Tag Archives: Cornell Bird Lab

Saturday Morning in Bird World

23 July 2022

Oh, good morning everyone. I hope that your Saturday is starting off nicely. It is a day that my mother would call ‘sultry’ – high humidity and it feels like it could rain. The sky is a light grey with whisps of blue. Already the small songbirds are in the bird bath – enjoying the deck while the Crows are away! The three juveniles seem to have claimed two houses – ours and the one next – as ‘their’ territory. I continue to be fascinated by the fact that they are large in size but are just ‘babies’ learning to not stand on the hot metal and what is food and what isn’t. Of course, our dear Little Bit 17 is – I so hope – learning the same way. The juvenile Blue Jays are also here collecting peanuts under the watchful eye of Junior and Mrs Junior. They are now mantling their peanuts and beginning to learn ‘competition’ in an interesting way directed by Junior. That is, of course, another thing that happens after fledging. We saw it clearly at Port Lincoln Osprey barge last year. The three lads were as good as gold in the nest. Everyone marvelled and wondered why? Well, it was three males. But, oh, once they fledged- after a couple of weeks passed – and the competition for prey items intensified. I learned what the Australian term ‘dust up’ meant – a nicer term for a big brawl. Do you remember? This is Ervie and Bazza having one of their battles.

The little Merlin taken into out wildlife rehab centre and who had a successful surgery has made the news. It is a big thing -our wildlife centre doesn’t always make the news with its patients. Hopefully people will spread the word about ‘not’ shooting the raptors (or other birds and waterfowl).

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/merlin-pellet-surgrical-removal-1.6529811?fbclid=IwAR136exwIos-dkNBrk_TnmX3cDMlC7hnRnfNgy0Y5Swt0PZg8XKboL_utKM

It is thankfully pretty quiet in Bird World today. Big Red and Arthur watch over L2 and L4 from the light stands – a rare moment caught on the streaming cam as it surveyed the area around the nest.

Big Red is on the left and Arthur is on the right

The first of the historic osplets to hatch at Poole Harbour has fledged. 5H1 took to the skies this morning. It happened at 11:54. 5H1 flew for 15 minutes before landing perfectly next to Dad, Blue 022, on the nest rim.

The oldest chick, 5H1, is on the perch to the right. You can barely make out a feather of her tail.

She lands! H51 has been on and off the nest ever since having a good old time being a bird! Oh, do you ever wish you could fly?

The story of Junior’s tragic death is hitting other newspapers. https://www.cheknews.ca/gabriola-island-eagle-that-shared-nest-with-hawk-found-electrocuted-1064590/

The story of the nest and the untimely killing of Junior needs to be kept alive. The e-mails to BC Hydro need to flood their inbox in order for this human caused tragedy to be fixed so that it does not happen again. It is the only way that change will happen.

Christian Sasse will be giving a special YouTube talk – in his capacity as an electric engineer -on avian electrocutions. He does not mention the time. If you go to YouTube and search for Christian Sasse you can subscribe to his channel. In theory, you should get a notification of the talk. This does not always work but Christian archives the discussions also and that is much appreciated. We should all educate ourselves on these dangers so that you speak and write to authorities with knowledge and facts.

The news of the rescue of the osplet from the Delaware River in Pennsylvania has been all over the social media platforms. It is one of those great stories. The PA Game Commission got a call of a juvenile osprey in trouble. It had fallen into the water. They immediately act to save its life! The ranger found it sitting on a wall and returned the chick to its nest That is a story that each of us would welcome every day — action! Thank you!

There have been several twiddler deliveries to the Osoyoos nest this morning (it is now 0900 there). Twiddlers at 05:53, 06:11, and 07:44. Two fish of reasonable size landed at 07:40 and 08:09. That is a good start to the day. The high will be 33 C. Hot.

I am always amazed at how quickly the little black beaks of the White-bellied sea eagles grow. The two chicks are doing fine. Dad continues to have lots of fish on the nest and both are eating well! You can certainly tell by the fish juice that has rained down on their little heads!

Lady checks on them just as the IR camera comes on.

Plenty of fish – big fish -continue to come on the Jannakkala Osprey nest in Finland. No sign of the intruder wanna-bee Mum that was around the nest a couple of days ago. Dad must be grateful – he doesn’t have to supply fish for her anymore, just his kids. I have not heard if the Mum’s body was found. I will check for us.

I did not find any more information but I could be looking in the wrong place. I will continue to search out any news. What I did find was a very informative paragraph about the banding and nests of the birds in Finland. I was particularly drawn to the fact that platforms were placed in good environments for the Ospreys. Indeed, the available fish for this nest is remarkable.

You will recall that the Balgravies Osprey nest – a natural one – collapsed with a chick. That chick was saved and placed onto an artificial platform. This is the latest ‘great’ news:

Things are quiet and that is a great way to start the weekend. Victor is working hard and standing on his own. Don’t forget to send him all your positive wishes. If you are able, a $5 donation helps – small amounts grow into big ones. That is the Ojai Raptor Centre. They also have some amazing tote bags and t-shirts which sadly do not ship to Canada! (I am going to write and ask them about this). Lots of people are watching the Notre Dame nest for any sign of Little Bit 17. Send him all your love — we want so much for this worthy eaglet to survive. The only nest needing our love is Osoyoos – we need this heat spell to break for Olsen, Soo and the kids.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their FB posts, Twitter feeds, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab, Poole Harbour Ospreys, GROWLS, PA Game Commission, Osoyoos Ospreys, Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, James Silvie, and the Finnish Osprey Foundation.

Has Little Bit 17 eaten?…and other news in Bird World on Friday

22 July 2022

It is 0751 in British Columbia and Olsen, the male at the Osoyoos Osprey nest, is taking advantage of the cooler morning temperatures to get fish for him and his family. Already he has brought in two fish to Soo and the kids. Lovely start to the day and it will certainly help them when it gets hot.

The male at the Jannakkalan Osprey nest in Finland was just delivering another big fish to the nest the instant I went to check on the chicks. Of course, there are other big hunks of fish on the nest already. No one will go hungry. The female has been added to the growing list of ‘the remembered’ and the intruder female has not returned – a good thing. The chicks are big. I don’t believe they could be predated now. Dad will feed them and they will fledge. I wonder if they found the body of the mother? and if they will release their findings on what happened to her if they did find it?

At the ND-LEEF nest, a prey item was delivered to the nest by an adult at 0652. I do not know which of the fledglings got the drop but another flew in to the nest. The park staff say that Little Bit 17 was seen flying over the area at 0652:08 on the wide cam.

You can see the wing tip on the branch above the nest of the other fledgling.

The time that 17 was believed to have flown by is 0652:08. Here is a short clip covering the entire time period. It has to be viewed in conjunction with the images above. Sadly the cameras are not synched with one another.

The driving question is this – and nothing else matters — has Little Bit 17 had anything to eat since he was released at the park? Anything? Just ‘seeing’ him does not mean he has eaten! It has been more than 48 hours and it is clear that 15 and 16 know to follow the parent and go to the nest.

Junior’s electrocution by power poles owned and operated by BC Hydro made the news in Vancouver.

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/gabriola-island-bald-eagle-dies-electrocution?fbclid=IwAR13R_89H6w7K9Q7ivniSQVRdGylGUAah-EU-NO26ZBEgwRUKSyAR5I6Ch4

Is BC Hydro the agency that actually kills more eagles in British Columbia than anything else? Many think that is the case. It will take a raging public outcry and actions that will bring them to their knees. So if Junior’s life is to be meaningful cry but get mad! Bring BC Hydro to an agreement to get all of the poles on the island made safe for birds. — Then let’s move to the other hot spots where the eagles are killed on their poles.

The streaming cam is once again working at the Boat House Osprey nest on Hog Island. The chicks are doing well! Yippeee.

The Mispillion Osprey nest is vacant this morning. Are the fledglings and the parents down by the harbour?

There is a lovely video that has been compiled about Sky at the West End nest. Have a look…beautiful Sky.

As I sit and watch the three juvenile Crows fly about my garden, get their sandwiches, and bathe in the water, here is a smile from a wildlife rehabber about a female crow that broke her beak. Kindness. Everyone needs it.

Suzanne Arnold Horning caught up with the Ls and Big Red last night. Here are some of her great images.

Can you follow instructions? do Laundry? clean? make a specific lunch? Your local wildlife rehabilitation clinic might be looking for volunteers. It is normally a commitment of 4 hours every week or fortnight for a period of 6 months. Have some time? want to do something for wildlife? Give them a call or check their website. They might be taking applications.

That is a quick check this morning on some of the nests we have been watching. I hope that you have a lovely Friday wherever you are. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Fellowship of the Crow, Explore.org and IWS, Mispillion Harbour Ospreys and the DDNR, Audubon Explore, GROWLS, ND-LEEF, Osoyoos Ospreys, Finnish Osprey Foundation, and Suzanne Arnold Horning.

Early Friday in Bird World

15 July 2022

Good Morning everyone. It is going to be a hot sunny day here on the Canadian Prairies with a temperature of 31 C – a good day to get outside early for that walk! There is a heat wave across the southern areas of western Canada right now and it is going to have an impact on our Osprey nests.

I had a lot of questions about the ducklings in my blog yesterday. Here are the ducklings again. They do not all belong to the same Mum. There were 35 in total but, the individual who took the image couldn’t fit them all in the frame. They are Mallards. The females rotate taking all the ducklings to the pond to swim and eat. The other mothers get a chance to relax and eat grass. What a great system! And what well-behaved ducklings. Incredible. ‘Duckling Daycare’.

The other day Suzanne Arnold Horning took an image of the three Ls (minus L3 who is in care) on the grounds of Cornell. Every year there are a few opportunities when the three get together on the top of a fence. This was the magic moment for 2022. What a treasure. Who would know that L1 would not be with us today as we woke up? Their lives are ever so fragile and we are so lucky to be able to observe them. So glad L1 flew, and hunted, and played with her siblings. And so sorry for Big Red and Arthur who, more than likely, saw that fateful moment that took their first hatch’s life.

L1
The Ls, 1, 2, and 4 on the fence by the track. Cornell University.

Ferris Akel was kind enough to go to the Cornell Campus last night and look for Big Red, Arthur, and the two remaining chicks in the wild. There is a lovely community that has bonded around Big Red and her family. It was getting dark when Ferris took these last images of Big Red hunting a squirrel and Arthur on top of the same building where they found L1 yesterday morning.

Arthur was on the other end of the building. Earlier they had been on a light pole overlooking the area where the two chicks were – observing from a distance and perhaps thinking of L1.

Both osplets at the Mispillion Harbour Osprey nest in Delaware have fledged! Congratulations to Mum and Dad and all those cheering them on. Thanks ‘H’ for letting me know! The pair are having fun taking short flights on and off the nest.

One on the perch and the other one flying.

Tuckered. Flying is hard work…turns fledglings into ducklings.

Audrey is busy incubating the remaining egg and brooding Big Bob. It is possible that Big might turn out to be the only Bob on the Chesapeake Bay nest of Tom and Audrey for the 2022. Big is the first hatch of the second clutch for these two. He needs to grow big and strong and fly good to meet migration deadlines.

Right now all Big Bob wants to do is sleep and eat. Cute.

The two chicks on the Janakkalan nest in Finland continue to work on their self-feeding. Dad continues to bring the fish to the nest. One is better at self-feeding but the second is getting there. Hunger is a great motivator and when one chick has opened up the fish it is easier for the smaller one to eat. Send positive wishes to this nest. They can both survive if they feed themselves.

Everything appears to be good at the Boathouse Osprey platform on Hog Island. Morning stars glittering around Dory as she stands on the edge of the nest.

Another nest just needs fish. The heat in British Columbia is driving the bigger fish deeper into the water. The male at Osoyoos is only able to bring in little twiddlers. More fish is needed…It is going up to 34 C today. A cooker. The Ospreys need all the hydration they can get. Too bad Dad doesn’t have a fish basket on that lake.

The temperature will rise from 9 C to 29 C with a heat warning at the Canmore Alberta Fortis Exshaw Osprey nest today. Wish for fish here, too.

Peace and Love, the eaglets at the Glacier Gardens nest, were ready for their morning breakfast. There is condensation (I think that is what it is) moving about on the camera lens so it is hard to see them. Their juvenile plumage is really coming in and both continue to be healthy. — Which reminds me. The news on H5N1, the highly pathogenic avian flu, is that it is waning. Thank goodness.

The latest Twitter posting of Cal Falcons show an incredible prey exchange caught by the photographer moon_rabbit_rising

Annie and Alden are making sure that these two are so capable of getting their own prey when they leave the home territory. Would love to see this in real time…

While we wait to hear what the Ojai clinic can determine is causing Victor, Andor and Mama Cruz’s eaglet fledgling, not to be able to stand, here is an uplifting story of a sub-adult Bald Eagle that was shot and got a second chance at life. Thank you ‘C’ for making sure I had a smile on my face the other day. So grateful to the vets and the rehabbers who take our feathered friends into their care and work miracles for them.

If you saw a raptor (or other bird or animal in need) who would you call? ‘B’ sent me the answer if you live in the United States. Here is a site – Animal Help Now – that will help you find all of the wildlife rehabbers in your area and their specialties. Note that some only take turtles and amphibians, etc. You enter your address or a city and you get a list. Please bookmark this site. You never know when you are going to find yourself in a park with an injured waterfowl or raptor or on the highway. This will save you a lot of time fumbling around and it could make a real difference to the life of the injured wildlife. USFWS does not help and neither does the DNR – so do not bother calling them. If you know of a similar website in other countries, please let me know. We are all here to help and getting to the right person is critical. Thanks ‘B’.

https://ahnow.org/#/

Fledge watch is on for most of the UK Osprey nests that have not already had fledges. Keep an eye on Brooks and Molate at the SF Osprey nest of Richmond and Rosie, too. Time is passing very quickly.

There was a fox cub seen on the Fraser Point nest last night. It is a good thing Victor was rescued when he was. Lilibet was not on the nest at the time the cub came poking about.

Pip watch at the WBSE nest of Lady and Dad in the Sydney Olympic Forest nest. Yesterday Lady let Dad incubate the eggs. Will she let him today? If not, watch that first egg closely.

Thank you so much for joining me this morning. There is so much happening with all the nests – I am just glad we don’t have eggs hatching at all the Australian nests right now. We would all need several computer monitors! Continue to send positive wishes to those feathered friends in care and to those nests that desperately need fish today – big fish – like Osoyoos. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their photographs, streaming cams, FB pages, and Twitter posts where I took my screen captures: Suzanne Arnold Horning, Cornell Chatters, Ferris Akel Tours, Mispillion Harbour Ospreys and the DDNR, Chesapeake Conservancy, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Audubon and Explore.org, Osoyoos Ospreys, Fortis Exshaw, Cal Falcons, Explore.org and IWS, Glacier Gardens, and Sydney Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre.

An ‘Almost’ Fledge and more nest news in Bird World

6 June 2022

Oh, what a day it has been. Pretty exciting stuff happening on the nests. I was just told by my friend ‘G’ that a hatch is happening at Cape May Osprey nest. If you follow that nest, check it out!

First news first. Ahote returned to the natal nest of the West End Eagles, Thunder and Akecheta at 06:54:08 this morning. Whew! He spent 4 days over on Transmission Hill. It is sure nice to see the Three Amigos back together.

Thunder and Akecheta have not delivered food. One of the eaglets has flown off the main nest. It is not clear which male it was. Kana’kini is on the branch on the ocean side. It is thought to be Ahote but no confirmation.

Ahote is back on the nest. So controlled. Oh, I hope those parents get some food on this nest. He needs a big reward for all that effort.

As many of you are aware, Urmas Sellis undertook the rescue of Jan and Janika’s storklets. He originally placed a fish basket for Janika in the hopes that she would find it and be able to feed herself and the four storklets. He also put a pail of small fishes on the nest. Janika did not find the fish table. Two days later, Urmas returned to take the storklets after cold nights without warmth, etc. Sadly, the fourth one died right before the rescue. The three surviving chicks are in incubators. There is a fundraiser. Here is the information if you feel so inclined to contribute.

Fledges are going to overlap one another once they start. At the Red-tail Hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur, the average age to fledge is 46.5 days. Today L1 is 46 days, L2 is 43, L3 is 42 and L4 is 39 days old. It is believed that to fly well, the hawklets need to have at least 5 dark bands showing. L1 has her 6th band peeking out. L2 has the 5th band peeking out while L3 has 4 dark bands and L4 has 3.

Big Red brought in some unidentified prey and some wanted to eat while others wanted to run and flap. It was rather chaotic!!!!!

The hawklets are pretty sedentary on the nest – even with all the flapping. After fledging, during the first 3 weeks, their activity level is believed to double. After 6-7 weeks, they will begin to catch small vertebrae. The parents will continue to feed them (more at first) and teach them hunting tricks until they leave the territory.

To my knowledge, Little Bit 17 at the ND-LEEF has not had prey yet today.

At the UFlorida-Gainesville nest, Middle almost fledged today. He would have if a storm had not quickly rolled in with high winds, rain, and some hail. Have a look at a couple of clips of Middle’s hovering. He is impressive!

At least twice today, Middle got the fish and Big did not! His confidence level is growing and growing.

Even soaking wet, Middle just doesn’t want to give up. Expect a fledge anytime!!!!!!! Nothing is going to stop him.

Middle is full of vinegar. Is this osplet going to fledge soaking wet?

How lovely it is going to be when Middle flies off with confidence. There was a time when it was not clear if we would get to this day. Middle has grown into a fantastic, getting more confident, healthy bird. Am I saying it twice? how nice the feathers are on these two? Mum and Dad can be proud. We lost Little Bit but will have two super fledglings when Middle takes off. I hope he finds his way back to the nest as easily as Big. OGK and YRK have been a bonded pair since 2006 – 16 years.

If you watch the Royal Albatross cam, today marks the 21st day that OGK has been away. Let us hope he returns to QT chick soon. Mum YRK is doing double duty at the nest and the NZ DOC rangers on Taiaroa Head are providing supplementary feedings for several chicks.

D

Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures and video clips: Institute for Wildlife Studies and Explore.org, the Eagle Club of Estonia, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Cornell Bird Lab and NZ DOC, and UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys.

Early Monday in Bird World

6 June 2022

Liz has posted a video of Urmas and his team removing the Black Storklets from Janika’s nest in Jegova County, Estonia on 5 June. I reported earlier that a glove like a Black Stork shape had been used to place the storklets in the basket. That information is incorrect and my apologies. Bare hands were used. One storklet, sadly, died in the nest over night before the intervention. They need temperatures of 22-28 degrees C. They cannot thermoregulate their temperatures yet. In addition, it rained and well – I hope the remaining chicks survive and thrive. It will be a first for the Veterinary College to raise Black Storklets to fledging. Good luck to Urmas and his team!

Here is the video that Liz posted:

The White Storks Bukachek and Betty still have five storklets in their nest in Mlade Buky, The Czech Republic. You can see the difference in size from the oldest to the youngest known as ‘Little Finger’ by the chatters.

Bukachek (male) is making sure that the wee storklet gets food in the image below.

It has been raining on and off. The rich Red Iron in the clay makes all of the Storks look dirty. Maybe when it is not so rainy more straw will be brought to the nest! That would help.

Awhile ago I mentioned the Lesser Spotted Eagles. Andris and Anna, at their nest in Zemgale, Latvia. The camera was down for awhile but it is now back and running. In the meantime, a beautiful little Lesser Spotted eaglet has hatched!

It is so cute and fluffy! There was only one egg so this is the only chick. Had there been two eggs, the first hatch most always predates the second. So having only one is a good thing! The parents can focus on bringing food to this cutie pie.

Voldis came to the White-tailed Eagle nest that he shares with Milda near Durbe, Latvia. He arrived at 05:30 and stayed for well over an hour.

Milda has had a terrible time since her long time mate, Raimis disappeared two years ago. I hope that Milda and her mate if it is to be Voldis have a very successful next breeding season. This year the eggs were predated.

Margit hatched on 25 April and is growing by leaps and bounds with the tender care of the parents, Kalju and Helju. This Golden Eaglet’s nest is in Soomaa National Park in the southwest of Estonia.

Oh, such a beautiful eaglet. Margit is waking up. The black dot behind the eye is the ear. It will be covered over with feathers before the eaglet fledges.

Helju just brought breakfast for Margit. Liz caught it in a video:

This is the streaming cam for this nest:

What is happening with Ahote? Ahote, the youngest of the three eaglets at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta, fledged on June 2. He has spent the time since then on Transmission Rock and is getting hungry unless food was delivered. Working his way back to the nest, he got some wind on his wings and got to the nest but was blown off course. No doubt he will get there! Very determined.

In the image below you can see him directly below and slightly to the right of Kana’kini and Sky.

Checking on Osprey nests in the UK, the third chick hatched at Llyn Brenig but did not survive.

Aeron Z2 and Blue 014 have had their first hatch at the Pont Cresor nest in the Glaslyn Valley.

Laddie LM12 delivered nine – yes, 9 – to the nest for Blue NC0 to feed their three Bobs at the Loch of the Lowes.

All three Bobs seem to be doing fine at the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G. Just look at how dark Mrs G’s plumage is and that necklace.

Aran has been busy delivering fish. Little Bob is not always in the most perfect position!

I do have to admit that Idris and Telyn are my favourite Ospreys in the UK along with Blue 33 and Maya.

Telyn is feeding the two older Bobs while Bobbie Bach is asleep.

Food coma!

Oh, could that be comfortable?

There is Bobbi Bach ready for his meal while the others sleep. Poor Telyn. They are surely keeping her busy.

It looks like it is starting to dry out for Dylan and Seren at the Llyn Clywedog nest. Gosh, Seren was just so wet and hunkered down keeping the three Bobs warm and dry. Let us hope the sun comes out, too, to warm them up.

Both of the Ospreys were on the UFlorida-Gainesville nest sleeping during the night.

Both are back on the nest waiting for a breakfast delivery!

Good Morning Little Bit 17! Everyone is waiting for prey deliveries at the ND-LEEF nest. I hope that the adults will feed Little Bit like they did yesterday. That would be grand.

The scrape box at Manchester NH is getting to be quite the mess! A good wind will help clear it out. It is hard to believe but this scrape will be on fledge watch beginning on the 10th or 11th of June – this coming weekend!

Nancy is on the nest at 08:40 feeding E1. It looks like they will have a beautiful day at that Bald Eagle nest in Minnesota. Wonder when E1 is going to take to the skies? Nancy has done wonders taking care of E1 and fending off intruders.

Fledge watch is on for the three at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest. It looks like only two but 17 is up higher in the tree.

There are still two eaglets – Sentry and Star – on the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. We are on fledge watch for these two also! It could be a very busy week!!!!!!

We are definitely on fledge watch for the eyases on the nest of Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell campus. The chicks are restless and L1 is definitely ready!

Oh, the excitement of a nest of four hawks – each itching to fly including the youngest, L4. Wonder if L1 will be the first of the oldest to go? Stay tuned.

Thank you so much for joining me this morning. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: the Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlade Buky White Storks, Latvian Fund for Nature, IWS and Explore.org, Friends of LOTL and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyXWild, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, ND-LEEF, Peregrine Networks, MN-DNR, Pix Cams, Friends of Redding Eagles, and Cornell Bird Lab RTH.

Late Sunday and early Monday in Bird World

29-30 May 2022

This has been the wettest year in Manitoba history. Today we are in another special weather situation with the expectation of 30-55 more mm of rain in a province and City where there is hardly room for water to go. There will certainly not be any wild fires we hope this year!

At 20:01:24 the adult at the ND-LEEF leaves the two larger siblings and moves over to where Little Bit 17 has been feeding. Both big sibs were left behind.

They do not take any prey with them. In my last post, I was certain that Little Bit was self-feeding on something while Mum fed the other two elsewhere. When Mum gets over to Little Bit she starts feeding. On occasion she gives the larger sibling a bite. So Little Bit 17 did feed itself some fish and then Mum came to help it keeping the other two back.

At 20:04:34 a big sibling reaches in and grabs the tail. It is possible then that Little Bit 17 for 6 or 7 minutes. Going from nothing to that – we will keep it and hope that there is more food tomorrow. It is very much apparent that the female is aware of what is going on – . I do love how she shut the two bigs ones out. They have eaten today.

I also got a chance to get some images of Little Bit’s had. 16 has definitely been pecking and pulling. More feathers are gone and there is also one beak hole. This is what E1 did to E2 at the MN-DNR nest. ND17 Little Bit can fly without its head feathers but we don’t want an infection.

A half day at a time. Deep breaths.

On Monday morning, Little Bit pulled a chipmunk over to eat it at 09:08:50. I thought – bonus – he can do this! But only a minute later he was attacked by 16. Today the eaglets on this nest are 60, 59, and Little Bit is 55 days old.

Later Little bit 17 played tug-o-war with 15 for the chipmunk. I know it is 15 because 17 and 15 get along well. 16 is the odd one out – the most viscous which leads me to believe that 16 is a female.

Continue to send your warm and positive wishes to this little one. At 55 days old and having gone through a period of 10 days of good eating, the issue is clearly the amount of prey delivered to this nest. It is quite insufficient. I know it is a holiday and it might not be quiet on the river and the trails around this nest. We live in hope that something good will happen. That good would be the Dad bringing in something for the older ones and the Mum arriving and getting Little Bit at the other end feeding it. This is a brave little eaglet and there is no reason for it to be in this condition other than lack of food deliveries.

Someone posted that there had been a ‘dust up’ (my wording) between a couple of the siblings at the Manton Bay nest of Blue 33 and Maya. This seemed interesting to me and I went to check. The time indicated was 17:33. Blue 33 had delivered a fish and it was alive. The fish flapped and hit Big Bob. She straightened up thinking that it was Middle Bob on the other side that had hit her!

That is a pretty big fish!

Notice that huge crop on the big sibling to the left of the fish and Maya.

Big Bob is startled by the flapping fish and pulls back.

He looks over to Middle Bob and tells him what for for hitting him. And then a tiny dust up??

No reason for any of the Bobs to fight on this nest. They are always full. I do imagine the itchy feathers add to them being slightly touchy especially if they think another sibling has hit them on purpose.

Maya has them all full and tucked. Angels. Little angels.

Richmond and Rosie would like you to help name their two chicks for this 2022 season! Here is the announcement and you must post on the SF Ospreys FB page thread.

Aran and Mrs G welcomed Little Bob today!

While Big and Middle were ready for their afternoon tea, Little Bob would rather sleep. Hatching takes a lot of energy and we all know that they have enough to eat from the egg for about 24 hours.

We are now waiting for Louis and Dorcha at Loch Arkaig and for CJ7 and Blue 022 at Poole Harbour!!!!!

It was raining earlier at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn. Looks like Flounder has been on the menu most of the day.

A Mullet just came in for the Bobs afternoon tea. No surprise. Big Bob is up at the table first!

All up at the table now.

At the Loch of the Lowes, everyone is up having their tea. You can see the difference in ages between Laddie and Blue NC0s little ones and Idris and Telyn’s. The oldest at the Loch of the Lowes is now changing plumage to go into the Reptile stage. Middle and Little Bobs are doing well.

Seren and Dylan continue to keep up with the fish and the three Bobs at Llyn Clywedog are up there for their tea. So cute!

CJ7 looking over the edge at Poole Harbour. Her and Blue 022 have been caught staring down at the nest. Can they hear the chicks now? Bets are being taken on when the first egg will hatch – many say today or at the latest tomorrow.

The other nest that is being watched closely is Loch Arkaig, the home of Louis and Dorcha. It could be a race between them and Poole Harbour on who has the first hatch of the two nests.

It is 37 days today for the first Poole Harbour egg. I am thinking tomorrow!

The Ls are restless. They want to flap and run and it is pretty crowded on the light stand nest of Big Red and Arthur at Cornell. Their lovely juvenile plumage is looking fabulous.

Big Red and Arthur are welcoming Monday morning by sitting on the light stand together while the chicks use up some of their energy flapping and running.

Just look at those cute Ls. So who is who? Bottom Row: L1 (left), L4 (right). You can still tell L4 because of the white head easily. Top Row: L2 (left) and L3 (right). These babies have the most beautiful peachy bibs and look at the rust coloured belly bands. Lovely.

Iris slept on her perch last night. She has really been bringing in some whoppers. What a great fisher she is. I am so thrilled that despite the eggs being gone Iris returns to the nest so we can see her. It is extremely reassuring.

‘S’ took some great screen captures of Iris on 25 May. I meant to share them with everyone that day and well – somehow they got a little down in the pile. Forever grateful for these great close up images to share. Thank you ‘S’.

Want to give a shout out to the Manitoba Peregrine Recovery Project for their great work. You can follow Pip and Ella and their three chicks on Twitter @mbperegrines

Ella is feeding three little chicks – imagine posted by Peregrine Chick on Twitter if you want to follow the action. Chick 1 and 2 are 24 hours apart and chick 3 is 36 hours apart. Nice and close!

This is Dad, Pip, in the scrape on top of one of our local hotels.

At the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest and Mum has been in and fed the kids. They are so gorgeous, so alert, and so civil. Oh, how I wish this for ND-LEEF.

Ironically she pulls that fish up and it seems as if by magic fish come out of the side of the nest.

Mum continues to feed until all of the fish is gone at 08:51 – both chicks are happy. She was with her two big babies feeding them for about an hour. Terrific.

The Peregrine Falcon chicks are being fed. What a noise inside the scrape at Manchester NH. You cannot see anything in there anymore the chicks are so big.

Eyases have been fed at the San Jose City Hall scrape and one of them is looking like a big Hulk.

Wow! Just look at the size of the Presidio Trust’s Red-tail Hawks in San Francisco. At one time we were concerned about the second hatch – no more. Great image of these two. you can see the tail very clearly (there are several smudges on this camera – ugh). Four clear dark bands. We have a bit to go til fledge.

We are on fledge watch for the Dulles-Greenaway chick of Martin and Rosa today.

We are also on fledge watch for Spirit at Big Bear. Spirit is picking and food crying at Jackie.

Shadow brings in breakfast and both parents and stay with their beautiful daughter while she eats. These moments must be bittersweet.

It will not be long til we are waiting for the Three Amigos at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta to fledge.

Mr President has been in to feed DC9 at the National Arboretum nest in Washington, DC. Dad has done a great job being a single parent.

Lots to come, lots happening. Thank you for joining me this morning. Take care. Continue to send all your positive wishes to the ND-LEEF nest. Hopefully fish will come and Mum will feed Little Bit 17. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB or Twitter posts where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab RTH, LRWT, SF Ospreys, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Loch of the Lowes and Woodland Trust, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Lock Arkaig and People’s Post Code Lottery, Montana Osprey Project, MB Peregrine Network, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Dulles-Greenaway Eagles, FOBBV, San Jose City Hall Falcons, Presidio Trust, Explore.org, and NADC-AEF.

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.

Late Sunday and early Monday in Bird World

22-23 May 20

I have been holding my breath and sitting on my hands. In an earlier blog I wrote and attached screen captures of Dale Hollow’s Middle – we call Warrior – going up the branch. Dale Hollow posted that Warrior had fludged – meaning he fell off that branch. Indeed, there was a video posted of that fall. Well, someone has now spent some time looking at that footage and has captured Warrior fledging from a lower branch. This is a relief. It is not nice worrying that they are grounded.

The parents continue to leave fish on the nest but so far neither DH14 or DH15 have returned and it is also reported that they have yet to be seen.

There is also news coming in of a Peregrine Falcon couple who are using the chimney of a thermal power plant in Japan for their scrape! I wish they would put a streaming cam up there for all of us that love falcons!!!!!!!

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220520/p2a/00m/0li/032000c?fbclid=IwAR1fx8O4Dp_C_7w4jfIHPTatm7eIY5ma1UWZKD9QtYRpK_24gNLK9qRacII

I love Kakapo – even though they are not raptors. The news coming from the Kakapo Recovery is pretty good. Sadly, one of this years hatches has died in the Dunedin Veterinary Hospital since yesterday.

I want everyone to give a quiet applause for Little Bit 17 at the Notre Dame – LEEF nest. Look what that wee one did this morning!!!!!!!! It doesn’t get much better than this.

The adult arrives and leaves the fish on the nest. Little Bit has its head turned to the rim of the nest listening and turning around watching. The parent does not feed the bigger chicks – it flies up to a higher branch.

Between the arrival of the fish and 0702, Little Bit 17 pulls the fish over to ‘its area’. This is actually Little Bit’s stash or prey kitchen where he keeps things for later. Mum has found it but the older siblings do not root around there. Little Bit is busy eating on that fish and is already getting a bit of a crop. One of the elder siblings is nibbling and watching. No dominance tactics are noted.

Still eating. Other sibling is curious. Little Bit just keeps eating.

One of the older siblings is touching Little Bit’s beak wanting it to feed it! (or alternatively it is trying to get the fish out of Little Bit’s beak)

Little Bit has an enormous crop by now. You can see the fish piece over at the side of the nest.

When Little Bit was finished the older siblings pulled the leftover piece to the edge and started feeding.

One big sibling on the rim and the other down in the nest with Little Bit doing beak kisses again.

That is Little Bit 17. Look at those nice wings this morning. He has energy to spare. What a wonderful way to start the day!!!!!!!!!

The University of Florida Osprey nest at their Gainesville camera had issues with their streaming cam this morning and it was off line. The students of the Wildlife Conservancy course did post the winning names (by public vote). Big sibling is Breezy. Middle sibling is Windy. Mum is Stella while Dad is Talon. There was a tie for the name of the nest – Cheep Seats or Home Plate.

A lovely image of Blue 35 at the Foulshaw Moss nest in Cumbria feeding the eldest chick just after the second one hatched.

The four eyases in the Dolina Baryczy Peregrine Falcon nest in Poland near Lodz are really filling up the nest! Dad has just delivered a prey item for them.

The five Peregrine Falcons are not as big as those in Poland. They are losing the down around their eyes and the beautiful wing and tail feathers are coming in. Everyone had a good breakfast this morning in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Cal Falcons has posted that the banding of the chicks will take place on the 27th of May at 1400 Pacific Time.

All of the eggs have hatched at the Black Stork nest of Grafs and Grafiene in Jogdeva County, Estonia. There were six eggs and the moderator of the chat says there has been no elimination of any chicks this year so far. So this is a historic moment in the history of the Black Storks in the Balkans and in Estonia – six chicks! Fingers crossed that there is enough food for all of them.

We are waiting for the eggs to hatch for Karl II and Kaia at the Karula National Forest nest, also in Estonia. Their last egg was laid on 1 May.

We are also waiting for Bukacheck and Betty’s eggs to begin hatching in Mlade Buky, The Czech Republic.

If we blink they turn into hawks not little nestlings. Look at the feather growth and that gorgeous peach on the breast of Big Red and Arthur’s eyases on the Cornell RTH nest! Gracious. Fledge is what? 2 or 3 weeks away. I will have to do the calculations but they should have fledged by the middle of June. Hard to believe. L4 still has a lot of feather development needed and one rule of thumb is that it is better the more dark bars they have on their tails – 5 is the minimum, preferably 6 at fledge.

Thank you so very much for joining me today. I hope that each of you has a wonderful Monday. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: ND-LEEF, Kakapo Recovery, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Mlade Buky White Storks, Eagle Club of Estonia, DHEC, Cal Falcons, Dolina Baryczy, Peregrine Netrworks, and the Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

Thursday in Bird World

12 May 2022

What a great day it has been- OK. I haven’t gotten to checking all the nests. There are way too many and I did get caught wondering what in the world is going on at the Hellgate Canyon Osprey nest of Iris. Then I had to check and see how the three chicks at the Manton Bay nest are doing. Was the one slapped by the fish still OK? The promised rain has not materialized as yet but the sunny sky is gradually turning grey again. It was a beautiful day to be outside. The grass is green and the leaves are beginning to pop out of the bud state. I can, of course, take the laptop outside but, you see, the garden birds start telling me that I am interrupting and in their space. You can hear them vocalizing a half block away. So trying to keep the neighbour’s friendly, I went for a walk and had a very sad chat with someone I have know for years from the Ukraine. She is passionate and optimistic. A lovely woman.

In the image below, Iris greets a male visitor.

They are actually a cute couple.

Iris is the oldest osprey in the world. Her nest is at Hellgate Canyon by the Clark Fork River in Missoula, Montana. Iris had a wonderful mate named Stanley. Then Stanley died. Then Louis showed up. Now Iris is a cracker. She can out fish any of the male birds, she is beautiful, and she has an attitude. How she accepted Louis is beyond me. They had one chick survive and then Louis bonded with Star and they have their nest at the baseball park. Louis mates with Iris every year, she lays the eggs, and they get eaten by the Crows because she gets hungry. Louis has shocked everyone this year by bringing some fish to Iris. Did we have hope he would change his ways? Seriously, it takes a Blue 33 (11) or a Monty to handle two nests with two females and at least four or six chicks. Sorry, Louis, but I just don’t think you are up to it. Still, Louis has never let Iris have another mate because it is a ‘territory’ thing. So Iris does what Iris does, the eggs get eaten and she is free to have a leisurely summer. It is the same this year. But,…something seems to be happening. There is a male around. Iris let him land on the nest. Iris asked him to bring her fish. Strikingly Louis did not come and try to chase the male visitor away. In fact, I wonder if Louis would win that fight if it happened. The Montana Osprey Project video taped it. I had some stills but the video is better! BTW. The male’s name is not ‘Elvis’. If he were to stay around, Dr Erick Greene would give him a name.

Everything is just fantastic at the Manton Bay nest of Blue 33 and Maya. Blue has brought in two huge fish since the perch yesterday that was thrashing about. One of those monster fish today was another perch. The three nestlings have eaten well. Maya feeds them, on average, every 2 hours from the first light of the day til sometimes after dark. They are growing strong and there is no evidence now after about 36 or so hours that the wee one thumped by the fish has any lasting issues. At least not visible to the eye. All three are right up there, eyes open and beaks wide when it is dinner time.

Adorable. Everyone eats. All get full to the brim and they will sleep well. Enjoy the nestling cuteness. They change and grow so fast. I love their little wings and the soft down, the stripe through their eyes and down their back. Cute pies.

Every evening Blue 33 comes to check on the pantry to see what is needed for the morning and to say goodnight to Maya. Sometimes during the incubation period, he will sleep on the nest with her but not normally once the chicks hatch.

Every day I do check on Big Red and Arthur and it is astonishing how well those four little Red-tail Hawks are doing. They are now regularly all over the nest. Soon they will be jumping and flapping all over that metal grid ledge. They have done so well.

There is great raptor DNA running through the nests! Just look at the trio that Akecheta and Thunder parented. All I am going to do is say ‘Wow’.

Star (left) and Sentry (right) have dried off from all the rain that was pounding the Redding Bald Eagle nest of Liberty and Guardian yesterday. Gosh, we blinked. Do you remember waiting for them to hatch? and now look!

Sticking with California for a minute or ten, the trio of Osplets on the Venice Golf and Country Club platform have all done well despite early worries about the third hatch.

The Captiva Osprey nest had a 66% success rate this year. That is really good. Middle Little is still letting Andy deliver fish on the platform on the grounds of Lori Covert’s property. Middle Little is such a handsome bird.

So what about Little MiniO? Lori has been out kayaking and at the same time, keeping an eye on the birds. She has spotted the family together many times, the youngsters with parents Andy and Lena flying around the property and over to the island. The Windows for Wildlife chat has posted a link to an image that Lori took. Lori believes this is Little MiniO on her favourite tree. Stunning bird!

I don’t know if anyone reading this is interested in having their own Osprey and Bald eagle nests but Lori’s property at Captiva was for sale. It might have sold, I don’t know. But how grand. Sit and have dinner and watch the Ospreys!

Middle has a bit of a crop. I did not rewind to the beginning of the feeding but the positioning was good at 16:20, one chick on one side and one on the other, with Mum feeding Big a couple of bites to Middle’s one. I will take it! Middle is looking good. It is 26 degrees C, winds have dropped to 13 kph, and the barometric pressure is falling.

Nap time!

Mum has been spending more time on the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge as of late. It is wonderful to see her. It is hard to imagine but her and Dad will begin working on getting the nest back in order after their triplets Bazza, Falky, and Ervie had all those dust ups on it last season!

A nest known for siblicide fledged three. Was it just because they were all male? Let’s wait and see what this year brings. Mum needs to enjoy that fish. Soon she will be busy feeding a nest of little ones. For those of you following Ervie he is still hanging around Port Lincoln. Calypso appears to be with a male and we hope that she has her own nest this year. Mum and Dad can be grandparents!

I sometimes mention fundraising that groups are doing. The Port Lincoln Osprey Project takes care of the costs of the streaming cam, the barge, etc that many enjoy. They also raise awareness about the needs of the Ospreys in South Australia and lobby to get the hydro poles change, etc. They are now wanting to build more platforms for the growing population of Eastern Ospreys in South Australia. If you feel so inclined, you can join as a member or make a donation or do both or neither! [Please note: I post the information to support the groups. I do not make a penny on any memberships or donations.]

Here is the information that was posted on the Port Lincoln Osprey FB page today:

I want to close with something pretty special. It is a mid-air prey transfer between Alden and Annie. Quite amazing! These two are a great couple.

Thank you so much for joining me today. The one chick is still alive at Dahlgren Osprey Platform, all three are crackers at Manton Bay, the three at Venice are doing great, Middle had a crop – it couldn’t get much better than that. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey, Lori Covert, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife, VGCCO, Friends of Redding Eagles, Explore.org, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Cal Falcons, LRWT Manton Bay, and Montana Osprey Project.

Late Friday and early Saturday in Bird World

6-7 May 2022

The Cal Falcons hatch day was a complete success. One eyas arrived on Thursday and the second hatched during the festivities. You could tell at the beginning of the Cal Falcons Q & A today that both Sean and Lynn were overjoyed. Here are some images from today and at the bottom of them I will put the link to the archived session from today if you missed it.

One of the most remarkable moments for me today was when Annie and Alden were ritually bonding in the scrape with chick 1 chiming in. Adorable.

Feeding and eating take some practice.

Alden checks on the newly hatched chick while Annie goes to get some food and has a break.

They know to hold that pink beak up high and to open wide from the minute they hatch.

Sean and Lynn believe – based on the coloration of the eggs – that the oldest chick was egg 1 and that chick 2 was actually the third egg. They noted that the third egg was darker than the other two. Historically, Annie has never had all of the eggs hatch. If the egg that remains is to hatch it will be by tomorrow afternoon. It is not clear if the second chick is Grinnell’s or Alden’s. They hope to test the feathers to determine paternity and they are looking for someone within the University of California system who would be interested in helping.

Newly hatched falcons can live on the nutrients from the yolk of the egg for approximately 24 hours. This means that they do not need to be fed until then. However, they can eat as soon as 4 hours after hatching according to Sean.

Saturday morning 0611.

It is hard to imagine but these wee babes will have adult size legs when they are 24-26 days old. That is when they will be banded. Falcons fledge from 38-42 days old. This is very quick and is one way that they are very different from the eagles and the ospreys. Their time in the scrape is short. They will spend approximately a month with the parents after fledging learning to fly better and to hunt.

Names? After the banding name suggestions will be taken with a final vote. One of the leading names is Grinnell. I totally agree.

Here is the link to the Q & A session from today.

The banding at the MN-DNR nest is completed. There were no surprises. E1 is a very big robust female weighing in around 9 lbs. Incredible. Sadly, those big females appear to be the ones that cause siblicide more than the males if food appears to be getting short on the nest. Solly at the Port Lincoln Osprey nest in 2021 and E1 this year on the MN-DNR nest. (Confirmed females by testing and/or measurements). Nancy circled around the nest and returned fairly quickly to E1. E1 will be a formidable female just like her Mum.

Iris laid her second egg of the 2022 at 15:14:36 Friday afternoon at her Hellgate Canyon nest. Iris appeared to go into labour a few minutes earlier with the feathers on her back rising and falling.

Maya at the Rutland Water Manton Bay nest in the UK is not giving away any hints – not a single one. Here are the eggs at 20:12. She is very restless during the wee hours of Saturday morning. Do we have a pip on any of those eggs?

Saturday and no obvious pip that I can see on Maya’s eggs, yet.

A beautiful image of Chase and Cholyn’s only hatch for 2022. Just gorgeous. One month old.

Quite a change from the beautiful blue waters of the Channel Islands and the bright sun to the dreary rain of the Dulles-Greenway nest of Martin and Rosa and DG1. They were soggy yesterday, too.

Gosh, Middle Little at the Captiva Osprey nest has such strong long legs. He watches and waits for Andy to come in with a fish for him. Stunning fledgling. Just stunning.

Lori Covert, the owner of the property with the Captiva Osprey and Bald Eagle nests on them went out in her kayak and posted an image of the tree where Little MiniO likes to perch.

It is wonderful to have the two around getting stronger with their flying, figuring out the world, and perfecting their fishing skills.

The two eaglets at the Dale Hollow Lake will make you very nervous as they stand on the rim of the nest and flap their beautiful big wings. They are 69 days old! The date of fledging depends on many factors but 11-13 weeks is good. These two are approaching that early window.

Are you a fan of the eaglet at Duke Farms? Look at the air under those wings Saturday morning early! It will not be long.

Family photo of Arthur brooding, Big Red on the railing and those gorgeous Ls at the Cornell Campus RTH nest. Big Red, like all other raptor females, is very cautious and keeps the chicks close to her after hatch. Now Arthur is getting some great ‘Daddy’ time as the Ls get older. Cute. I don’t know who is cuter – Arthur or the chicks

The engineers who took care of the White Stork Bukacka and his storklings last year have put together a short video clip about the life of Bukacka and his mate, Betynky. It is sweet.

The livestream at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest is offline Saturday morning. I will be checking in with them, more of the European nests and, of course, with the CalFalcons later today. In the meantime, enjoy your Saturday. Ferris Akel will be having his tour around noon Ithaca time. Google Ferris Akel Tour on YouTube if you are interested.

Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me as we wait…pip watch is going to happen at several nests this week including Rosie and Richmond. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Cal Falcons, MN-DNR, Montana Osprey Project, LRWT, Explore.Org, Dulles-Greenway Eagles, Captiva Osprey Nest and Lori Covert, DHEC, Duke Farms, and Cornell Bird Lab and RTH.