Tag Archives: Caribbean Birds

Annie and the ‘new guy’, Gabby arrives home with an injury…and more for Saturday in Bird World

24 December 2022

When the sun is out and it is incredible cold, we get ‘sun dogs’. The Manitoba Weather Network posted this lovely image today and I want all of you to see what they look like. We love the ‘sun dogs’ but, it would be nice if they happened when it was not soooooo cold.

Wikipedia says, “A sun dog (or sundog) or mock sun, also called a parhelion[1] (plural parhelia) in meteorology, is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the Sun. Two sun dogs often flank the Sun within a 22° halo. The sun dog is a member of the family of halos caused by the refraction of sunlight by ice crystals in the atmosphere. Sun dogs typically appear as a pair of subtly colored patches of light, around 22° to the left and right of the Sun, and at the same altitude above the horizon as the Sun. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but are not always obvious or bright. Sun dogs are best seen and most conspicuous when the Sun is near the horizon.

In contrast, my daughter in law sent me a photo of an Egret that was seen on her travels in the Caribbean today. Oh, gosh. I miss those warm mornings waking up to the sound of the Tropical Mockingbirds. Look closely and you will see a very large Iguana!

The kittens are doing well. Lewis has decided that he prefers looking at birds and flowers on the laptop screen! He has offered to be my official helper this season. Meanwhile, Missy prefers to look at real birds outside.

The male eagle at the Centreport Bald Eagle Nest on Long Island, New York has died at 0347 on the 23rd of December. Him and his mate known only as Mom fledged 5 sets of eaglets. Dad did not appear to feel well during the past week. I do not know how old he was and no one is sure of the circumstances. He was rescued by Bobby Hovrath of WINORR but, nothing could be done. I believe a necroscopy will be performed to find out the cause of the death.

This leads me to a question by ‘A’ in the post: What are the latest thoughts on Avian Flu and its impact this year? (I am not saying that the male at Centre Port died of Avian Flu but, it is a possibility and we need to brace ourselves for more deaths this year due directly to H5N1).

Clearly, Avian Flu is on everyone’s mind. France and the UK are trying to implement strict protocols to fight this so that there is not another instance of millions of birds dying from the spread of H5N1, highly pathogenic Avian Flu. Here is one article from Nature:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03322-2

The CDC (Centre for Disease Control) in the US is extremely worried about what might happen in 2023. Here is their latest announcement:

“November 3, 2022—As bird flu outbreaks in wild birds and poultry continue across the U.S., the country approaches a record number of birds affected compared to previous bird flu outbreaks. Since early 2022, more than 49 million birds in 46 states have either died as a result of bird flu virus infection or have been culled (killed) due to exposure to infected birds. This number is nearing the 50.5 million birds in 21 states that were affected by the largest bird flu outbreak that occurred in 2015. Even so, the number of states affected in 2022 is already more than double the number of states that were affected in 2015. Although the overall risk to the general public from the current bird flu outbreaks remains low, it is important that people take preventive measures around infected or potentially infected birds/poultry to prevent the spread of bird flu viruses to themselves or to other birds/poultry and other animals, including pets. This applies not just to workplace or wildlife settings but potentially to household settings where people have backyard flocks or pet birds with potential exposures to wild or domestic infected birds”.

This article entitled ‘The World is Addicted to Chicken and so is the Avian Flu Virus’ is rather enlightening:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-19/bird-flu-epidemic-and-farm-culls-will-make-eggs-chicken-turkey-expensive?utm_source=website&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=copy

Continuing on with Bald Eagles, the E3 nest in the Kisatchie National Forest is now on Pip Watch! I can hardly believe it. Time flies as fast as the Concorde flew!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At Gabby’s nest near Jacksonville, Florida, there were two visitors today. V2 and V9. Looks like V9 was there towards the end of the day. Did he stay? what have him and Gabby been doing off camera? (if anything). V9 is certainly handsome and his resemblance to Samson has not escaped anyone. But -. We wait to see.

One of my fondest memories of Samson was his stepping in and feeding the eaglets especially the second hatch if the first had dominated a feeding. He was an incredible Dad.

Sadly, Gabby has been at the nest this morning with what looks like a puncture on her head. Send her your warmest wishes. It should heal on its own but, I hope this does not mean that there is a territorial fight with females for the nest. Poor Gabby. What a season she has had.

The WRDC Bald Eagle nest in Miami seems to be settling down. It looks like Ron and V2 have been spending much time together on and off the nest. Fingers crossed! Now if we can just get Gabby settled in with a new mate of her choice.

PePe is really trying to get the award for most fish in a nest in Florida. If you look the nest is already full of fish and he comes in with a huge shark. Everyone is eating well at Superbeaks. Incredible. Muhlady is really excited.

Elain’s wonderful video summary of the comings and goings at the scrape on the campus of Charles Sturt University in Orange, Australia beings with a warning kek-kek-kek from one of the adults.

Oh, I couldn’t catch it. Watch closely. Annie and the ‘New Guy’ beak kiss near the beginning of their bonding session. We will have to see but this looks serious.

For all of the Iris fans out there, Montana is now counting down the days til the oldest Osprey in the world returns to her nest at Hellgate Canyon in Missoula, Montana in the spring.

Iris is seriously gorgeous.

Getting anxious for Osprey season? I sure am so with the end of the year approaching, Richmond can be thinking about Rosie’s return. She is usually there by Valentine’s Day, the 14th of February.

If you are a fan of the Threave Ospreys, then you will be pleased to hear that one of the 2022 fledglings has been seen safely spending its winter in Senegal! Migration is so arduous and so many of the first year birds never make it to Africa. Just heart warming when they do.

Tim Mackrill has put together a really informative one hour talk on UK Ospreys and migration. You don’t have to listen to the talk all at one time, you can stop and start. However, if you are a huge osprey fan then I urge you to listen. Mackrill has been working with Ospreys for some time and is now head of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation after working at Rutland Water and writing their ‘huge’ and beautiful book on the Rutland Ospreys.

Thank you so much for being with me this morning. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their letters, their posts, their videos and streaming cams that make up my screen captures: The Osprey leadership Foundation, Friends of Threave Osprey, Golden Gate Audubon, Hellgate Osprey Twitter, Cal Falcons, Elain and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Superbeaks, WRDC, NEFL-AEF, Raptors of the World, the CDC, the Guardian, Nature, and to ‘A’ who asked about Avian Flu.

Egrets, Herons, Mangroves and more in Bird World

4 December 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope that this finds you well wherever you are.

The plan was for today, Saturday in Grenada, to be a full day of birding. Up at 0400 and off for the drive north getting there right before sunrise at 0600. If it rained, we would not go. So packed and ready to go — and the rain starts! We look at one another and decide to take a chance that the rain would stop and, it did! It was a glorious day. Cloudy initially which helped to see some birds and then hot and clear blue skies later. The best real estate on the island are those properties that have not only a beautiful view but also, lots of windows to open and wind to go with them!

The stairs down to the boardwalk at Levere National Park were slippery with the sticky clay. Some of the places between the wooden stairs had washed away. By the time we got to the bottom, the boardwalk was flooded. Those gum boots really came in handy. However, the water was higher than they were tall!!!!!! Still we made it to the little dock and the look out tower for birds.

Imagine silence. Not a human sound at all save for us. Just birds.

Mangroves. To me, these are very special places that I only see in the tropical areas where I have visited or lived. The trees – there are 80 varieties -that grow there only need low-oxygen soil and slow moving water. The soil will accumulate around their tangled roots. In fact, these enormous tangled roots make the trees look like they are being pushed out of the water. These wild looking trees stabilise the land and are home to fish, birds, and other aquatic life.  

This is an aerial photo of Laverne National Forest where I spent the morning. The pond and surrounding mangrove area is ‘landlocked’. This is the very north of Grenada looking out to the Atlantic Ocean as opposed to the Caribbean Sea which is in the South.

St George’s is at the very tip of the island close to True Blue and The Lime. Because Grenada is an island created by a volcano, there is hardly a flat spot anywhere. The roads are narrow, windy, often with a straight drop into the sea and lots of pot holes. It takes about an hour, depending on traffic, to go from the southern tip to the most northern.

I am not an expert on bird vocalisations but, I am getting better with the help of Merlin ID. The ‘Sound ID’ function works much better than the ‘Photo ID’ and it helped me to pin point the first sounds at Leverne National Park. It was a Green Heron. The Green Herons actually flew back and forth in front of me, too close and too quick and unannounced to capture their image. But, what a marvellous quiet place – the only sound was birds!!!!!! Just think about it. Noise cancelling headphones with only sounds from a mangrove would take you to this place.

It has rained a lot. The images below are looking back to a small wooden boardwalk. The top photo is when it was dry last spring. The bottom one, covered with leaves, is from yesterday. In the distance the boardwalk was under water — the reason that I brought my gum boots. It was deeper than the boots were high. That was rather interesting. Have you ever been in a mangrove? They smell – lots of decomposition and sulphur.

The lake and mangrove are absolutely still. Not a ripple in the water except for when the Tarpons come up for air. I sat and watched the Green Herons fly into this area. The foliage is so thick you cannot see them once they are perched.

I missed the opportunity to record the vocalisations of the birds from the mangrove when we first arrived. A huge mistake because they became mostly silent as the hours progressed. You would catch glimpses of them flitting about. There is one flying across the grove.

This is a Great Blue Heron. There were several of them flying across the water. In the spring they made their nests about 1 metre or 36 inches above the water in the mangrove thickets. They lay from 4-6 very light blue-green eggs from March to July. Despite it being a well known area, my son tells me that the herons hatched their eggs near to the boardwalk without any problem – no human interference with their nests and their habitat is protected. It is a lovely safe spot for them.

Great Blue Herons are the largest of the ‘dark’ heron family in Grenada. They are approximately 106-132 cm or 42-52 inches in length

They have such beautiful form and are absolutely silent when they are flying.

There were Great Egrets, Green Herons, Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, a Black crowned Night Heron, an American Woodcock, and a Smooth Billed Ani.

About 10 minutes away, there was a small pond at Mt Hartman. It has not been levelled and the area is so beautiful. The Chinese own the land and are saying they are turning it into a luxury resort, I hope it takes a zillion years. There is something so wonderful about places just being left!

Cows was tethered along the road. There is where you see the Cattle Egret. They get their name because they hang around the cows waiting for the insects and grasshoppers to be kicked up.

Notice how small these egrets are.

Did you know that until the 1930s Cattle Egrets were only seen on the continent of Africa?

They have a very stout yellow beak with beautiful white plumage, and yellow-green eggs.

There were a pair of Common Moorhens or Gallinules swimming in the pond near to the Cattle Egrets.

A Great Egret flew in and landed on the other side of the pond.

This is a Great Egret. We know this because of its size but, more clearly, its distinctive yellow bill and black legs. And the pure white plumage.

Talk about graceful.

The Great Egrets are large, measuring 85-107 cm or 34 to 42 inches. The Cattle Egret is only 48-64 cm or 19-25 inches. You can see the size difference in the image below.

On the off chance there were some shore birds around, we headed to the most northern tip of the island. No birds but fascinating flowers growing up out of the sandy soil.

The sea is very rough and it is not safe to swim here like it is in the South in the Caribbean Sea.

At the end of the day, a Broad Shouldered Hawk circled my son’s property. A perfect ending to a perfect day!

Tomorrow is a break – a wee one – from the birds. To kick off the Christmas Season, there is a huge event featuring carolling, a walk through light show, food and drinks. One of the things that I like best is that in December there is sorrel and you can make your own sorrel juice. In addition, following the idea of ‘no waste’, the simmer flowers of the plant are then used in Christmas cakes. They are delicious. I hope there are some tomorrow to take home!

A Quick Check at a ‘few’ of the nests we are watching.

Elain made a lovely compilation video of events of 3 December 2022 at the Orange scrape of Diamond and Xavier. Some bonding, some family time. Quite enjoyable. Thanks Elain!

These are the Day 3 highlights from the nest of Royal Albatross GLY. The rangers are keeping a close eye on all the albatross, especially GLY as he is waiting for L to re-appear and let him go and feed. Did I say that the albatross are easy to watch? Not when their mate does not return like it did to the Royal Cam family last year, YRK and OGK. OGK went missing in May after hatch. The Rangers will help – and that is what you need to know. They supplemental feed every chick and parent if necessary. How kind, how forward thinking. I really support their efforts!

This is the most recent announcement on Rita that I could find. Continue to send your positive wishes. Rita did so well with the surgery. Now let’s see if a miracle will happen and she will get some circulation in that wing.

Samson and Alden have not returned. I am starting to accept that Samson may not be with us. It is sad but, it is a reality that we might have to accept.

‘J’ sent me the most recent posting from the AEF on Gabby at he nest she shares with Samson who has now been missing 9 cays. Thank you ‘J’.

“Today at 12:19 AM
AEF~NEFL Nest Cam~Gabby was perched on Sunset and V2 came to the nest, Gabby went to the nest to join.  I didn’t edit much as I wanted to show the entire interaction between Gabby and V2. At first she seemed very tolerant.  But after about 3 mins Gabby seemed less tolerant and there was a short tussle.  V2 didn’t push it with Gabby.  Gabby seemed to have enough and went off to roost. V2 stayed in the nest  awhile and went to LOP where V2 is perched (not in video). I suspect they will both spend the night.”

V2 has extremely light eyes and a tint to his white head.

Meanwhile, Harriet and M15 are tending to their two previous eggs while continuing to work on their nest on the Pritchett Property in Fort Myers, Florida.

Jackie and Shadow were back in their nest at Big Bear Lake in California today. They are really getting those side rails nice and strong and high!

Jackie is gorgeous. And formidable. I would not want to be a person trying to get too close to her nest with an eaglet in it. No, not ever.

Anna and Louis have their second egg at the E-1 Bald Eagle nest in the Kisatchie National Park. Congratulations to everyone at KNF! This is fantastic news. For the past two years, Anna and Louis have fledged one eaglet each year. In 2020, it was the first time that a Bald Eagle family had used this nest and raised a fantastic eaglet – Kisatchie!

Our beautiful feathered friends, no matter what species, understand, care deeply, and grieve. The latest on a Moli Mum who has been ever so faithful to her chick that died in 2020. Hob Osterlund writes that she has chosen for a second time to lay her egg on top of that of her dead little one. Oh, how I hope that this year she is successful in raising a family.

Zoe had fish yesterday – Dad brought in 3 and Mum 1. thanks, ‘A’. You can check on Zoe’s day under the streaming cam. Click on the observation board. She has been flying about exploring her territory.

Both of the Australian fledglings, Indigo and Zoe, are doing well. We can relax!

Thank you so much for joining me today. It is always a pleasure to have you hear and to receive your comments and letters via e-mail. Always. I am a little late in responding but, please, do not hesitate to write. Take care of yourselves. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam, videos, and postings which make up my screen captures: Hob Osterlund, Tonya Irwin and KNF Bald Eagle Nest, FOBBV, NEFL-AEF, Ron and Rita’s Nest Watchers, NZ-DOC and Cornell Bird Lab, and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Elain. Thank you to ‘J’ who reached out to me with the latest announcement on Rita! And to ‘A’ who sent me all the time stamps and a review of what was happening. Much appreciated.