dorcha off the nest like it has done on another occasion. She is trying hard to feed the Bobs and have some fish herself. Gracious.

Someone said they need to move to the other nest where it is more protected. Maybe they will after this year at this one!

Laddie LM12 brought in a super nice fish for Blue NC0 and the two osplets. It is early, early in the morning and this is brilliant. The day is starting off just great at the Loch of the Lowes.

Oh, it is such a nasty Saturday morning at the Dfyi nest. Idris hasn’t even left to go fishing yet. Everyone is wet – Telyn and the chicks are hoping the promised rain will not happen! It sure is beautiful and green but I would not want to visit western Scotland and Wales in June – all that rain and cold down to the bone.

Aran is away fishing. Mrs G is flying off for a break and the trio are sort of waking up. There is a fish already on the nest.

Dylan has brought Seren a fish for the family’s breakfast. It looks like it is a really rainy cold day at Llyn Clywedog. Sun please!!!!

Maya and the three Bobs at Rutland are waiting for Blue 33 to deliver breakfast! The question on everyone’s mind is: when will they ring the Bobs? Oldest Bob is 40 days old today. Ringing needs to take place before 45 days if it is just the Darvic Ring. If it is a satellite pack too, then from 40-45 days. Will they ring them on Monday?

There is good parenting DNA running through CJ7 and Blue 022. First time parents. Blue 022 shows up at 04:22 to give CJ7 a break and then he is off to get the breakfast fish. What a beautiful couple. I should note that it is incredibly foggy at Poole Harbour this morning.

The fog is lifting. Let us hope that Dad gets a fish soon.

It is a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Port Lincoln, Australia. Both Mum and Dad are on the barge. Does anyone think that they might actually lay their eggs earlier than last year? We will wait to see.

So why do you think that Lindsay doesn’t want Grinnell Jr looking out the stone work?!!!

You see Lindsay wanted to fledge first —— and that is precisely what she did! Lindsay landed on top of the library!!!!!

There was a lot of activity on the ND-LEEF nest this morning and one incident, right at the start of the morning, made all of us just drop for a few minutes. A prey delivery came in at 08:09:22. The adult flies into Little
Bit in the middle of the nest and then ND16? lands on Little Bit. All of that caused me to hold my breath for a moment ——along with anyone else watching closely at that time.

Little Bit was just minding his own business on the nest with 16 over at the rim and 15 up higher in the branches.

Adult arrives. You can see Little Bit behind and under the left wing and chest of the adult.

That is 16 on top of Little Bit. That little yellow foot on the right under 16 belongs to Little Bit.

Just look. Little Bit’s entire wing has been pulled over. Oh, gosh. My heart is sinking by now.

Gosh. Little Bit seems to have had everything that could happen – happen – to him. Here he is out sniffing around wanting to make that steal!

Little Bit gets that prey item and is still working on it when at 10:06:50 a fish is delivered. 16 gets it but walks away. 15 doesn’t even come down to eat and 17 takes that fish!

16 left the fish to moved up to the parent like it wanted the adult to feed it. Can you imagine when Little Bit looked over and saw that whole fish!!!!!!!! It is at the bottom right of the ‘1 Foot’ indicator.

Little Bit ate almost the entire fish. He walked away with a little left that 16 took.

I would say that Little Bit deserved that fish after what happened with the first delivery. He also deserved it because he has worked so bloody hard eating all the scraps off the nest and dried fish and Raccoon. What an amazing eaglet he is –so glad that he was not injured earlier.

At the Cornell Red-tail Hawk nest, L4 is on the fledge ledge. It is windy.

L4 is really getting some air.

Ospreys have been arriving and one has been moving sticks around the Cape Henlopen State Park nest that say the adults dead or disappear and the three chicks starve last weekend.

Everything looks good at the Glacier Gardens nest of Liberty and Freedom. the wee ones had their breakfast and are napping with Mum.

There was some excitement at the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. It ‘appeared’ that Star had fledged but later it was confirmed that it was Sentry flying off and then he returns chasing Liberty who arrives with a fish.

At the National Arboretum nest of Mr President and Lotus, one of the adults is keeping a close eye on Takoda who is running up and down the branch on the right hand side. It is windy. Will today be the day for Takoda to fly?

Ahote and Sky are on the natal nest this morning at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta. The adults will know where Kana’kini is and they will often now deliver prey off the nest to the fledglings if they are elsewhere.

Sky has been doing some great hovering but has yet to take that first flight.

If you haven’t voted for Richmond and Rosie’s two 2022 hatches, here is the announcement. You have 2 days to do so and it is free. Join in!

The little hawklet living with the Bald Eagles on Gabriola Island has branched! Well done!

There are so many nests to cover but that is it for this morning. We could see some more fledges Saturday afternoon. Congratulations to everyone at Cal Falcons – to Annie, Alden, an Grinnell – and to Lindsay for her first flight. It is OK to fly now Junior!!!!!

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care all. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: GROWLS, Cornell RTH, Cal Falcons, LD-NEEF, Cape Henlopen State Park Ospreys, Explore.org, SF Ospreys, NADC-AEF, Glacier Gardens, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Friends of Redding Eagles, Poole Harbour, LRWT, CarnyXWild, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dfyi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, and Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Postcode Lottery, and the Woodland Trust.

Little Bit ND17 is still the ‘King of the Snatch and Grab’ and other news in Bird World

15 June 2022

We needed some good news in Bird World after Big Bob plummeted Little Bob at the Loch of the Lowes to death earlier this morning. That nest, by the way, is not any happier. Laddie brought in what looked like a minnow. Blue NC0 and both chicks will be quite hungry. I wonder what is up?

But, never mind! At the ND-LEEF nest there were two fish brought in before 10:00. The first was a Sucker delivered by Mum and the second was a Blue Gill brought in by Dad.

At 05:53:51, the sucker arrives. Little Bit 17 gets it first. What did I tell you. Then he loses it. Then he steals it again — twice!

At 09:45:53 Dad brings in the Blue Gill. ND15 gets it. At 10:01:03, Little Bit 17 steals it. Boy is this kid good. He grabs it, does the most amazing turn around and runs to the porch to eat it!!!!!! Wow. Is happiness spelled fish???????? It is cooler – 78F. Yesterday it was 96 F at the nest. Let us hope more fish arrive if it is to be ultra hot later.

The sucker arrives at 05:53:51. Little Bit will get it first, lose it and steal it again twice!

Little Bit 17 is very clever. He has had to be to survive on this nest with two much larger siblings and often, little prey. His head shows that he has also paid for trying to steal food to live. So, he sits and watches 15. 15 is not hostile to Little Bit like 16 is.

Little Bit watches and listens and plans its attack.

When he sees the right opportunity – meaning he can see that he can grab the prey and get out – he goes for it. He grabs. Turns back to the right like a ballet dancer doing a pirouette. Then he moves quickly to his safe spot – the porch.

ND15 raises its wing. Little Bit 17 has the rest of the fish and is getting to the porch. What is really incredible is we are talking about an event that only took seconds.

This is thought to be ND16’s first branching – at 10:06. We don’t know what happened when the camera was off. This is good. 15 has already branched and maybe 16 will be more concerned with flying than with Little Bit.

The temperature has now jumped and it is hot. Thankfully – due to his great stealing skills – Little Bit 17 has had some food and hydration.

It is week 4 at the Osprey nest of Richmond and Rosie on the Whirley Crane. San Francisco Ospreys posted their weekly update video of the family. Do we have names for these? Not yet, in a few days. Should I mention that there is no problem with fish delivery at this nest?

Congratulations to Pittsburgh Hayes 18 who fledged this morning at around 11:17. (or is it a fludge?). Upper left branch – lots of leaves and flies off from there! Well done.

We are into day 2 of fledge watch at Cal Falcons. It is hard to believe that Grinnell Jr and Lindsay are really ready to fly!

They can look through the openings to see the world outside that will soon be theirs.

L4 was on the nest with L3 this morning. Beautiful little hawks of Big Red and Arthur. There is a storm coming in on Thursday so fingers crossed that L4 decides not to fledge! What a cutie pie.

The storklets of Jan and Janika had a good feed not that long ago. They are doing extremely well. The staff and all those involved must be terribly happy so far.

We now know that Betty at the Mlade Buky White Stork nest eliminated the youngest chick, the 5th, a couple of days ago. Now Kaia, the mate of Karl II, has tried to eliminate one of the storklets. They are all big! Everything is currently normal on this nest. Kaia might perceive that there is not enough food. She does not know that Karl II has been bringing in lots and lots of food. Let us hope that all stays normal with all the chicks! Send positive wishes.

Today there will be an on line presentation and Q & A about the Bald Eagles on Gabriola Island in British Columbia that have adopted the Red tail hawklet. It was brought in as prey on 4 June and is currently being fed and cared for by the eagles as if it is their own.

Go to this YouTube site to set the reminder if you wish to be part of this discussion. I cannot tell you the time in your zone as YT automatically sets the time remaining to my specific zone which is 15:00 CDT.

There is super news coming from the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G. Aran fed his three chicks of 2022 for the first time today.

It was pitching down rain at Loch Arkaig. Poor Dorcha and the two surviving chicks. Louis was able to bring in a fish as things began to clear. Please keep this nest in your thoughts.

Seren and Dylan on the perch together with the three Bobs in the nest below. What a gorgeous family portrait and what a beautiful site in Wales for an Osprey nest. All is well here.

Telyn and Idris have been keeping intruders away from the nest. Gosh these returning two year olds can be a nuisance that can also cause harm to a nest. Reminds me of the juveniles returning to Taiaroa Head when the chicks are on the nests alone and they dance and sky call and pick on the little ones.

There has been the osprey in the image below briefly visiting the Cape Henlopen Osprey nest. I cannot identify it other than it does not appear to be the Mum because her necklace was very faint. I could not see the feathering to tell if it was the intruder female that removed all of the osplets.

Spirit spent the night with Jackie at the Big Bear Valley nest in California. How reassuring is it to see these beautiful fledglings return home – safe and sound?

I really wanted to give you the good news about ND17 so I am posting much earlier than planned. While 17 didn’t get a whole fish – and it is getting hot – he did get food and he is definitely not lethargic like the Loch of the Lowes osplet.

It is the first sunny day we have had and rain is to come again at 1800. My plan is to be outside in the garden listening to the birds! Thank you so much for being with me today. I will be posting again on Thursday morning. Take care all.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Pix Cams, ND-LEEF, Cal Falcons, Cornell Bird RTH, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery, and the Woodland Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, SF Bay Ospreys, Cape Henlopen State Park Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyXWild, GROWLS, and the Eagle Club of Estonia.

L3 fledges at Cornell and other news in Bird World

13 June 2022

The third hatch of Big Red and Arthur fledged at 11:29:32. One of the older siblings had just taken off after eating some lunch and L3 followed right after them.

What a great flight! Look at that take off.

Cornell put out a video of the fledge! Oh, look – get your legs up! Just beautiful.

One of the FB chatters SAH got a photo of L3 in the trees where she landed. Thank you!

Ahote and Kana’kini had been venturing out to check out their surroundings. They returned home a little while ago thinking that Thunder had brought in some lunch!!!!!

The head of Scottish Wildlife sent this out to subscribers today. Thank you to ‘S’ for forwarding this to me. It seems that they are worrying about the state of the small chick, too. These chicks are getting their juvenile feathers. All of the nonsense should have stopped. It is noted that Laddie has cut down on his fish deliveries which is causing the issue. I remember last year Blue NC0 went out and fished – she is a good fisher and really did great supplementing the male’s deliveries. Those chicks were a little older. Fingers crossed and toes for the wee one.

There is no problem with fish deliveries at the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G. It seems that Mrs G no more than gets the kids fed and Aran is taking the head off another fish! The osplets are 16, 15, and 12 days old and are right in the Reptilian Phase. They are getting the dark wooly down that will help them thermoregulate their temperatures. there is Little Bob right in the middle. Oh, how they have grown.

The two bigger ones are really exploring around the nest. Little Bob looks like he is going to climb out of that nest cup soon.

It is late and Aran has another fish that he will be bringing to the nest either for the bedtime meal or for first thing in the morning. Way to go Aran.

Life is good at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn. All three Bobs were packed with good fish before bed today. They are 19, 18, and 16 days old today.

The three Bobs at Llyn Clywedog are in their third week after hatching. They love looking out beyond the nest and thankfully the early angst over Little Bob is gone. Dylan is delivering fish regularly and life is good with Seren and the kids. They are now at the stage where predation is decreasing. Yippeee. The early signs of a Goshawk in the area were worrisome.

There are now two chicks at RSBP Loch Garten! The second arrived about 04:11 Monday morning and they were being fed at 19:38. Congratulations AX6 and Mrs AX6! It is lovely to have Ospreys at Loch Garten. Hoping for a very successful summer for all of you.

This is the link to this camera:

The Bobs at Manton Bay are now past the 35 day mark and they can be ringed anytime. It will be fabulous to find out who is a male or a female -. They have been a cuddle bundle to watch this year. Blue 33 kept them full and Maya fed them – and except for two flapping fish incidents early on – the three have survived those huge fish deliveries!

At the ND-LEEF the food has been very scarce. Little Bit had that bit of fish this morning for about a minute. Every one of the eaglets is hungry. All of them! The news this late afternoon is that ND15 has branched. Branching is when the ‘bird’ gets fully out of the nest and onto a branch. Branching normally takes place before fledging which is the first flight.

There has been more activity late in the day at the Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey Nest. The bird that I believe is a large female intruder who has taken over the nest has been poking around the chick to the left as you view the nest. She finally lifted it and because of the size, the poor dead little one fell on the side of the nest box.

She is doing the quiet peeps that she has done all weekend. Ospreys normally do not move the chicks from the nest once they are this large.

I continue to find this just super sad. ‘EJ’ informed me that on one of the FB postings a dead osprey had been found on a trail near the nest about the time the male went missing.

It is not often we get such an upfront view of a tragedy on an Osprey nest – the loss perhaps of an entire family and the intruder trying to figure out what to do with ‘what’ is on the nest. She does not appear to recognize the dead chicks like the Mum would or us – as the once vibrant babies on the nest. She is also not strong enough to carry them off the nest. I think that she is also very hungry.

In another nest twist, Lady Hawk posted a video of the hawklet being raised by the Bald Eagle family on Gabriola Island. This was 17 hours ago.

The worry over Little Bob at the Loch of the Lowes and the happenings at the Cape Henlopen nest wear on one after a bit. Then there is the worry over Little Bit 17 getting something more to eat today. It seems that this year has been anything but smooth for many of our nests. Some of you might remember the Collins Marsh nest in WI last year. Little Malin was force fledged and was found later dead on the ground. Either the adults from last year did not return from migration or they took up another nest, perhaps closer to more fish. At any rate, there are no ospreys nesting on the top of that tower this year, thankfully.

When I need a smile I think of a few of the birds that we have met this year. Ervie is one that always gives me tears of joy. What a special third hatch he has turned out to be. He has been flying around Port Lincoln staying around the hotel and the silos. PLO posted his lastest tracking and it is for the 13th of June. Always good to see that tracker moving! Mum and Dad have been on and off the barge. Oh, how I wish they would let Ervie make an appearance!

Lots will happy between now and tomorrow. Let us hope it is all good! Thank you for joining me. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for the screen cams, FB postings, and videos: Lady Hawk, Cornell Red Tail Hawks, Explore.org and Institute for Wildlife Studies, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyXwild, RSPB Loch Garten, LRWT, LD-NEEF, Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey Cam, and Port Lincoln Ospreys FB.

Cape Henlopen Osprey, update

13 June 2022

The male osprey disappeared last week. The female got food – five fish for the chicks last Wednesday. On Friday, she was attacked twice in the intruders. The second time the female did not return. This is an image from that second attack. There is no confirmation on what has happened to the 20 year old father or the mother of the chicks. The three chicks died of starvation. The intruders would not feed them and, indeed, while the chicks begged food from them it is not natural for a couple to feed and raise another couple’s offspring. Sadly.

We do not know if the parents are dead, injured, or alive and not returning. I have asked and been told that it is highly unlikely that the female would abandon her chicks so that she must be injured or dead.

In the image below the chicks look on as their mother battles with the intruder.

There has been activity at the Cape Henlopen Osprey nest since I posted my blog this morning – Monday 13 June.

Early on Monday there was no one perching on the nest and the bodies of the three osplets were there.

Then two Ospreys arrive on the nest. One is the intruder female at the right. Who is the other adult? Is this her mate? She appears to be the one coming and going from the nest the most but it is highly possible that the male is close by.

I received word from ‘EJ’ that at around 08:15, the body of the chick in the middle was removed from the nest. Did it get caught on the talon and was removed from the nest but not on purpose?

I ask about the accidental removal as it appears that the tip of the wing is caught on the talon and that the body is being pulled along rather than a committed grip on the corpse.

The adult osprey that removed the body of the chick in the middle returned very quickly to the nest and began looking at the body of the youngest chick that had died on Saturday.

A little later the bodies of the two chicks are on the nest when this osprey looks at us. Note that there is not a big necklace.

This is the image of the intruder female who would not feed the chicks on Sunday. I believe this to be the adult osprey that removed the body of the chick.

This is a photography of the two parents of the three dead chicks.

The intruder adult continues to fly on and off the Henlopen Osprey nest. As I write both bodies of the other two chicks remain in the nest. It is 10:11 CDT.

Will the other bodies be removed? Who is that second osprey? is it the male partner of the intruding female? We wait.

Thank you for joining me in what has become a tragic mystery at Cape Henlopen.

Thank you to the Cape Henlopen State Park for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

Late Sunday and early Monday in Bird World

12 June 2022

UPDATE: The smallest, the 5th hatch storklet, at the Mlade Buky nest of Betty and Bukacek was eliminated on Sunday. I had missed this.

It looks like it could be another rainy day on the Canadian Prairies. We are certainly making up with moisture this spring for 4-5 years of drought. Everything is green and beautiful.

Well, the weather is taking its toll on other nests in Scotland and Wales on Sunday. Those long, cold rainy days with a dip in fish deliveries are making some of the Bobs cranky – and aggressive. Big Bob on the Loch of the Lowes almost pushed both Middle and Little Bobs off the nest. Little Bob has also missed out on some meals. I sure hope this weather changes and these chicks settle down.

At tea time on Monday, Telyn went out of her way – finally – to make sure that Little Bob had fish. I was terribly happy to see this as the biggest Bob is working hard to exclude Little.

Idris and Telyn at the Dyfi nest made sure that all three of the Bobs were fed well before bedtime on Sunday. It has been a stinker of weather over in Wales, too.

Monday’s tea at Dyfi was a Sea Bass followed by the delivery of a mullet by Idris to Telyn and the kids. The weather had considerably improved.

My goodness. Aran caught one of his whoppers! He cleaned off the head before delivering it to Mrs G and the kids.

Mrs G fed herself and the kids. Big Bob is in food coma and Little and Middle are up at the table.

There was lots of fish left over when Mrs G finished so Aran decided to have a really good meal before he got on the perch. All appears to be good.

The wind is still blowing a bit on the Glaslyn nest at tea time. All of the chicks are wide awake. Look at how good Little Bob is doing. He is standing at the back.

We have learned that a good nest can change in the blink of an eye – or weather, intruders, lack of prey. So far the osplets on the nest of Blue 33 (11) and Maya are doing fantastic. They are now all at least five weeks old and they will be ringed soon. Ringing normally takes place between 35-43 days in the UK. Any later and the osplets could bolt and any earlier and the leg would still be growing.

The weather has improved at Loch Arkaig – thankfully. Louis has brought fish in and has covered up Little Bob with some sticks brought in and from the nest. The surviving two Bobs appear to be fine this morning. They benefited from being under Dorcha during the cold rain and winds.

The rain appears to have stopped at the Llyn Clywedog nest of Dylan and Seren. Dylan is on the nest and in the early afternoon there was a male intruder with a blue Darvic ring that was flying around the nest. He was quickly sent off.

The three storklets continue to thrive in the care of the Veterinary School. Forest sounds have been added to their environment.

A very good article has been translated and placed on Looduskalender with the Forum for the Black Stork nest of Karl II and Kaia. The information could be applied universally to nests that depend on fish for their main food item. The specific nest that they are talking about is, however, that of Karl II and Kaia in the Karula National Forest.

“Black Stork – Ciconia nigra

The older chicks hatched on 28 May and turned two weeks old today. The third chick is considerably smaller but hatched three days later than the older two.
Mother Kaia and father Karl are managing to feed their chicks well, despite the youngest being significantly smaller than the others. We know and have observed that Black Storks sometimes carry out infanticide, i.e. the parent birds remove the weakest chick from the nest. The main reason for this is a lack of food. Chicks must be very well fed because they will embark on a long and dangerous migration in August on their own, but this is how black storks do it. Less than a third of this year’s chicks will be alive in a year.
What are we not seeing on the webcam?
In Karula National Park, where this black storks nest is located, Kotkaklubi has been organising clean-up campaigns for many years to clear the banks of the brooks of the Koiva river basin of undergrowth so that the birds can access them. Small natural streams quickly become overgrown with vegetation, but black storks are happy to feed in such remote places. Adult birds will also look for food in ditches where fish can be found during the breeding season. Still, these ditches may dry up during both spring and summer droughts, threatening breeding success. Therefore the birds need to be able to visit different feeding areas. Adult BS also forage in meadows, catching frogs and occasionally rodents. We can see on the webcam that fish is their primary food.
In addition, Urmas Sellis has installed a fish basket with live fish in a stream about ten kilometres away from the nest, and a trail camera has recorded the visits of black storks there.

Today, 13 June, the chicks are respectively 16, 16 and 13 days old.

The three storklets of Karl II and Kaia are waking up to a whole new day!

PLEASE NOTE THAT ON SUNDAY, BETTY ELIMINATED THE 5TH STORKLET. It looks like another rainy mucky day for Bukacek and Betty and their five little white storklets in Mlade Buky. I cannot look at the adult standing there without thinking about the plastic decoy with the storklets of Jan and Janika. Looks just like that decoy!

The storklets are getting their juvenile feathers.

A prey item has been brought to the ND-LEEF nest at 08:36:54. ND 15 stole it from ND16 and at 08:57:49 Little Bit 17 steals it, eats some, and then 16 gets it. They are all hungry but Little Bit is right in there!

Little Bit 17 is still ‘the king of the snatch and grab’. Fingers crossed for a lot more prey today!

It is extremely sad to see the Cape Henlopen nest with the three dead osplets of the long bonded pair on an empty nest. It remains unclear what happened to the 20 year old Dad and Mum from the nest after the intruders took over late Friday. An entire family lost because of intruders? So sad.

Will the intruders return? We wait.

Both fledglings were on the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest this morning. Middle had control of the fish delivery. The parents have been excellent at bringing the two lots of fish during the day. They look to be in great health and their flying skills – and landing – are improving every day.

At 08:41 all four of Big Red and Arthur’s hawklets were on the nest. L2 fledged first followed by L1. L3 spent Sunday up on a higher level of the tower but it has yet to fledge along with the youngest L4.

L3 is 49 days old today and L4 is 46. The average of fledge at Big Red’s nest is 46.5 days. We could be looking at another two flying today or tomorrow.

Takoda is 69 days old today. On Sunday he had branched up to the height where Mr President normally perches. Early this morning he made it up to the cam which made for some lovely closeups just for us! Fledging is close at hand.

All eyes are on Star at the Redding Eagle nest. She is branching farther up and this early morning seems to have put out the sound on the streaming cam. As far as I know, there has been no sighting of Sentry since he fledged.

Could this be your day to fly Star?

Spirit is so beautiful. She is 3 months and 9 days old today. She hatched on 3 March and fledged on 31 May. She came down to visit the nest before taking off into the Big Bear Valley at 06:13. She might have been looking for breakfast!

There is one more fledge to go at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagles nest and that is H18. Both H16 and H17 fledged on the 10th of June within an hour and a half of one another (06:20 and 07:50). That third fledge could happen any time.

Both eaglets at the US Steel nest are considering branching! What a gorgeous view.

Ahote and Kana’kini were on the move this morning. What a beautiful camera view of both of them. Sky is still on the natal nest. The time is o7:03.

An early morning view of the San Jose City Hall Peregrine falcons.

At 03:58 Annie was sleeping in the scrape with Lindsay and Grinnell Jr. Precious moments. Fledge will come before we know it. Goodness. Wasn’t it just yesterday that Alden came into our lives???? It sure seems like it. Annie and Alden have been super parents and I am thrilled that these two chicks got a chance to make their own way in the world. It could have been dramatically different without Alden.

Fledge watch begins for Lindsay and Grinnell Jr tomorrow – 14 June!!!!!!

It is early morning on the Canadian Prairies. We have had so much rain that the landscape could be the green of Ireland! It is impossible to see the birds and squirrels and even the small bunny in the jungle that has grown. Birds can be seen flying in and out and the feeders are empty by noon so they are in there – just covered by all the branches and leaves.

There may be several fledges today. There are eyes on many, many nests!

I hope that your Monday is a good start to the week. Thank you for joining me. Take care!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or websites where I took my screen captures: Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Woodland Trust, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, LRWT, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery and Scottish Wildlife Trust, CarnyXWild, Eagle Club of Estonia, LizM, Mlade Buky, ND-LEEF, Cape Henlopen State Park Ospreys Cam, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, NADE-AEF, Friends of Redding Eagles, Pix Cams, FOBBV, Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, San Jose City Falcons, and Cal Falcons.

Cape Henlopen Sadness – a misidentification

12 June 2021

There has been some concern over the osprey that is on the nest at the Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey nest. I had believed it to be the grieving female who had lost her three chicks and her mate. Watchers begin to look carefully at the adult on the nest noting her unusual behaviour. Members of the FB group began to compare photographs of the parent adults and after receiving a note from ‘A’ and ‘E’ I went back to look at my images.

It has been determined that the osprey on the nest that I believed to be the grieving mother is NOT the grieving mother but one of the intruders.

The real mother of the three osplets on the nest was with them when she delivered five fish to her chicks. They were full to the brim. She was with them on the 10th of June. The image below is from the 10th of June. Note the light, almost non-existent necklace.

The intruder female has a huge necklace. The original Mum does not.

This is a picture of the mother and father of the three chicks in the nest.

This is the female intruder on the nest today.

This is the intruder refusing to feed the two surviving chicks on Saturday night. So to be clear and correct my past posting — the parents by the time the image below is taken are both missing. The intruders refused to feed the three chicks and, as a result, they died of starvation.

It is clear from the keen detective work by members of the FB group that both parents of the three chicks on the Cape Henlopen State Park nest are missing.

The Mum had bravely fought them off on Friday. That is a difficult thing to do without a male to assist.

Sadly this information does not change the situation – the chicks starved to death but it was not because the female did not go fishing or thought they were too ill to feed — it is because she had been ousted from the nest by the intruders taking over.

It is unclear what has happened to the parents. Perhaps we will have word shortly.

I regret adding to the confusion over what has been happening at this nest. Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone!

Thank you to the Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey nest streaming cam where I took my screen captures and to ‘E’ and ‘A’ for their notes with links to the photos. It is so appreciated.

Late Tuesday in Bird World

7 June 2022

This blog is mostly about Little Bit 17. It has been a good day for our little trooper!!!!!!

Little Bit 17 (formally known as ND17) at the ND-LEEF nest is 63 days old today. Big is 68 days old and Middle is 67 days old. Little Bit is decidedly behind in food from the two older eagles and he might well be a third of their size but that does not stop him. I call these third hatches ‘The Little Eaglets that Could’. Little Bit 17 has no idea he is small. No one sat down with him and explained size ratios, lack of development due to lack of food, etc. Now, some people might think it is a bad thing that Little Bit is a little eaglet. Perhaps not. He is decidedly quick- he can snatch and grab the prey before the two big eaglets. He is also extremely intelligent – he has learned to read the environment and know when to go in after the prey rather than get injured. Great lessons for the future. Later on he will be able to get that prey and fly off with it.

Today ‘something with a pelt’ came on the ND-LEEF nest. The older siblings simply cannot be bothered to work hard for food. That is another huge difference. Because Little Bit has been so hungry, he will eat things that the older two, more privileged will not. That really ticks the box for survivor for me.

At 13:41:08, Little Bit 17 grabs that squirrel pellet and works on it. At 13:56:23 he horks it down! Don’t worry. He will not choke. You have probably seen falcons being fed feathers, etc. The raptors do not waste a thing. Each has a purpose. In her book, The Hawk’s Way by Sy Montgomery she reminds us that people do not have to hunt but hawks do and so do eagles and all of the raptors. They live by four rules in the wild: Hunt hard. Kill Swiftly. Waste Nothing. Offer no Apologies.

Little Bit 17 watches the older sibling eating. He sits waiting. It must be 15 because the two of them tolerate one another rather well.

Little Bit 17 has taken the pelt and is eating it. The older sibling does not care.

Little Bit 17 works away on his meal – grateful to have food today!

At 14:47:54 Little Bit takes a UFO that lands on the nest!

But wait. At 14:55:39 Mom brings in a Rock Bass. The older siblings look at it but no takers. Little Bit waits and watches. When he is sure that 16 is not going to rip him up if he gets near it, Little Bit 17 moves in and takes that fish. Little Bit ate the whole thing.

The Rock Bass has arrived.

One of the older siblings checks out the Rock Bass but doesn’t want to have to unzip it. Meanwhile 17 is watching —–and you can bet that Mum is watching what is going on, too.

Little Bit has the fish. He is mantling.

Little Bit is pulling it over to the porch where he feels safe. He will eat the entire fish.

Little Bit has a huge crop. Isn’t it wonderful. In fact, Little Bit has been eating most of the day. He should definitely be energized. Let us all hope that this warrior of an eaglet will get as much food tomorrow!!!!!!!

The struggle that this little eaglet has made to live is inspiring. We should all sit back and take a page out of his playbook. Little Bit never gave up – never!!!!!! Little Bit is grateful for any and all food that he gets. He has taken each day and has made the best he could out of it. When there was no food for several days, he rested saving up the energy he had until food did arrive. Little Bit 17 is pretty amazing.

There is good news coming out of the UK. One of the Salisbury Cathedral eyases fell from the scrape. It is hard to imagine that it was not injured. Have a read:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/07/young-peregrine-falcon-falls-from-salisbury-cathedral-tower?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR3i2ekRjCwN_3McrdzQ2zLJIPRm9kEVRMAXE-0FiC_G0BbZGZHRe0b-bjE

L1 is going to give everyone a heart attack. She is going to fledge any moment.

Middle remains on the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. He is inspired also and has been taking prey items and not deferring to Big. Confidence is growing and growing. Like L1, he is going to fledge any moment.

The population of Condors is so very fragile. To lose one is a real tragedy. Condors clean up the ‘dead’ – the carrion like the Vultures, Eagles, and other birds like Corvids. They are highly susceptible to lead poisoning. Help make the world a better place – tell your friends and family to use non-lead fishing and ammunition. Write to your government leaders. There are options that would greatly impact the life of our raptors and Condors.

The 18 year old male at the Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey nest in Lewes, Delaware is believed to be missing. He did not bring in a fish this morning or at all during the day. The chicks are old enough to be left alone but still are too young to not predated by larger raptors. I really hope that Dad returns. Fingers crossed. Will Mum go fishing? Yes, she did. She returned wet but with no fish. Just look at those three chicks! Send all your positive wishes!

Right about now you might be thinking that I am wishing for Urmas to send over his fish basket! or for him to climb that platform and put some fish on that nest!!!!!

Big Bob on the Llyn Clywedog Osprey nest is being unkind. He gave Little Bob quite the going over today right when a fish arrived. This nest has had weather issues and you might remember that Dylan was missing in action for a day. Hopefully, Big Bob will settle down. He should! Seren was fighting with a fish delivery that went wild across the nest.

A falconer friend of mine posted this article on the Japanese falconer, Hidetoshi Matsubara. He has been a falconer for more than 50 years. Learn about falconry in another culture! It is a beautiful 7 minute read.

https://www.patagonia.com/stories/the-last-takajo/story-120760.html?fbclid=IwAR0C5JaLwQ3bEpa2zWi7kKG5e07Ll-vAJe9IjHFmHMyBs6MTY0wQLoI7twc&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=s22_content&utm_content=last_takajo

I had a wonderful afternoon and found lots of ducklings and some goslings. More about that tomorrow.

Thank you for joining me today! So happy for Little Bit 17 that I can’t think of too much else. I just wish that camera had higher definition so we could actually get a good image of this little warrior. See you soon. Take care.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Ventana Wildlife Society, Cornell Bird Labs RTH, Osprey Web Cam Cape Henlopen, Nd-LEEF, CarnyX Wild, and UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys.

Late Saturday and early Sunday in Bird World

28-29 May 2022

Saturday was an incredible day for a long walk at the nature centre. Thankfully individuals have donated benches in their loved one’s names and they are scattered about the trails. Much of Ft Whyte has been covered with water and there are areas that are more wetlands than anything else. Those are the interesting places. The Red-winged Blackbirds and the Yellow-rumped Warblers seemed to love eating the seeds? of the bull rushes. It was a fascinating day. Way across the lake were two adult Double-breasted Cormorants and nine juveniles. The Cormorants make their nests on islands or in the tops of trees or platforms. Normally there are 5-7 eggs that are incubated for 25-59 days. This couple seems to have hatched 9!

They were at a great distance and the sky was getting very dark. Not touched up but a lovely scene.

The usuals were around – beautiful Yellow Warblers, American Goldfinches, the Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Downy and a Hairy Woodpecker.

What a striking difference between the male Red-winged Blackbird and their female mates, below. She is having a wonderful time gleaning for insects and seeds on the ground.

This female American Redstart flitted around the Cattail branches. She was very difficult to photograph! She was hovering around the pools of water foraging for insects.

The Canada Geese are still incubating. No one seems to know when the eggs are due to hatch at Ft Whyte! (or not anyone that I could find).

You often see evidence of the woodpeckers presence but, most times, you do not actually see them. So to see both a Hairy and a Downy over by the songbird feeding station was quite a treat.

A female Hairy Woodpecker.

The female Downy Woodpecker.

In fact, today was a fun day because so many of the female birds were out feeding. What a joy!

I had hoped to head out today, Sunday, but right now it is raining. The birds in the garden are not happy! Hopefully the sun will come out later for them and they can dry off and I can go for my walk.

Sadly, Saturday was not a good day on the ND-LEEF nest. The lack of prey coming to this nest is becoming highly problematic. The two older siblings have figured out how to self-feed. Little Middle 17 had an advantage when they didn’t know how to do this! There was someone on chat that made a comment that Little Bit 17 had some food from Dad last evening – a heron?? I did not see it. Perhaps some of you did. My notes indicate 48 hours without substantial food. Let us hope that the fish get on the nest tomorrow and are plentiful. In fact, one of the older siblings – I do think it is the Middle one 16 – attacked Little Bit today and Mum flew down from the branch and intervened. We need fish on this nest quickly. Send all positive thoughts to Little Bit 17.

Two fish have so far come to the ND-LEEF nest on Sunday morning. The second one right before 10:58 when Mum flies down and feeds 17. Originally the fish was left on the nest but no takers and Little Bit seemed reluctant to eat it. He is staying back in the part beyond the camera. After a few minutes Mum comes down and takes the fish. Little Bit eats. Then in a few minutes 16 steals the fish. How much did Little Bit get? It isn’t clear but when 16 stole the fish, there was only about half of it left. I know Little Bit can eat fast – he has had to. Let us hope he got enough and that another fish comes and then another. We need to get out of this bad loop on this nest. 16 continues to attack Little Bit. 16 is one nasty bird.

If you are at all sensitive, I would not watch this nest for a few days. Let it sort itself out. I am very concerned about the level of hunger and the attacks by 16 on Little Bit.

The eyases on the Red-tail Hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur are changing by the day. Those juvenile feathers continue to grow and grow. Watch their tails. It is best if they have 5 or more dark tail bands for fledging.

That is little L4 showing off his beautiful wings. Big sister is in front. It is awhile til fledge from the look of the tails!

At the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest, Middle was busy eating a really nice fish. And guess what? He did not share!

This nest is so civilized now. If you just tuned in you could never imagine that the third hatch died from siblicide or that the Middle chick had been beaked and stopped from eating. It is a lovely nest to watch.

Middle was making some headway 9 minutes later. It is hard for the osplets to figure out how to hold the fish down and unzip it at the same time. They need to watch Mum carefully when she digs her beak into the skin and pulls hard!

Both of the osplets have been eating on the UFlorida-Gainesville nest Sunday morning. Each has had a turn at a fish and there are fish on the nest if you look closely – well, pieces of them. These two are healthy and doing so well.

As the sun went down on a beautiful Saturday at the Loch of the Lowes, Blue NC0 was feeding the three nestlings. I am cautiously hopeful for this third hatch. It is a nice strong little one.

It was so windy earlier in the day that Blue NC0 was literally blown off the nest.

It is Sunday morning and Blue NC0 and the trio of Bobs are waiting for Laddie to deliver a fish!

Laddie came through – of course, he did! They have all eaten well and Little Bob felt like he wanted to start a fight. He is a little toughie. LOL. You can see the plumage changing on Big Bob.

Telyn had gone for a break at 0503 and Idris flew in with the breakfast fish two minutes later. He thought he was going to get to feed the Three Bobs but, no. Telyn had a different idea. Gosh, they are so cute…I wish they would stay this soft grey downy chick for awhile longer before becoming a Reptile-Dinosaur showing their DNA chick.

It is quite amazing how quickly they get stronger. Adorable. Nice dark bands around those eyes.

The Dyfi Osprey Project created a video log of the hatching.

Aran and Mrs G now have two Bobs at the Glaslyn Valley Osprey nest. One more egg to go!

These two look like they will be a hand full.

CJ7 and Blue 022 have already made history by laying the first osprey eggs in a nest at Poole Harbour in more than 200 years. The eggs were laid on 23, 26, and 29th of April. That means that the first egg is 36 days old now. I am thinking pip watch in a couple of days?? This morning CJ7 ate her fish off the nest so no hatch yet! Gosh this is going to be a difficult nest to see those historical hatches!

Oh, those three Bobs on the Manton Bay nest of Blue 22 and Maya are getting huge. It seems it was only yesterday that we were worrying that the flapping Perch had killed one or both of the nestlings. It was 13 days ago!

This is such a good nest. A fish is right there when Maya gets the chicks up in the morning. It must surely help to have a stocked lake that is free from leisure vehicles and people.

You can almost hear Maya saying, “Oh, please, just have one more bite.”

Maya looks like she is in shock as Blue 33 arrives with a fish.

And what a fish that was!!!!!!!!!! Oh, gosh, is it going to land on the chicks?

All lined up like the Osprey lads at Port Lincoln last season. No need to fight over food on this nest – everyone is fed regularly til they are full. Would love to send this fish to Little Bit 17.

Blue 33 also brought in some nesting materials this morning and dropped them over the chicks. The look on Maya’s face was priceless!

After Blue flies off, Maya turns and looks at the camera. My goodness she is a beauty.

I haven’t mentioned them for awhile – shame on me. There are three osplets in the Osprey platform at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, Delaware. They are doing fine and from their heads you can see they are now moving into the Reptilian phase.

Bukachek and Betty have five White Storks this morning in their nest in Mlade Buky, The Czech Republic. Everyone is so excited. There is one more egg to hatch.

Here is an adorable video of the six storklets at the nest of Jan and Janika!

There are wee ones on the nest of Karl II and Kaia, too. With all the nesting material it is hard to see how many.

It is rainy and blowing at the MN-DNR nest. Nancy has gotten food on the nest and E1, Harriet, continues to do very well. Hopefully Nancy will have a new mate next year. So many of us still miss Harry. What a real shame to lose him – he was only 5 years old. Just starting his life really as an adult. And what a wonderful mate he was while he was with Nancy!

There are way too many nests! And too many things happening. There is Annie looking up at us at 05:53 this morning in San Francisco. She is asking you to pick ‘nice’ names for the two chicks that her and Alden have raised. Suggestions stop and then there will be a vote…it seems that there will not need to be a run off for the name of the male. Grinnell is running away with the numbers! How could it not be Grinnell, seriously?

To suggest a name go to https://calfalcons.berkeley.edu and click on the Facebook tag. Scroll down a few entries and put in your desire names. Suggestions end on the 30th with voting starting immediately for the finalists once they are listed. They are giving us a short time so do not delay choosing your favourites of the short listed. I will try and remind everyone, too.

Take care everyone. Have an absolutely fabulous Sunday. Thank you for joining me today. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cal Falcons, MN-DNR, Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlade Buky White Storks, Osprey Webcam for Cape Henlopen State Park, LRWT, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Brwyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab RTH cam, and ND-LEEF.