Tag Archives: Centreport Eagles

Tuesday in Bird World

10 September 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It is a scorcher, but thankfully, there is a good breeze. Clear blue sky, sun beating down, 30 C. We have filled the bird baths twice, and they require more water. It is 1341. Most of the little songbirds stay in the shade of the lilacs and that deep tunnel we created between them and the trees at the back. Two Blue Jays are getting peanuts off the big table feeder. I have yet to see the squirrels.

We had a bit of a fright Monday morning. All of the doors were locked and secured. Like many of you, I have a particular alarm if those doors are opened. It did not go off. Baby Hope did not come for breakfast. She always comes, but she never eats wet food. She did not come. I know precisely how quickly one can go from calm to hysterical – about 15 seconds! The storage room was emptied, and all appliances, cupboards, etc. were checked. No Hope. Eventually, she was found ‘terrified’ under the sitting room sofa. We had checked, and she wasn’t there, but she was this time. She was very skittery. She came out after four hours and nosed Calico, and they had a bit of a tumble. She is not herself. Quite frightened. I cannot imagine what has scared her so much. I wait in the hope that she will be herself soon. And, by 1600 she was fine. Very strange. It did force me to clean the storage room, though. Lots of things on the boulevard that others might want or need!

In Bird World, Antali and Finnegan are at the Hellgate nest. The image below is Iris who is also still home and who visited the nest shortly after noon on Monday. Iris has a necklace and Finnegan is white breasted like Antali. She needs a fish!

It will not be long til Antali is prepared to take flight and then Finnegan will probably eat up for a day and take off. In normal circumstances, the male will never leave a fledgling. They do not normally catch their own fish until they are on their way away from the nest, although some have been known to be precocious and do fish.

Antali was on and off the nest and the perch. Finnegan brought him a headless fish at 1240.

And away Finnegan goes!

At Charlo Montana, C16 is on the nest wanting fish. His chest is quite sunken – the kiddo needs a fish. It is very windy there. C16 got some fish!!!!!

The nest cleaners – European Starlings – were at Dunrovin.

‘H’ tells me that this camera at Osoyoos has been frozen for a number of days. It came back on Monday morning. ‘H’ identifies this juvenile as #2 or Middle. Soo delivers a fish on Monday, too. Mum is still home.

At Newfoundland Power Snow Lane’s nest, Beaumont and Hope are both home along with at least one juvenile. I did not see a fight for fish which makes me wonder if one of the fledglings has left the area.

Keo is still delivering fish to River at the Sandpoint Osprey platform.

Harvie is delivering fish to the Fortis-Exshaw nest also.

There is at least one juvenile hanging around the Blackbush at Old Tracadie Harbour osprey platform hoping for some fish. I did not see a delivery and I cannot tell you if it is a single osplet coming and going or more than one. No one is banded! And I have not studied the head patterns of the chicks at this nest.

I did not see any Ospreys at the Cowlitz PUD nest on Monday.

Some may be concerned about the Line Fire in San Bernardino County and Jackie and Shadow. Sharon Pollock posted news from Big Bear:

Jackie and Shadow are very experienced and they can fly and we must presume they will do so to get out of harm’s way should the fire spread to the area of their territory in Big Bear Valley.

Didn’t see any eagles at the WRDC nest when I checked. It is the home to Ron and Rose.

The latest migrator bird count as posted on the Loch Arkaig FB page! Only 36 ospreys so far.

This is Geemeff’s closing daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust. Enjoy! She will be back with us in the spring after our osprey family arrives.

Final daily summary Monday 9th September 2024

Quoting WTS George: As the dried up flounder tail of time finally descends into the expectant crop of autumn, I notice it’s nearly the end of our season… I’m sorry I haven’t an Osprey, but here’s one I prepared earlier: A rollercoaster season in 2024: triumph, tragedy, and plenty more! Season’s highlights captured from Nest Cam Two, I’ll be doing a separate highlights video for Nest One in due course which will be on my YouTube channel and I’ll also post it on Adam’s site,  

https://walkingwithdaddy.com/osprey/  To keep in touch over winter, Adam welcomes everyone to his site, it also uses Hyvor, and for those on Facebook there is the Friends of Loch Arkaig. It has been an eventful season, all part of nature in the raw, and it will be interesting to see what next year brings. Hoping for two resident families next year.

Many thanks to everyone for their company during the season, special thanks to George for this forum, and Woodland Trust for allowing me to clip bits off their livestreams for my own amusement, Steve Q for the fish stats, Liz B for the wonderful off-nest reports, Beverley for the overnight reports, and Postcode Lottery for funding the nest cams. Extra special thanks to Brenda J for keeping me up to date when I’m away by sending me frequent fishmails, much appreciated.

I look forward to Spring 2025 and Season Nine for the Loch Arkaig Ospreys.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 20.39.55 (05.57.58); Nest Two 20.35.01 (06.05.38)

Today’s videos: 

https://youtu.be/DO7XJOA6OEs A rollercoaster season in 2024: triumph, tragedy, and plenty more! Season’s highlights 2024

Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

https://youtu.be/XUYF6OEpQ88  N2 Sarafina does a fly-by before landing 2022

https://youtu.be/sUpzBM54QHY  N2 Thief! A Raven arrives and steals a stick 2022

https://youtu.be/PLOmU0AJ8nM  N2 Several little birds come and go on the empty nest 2022

https://youtu.be/BQC_B1pN3tk  N2 Lights at night near the nest – deer management team 2022

https://youtu.be/5LK7YZ2CtZ8  N2 Confirmed – final sighting of Sarafina LW6 2022

https://youtu.be/6h4T2QWS_68  N2 Three Bullfinches (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) visit 2023

Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

The White-tailed eagle at Port Lincoln is growing. There were high winds the other day and some were concerned. It is still there – that little white bundle in the straw.

Tweed Valley’s Teddy (oh, just adorable as a youngster in the nest) is in Portugal. He made it!!!!!!!!!!

At Nova Scotia’s Russell Lake osprey nest, Oscar and Sylor are still home.

Beautiful close-ups of the Olympic Park sea eagles. The gorgeous rust is coming in at the tip of the espresso-black juvenile feathers. My goodness talk about gorgeous on that snow white! https://youtu.be/LRiIuOhlu9g?

‘A’ remarks, “Just TOO cute this morning was SE33, who tried to join in when Dad and Lady were doing their 05:39 morning duet. The tiny little honks were the most adorable thing I’ve heard in days. I couldn’t quite believe my ears, so I rewound and could see SE33’s little body vibrating with the honking it was doing. 

SE34 is growing very nicely and looking active and healthy. SE33 is fed first at most feedings, by mutual agreement, but SE34 is almost always able to eat enough once SE33 has eaten enough. And of course Lady is keeping an eye on him.

The eaglets did a lot of preening while waiting for their meal this morning. They must both be itchy, with feathers emerging everywhere! SE33’s tail feathers are becoming visible now too. Breakfast arrived courtesy of Dad shortly before 06:25. Again, it was young and feathered. SE33 was closest to the table and as usual was fed first. (SE34 still appeared to have a reasonable crop from the night before!) 

Shortly before 06:29, SE34 shuffles forward so that the two eaglets are side by side. He is rewarded with his first bite of breakfast. SE33 is unbothered until Lady goes to give SE34 a second consecutive bite, at which point SE33 leans in front of SE34 and steals the bite from Lady’s beak. Remember the pecking order, mum! Lady gives SE34 the next bite, and again there is no objection from SE33 until mum goes to give SE34 a second bite, and again, SE33 leans in to take what it believes to be rightfully its mouthful. 

Lady resumes feeding SE33 only, with SE34 a step further back from the table, waiting his turn. SE34 definitely appears larger than its older sibling as they sit side by side at this morning’s feeding. It may be extra fluff, but it may also be because SE34 is female or because SE34 has been getting the better of the feedings over the last few days (which I don’t think is the case – at least not on a regular basis). So I will be fascinated to know (if we ever do find out) what gender these two are. I do so wish they would band and sex these nestlings. It would really help SO much in establishing where they are dispersing to and whether they are breeding successfully in their new territories. That surely would be worth knowing. But obviously not. “

At Port Lincoln, Heidi caught Dad delivering the morning fish.

.’A’ brings us up to date on Xavier and Diamond, “At Orange, Xavier had nearly two hours of egg time this afternoon, though Diamond has now resumed her rightful position as incubator in chief. Diamond was swooped four times in the middle of this afternoon by a black-shouldered kite but sustained no damage. All is well between them of course, with bonding early this morning and Xavier spending quite a bit of time just standing next to Diamond as she incubates the eggs. He is such a darling. He adores Diamond…..Diamond and Xavier had a particularly early bonding session in the scrape this morning (04:36:50), after which Xavier remained in the nest box for about an hour, just hanging about and keeping Diamond company. He has been doing this quite a lot over recent days. He is just SO sweet and he really does adore Diamond. She is doing most of the incubating, but Xavier did get a half-hour of egg time shortly after 11am (Diamond has just resumed her position on the eggs). These two are just SO endearing, and we have watched them together for several years now, 24/7 all year round, so they are like family to us and we know their little habits and routines so well. Of course it makes us all experts! We like to think we understand these two, but of course we don’t. We only get a glimpse of their lives. We’ll never know what it feels like to go into a stoop at 100 miles an hour for example. We see only one part of their lives really – their relationship with each other and with their chicks. But I sometimes wish they could equip a falcon with a tiny camera that gave us a vicarious version of their true lives… At Orange, a persistent visitor today was a willy wagtail, who repeatedly landed confidently on the ledge. Such cute little birds, so well known in the Australian bush. Very brave and determined little creatures. Xavier bought himself some egg time when Diamond headed off for lunch, returning with an absolute monster of a crop. The general consensus was that it contained a luncheon pigeon and would sustain her until morning. It was so gigantic that it appeared almost as large as Xavier. All of him. He took one look at the gigantic Diamond on the ledge and made no protest at all – left the eggs and the scrape in double quick time for him. These two really make me laugh. They are so ‘human’ in their interactions, or perhaps they just make it easy for us to anthropomorphise. Hatch watch begins some time in the first week of October. I really hope there are only two hatches and that they are not too far apart. And a Dudley to lean on or to use as a pillow is always useful for the younger chick when trying to reach Diamond’s beak. Many chatters are hoping for three chicks but I don’t think they’ve watched Diamond closely enough!  We both know how lazy she can be, even with two, and the younger chick in her scrape really has to work hard for its food. Mind you, it does usually end up pretty proficient at getting fed, like darling Rufus. Such a sweet little falcon. I loved him dearly. He was such a personality for one so small, and so very determ”

There is sad news coming out of Kakapo Recovery. Thank you, ‘J’ – Ranger was my adopted Kakapo!

‘A’ sends news of the Royal Cam chick: “We are getting so close to fledge at Taiaroa Head, where TF chick was 231 days old today and TFT chick about a week younger. Neither was weighed today, as the rangers are concentrating on chicks requiring supplementary feeding (one is being fed five days a week, which is most unusual). Last week, TF chick weighed 9.7kg (average for male chicks of that age at this colony) and he has been fed by both parents in the week since. He produced a bolus on 6 September, so was obviously ready to fledge, and has been really working his wings over the past couple of days. Probably all it will take are favourable winds to launch him on the lonely journey that will be his life. When I switched on the albatross tab for a quick chick check tonight and could see no signs of TF sleeping on his nest, my heart literally skipped a beat. Is he gone? No-one on the chat is indicating that there has been a fledge but I cannot see either of the chicks (TF or TFT) right now. (It is a particularly dark night and TF’s new nest is not in the circle of light provided by the IR light on the camera.) But both chicks were still on the headland late this afternoon (around 17:30), so I doubt they have departed quite yet. I am unsure whether TFT has produced a bolus as yet, but TF has been fed by both parents since producing his on 6 September so will probably produce another before fledging. I have read nothing about the contents of the bolus he has expelled.”

Calico wants to give everyone some ways to make their phone last longer. Our reading time Monday night was an article in The New York Times. She was surprised when we read that you should not plug your phone in and charge it overnight every night – that you should check your settings and only charge your phone to 80%. The battery will last longer! There are other tips and she hopes that they will help you. Calico wants you to use Merlin when you go for a walk or go to the park and check for birds!

Wirecutter: You Don’t Need a New Phone. Here’s How to Make the One You Have Last Longer.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/how-to-make-your-phone-last-longer

One of our heroes is Bob Horvath and this year the Centreport Eagle family is donating all of the proceeds of their 2025 calendar to WINORR – Horvath’s organization that rescues and rehabilitates raptors including many of our beloved ospreys. Here is the information:

Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, streaming cams, annual summaries and daily synopsis: ‘Geemeff, H, J’, Montana Osprey Project, Owl Research Project/Explore, Fortis-Exshaw Osoyoos Osprey Platform, Newfoundland Power, Fortis-Exshaw Canmore Osprey Cam, Sandpoint Osprey Platform, Blackbush, Cowlitz PUD, Sharon Pollock, FOBBV, WRDC, Loch Arkaig FB Page, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Connie Dennis and Ospreys of Nova Scotia FB, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, and Heidi McGrue and Port Lincoln Ospreys, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Kakapo Recovery, and The New York Times.

Death spiral at Centreport, food fest at SWFlorida…Friday in Bird World

17 February 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

I am writing this late Thursday evening. Tomorrow is one of those days with a thousand little things to do and it is going to start early. It is currently -18 C on the Canadian Prairies and nearing 40 degrees C in Melbourne. I so hope our Australian friends do not go from rains and flooding to fires this year. Keep them all in your thoughts.

February is a month that is full of winter activities in Canada. In Winnipeg, from the 17th – 26th, it is the Festival du Voyaguer. Celebrated in the French area of our City, St Boniface, it is a time to come together doing winter activities, music, arts and culture, games, in celebration of the voyageur, Métis, and Indigenous histories or our province. There is amazing French and Indigenous food, snow shoeing, maple sugar candy…sledding. It is the largest French cultural event in this region of Canada. Lots of fun! I am definitely looking forward to a sleigh ride on either Saturday or Sunday.

First up, I have received word from ‘H’ that the new male D4 whose eggs Mum is likely to lay any time at CentrePort is injured or dead and has not returned to the nest. Would the D% male destroy the eggs of D4? Ospreys sure do and it is quite possible. We wait to see. The new male being called D5 is at the nest. Here is that death spiral – slo-mo and at the end the real time. Took seconds.

Today I made some video clips for us because you really need to just watch how well 22 did (with some intimidation from 21). It was a very special day on this nest.

I had received word that one of the persons that I go to for eagle advice had sound knowledge that there are three female eagles around the SWFlorida nest. After reading and looking and being terribly confused, it appears that there is some clarity as to what happened yesterday even though many will not agree. One of the issues was the camera moving and well, confusion over which female was which. The very hungry female was booted out of the nest and did not return today. The other female who has been on the branch did return last night and stood guard while M15 slept. At least that is my take on all of this based on reports from the ground. — At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. No one was injured. M15 was back to his amazing self on Thursday delivering many meals and everyone had nice crops including Dad – it made me joyful to see his crop so full. He had been neglecting himself to feed the babies it seemed.

And then there is more confusing spreading this morning by another post…I prefer to focus on M15 and the eaglets…but I will put this here as I know almost everyone is interested.

The deliveries could well be good today at SWFlorida. M15 brought in a nice fish at 12:34. It was a whole one and he had some bites…it is not until 3 and a half minutes into the feeding that 22 figures out how to get some of that fish. He did well. Have a look! (22 is very nervous and 21 earlier raised its neck and moved towards 22 – all it took to get the little one to move out of the way of dad’s beak).

M15 brought in the innards of some animal at 13:36. At the time of his arrival, he had a nice crop so Dad had a good meal somewhere.

And so did the Es, both of them. E22 wanted to eat, tried to shy, and then went for it. You will see both 21 and 22 working nice pieces. Excellent.

It did turn out to be a good day and E22 mustered up some courage again and had some food. It doesn’t take much and now 21 has taken to wing flapping, too…but..E22 is getting its mojo back with every bite. He sticks with Dad and winds up with a nice crop! Yes, you can pull out the tissues now. I sure did.

Ah..looking out over the rails with a crop..lovely.

E22 had a nice crop after that feeding…and then at 17:17:16, M15 brought in a whole Armoured Catfish. 22 was right there…and 22 was fed until 17:37 when he couldn’t eat anymore and went over to the rim. E21 wasn’t bothered…full and wanting to sleep. They had lots and lots of food today!

Great job getting the fish flakes out of that!

M15 with his massive crop ready for night duty. He continues to look tired but…he ate well today and he has too…he is hunting for 3! So proud of you dad..with everything going on you did great today. Keep up the good work. Your babies are getting their juvenile feathers..

Sadly, Angus and Mabel continue to have an intruder, the same female intruder? at their nest. Mabel is desperately trying to hang on to Angus and her nest. Heidi Mc caught Angus chasing the intruder off the nest and then, she got her leg caught in nest material. There is a video of this curious interaction below.

Angus appears upset. Is he is trying to help her. The female was unharmed. She flew away and returned to the nest. Mabel has not been seen since morning. Will this female be Angus’s new mate? Did Mabel leave the territory?

This is a video of the skirmishes on the first day. If you are not aware of what is happening.

This is the video of the female hanging off the edge of the nest today. We wait to see…if Mabel doesn’t return and this female is consistently on the nest…well,…what do we think?

Even at 1700 Thursday evening, Angus was still having problems with intruders.

Amidst all the chaos on Wednesday, two nests have eggs that had troubles last year. Bella and Smitty at the NCTC nest and Nancy and her new beau at MN-DNR have their first egg of the 2023 season. In 2022, an injury that kept Bella from the nest for 21 days and an intruding female meant that the loved couple did not have any eggs to hatch. Nancy lost her young mate, Harry, and a shortage of food caused siblicide with only E-1 surviving. It pushed E-2 off the nest! Hoping for much better results this year although things seem pretty tumultuous all over Bird World at the moment.

Paul K caught the arrival of Bella and Smitty’s egg:

The gorgeous Nancy at the MN-DNR nest incubating her first egg of the 2023 season. New mate is Beau.

Nancy and Beau’s first egg is making the news.

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/minnesota/a-sure-sign-that-spring-is-coming-first-egg-visible-in-minnesota-dnrs-eaglecam-nest

Liberty and Guardian seem to be having intruders again today. They have been in and out of the nest and on and off the egg – although they would also be practising delayed incubation. The egg was left for the longest from 09:57-12:54 (so far) on Thursday. A Magpie has been eating scraps off the nest. Oh, for some stability! These two are fantastic parents.

Want to see one of the most precious eagle eggs. It is number 5 for this season and it belongs to Audacity and Jak at Sauces Canyon, Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands. The other four broke easily because of the thin shell due to DDT contamination in the food of the eaglets..the soil, the water, everything at the end being so much more concentrated than at the other end of the islands. Oh, let us all hope for this one egg to make it for this tenacious couple.

Gorgeous Jackie on those two precious eggs Thursday night. Pip watch started yesterday. We have seen eggs survive 5 hours at a stretch in frigid temperatures. The nests also hold the heat. But whether or not these two eggs of Jackie and Shadow are viable is, of course, not known until it is too late for them to be hatching. The couple have been seen mating and it is possible they think there is something wrong — but we wait. Miracles happen. If not this clutch, there is time for another.

At the PA Farm Country Bald Eagle, we now have four eggs. This beautiful couple – Lisa and Oliver – had four eggs hatch last year…sadly that little cutie pie fourth hatch died of hypothermia when it could not get under Mum on a very frigid night.

Nests really have been neglected by me with all the troubles at the SWFlorida nest..hope for stability! Thursday was an especially good day for everyone – M15, 21 and 22.

Connick is growing like a bad weed but, on Thursday, he decided that in addition to fish, he would try eating a plastic washer that came to the nest. This should show up in a pellet.

Diamond is home and Elain has it on video for us. Sorry folks – lots of videos today. Sometimes it is good to see – especially if it is 22 doing the old snatch and grab!

Some news of interest to our Albatross fans…

Other news from our Albatross, Wisdom is a grandmother (image below with her distinctive band). Wisdom is the oldest Laysan Albatross in the world at 70+ years. She is still raising chicks.

Every species of bird gives us new and interesting opportunities to learn. I know that many head over to the Albatross and the Royal Cam family when they need to sit and feel warm and fuzzy. There is absolutely nothing so moving as seeing those albatross parents look down at their chick – the love just radiates out everywhere. I would also recommend to you having a change of pace and instead of just watching the Bald Eagles and Ospreys with all their drama (OK…Annie at Cal Falcons has had a revolving door of tragedy lately), try the hawks. There was something so magical about Big Red and Arthur having four eggs last year and raising four eyases to fledge…and little L4 clamouring over its big sibs to get right under Mum’s beak for food. There wasn’t any fear in that one…and she still resides on the territory of her parents hunting successfully and looking so much like her mother that you would think they were twins. While some things are the same, certain behaviours are different. Watch and compare with some of the other species…see what you learn!

Everyone was devastated when Sue and Otto died of Avian Flu earlier this year. They were the long-term Red-tail Hawk residents at Syracuse University. Their son, Jesse, has taken over Dad’s territory with his new mate Sarah. We wish them a long and healthy life!

There is a new Red-tail Hawk couple on steaming cam and this time the female is unusual. She is leucistic, the partial or total loss of pigmentation. Angel is 7 years old and her new mate, unnamed male, replacing her previous mate, Mohawk, is 3 years old. Their nest is in an undisclosed location for their safety in Tennessee. Right now they are nest building. There are very few Red-tail Hawk streaming cams in the world. The most well know is Big Red at the Cornell Campus and her mate, Arthur. This is another wonderful opportunity to see these amazing hawks raise their eyases…so different than eagles and ospreys. I find them comforting compared to the drama at some of the other raptor nests.

Here is the link to Angel’s cam:

https://www.youtube.com/live/WQ0mCowoEUI?feature=share

And, of course, absolutely, there is Big Red and her family on the Cornell Campus. Their streaming cam is up and running just in time!

https://www.youtube.com/live/ouQL2Gg-rXI?feature=share

And last…one nest where the eagles still stay on alert, where the female calls the male and he comes flying in, where both are healthy with Chrome-Yellow Beaks and talons…it is, of course, Gabby and V3. She calls, he comes. Adorable. They have been at the nest tree a lot today. I continue to ask: Do they know something that we do not?

Look at the colour of the talons…and check out the feet.

Gabby is stunning…I have wished that we could get her with M15.

V3 still has some old injuries on his talons healing (at the back). Always check out the colour of those beaks and talons. Gabby is incredibly healthy…just bright chrome-yellow.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please check out the hawks and send all your positive wishes to all of the nests. Anything can happen and when it does it can cause so much turmoil and even death. The raptors need all the love we can send them. And take care of yourselves. I look forward to seeing you soon!

Oh, and I almost forgot. Two things. The Great Backyard Bird Count is underway. Please join in. Here is the information:

The final vote and names to be voted on will be announced tomorrow at Cal Falcons.

Thank you to the following for their notes, their posts, their videos, announcements that make up my blog today: ‘H’, ‘A’, Bald Eagles of Centreport, Stephanie L Hope and SWFlorida Eagles and D Pritchett, SWFL Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Window to Wildlife, Heidi Mc and Window to Wildlife, Paul K and NCTC Bald Eagle Cam, MN-DNR, Duluth News Tribune, FORE, IWS and Explore.org, FOBBV, Elain and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, Friends of Midway Atoll, Red-tailed Hawk Tales, Sherri Van Syckel and Bald Eagles Live Nest Cam News, Cornell Lab, and Cal Falcons.

If you would like to subscribe to the Bird World blog, here is your chance to be part of this amazing international community. You can unsubscribe anytime!

Bald Eagle nest coned, other nests destroyed…and more news on Wednesday in Bird World

14 September 2022

Good Morning Everyone! I hope that you had a fabulous beginning of the week. Here we are at the middle. My calendar tells me that thing are going to begin happening in Bird World soon. First up will be the Port Lincoln Ospreys who should have a hatch in 4 days. Then it should be the Melbourne Peregrine Falcons on the 27th quickly followed by Xavier and Diamond. By the time those nests have feathered osplets and eyases, we will be fledge watching for SE29 and 30. It is going to be wonderful!

Tuesday was a big ‘T’ day but that doesn’t stand for Tundra Swan but, ’tiler’. It was fantastic to see the floor tiles in the sunroom being grouted today with the news that tomorrow I can move back in and watch my beloved garden birds. Oh, how I have missed seeing them from that perspective. A new book arrived in the post, too. Having purchased Crosley’s Guide to Waterfowl – well, logically, it seemed to me that the volume would cover Shore birds but, no. Definitely not. The new book is The Shorebird Guide by O’Brien, Crossley, and Karlson and it is wonderful. Most appreciated are the excellent images of the plumage during the seasons. It still is missing the inclusion of the females in great numbers just like all of the other bird guides who continue to focus on the more colourful plumage of the males. Yes, I am growling. LOL. Quiet and monochromatic can be viewed as ‘classic’ beauty. It certainly is with many of the female Sparrows.

Just like the ducks, my mind has been taken over by the Greater and Lesser Yellow Legs and Willets at one of our local ponds. If I close my eyes I am transported to the marsh where the shore birds are tapping away at the mud with those long long bills. Incredible. If you stay quiet and don’t move, they will completely ignore you, going on with their deep quick probing for food. They are really quite lovely. Learning to identify them is going to take some time.

The Greater Yellow Legs from the other day.

The plumage on the Mallard is really lovely.

It is overcast and cold at 13 degrees C this morning. The Crows have been for their morning hotdogs, the sparrows are wanting a bath, the Blue Jay has been flitting in and out (only one), and the cat has already been chased once. Meanwhile Little Red has been running back and forth on top of the new fence which now meets up with that of the neighbour so he never has to get on the ground to get to his new home. Yes! Little Red has found a place to live since his penthouse was torn down. So thankful. The torrential rains this year and saturated ground meant that all of the trees literally tripled in size. He found a hole in the big tree and if I look carefully, I can see him going in and out. So relieved after feeling so quilty about the shed. With my chair back in the sunroom this morning, I can watch over them and hopefully get some good images of Dyson who is looking ever so healthy and fluffy these days. Gosh, that squirrel is quick. I wonder if the Crows frighten her?

In the Mailbox:

‘A’ writes that I have awakened a love of ducks for her. That is fantastic. They are often very unappreciated, like the geese, in my City but, there is nothing so peaceful as sitting on a clean bit of lawn or blanket and watching them go about their daily paddling and preening. This is wonderful news. Thank you for letting me know! In honour of this, I have used one of our favourite ducks for ‘From the Archive’ today.

Making News:

There is growing disillusion within the environmental and raptor groups in British Columbia, Canada at the decision by the Department of Forests and the University of British Columbia to cone a long standing Bald Eagle nest on the campus of the University. Their are ongoing campaigns to stop the coning which is due to take place today, the 14th of September.

https://www.ubcproperties.com/news/eagles-nest-and-wesbrook-place-development/

Also in British Columbia, this time in Surrey, the David Hancock Wildlife Foundation is attempting to stop the cutting down of a Bald Eagle nest on the property of a Costo in that city–or get the owner to agree put up a platform nest for the eagles.

British Columbia is home to more Bald Eagles than any other area in North America. Because of this their conservation status and threat is very low – often cited as an excuse to cone the trees or cut down the nests — some 140 Bald Eagle nests were destroyed at the Site C Dam project by the province this year. Of course, what is the real count? With Avian flu still with us and in Manitoba nests and eggs destroyed by flooding with few goslings, perhaps we should be re-thinking our approach to preserve. Declines can begin to happen and spiral.

If you are in Southern Manitoba, Wildlife Haven is having its annual Open House on 23-24 September. Tickets can be pre-purchased and space is limited. It was gorgeous weather last year and the event was sold out. I can’t think of a better way to spend a few hours on a fall afternoon than getting to meet the ambassadors, tour the new flight training buildings, and check out the great vet facilities. These are the people giving our wildlife a second chance.

Do you live in New York? do you love Bald Eagles? Here is a fundraiser event you might not want to miss.

Would you like to be an Albatross detective and help get a true worldwide count of these sea birds? Here is the information.

https://phys.org/news/2022-09-albatrosses-space-wildlife.html?fbclid=IwAR2f-pbgS3RwmaNjlKRkHTidHqeg3x3ugsiu2u1TRGNoXRCHw3Z4ljbt78I

Nest News:

The Bald Eagles have been returning. Yesterday it was Gabby returning to the Northeast Florida nest to Samson.

NEFlorida Eagle Nest

Samson and Gabby love to ‘kiss’ just like Alden and Annie.

Anna and Louis are back at the Kisatchie National Forest and now Mr President and Lotus are at the National Arboretum Nest in Washington, DC.

National Arboretum Nest

They are really coming home. If you see a return, send me a note!

Thunder and Akecheta were caught sitting together on the cliffs of the Channel Islands yesterday. Oh, goodness. What an incredible year we had with Ahota, Star, and Kana’kini.

Thunder flew into the West End nest with a super fish yesterday, too… Ah, it would have been grand if one of the kids swept in and took it! Everyone misses those three amigos.

Andor was at the Fraser Point nest. I haven’t seen any new updates on Victor. We can all presume that he is doing lots of flying and strengthening those wings!

The nest that our dear Little Bit ND17 grew up on had dwindled down to only a bit of mud and straw at the joint of the branches. Everyone has been concerned that the adult eagles would not return and rebuild – knowing that if they didn’t St Patrick’s County Park in South Bend, Indiana, would not be moving the camera. Well, guess what? Dad has been caught returning to the nest! This should be a ray of sunshine for everyone. It will take work but each of us has marvelled at how quickly the raptors can whip a nest into shape. No, it will not be huge like a decade old nest but it will be a new beginning.

In the image below you can see what little is left.

It appears that Idris is finally alone to enjoy his fish and that Padarn has left the territory for her migration.

At Glaslyn, however, Aran is still bringing fish for Blue 497. It won’t be long, Aran!

497 is an incredibly beautiful osprey.

To my knowledge, Blue 497 is the only fledgling left on an Osprey streaming cam in the UK to migrate.

Did I mention mantling (when a raptor spreads its wings over its prey to conceal and protect) was one of the development stages coming quickly for the Sea Eaglets in Sydney? Well, guess which of the two was the first to demonstrate this stage of growth?

If you said SE30 you would be absolutely correct! Both eaglets held the prey down with their talons and pulled. Eventually they were fed but this is very good training. So proud of 30! Go baby. Don’t you just love the look on 29’s face? (squint)

The sea eaglets have been well fed and have been sporting crops on and off for a few days now.

Watching incubation and expecting a hatch in less than a week can be nerve wrecking.

The beautiful Mum at Port Lincoln. It is the 15th. Oh, so soon we will be having little osplets –. Cannot wait.

For Melbourne, mark your calendars for the 27th of September.

Xavier and Diamond will follow after Melbourne!

Migration News:

Into Hawks? Aren’t we all? Here is a new tool to follow the counts.

https://www.hawkcount.org/index.php?fbclid=IwAR3LRTBRBWRYUa0Fg8KoXz4OqH4Fz1t8COL4lIMb4qXRVz1F3LuxIyMcNAE

Some good news on one of the Tweed Osprey fledglings, Glen. (Sadly it appears that Kirk who had gone West and was in Ireland continued west over the Atlantic and is probably lost).

From Karl II’s family, the Estonian Black Storks from the Karula National Forest nest.

Bonus is really flying and remains in the same area he has been for several days now-the Prypjat River. He is safe. Relief as always.

Waba is at the Hrabarka River in Ukraine.

I see no transmission for Kaia or Karl II.

Audubon scientists are using data from hawk Mountain to monitor the places that raptors migrate.

https://www.hawkmountain.org/news/science/audubon-scientists-use-hawk-mountain-data-to-develop-a-new-method-for-mapping-bird-migrations

Here is the current data for Hawk Mountain in terms of this autumn’s migration.

https://www.hawkmountain.org/conservation-science/hawk-count

From the Archive:

I am not a cartoon character but, for many raptor watchers in Australia (and elsewhere), I am the most famous duck in the world. Do you remember me? What is my name? What kind of a duck am I? Whose nest did I lease? And do you remember what happened?

Thank you so much for joining me today and for your lovely notes. It is actually relatively quiet in Bird World but soon…so soon, there will be action in Australia – at Port Lincoln and Melbourne. Meanwhile, we can all enjoy the antics of the little Sea Eagles who are jumping, flapping, and learning to mantle and eat their own prey. Take care of yourselves. I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Thank you to the following for their tweets, their posts, videos, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Wildlife Haven, Bald Eagles of Centreport, Albatross Space, Channel Islands Eagle Lovers, Notre Dame Eagles, NEFL-AEF, NADC-AEF, Dyfi Ospreys, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Conservation Without Borders, and Looduskalender.

From the Archive: Daisy is a Pacific Black Duck. She first appeared on the nest of the Sydney Sea Eagles in December of 2020. She attempted three clutches of eggs – all predated by the Crows, sadly. The last clutch in 2021 almost made it to hatch. We were all cheering! Daisy stole our hearts and taught us many lessons about the challenges the female ducks face in being both incubator and security guard. The couple came this year to check on the nest. Oh, it was delightful to see Daisy and her mate but, equally, there was relief that she decided to lay her eggs elsewhere in the forest. Did you know that less than 15% of all duck eggs laid make it to hatch?