28 March 2022
Good Morning Everyone,
Spring ‘decided’ to turn a little nippy on Monday. The sky was blue and the House Finches returned to the feeders along with a few more Dark-eyed Juncos, Mr and Mrs Woodpecker, and an assortment of Chickadees and Sparrows. I hope to have decent images for you sometimes this week.
The kittens and I cannot take our eyes off the SW Florida nest. E22 is going to fly soon!!!!! Very soon. The other nests are doing fine. I am a little nervous about a couple with three osplets or eaglets where the size is vastly different from the first to the third, but we wait. So far, so good. Knock on wood, as they say! Or don’t worry about something until there is something to worry about! We wait to see if the single egg at the Redding California nest of Liberty and Guardian is viable. Otherwise, we can look for several more hatches along with Osprey arrivals and fledges in the coming days.
Will the spill in Poole Harbour harm all the wildlife?
A very good article about the restoration of the Peregrine Falcons on the University of California Campus at Berkeley. It is in the most recent Alumni news, The California Magazine.
Big Red could have fooled us all today. She has spent a lot of time at the nest on the Cornell campus.
Is it just me, but does Big Red look ‘tired’ in her eyes this year? I hope this is just the camera angle.
Jackie has patiently sat on the branch letting Shadow have a fun day with his sticks on the nest. ‘B’ reports that the nest could be in for some more bad weather on Wednesday. Thanks for the head’s up, ‘B’.
They are three cute osplets. I so hope they all play nice at Achieva. Just look at the size difference.
Not ospreys but three little eaglets. Hoping for them, too! This is PA Country Farm and they have one more egg to possibly hatch.
At the beginning of February, when Harriet disappeared, no one imagined that M15 could raise the Es to fledge. It just seemed like such an insurmountable challenge but, we knew it had been done before. He rose to the occasion and here we are today preparing with him for the last two eaglets he will have with Harriet to fly and eventually make their way into the world. What an amazing journey it had been. Better than the afternoon soap operas my grandmother used to watch!
On Monday, M15 brought at least three prey items to the Es today. Everyone ate.
E22 is sure beautiful. Missy and Lewis think that our feisty Bitty is going to fledge first!
As dusk settled over the pastures, E22 was squeezing, flapping, and going from branch to branch. As many of you might be aware, fledging often occurs in the early morning or the hour before dusk. Missy and Lewis were watching the computer, and I could tell something was going to happen. We are so close to fledging at SW Florida.
M15 with his eagle eyes keeping an eye from above. As so many have said, Harriet would be so proud of how he has taken care of these last two eaglets of theirs.
Finally, asleep on the rim. Flying can wait til Tuesday.
Lady Hawk shows M15 delivering two fish, one each, in less than two minutes. Did we say incredible in describing our Dad at this nest?
Pittsburgh-Hays had their first hatch on the 26th and there is a pip in the second egg. Congratulations!
We watched as Audacity laid eight eggs hoping to have eaglets this year with her mate, Jak at Sauces Canyon in the Channel Islands. It looks like that egg continues to hold. Let us hope for a successful hatch.
If you like the sound of frogs, visit Jak and Audacity’s streaming cam at night. Audacity in her nest listening to the serenade and protecting her precious egg.
There is a pip at the Denton Homes Bald Eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa!
Smitty feeds his little eaglet for the first time at the NCTC nest! After no chicks last year – you may remember that Bella was attacked by an intruder and MIA for three weeks, it is fantastic to see these two be parenting a wee one again.
Then Bella and Smitty do a tandem feeding. They are so happy to have an eaglet to care for this year.
Isn’t this just the sweetest little eaglet? It looks like it is smiling. Congratulations Bella and Smitty!
The Live Owl Cam GHOs are really growing. Caught Owlvira bringing in some prey – a mouse? – for Tootsie, Pip, and Hoot tonight.
One of my favourite Osprey nests in the UK is the Foulshaw Moss nest of White YW and Blue 35 in Cumbria. Today, White YW returned home after his winter migration. Just waiting for Mum. I will tell you more about this amazing nest in days to come.
Victor and Abby had another good day. Victor is so very clever. As ‘A’ has observed if Abby is giving him grief and keeping him from fish, then he gets under Sally’s bottom or under her wing and she feeds him. Sally loves to stuff these two full to the brim and then asks if they want more. If they say no, she feeds them more anyway! Too funny. What a glorious nest to watch.
Abby and Victor have huge crops. Sally is such a devoted mother.
Victor could hardly hold his crop up but Sally insisted that he have more fish…so he ate while on his belly. Too funny.
There is a problem with fishing line on the Moorings Park nest. ‘A’ writes, “It is 4.34am at The Moorings and it sounds as though it is raining heavily. We have a problem with one or both osplets caught up in nesting material for over four hours and unable to move about freely. In trying to free itself, Abby has got very close to the edge, which is concerning Sally greatly. I am not sure how Victor is going, as he has been making quite a bit of noise, chattering, but he too was entangled earlier. At least he is under mum, between her and Abby, so he is getting some shelter from the weather and is further from the edge. His right foot appears to be caught under nesting material and he is unable to get it out. Sally is trying to dig at the nesting material to loosen it perhaps and free Victor’s foot. I am unsure how this happened but it is not a good situation.”
The rain has stopped. Thankfully. The line has been seen at 1000 on the nest, but it may be off Victor’s leg. In situations like this (human-caused), wildlife rehabbers get permission and can remove the line from the nest. Victor and Abby are too small to worry about a forced fledge. — Let us hope that Sally takes care of it! I did notify Moorings and the local wildlife conservancy in case the line continues to be an issue.
Victor still had line pulling on him at 11:02.
I don’t know if Maya is still suspicious of Blue 33 and Blue 25. Both Maya and Blue 33 have been at the nest working on the egg bowl over Monday.
Michael St John just sent me a new article covering the exploits of Blue KW0. As I have mentioned earlier, Kirk, Tweed Valley 2022, fledgling Blue 707, might have been caught in the same winds and could also be out in the Caribbean. As I write this, I seek help from radar and meteorological specialists to try and establish the weather patterns that could have taken these UK birds to the Caribbean—more on that as information is discovered. I will put out a call for help with 707 that I hope everyone will send out to any and all in a few days. Who knows, we might get lucky and find this other osprey!
.https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-65089646
Colouring books are not just for children. This book arrived today in the post, and I wanted you to see it – especially since we will watch the White-bellied Sea Eagles in the Sydney Olympic Forest in a few months. The coloured images are superb and are the work of the famous Australian artist, Elizabeth Gould, whose work is being featured in a new book released in the fall.
In some places of the world – not on the Canadian Prairies – please remember – and thank you. Spread the world. Embrace dandelions!
One of the key individuals in the fight to protect wildlife and habitat in the UK is Chris Packham. I have written about the arson attack at his home. The threats to his life are growing simply because he calls out the gamekeepers and gun sports for their violence and illegal activities. What is happening now is frightening. How would we feel if we defended the right to life of foxes and came home fearing someone would be there to harm us?
Raptor Persecution UK covers the latest news.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Coming up this week – a close look at Tweed Valley Osprey 707 Kirk and how he might have gotten blown off just like Blue KW0, Missey’s review of Waterbabies, and a surprise visit to a new site in my city. See you soon. Take care!
I want to thank the following for their notes, posts, announcements, videos, and streaming cams that helped to make up my blog today: ‘A’, Michael St John, The Guardian, The California Magazine, Cornell RTH, FOBBV, Achieva Credit Union, PA Farm Country, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Lady Hawk and SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Pix Cams, IWS and Explore.org, Paul Kolnik and Bald Eagles 101, Deb Stecyk and the NCTC, Live Cam Owl, Cumbria Wildlife, Moorings Park Ospreys, LRWT, BBC, Amazon, and Raptor Persecution UK.
