I don’t want to bore you to death, but it is hot. We continue under a special advisory for temperatures in the 30s, climbing to the mid 30s C, with a humidex reading of 45 C.
The heat is changing all of our lives. That, along with intense and multiple storms and heavy rains, is causing catastrophic events around the world. For me, my focus is on the wildlife who are particularly suffering – no shade, not much fish (for many reasons when it is a heat related event), and no one willing to step up and help. Dave Hancock put up shades for the Bald Eagles in British Columbia. Will we need to do this for the ospreys that live in vulnerable areas? or will there be any ospreys to shade. Viki reports from Indian Creek, Maryland. She writes, “The worst news, it’s possible only one of the two chicks in Lily’s nest got fed yesterday. There were at least two fish deliveries, but the third Lily was squeeing for it as LB prepped it in his perch tree — and that fish was tiny. I’m not even sure if it was big enough for LB to share. I do not see a happy outcome for Island Creek. Year number 3 of no fledglings.” If you have not checked out her blog documenting years of observing the ospreys on Indian Creek – when they were plentiful – please do. It’s free and you can learn a lot about osprey behaviour. Here is the place to go: IslandCreekOspreyes.com
It is time to name the chicks at Loch Arkaig nest 2, home to Louis and Dorcha. The deadline is Monday, and the selection will be made Monday night, so put your thinking caps on. There are two. To give name suggestions, you must either go to the forum or any Woodland Trust social media platform and use this #2026NAME. Then put in two names, one for each chick.
You will note that George indicates both chicks are female. I was going to leave this to Geemeff to surprise everyone, but it seems everyone knows!!!!!!
Dorcha feeding the two chicks:
After waiting patiently in the line, little four did get some fish around noon at the Blackbush nest in Prince Edward Island. It was not a lot – a few bites and the skin at the end before Mum cleaned her beak. I am not clear if the little one had food earlier.
At 1259 Little Four is hoping for a private feeding. It certainly got a few bites before it was joined by another bigger sib who, in the end, frightened the little one to the rail (the little chick is very nervous).
The little one at Osoyoos has a leaf-lined nest and had some fish at 0614.
I believe we are losing at least one of the two osplets on the nest at Cowlitz or both. This nest desperately needs a huge influx of fish.
Clark PUD is doing well.
Two chicks at Port of Ridgefield are doing well.
The only hatch of Keke and Kam at Sandpoint looks alright. Small fish coming in – like all nests, they could use lots more fish to build up fat and strength. Little one is growing fast.
Trio at Santiam doing well.
Dixie Rother posted good news about the Glacier Gardens eaglets.
Pam Breci catches the fledge at Salt Point, Lansing, NY. Yeah.
Celebrations at Seilli Island, Finland. The famous Seili Island (Seilli) Osprey nest in Finland’s Archipelago Sea features adult ospreys Hildur and Stefu. In a highly celebrated milestone for 2026, the pair successfully welcomed three chicks that hatched on June 1, 3, and 5—a major event as three chicks had not successfully hatched on this specific nest in ten years.
Clark was out early. What an amazing family.
Iris keeps baby cool.
Charlie has been bringing in big trout for Mum and baby C22 at Charlo Montana.
McEuen Park osplets look alright but it also looks hot. I wish every cam had a temperature gauge.
The nest of Telyn and Idris at Dyfi is sure getting full!!!!
CJ7 and Blue 022 have a fuller nest at Poole Harbour Carey’s Secret Garden osprey nest! Four female chicks doing fantastic.
Elen and Teifi have three gorgeous ospreys at Glaslyn.
Two at Usk Valley doing well.
Llyn Brenig chicks behaving themselves at their Welsh nest. Fish came on. No great interest by chicks so off the adult went.
Toby and Hugo Yugo wish you a great day.
Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. Stay cool. Please remember the animals and leave out water. It is life saving.
Thank you to all of the individuals who posted information on FB and images, to Viki Volks for her observations at Island Creek, to the owners of the streaming cams that allow us to observe these families, thank you, thank you.
When I was a child, there was always a family picnic at the park or at my great-grandmother’s house to mark the 4th of July. They were all immigrants from Chur, Switzerland. The day meant a lot to them. The family had prospered and there was and still is family living in the farm and vinegard called ‘Hinterwald’ (Behind the Woods) outside of Chur. It was a wonderful day full of delicious summer food – fresh out of the various gardens – and always homemade ice cream. For those who are celebrating today, I hope that you had a fantastic time with loved ones and friends.
As a child, I loved the fireworks. Today, I know better and am a strong advocate for those funds to go to social programmes that help people, rather than money going up in smoke. I also wish that all the funds that will go into fireworks in the Big Bear Valley area and the nest of Shadow and Jackie had gone into the fund to purchase MoonCamp to safeguard this area for the eagles and all wildlife. Some States are outlawing fireworks altogether. I wish every State would take that enlightened stance.
SK Hideaways has a video of Sandy and Luna flying over this beautiful area – that does not need condos! https://youtu.be/PJYYeCH6kQM?
It was hot today. We had hoped that Toby would enjoy his sprinkler pad. Right now he is curious but a little frightened. We are not pushing him.
There is a heat dome over many parts of North America this weekend endangering the lives of the most vulnerable of the osplets on the nests.
At the nest of Big Red and Arthur, the fledglings are coming to the nest for prey deliveries by Arthur. https://youtu.be/ajyUBPXgxgs?
One of the big news stories in Bird World is that Lady and Dad have their first egg at the White-bellied Sea Eagles nest in the Olympic Forest in Sydney, Australia. SK Hideaways celebrates this wonderful moment. https://youtu.be/7eusfpBt7ZY?
CJ7 feeds her four daughters at the Carey Secret Garden Osprey nest in Poole Harbour. Imagine – four girls. All requiring much more food to develop than four boys.
At the second osprey nest at Poole, the chicks were deemed to be all male.
Ringing also took place across the UK. The two chicks in the Usk Valley were also ringed.
Normal service has resumed on the Usk Valley nest. Here are some images of our osprey family taken from the live cameras this afternoon: Syfaddan, Clogwyn and their two chicks, Blue 0U0 and Blue 0U1, new rings clearly visible.
This morning (Saturday 4 July) the two UVO osprey chicks were ringed by a skilled team of experienced climbers and licensed ringers.
Chick 1, who is 37 day old, was ringed on its left leg with a BTO metal ring with unique no. 1087337 and on the right leg with a ‘Darvic’ ring, blue with white lettering with unique inscription W0U0.
Chick 2 who is 34 days old, was ringed on the left leg with a BTO metal ring with unique no. 1087338 and on the right leg with a ‘Darvic’ ring, blue with white lettering with unique inscription 0U1.
Young ospreys are ringed well before they fledge the nest to leave on their first migration to Africa. This allows for monitoring of the birds as they grow up, go on their migration journeys, return to the UK as two-year-olds and hopefully, pair up to breed successfully later in life. It will also contribute to the overall national monitoring of the species as they make their return to Britain and more recently Wales.
UVO would like to thank all those involved with approvals in advance of, the support team during, and those on the ground (and up the tree!) directly contributing to the ringing operation.
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Saturday 4th July 2026
Today was not nearly as wet as forecast, most of the day was dry with light winds, and Louis took advantage of that, delivering seven fish to Dorcha, raising the Nest Two tally to two hundred and twenty seven. It was a different situation over on Nest One – Garry LV0 was around, bringing moss and taking over when Aurora 536 flew off for a break, but didn’t bring any fish. An intruder was around, not seen on camera, perhaps that had an effect, or perhaps he delivered an early fish during the nest cam down time of approximately 6 hours from 03.15 to 09.10. His tally remains at one hundred and forty nine. Aurora didn’t go hungry though, as she had stashed a large piece of the previous evening’s third fish, and polished that off today. She continues to spend her nights on the nest covering the unviable egg. Tonight’s forecast is for light rain overnight with a low of 12°C, changing to heavy rain tomorrow with a high of 16°C.
Chick number 2 died of starvation at the Chesapeake nest today.
Even though I continue to worry, Little Dewey did well today. Mum did not wait for Dad to show up – these females are really becoming titans! ‘PB’ gives us the low down of all the deliveries to our not so little Dewey.
Oyster Bay: They need food. I hope for three but…’PB’ comments on deliveries: “Oyster Bay 7/4/26….no fish all morning, then mom 12:42 finally delivered a large fish (Menhaden ?) #1 & #2 feeding. #3 could not get in there. Then Dad delivers a whole fish 12:59 and #3 rushes over to dad for food. Dad looked unsure what to do, he wanted to feed and tries one bite to #3. Unfortunately, #2 saw opportunity to get food from Dad and moves in. Dad only fed #2. #3 on Dads right was begging but no bites. Dad left with remaining fish 1:06. #2 gets a couple of scraps from mom. #1 Huge crop. Hope they can get more fish for #3.” And then a final great update from ‘PB’: “Great update to share: dad partial fish 13:37 & mom 13:58 fish, #3 ate well! “
Lamoine State Park: Late fish delivery by the female but the third hatch had nothing to eat. This is another sad nest that needs food. I even wondered if the adults had abandoned the nest.
Sandy Hook: Good deliveries.
Osoyoos: The only surviving osplet of the three has a huge crop.
Went back and caught another fish delivery from Dad at Osoyoos.
Santiam Canyon: Doing well with the fish deliveries.
Cowlitz PUD: Little crops.
OBX: Two lovely feathered osplets who need names. Go to the link at the bottom of the image.
Salmon Idaho: Lots of fish appear to have come in on Saturday.
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho: The two feathered chicks are doing well. Dad delivered a fish – their expressions really perked up when they knew a meal was coming!
Charlo, Montana: Chloe feeding C22.
Upper Newport Bay: Ripple and Robinson both had fish.
Boulder County: The trio look good!
Loch Doon: All is good. Heavy rain starts later and Angel returns to the nest to try and cover her chicks – who are large!
Smallwood: Looking good with lots of helicoptering by the osplets. We are close to fledge.
Rutland Manton Bay: Fledge window.
Minneapolis Landscape: Two chicks appear to be doing rather well. I had my doubts initially, but all is looking good.
Blackbush: Number 1 continues to peck on 4 – trying to deny food and injuring that already damaged head. This is one tough little 4 that so many are cheering on but this nest is going to need lots of fish if the dominance power moves by the big siblings on that tiny little one are to stop.
Ah, that’s it for me. Just a quick run-through. Son is coming over tomorrow to help me with a camera for outside – we have gone through two or three. None are perfect, and most require some kind of monthly subscription, which I am trying to avoid. What this means is that I am going to enjoy the day and not look at nests. I will see you on Monday. Take care, everyone.
Thank you so much to Geemeff, to all those who created videos, including SK Hideaways, Karel, and BOGette, to those who posted information on FB, and to PB for keeping me up to date on some nests I didn’t get a chance to check. Once again, thank you to the owners of the streaming cams that allow us to watch these incredible birds.
I wanted you to have SK Hideaways videos for the week. They are cute and special and please watch them. I am so grateful that they are sent as a list each week to share with you.
SK Hideaways Videos Week of 7 June 2026
FOBBVCAM Eagles Big Bear, CA ~ Jackie, Shadow, Sandy (hatched 4/4/26), Luna (hatched 4/5/26)
Luna Gets Big Lift ~ Fledge Fever Nears (2026 Jun 11 )
Luna got a burst of energy that triggered some big wingers, creating a lot of wind and lifting him quite high. He gave us a really good show! Sandy seemed impressed with her brother’s performance, but really just wanted to chill out for the night.
Sasha Fledges ~ Waiting and Watching for Her Return (2026 Jun 9)
It appears that the eldest eaglet, Sasha, has fledged, having branched two days ago. While we don’t get a clear view of the flight, we do see the launch, which does look convincing. Sooo, we wait, watch, and wish Sasha all the best in this new adventure.
UPDATE: Sasha returned to the nest at 18:10:03! No question about this successful fledge. Congrats, Sasha!
Cruz Lunches on Nest Till Eaglets Squee for Theirs ~ Family Time on the Zen Nest (2026 Jun 8)
Cruz and Andor spent their lunch hour with the 3 eaglets. Between allopreening the eaglets, Cruz enjoyed some fish while also answering to the loud squees of eaglets who still enjoy being fed. A multi-tasker extraordinaire. Sasha has branched and enjoyed her perch till that juicy Blacksmith fish lured her back to the nest. Very special to see the whole family together for an extended time. (2026 Jun 8)
Clark Answers Iris’s Fish Calls ~ Chick #1 Gets Its First Meal (2026 Jun 11)
Iris and Clark’s first chick hatched today, but Iris waited some 48 hours for Clark to bring fish. No one knows why he was delayed, but he certainly made up for it with 4 fish deliveries (as of this video). Once Iris refueled, she fed chick #1. Congratulations, Iris and Clark, and welcome to the world #1.
Cholyn&Chase Bond at Dusk & Dawn ~Perfect Pairing for 23+ Years(2026 Jun 9-10)
As the Queen and King of the Channel Islands approach their 29th birthdays and 24th anniversary, Cholyn and Chase continue to bond year-round. In addition to bonding, they are ensuring a continuous presence in their seaside territorial paradise. Here we saw them bonding at dusk and dawn at their Two Harbors nest, then transitioning to the salt-water “jacuzzi” and bunker to enjoy a roiling Pacific Ocean.
Where the Boys Are ~ Eyes on Jet, Scout, Stewart & Walton (2026 Jun 12)
Thanks to the work of our tireless cam ops team, we are able to see all four rascals in the morning, in the evening (ain’t we got fun?). Here we’re treated to morning shenanigans, including some wild and wonderful aerobatics. Bonus sighting of Hartley and Monty with lightning quick bonding.
Jet Flies Home with Prey! Everyone Else Follows (2026 Jun 8)
We see 3 juvies fly west, then east ~ in normal and slo-motion. Ultimately, Jet arrives on the nest ledge with prey in his talons. A major accomplishment as Hartley and Monty teach the boys to hunt. Eventually all four chicks visit the ledge, but only Walton seriously challenges Jet for the food. Jet emerges victorious. While I cheer on their accomplishments, I know that each one inches them closer to dispersing to their new life adventures. Grateful for the remaining days we have to watch them.
Where Are the Chicks? Where There’s Food!PLUS Hartley & Monty Are Chased Away (2026 Jun 7)
The chicks have been zooming around the skies of downtown San Jose for over a week. Their days consist of eating, sleeping, chasing their parents, and eating and sleeping some more. We are so fortunate to be able to watch this formative time in their lives.
Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Saturday 13th June 2026
Today was fairly quiet, an intruder or intruders were about but didn’t come close enough to get caught on nest cam. What was caught by the camera was the two chicks taking lumps out of each other when Dorcha left them alone, and not even her return stopped them, she eventually broke up the fairly evenly matched fight by sitting on one of them. Louis delivered two fish taking the Nest Two tally to one hundred and thirty four, and Garry delivered one fish during cam up-time taking his tally to one hundred and fifteen. Sadly the deadline appears to have passed for Aurora’s egg to hatch and it’s almost certainly time to wish them better luck next year – meantime it will be interesting to see what happens to the egg, and for how long the pair will continue to brood it. Steve Quinn produced his usual thorough fishing stats analysis but while Nest One deliveries will continue to be recorded, they will not be included in future analyses as without chicks and with the cam going down in the morning they aren’t meaningful. Info on where to find his reports in the bonus section. After days of rain, there’s a break in the weather for the next couple of days – it’s be cloudy and dry overnight with a low of 9°C followed by sunshine with gentle breezes and a high of 20°C tomorrow. Today’s videos:https://youtu.be/e4Uuq-3RPV0 N2 Louis brings breakfast – fish one is a big trout 08.56.44https://youtu.be/66YKfKgWRxc
N2 Bonkers! The chicks fight viciously 17.52.09https://youtu.be/qy4rmt6y99E N2 Louis brings a second trout for an early supper 18.28.53https://youtu.be/5ziBMr9mqEw N1 Aurora departs with fish one as soon as Garry brings it 18.30.34
Bonus info – Steve Quinn’s excellent analysis of Louis’ fish deliveries to date: copy & paste Nest 2 fish summary to week 8into the search field (click on the magnifying glass symbol on the right directly above George WTS’ featured comment).
You’re invited to join the lively community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s friendly, free and everyone’s welcome:
Jill and Jack each brought in a Spadefish this evening for Big and Little!
About two months ago, I realised that my life now is very similar to what all our lives were like during Covid. I am mostly at home, or we walk Toby in the parks and go to a couple of outdoor markets. Mostly we enjoy the garden. It is easier for Don (and thus me), and a few places are dog-friendly, as they are in many parts of Europe. Oh, how I wish! So I have started making little tweaks inside and out to make our lives more beautiful and our spaces safer and more useful to all of us, especially Don.
I purchased our little Bistro set at a shop called Pier 1 approximately 22 or 23 years ago. It is nice for a quick coffee or tea, but uncomfortable for long periods, and there is no way for Don to raise his legs. The picnic table is perfect for a huge group, but not for a leisurely evening. So I found a little teak loveseat with two chairs and a coffee table that can easily double as a footstool! The young man came to assemble it this evening. We just need a few outdoor toss cushions.
Toby approved.
Inside, I have been decluttering for a good year. One of my long-term readers cum friend in Berlin has joined me in the quest to donate and clean out. It has been fun to see how each of us is progressing. Inside the goal is to create a calm, easy-to-navigate space if and when Don ever needs a walker or a wheelchair. At the same time, I want it to be a beautiful space with things that mean something to me, not just ornaments picked up at the shop. It is coming!
I am just smiling. Clark has had some whoppers come on the nest. There is fish and fish. Oh, please let it continue.
At Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, there are at least two osplets on the South nest. One appears to be much larger than the other with the small one in the Reptile phase and the other getting some juvenile feathering. I wish Mum would move for a second so I could verify this!
Mum is anxiously looking around for her mate for their evening meal and maybe a break. If there are only two and there is such a huge size difference, were there three eggs? Did one not hatch? Did all three hatch, and the middle one died? Or are there three under there??? I wonder.
Anyone know about this nest? Shoot me a note!
As the sun fully sets, Toby and I want to wish each of you a wonderful end of the weekend. We are so thankful for your notes and comments, and the news and images that you send. Take good care. We will see you soon!
Thank you to ‘PB’, SK Hideaways, for their great videos and Geemeff for their daily summary with videos. To all the owners of the streaming cams, we are so appreciative of being able to see these amazing birds and their families. We could not do that without you!
