Tag Archives: Cornell Red Tail Hawks

Thursday Afternoon in Bird World

For more than a week now I haver been wondering what is going on at the Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagle nest. There was torrential rain and then snow. At the beginning of the season, I saw tandem feedings and was so hopeful that this was another great nest. Sadly, that just simply does not appear to be the case. While other raptor mothers are covering their chicks from the hot sun, nothing is happening at Dale Hollow. Little Bit does not have all its thermal down. Little Bit is also crying out for food. I want to be wrong because you always hear ‘The Eagles Know Best’ but with the case of River and Obey, I am not sure. Did the rain stir up the lake and it is so murky that they cannot get fish? did the snow send the critters underground? At any rate, I am very worried about Little Bit surviving. I do not wish to cause undue alarm but what happened here?

A small fish was brought in to the Dale Harbour nest around 14:30. You can see for yourself what is happening. I suspect that the Big sibling might well eat all of it – and yes, that is what happened.

Are River and Obey eating off camera?

If the fish brought on to the nest is only one of these a day or two, then it is possible that the other two siblings will not get any food. It is so sad. They might well be beyond getting up to the table.

Little Bit is at the bottom of the screen. Both of them know not to get near the food until Big is finished. Little Bit is really suffering today. It has had nothing to eat for approximately 30+ hours and is crying and crying. At any other nest, this wee babe would be getting 8 or 10 small meals a day.

Middle is walking away towards Little Bit.

Neither Little Bit or Middle had any food to eat. Neither made any effort to go up to the table. They are dehyrated and lethargic. The fish is all gone. Big has an enormous crop. Sadly, unless another fish comes on the nest and Little Bit gets fed full, I do not believe this poor little nestling will survive. The middle chick might have a better chance. Are both Little Bit and Middle too dehydrated, too hungry, too tired – and too intimidated by Big – to ever get up to the table again? We wait.

It is a hard reality. The eagles only need one chick to survive. Watching this nest is extremely difficult when we look at the others. I continue to wonder what is going on.

This is the last image I have today of the Dale Hollow Bald Eagle nest. It pretty much says it all. Big is over by River at the opposite side and Middle and Little Bit are together sadly alone, beyond hungry.

In comparison, Thunder and Akecheta were feeding the three chicks on their nest before daylight and several times after.

We can also compare what is happening at Big Bear Valley with Shadow and Jackie. It is 11:55 and the wee only Bob has been fed four times. There have also been multiple poop shots.

The two eagles of Abby and Blaze at Eagle Country hatched on the 11th and 14th of February. Gosh, they have grown and are lookin’ good.

What a beautiful sight at the Duke Farms Bald Eagles. You might recall that the second hatch was so tiny and died. The surviving eaglet is doing very, very well. The nest is full of fish and Mum is there not only shading but keeping the chick warm.

Mark your calendars. Pip watch begins on the 19th for Liberty and Guardian at the Redding California Bald Eagle nest. Last year the couple fledged three lovely juveniles.

Here is the link to the streaming cam at Redding.

There were sure some beautiful images coming out of Iowa at the Decorah North Bald Eagle nest of Mr North and DNF today. Eggs were laid on 16 and 19 of February and we are about a week from pip watch!

The top image is of Mr North.

This is DNF. You can compare her with Mr North above so you can recognize who is on the nest.

A close up of DNF below.

The nest is on top of a White Oak Tree near a small forest area with a stream on private farmland north of Decorah, Iowa. The nest is 17 metres or 56 feet above the ground.

I love how the different regions provide such a variety of nesting materials. In Florida and Louisiana there is Spanish Moss and in Iowa it is corn husks and wheat stalks.

This is DNF on the nest below. She has grey eye shadow.

Here is the link to the Decorah North Bald Eagle nest.

The nest of Martin and Rosa at Dulles Greenaway Bald Eagle nest in Virginia is also covered with corn husks. Wow. The couple laid two eggs. The first on Feb 1 and the second on Feb 4. The first little eaglet hatched on the 13th and is now 4 days old. If the other egg is going to hatch, we should be seeing a pip soon.

Andy brought in some nice fish for the family so far today. In fact, Andy has made three fish deliveries so far today. A Sand Perch at 08:32:40; a Sheepshead at 10:20:31, and this Ladyfish at 14:41:53.

Little (Mini on chat) has a big crop now. Compare with the image above.

These two are doing really, really well. I am quite optimistic for the two of them. There is no news yet on the cause of Big’s death.

If you missed it, there are now two eggs at Cornell’s Red-tail Hawk. One more to go!

There is the beautiful Big Red with her dark morph incubating those two eggs. She will leave the nest periodically to eat. Normally, Arthur will have her meal ready for her off camera.

There are the two precious eggs. The second was laid today.

Here is a close up with markings that was posted on the Cornell Twitter account so you can tell the difference between the eggs.

Big Red is giving Arthur, her mate, more incubation duties! Fantastic. He is a great mate.

Arthur is also very handsome! It will be interesting to see which of the populations of chipmunks or squirrels are the most plentiful on the nest this year.

That is it for my Thursday afternoon report. All of the nests are doing quite well except for Dale Hollow which, sadly, is a tragedy in the making. Thank you so much for joining me. I look forward to having you with me again. Take care.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife, Dulles Greenaway Bald Eagles, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, Explore.org, Redding California Eagles, Eagle Country, Friends of Big Bear Lake, and Duke Farms.

Late Tuesday in Bird World

15 March 2022

It has been a very sad morning in Bird World with the death of what appears to be, now, the oldest chick on the Captiva Osprey nest in Florida. Lori Covert the landowner has contacted CROW, that wonderful wildlife rehabber on Santibel. Permission was given to remove the body of the osplet for testing. CROW arrived and removed Big beginning at 15:21:15-15:21:26. You can see how quick they were to come once they had the OK and how they did not disturb the nest.

Big was 27 days old. He or she would have been 28 days tomorrow.

They do not want to cause any undue stress or frighten the other two on Did Big choke on a pellet? He had been gagging several times this morning. Casting pellets is a natural part of a raptor’s life. What cannot be processed in the crop is compacted into something not unlike a small charcoal pellet. The birds then regurgitate these. Researchers like the pellets because they can study what the birds have been eating. But a pellet or the H5N1 highly pathogenic Avian Flu is on speculation. It appears that Big died after moving up to eat but couldn’t. That was approximately 08:33. I sincerely hope that this is not a case of H5N1 and look forward to the announcement. The other two osplets both ate at 15:40.

Little Bob (Mini on chat) and Middle Bob appear to be fine. They are interested and can eat and that is a great sign!

It used to not unsettle me when an adult or a chick died. Perhaps it is just everything that has happened for so many years catching up with me but I was particularly upset at the loss at Captiva this morning. Thankfully the garden critters were robustly going after the two new seed cylinders that were put out yesterday. Dyson could not decide where to settle. He wanted the oil seeds that had fallen out of a bag on the snow but he also wanted to eat off the cylinder and he was intrigued by the peanuts in the square tray feeder.

Despite his altercation with the cat, Dyson remains pleasantly plump after the harsh winter and the back half of his tail is growing back. Horrah!

The Blue Jay family – OK. One member of the Blue Jay family has returned from their migration today. I could not get the camera quick enough for a photo but I hope to attract it with a cob of corn on the deck. i wonder if it is Junior? Mr? or Mrs? And where do they go?

It was a good day for a walk in the woods. Our temperature is a balmy +2 C. The snow is definitely melting and there is an open water area now at the Fort Whyte Nature Centre. There were three Canada Geese there today!

There were a number of Black-capped chickadees at the feeder and when I arrived the little Downy Woodpecker with the broken beak was just flying away. Too quick for me to catch him but for those of you who asked, it is still alive and eating well out of the cylinder feeder! That is certainly good news.

What I needed was a walk in the woods where it was absolutely quiet. The snow is now wet enough that it did not crunch. All you could hear on occasion was the songs of the birds.

Walking in nature is good therapy.

I am happy to report that all of the eaglets on the Dale Hollow nest have eaten. Little Bit was sure enjoying a fish that had been brought to the nest.

The middle on moved up and got some food, too, after Little Bit. You can see the huge difference in size now between all three chicks. Big just looks enormous!

This was Little Bit sleeping before the feeding over on the rim of the nest. It looks bigger stretched out and was clenching its talons and letting go and clenching them again. Was it catching a fish in its eaglet dreams?

Sweet baby sleeping in the shade. For those of you that do not know, the black dot behind the eye and corner of the beak is the ear. It will get covered with feathers. You might also notice that Little Bit is getting some of its darker thermal down and losing its baby fluff. Looks like a few little feathers poking about perhaps.

I just checked and Little Bit was fed at 16:20. So all is well at Dale Hollow as evening approaches.

Big Red gave Arthur some incubation time today. That is fantastic. She doesn’t allow him much but it is nice to see him so alert taking his turn with their first egg.

Arthur is very handsome.

I don’t think you could find a more gorgeous female Red tail Hawk than Big Red anywhere! She is so stunning with her really dark morph.

Big Red took a dinner break at 17:29 nest time.

Do not worry. This egg is fine. We learned that due to Milda leaving her eggs in almost freezing weather for 5-6 hours. They both hatched. Everything is good. Big Red has been having chicks for 17 years. She is an expert. I certainly am not. LOL. Remember. I wanted to give Rosie and Richmond sticks!

There was a very sweet posting by the SF Ospreys today on their FB page:

I really wanted to dump a lot of sticks for these two down in the parking lot! As many of you know, I look for ways to make the lives of our birds better. Part of that has to do with the elimination of lead in all fishing and hunting equipment. The other has to do with rat and mice poison. Well, look what a Place Called Hope just posted!

At the West End Bald eagle nest, Akecheta brought in a Cormorant to the nest. This came after there was something that looked like an Armadillo. Both were road kill. Thunder decided to feed the three eaglets the fresh fish! The West End nest is doing well.

Shadow and Jackie at the Big Bear Valley Bald Eagle nest are also doing just fine. The little one is growing like a very bad weed.

I checked on Kincaid, too, at the Kistachie National Forest nest in Louisiana. He is wing flapping and showing his preference for some prey and not others but I do not believe that he has branched yet.

That is it for me today. I am still recovering from the loss of Big. Looking forward to the test results. If it was a pellet then we should know that very fast. If it was something else, we will have to wait for test results that can take days.

From all the critters in the garden, thank you for joining us today. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or their FB pages where I took my screen captures: A Place called Hope, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Friends of Big Bear Valley, West End Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, KNF Bald Eagles, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Dale Hollow Lake Eagles, and SF Bay Ospreys.

Big Red lays 1st egg for 2022!

14 March 2022

I grew up in an area known for Red-tail Hawks. Indeed, the book, Winter’s Hawk. Red-tails on the Southern Plains by Jim Lish outlines the history of the hawks in Oklahoma and their persecution as ‘chicken’ hawks. It speaks to the challenges that the juveniles face to survive. They love the wide open fields for hunting. The images in the book show them on the telephone lines in the rural areas of my former home. When I lived in Oklahoma, I never noticed a single Red-tail Hawk. Indeed, my very first face to face encounter was in my urban garden with the Sharp-shinned male, Sharpie. I had watched a couple of Red-tails raise their young on the ledge of New York University’s library and then the mother was killed by rodenticide. The eggs did not hatch that year. It was suggested that we turn our attention to Big Red and Arthur on the grounds of Cornell University.

Years later I am still moved by the dedication of Big Red to her nest. First with her mate, Ezra, and now with her young male, Arthur, who hatched in an adjacent territory and replaced Ezra in the fall after Ezra was killed in 2017. This will be Big Red and Arthur’s 5th breeding season.

Big Red is an incredible bird. She hatched in 2003 near Ithaca at Brooktondale and was banded that October 20. She is now 19 years old and still as excited as ever to prepare her nest and lay her eggs.

There is much speculation on when Big Red will lay her first eggs. She came to the nest today, 14 March, at 13:03 and she has not left. She has fiddled with some sticks but, in general, she has stood on the nest. Will today be the day for the first egg?

It is 14:58 and Big Red is still on the nest. This makes it nearly two hours. She sure must be thinking she is going to lay an egg and doesn’t want to be too far from the nest when she does!

The wind is starting to gust. Big Red is still stomping the pine and looking down. She seems to be looking for Arthur also. Gosh, Big Red, you are making me anxious now!

Big Red began being quite uncomfortable at 15:09. The reveal of the first egg of the 2022 season comes at 15:11:59!

Wow. This is wonderful. Congratulations Big Red and Arthur!

Thank you to the Cornell Bird Lab for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

Wednesday Afternoon in Bird World

09 March 2022

The sky is a bright blue with a few clouds and the sun is pouring down on the birds in the garden. The temperature is -15. Dyson and Scraggles have been chasing one another and Dyson has now lost the back half of its tail. I wonder if that wasn’t the evidence of an injury that I saw last week? No worries. Dyson is fine and fat and is still eating the right mess of seeds that he managed to dump! Mr Downy has been at the suet feeder this morning and there have been 63 Starlings in the mix with the House Sparrows. There are now two Grackles that have arrived. It seems early for them. Spring is definitely coming.

Starlings are incredibly beautiful. Just look at the untouched colours in the bird below. Gorgeous.

Duke Farms has put out a statement about Little.

The little one at Dale Hollow continues to worry me, too. It was spunky and up there with the twins. I wonder if it has gotten sick from the rain and the cold and the damp?

It has literally been the weirdest day at the Captiva Osprey nest I have encountered since Andy and Lena began incubating eggs. Lena flew off. Andy flew in with a fish around 14:00 – the chicks have not eaten all day. He tried to feed them. Lena returned. There was a kerfuffle on the nest and, in the end, Big is eating all of the fish. Little and Middle will likely have to wait, hoping that another comes in before Big gets hungry. Both Middle and Big recognize that Big is the dominant bird on the nest and gets first dibs. Ah,…it was so different a little over a week ago when all lined up and ate together each leaving the table with some food in the belly.

Big Bob ate the entire fish. I do not know if Lena got more than a few bites. It is now 14:54, almost mid-afternoon and the other two remain hungry and hot along with Mum. Oh, I hope Andy can get some good fishing in. Big Bob is so full he would probably ignore a fish if it arrived on the nest right now. Fingers crossed! Maybe Lena will go fishing, too. That would be quite helpful — just like Diane on the Achieva Credit Union nest last year. Diane really saved the day when she started bringing in her catfish.

It is still snowing at the nest of Big Red and Arthur.

This morning the camera zoomed in on the most beautiful Red-tail hawk in the world, Big Red. She is also the most famous – know around the world!

Toni Castelli-Rosen posted the following chart for Big Red’s egg laying today on the Cornell Hawk Cam Chatters FB group:

The West End Bald eagles are really happy today. The male, Cheta, is not know for hanging around the nest and that is all he has done since the wee chick hatched yesterday. Like Jackie and Shadow, this couple had two years without any eaglets because of the Ravens. Let us hope this diligence continues!

Here is the link to this nest if you do not have it on your list:

All is well with Jackie and Shadow. The little one is doing so well and the feedings and fish deliveries continue.

It is good to leave on a nice note. The chick at both the West End and here at Big Bear are strong and well. Andy will get a fish on the nest again at Captiva. His fishing could have been hampered by those in boats. There seems to be a lot of them about today. Those osplets are fine albeit hungry. Andy and Lena are great parents. A really nice way to end in the day in a few hours would be to see Ervie again! Oh, that bird just lifts all our spirits!

Thank you for joining me. Take care everyone. Think spring!!!!! It is coming.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Cornell Hawk Cam Chatters, Captiva Ospreys and Window on the World, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Dale Hollow Lake Eagles, Explore.org, and the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

Friday Morning in Bird World

04 March 2022

I am certain that Jackie and Shadow would have liked the weather up in the San Bernardino Mountains to be warm and sunny – not a heavy snowfall overnight and snow showers for later today. Still, Shadow had a fish on the nest in anticipation of feeding a chick or Jackie and all is well.

What a beautiful image of a happy Mum, Jackie, and chick 1. The chick was fed at 08:05 for the first time from the fish on the nest.

This image should bring tears to thousands.

Shadow has been wanting some time with the baby but last I looked Jackie was still not accommodating him. Hopefully he will go out and stock from fish on the nest – a little, not enough to attract a mass of Ravens.

Jackie knows that she must keep the baby warm in the cold and wet weather. She will have it out eating only a very, very short time. Once hatched, the chicks can survive on the egg yolk they have absorbed for 24 hours.

What a beautiful couple. I wonder how many sticks Shadow is going to bring in to the nest in his nervous happiness?

Beautiful. The love this family has for their little one and the joy of nearly 9 thousands people watching brings light to a world so weary.

It has all paid off, Shadow.

While Jackie and Shadow adjust to being parents for the first time in three years, Arthur and Big Red are preparing for their sixth breeding season together. They have both been working on the nest this morning now that the snow has melted.

Arthur just loves to work on the nest cup. I sure hope Big Red lets him have some more incubation and brooding duties this year. She is overly careful when it comes to those eyases!

Big Red sits on the lights fluffed up looking out on her territory. Oddly, this is also one of her favourite places for mating. Is she giving Arthur a hint today???

The three osplets at Captiva had a striped fish early this morning, the Sheepshead. What a strange name for a fish! It is noon there now and Lena would love another delivery. In the blink of an eye I saw Andy fly out to the water, I wonder if he was lucky?

That is Big Bob peeking out from under Lena first thing in the morning.

Big Bob certainly had a nice crop after that feeding but Little Bob could have done with some more fish, for sure! Yesterday Big Bob was pecking at Little. Hopefully that will end soon.

Lena moves around the nest like a clock making sure the chicks are shaded. Andy, your family needs a fish!!!!!! Stock up today. Tomorrow is Saturday and all the boats will be out on the water.

At the Southwest Florida Bald Eagle nest of Harriet and M15, E19 has branched! It won’t be long til E20 is up on the Veranda with its sibling. Oh, how big they have grown. I remember the anticipation around Christmas at their hatch! That was not so long ago. E19 and E20 grew up in a blink.

The two chicks at Duke Farms seem to be doing well. Do you remember when E19 and 20 looked like this?

The baby is so tiny. Glad to see Mum feeding it and the other behaving.

Other Bald Eagle nests are continuing with their egg laying. There are now 2 eggs at the US Steel nest, and 1 at both Fort St Vrain and Fraser Point. No doubt there will be more news coming today. The folks at the Achieva Credit Union Osprey nest have reached out to the Audubon Society to help them with the predicament of the eggs at the nest in St Petersburg. Are there three eggs? have they fallen so deep because of squirrels working on the nest cup? have the three eggs been eaten by Ravens or other animals?

I have been hoping to see several dual feedings at the Dale Hollow Lake nest on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky of River and Obey. I have either missed them in re-wind or they haven’t happened. It was reassuring this morning to see that the wee babe was being fed after the twins were full.

Today is the day that the Cal Falcon team will be discussing the recent absence of Annie (she has returned) at 12 noon Pacific Time. If you are interested in peregrine falcons and the nest at The Campanile in particular, tune in if you can. You can find that session here:

Sean has indicated that he will be archiving the discussion immediately after it closes at the same link if you can’t make it. Thanks, Sean!

Thank you for joining me today. The joy at the Big Bear Valley nest of Shadow and Jackie has brought such a bright light to thousands. Please continue to send your warm wishes to them. This is just the beginning of their journey as a family – and there is one more egg to hatch! Fingers crossed. That said, if there is only one —— one is gold.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or their FB pages where I took my screen captures: Friends of Big Bear Valley, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Duke Farms, Dale Hollow Lake Eagles, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, and SWFlorida Bald Eagles and D Pritchett.

Late Wednesday and Early Thursday in Bird World

1.23-24.2022

I have to admit that I can’t stay away from the Captiva Osprey nest for long. After dinner, I decided to stop in and see what I had missed. It was two things! There was a fifth feeding. The last two ran together and the fish were lovely Mangrove Snappers. The other one happens around 12:33 nest time. Little Bob is in the back. Big and Middle Bob are not that interested in food. Lena begins to cut through the two older chicks and she feeds Little Bob full to the brim. The other two paid absolutely no mind.

All the thoughts that keep going through my head keep asking: Is this a clutch of three males like Port Lincoln?

You can see that Little Bob’s crop has filled up in the image below.

That was an excellent feeding for Little Bob. The fifth feeding so close to the fourth insured that Mum also had some fish before she went to bed. Marvellous family working so well together!

After all my praise for Andy having a fish right at the dawn, today Lena called and no answer. Andy flew in with a fish at 09:07:36. Lena checked a couple of times, each returning to brood the kids. In the image below she knows that Andy is coming with a fish.

It is now 11:30 nest time. Lori, the owner of the property, has posted on chat that Andy is below the nest in the mangrove eating the head of a huge fish. Looks like the kids will have a big lunch! Despite the late breakfast, the trio were well behaved. Just like Port Lincoln.

Here is that big fish being delivered at 11:37:08. No doubt Lena is going to fill herself and the nestlings up to the brim! Nice one, Andy.

It took a few seconds for Little Bob to wake up and get himself around to the side where Lena is feeding. Ah. Now they are all lined up. It looks like it will be another great day at Captiva!

Oh, Little Bob got himself right up to the front so he can get lots of fish! Just like Ervie. Gosh, I miss Ervie. That Port Lincoln Osprey nest is so lonely.

Big Red and Arthur continued work on their nest today – almost at a frantic pace.

You can really see the nest cup much clearer at night.

Big Red and Arthur are on the edge of a system that could bring up to 30 cm or 12 inches of snow to the Northeastern parts of the US. It looks like it could just miss them. Fingers crossed.

It looks like Big Red and Arthur might have escaped the storm.

The Dahlgren Osprey nest of Jack and Harriet now has its streaming cam live. You might recall that Jack brings in a lot of toys to the nest. Sometimes there is so much stuff that the eggs get lost in the jumble. This year there is a brand new platform for the Ospreys to fill up! You can see it in the image below in the link to the streaming cam.

It is 08:52 in Big Bear Lake, California. The sun is filtering through the snow covered nest of Jackie and Shadow. That nest is 44 metres or 145 feet up at the top of a Jeffrey pine tree. You can see the eggs as they are being gently rolled. It will be hatch watch for Jackie and Shadow this weekend. Thousands are holding their breath for this couple in their quest to raise eaglets.

Egg 1 was laid on 22 January with egg 2 laid on the 25th.

Here is the link to Jackie and Shadow’s camera if you do not have it on your list.

There has been a fight between two White-tail eagles on the nest of Milda near Durbe in Latvia. It was posted as a short video on YouTube. It was a younger eagle, perhaps 4 or 5 years old, fighting with Mr S. Thankfully Milda was not involved.

It is snowing on Bonnie at the Great Horned Owl nest in Newton, Kansas. The one egg of Bonnie and Clyde was laid on the 16th of February this year. Last year, the couple fledged two fantastic owlets, Lily and Tiger. They have taken over the nest of a young Bald Eagle couple.

The human made nest at the WRDC is looking a little bare to the wire this morning. R1 and R2 – Rita and Ron’s kids – are looking good. It is lovely to see them doing so well. I know that many of you worried, like I did, about R2 in the early days. He is a big strong creative eaglet. His early attempts at self-feeding really helped.

Kincaid had a Red-eared Sunfish for breakfast this morning at 10:15:18. Like R1 and R2 his juvenile feathers are really coming in now although not as advanced as the Miami duo. He is doing a good job at self-feeding but loves when Anna stays and does the honours.

They are all doing so well. Put a smile on your face! It is so nice that the egg laying is staggered from region to region so that we have the time to enjoy these wee ones growing up into beautiful juveniles!

For the first time in I can’t remember when, all three Grey Squirrels – No Name (the great big one), Dyson, and Scraggles were all in the same area at the same time. I had eyes on all three. Then Little Red ran along the telephone lines. So everyone was around the garden. Dyson was eating on the solid seed suet and in the snow and Scraggles was eating seeds on the snow. I took lots of photographs – none of them great quality but, I wanted to find out if any of them had been injured by the cat yesterday. (Of course, that was only an assumption based on the two locations of blood). No Name is fine. Tail in tact, no scars. Both Dyson and Scraggles have tail issues. There are no marks anywhere on Dyson other than his beautiful tail seemingly thin to the skin in one area. I know it is Dyson because of the tufts and his sweet little face. You can see what would be a nice solid busy tail. It doesn’t quite look like it does when Dyson is moulting.

Little Scraggles seems to look the same as it did the other day. So I think that it was Dyson caught by the cat.

Dyson is fine! He is vacuuming up every seed he can find! It is such a relief.

And we are now heading out to fill up all the feeders so there will be more for him. It remains terribly cold here. It is now only -23 C but temperatures are dropping throughout the day to -31.

Take care everyone. Thank you for your warm wishes for the injured squirrel. Tails will grow back!!!!!!! No real damage done, thank goodness. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Window on Wildlife and Captiva Ospreys, KNF Bald Eagles, WRDC Miami Eagles, Dahlgren Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab, Friends of Big Bear, Farmer Derek, and CNN Weather Tracker.

Late Tuesday in Bird World

22.2.22

Most of you know by now that I am not a great owl fan especially those that take over nests belonging to successful Osprey couples. That doesn’t stop me from thinking that they are also cute and adorable. This is a sweet little video of Mum eating a rodent and chewing it to a fine mush and feeding the owlet at the Savannah Skidaway Island nest.

The plumage of the female Great Horned Owl is simply gorgeous. The camera close ups of the feed are wonderful. You will note that the eyes of the owlet remain closed. It will be a couple more days before they are open.

Before I was able to post this, Cornell made a video of this Mum defending her nest. She really opened her wings fully. She had a look like ‘You had better not mess with me today!’

Ithaca, New York is in line for some of the rain in the system that is going through the Northeastern US. It has already started raining at the nest of Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell University campus.

Andy and Lena’s trio had a really nice feeding – several of them – and they are now sound asleep!

There were four feedings in total today at the Captiva nest according to the chat moderator. I caught the times for three of them: 6:52:18, 08:59, 12:48. The last must have been later and for the life of me, I can’t find it but I know it has to be there. Four feedings. If you want to do a comparison, the average number of feedings per day at Port Lincoln was seven.

Lena had a break. Andy took over brooding and did a pretty nice job.

Lena continues to dry off.

Diane is busy incubating three eggs on the Achieva Osprey Nest in St Petersburg, Florida. Those eggs will be looking to pip the middle of March. Oh, it is exciting. This is Tiny Tot Tumbles nest!!!!! I hope the third hatch is as determined and creative as TTT. If so, it will thrive.

At the Minnesota DNR nest of Harry and Nancy, Nancy was shocked to find a racoon coming up to eat the eggs. Harry successfully defended the family!

R1 and R2 both had big crops this afternoon. R2’s was large when he started getting fed. It is just so nice to see these two doing well. I worried for awhile and my friend that watches this nest said not to – it would all work out – and it did! Thank you!

These two little darlings are Fern and Thunder. They are chicks of Blazer and Abby over at the Eagle Country nest. Adorable. Just look at them staring straight at the camera! It is nice to see a couple of bobbleheads! All of the other eaglets are growing so fast!

Before I close, it is time to start paying attention to some of the White-tailed Eagle nests in northern Europe. One of the ones that I follow is the nest of Milda near Durbe in Latvia. Last year Milda last her mate and her two miracle chicks to very unfortunate circumstances. She has arrived at the nest and there is another ‘new’ (?) male with her or is this is a dangerous interloper? I really hope that she has a reliable partner like she had in Raimis and we get to see some lovely little chicks this year.

Every nest does seem to be doing well. Bella and Smitty have been alerting and chasing an intruder – probably the new female that fought with Bella. It is so nice to see Bella feeling well, healed. Life is good!

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Window on Wildlife and Captiva Osprey, Cornell Bird Lab, Achieva Credit Union, Eagle Country, and the WRDC.

Late Monday in Bird World

It was not a particularly nice day in Ithaca, New York. In fact, it was 2 degrees C when Arthur arrived at the nest this morning at 08:16:35. He brought some twigs, tested the nest bowl, and looked around. Arthur has really been bringing twigs at an exhaustive pace recently. According to one of the founders of the FB group, Big Red did once lay her first egg on 13 March. Are we in for an early start this year? Or does Arthur know that bad weather is coming and realize that when it is good to restore Big Red’s nest he should waste no time? Arthur, you are quite adorable.

Arthur was still scurrying back and forth with sticks two hours later.

My very first love was an urban hawk – a Sharp-shinned Hawk that visited my garden one frosty January day. I ran out in my slippers and housecoat thinking that the hawk had killed and was eating the garden rabbit, Hedwig I. The hawk kept eating until I got within 15 cm or 6 inches of her. I have learned so much since that early morning and I would never ever go out and interfere with Sharpie having some breakfast or lunch now. She was not eating the rabbit but a sparrow. We looked into one another’s eyes for several minutes, not moving. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. And how blessed I was – looking into her eyes that morning changed my life. Thankfully, I quietly returned to the house and Sharpie finished.

As a result of this beautiful, close encounter, I have an interest in urban raptors that has grown over the years. Sharpie still comes to visit the garden. Of course, I now also know that Sharpie is a male! He is very cheeky – always pausing to see if I am watching from the window he will turn his head til our eyes meet and then he flies away. I always wonder where he roosts and how far his territory extends. It seems that the peregrine falcons are in the centre of the downtown area which is between 4 and 4.6 km away from where I live. So it would seem that their territories do not overlap. It is curious. I think he has a route and I know that he is ‘mad’ at me for removing a twenty-foot tall cedar tree. The little birds would get inside that tree filling it up. Sharpie would come ripping through a small space between my house and the neighbour’s making a sharp right angle turn into the tree. He was always successful at hunting – always. Sadly for all of us, we had a four year drought and no matter how much water the tree was given it simply was not enough and wasn’t the heavy rains that nature provides. It died and had to be removed. Now, Sharpie really has to work for his lunch. And if you are wondering, yes, I have thought about planting another large conifer for Sharpie! It isn’t a cat or dog that rules our house but the garden animals!

Sharpie was very puffed to stay warm on his last visit. It was -32 that day. He is sitting on his plucking post and if he raises his head slightly, he can see me watching him from the kitchen window. I do not go outside when Sharpie is hunting so all of the images are through glass – and he is fast. Not as fast as a Peregrine Falcon, of course, but fast enough for me not to be able to grab my good camera — unless, of course, he is eating lunch which takes about 35-40 minutes.

He glances back to me and is gone in a blur. Such a beautiful much loved raptor.

Robert Yolton writes a great blog on urban raptors. His focus for years has been the Red-tail Hawks that live in and around Central Park in NYC. While he writes about other birds in the area, I really enjoy this time of year when he begins to report on the hawks preparations for spring breeding season. On 16 February, five days ago, he has lovely images of the couple whose nest is on a balcony of a high rise apartment at 84th and East End Avenue. He wonders if they are merely working on the nest or if the eggs will be laid early this year. And that, of course, is what we are wondering about Big Red and Arthur. Yolton’s reports are always accompanied by beautiful photographs. One other recent one has images of hawks, Kestrels, and a Great Horned Owl in Central Park. I urge you to take a look at his blog: urbanhawks.com You will not be sorry!

I have checked in on the three Osplets at the Captiva nest in Florida on and off today. It was actually wonderful to see my daughter today which meant that I was not sitting and counting the bites Little Bob got in a feeding! Here they are all lined up from the eldest on the far end to Little Bob on the end close to us. They look like a choir. I hope this continues. It reminds me of the three Port Lincoln lads (until they fledged).

Speaking of Port Lincoln lads, if you missed it, Ervie visited the barge yesterday. He was there from 19:15-20:31. He missed seeing Dad who arrived half an hour after he left.

Port Lincoln has asked everyone along the north shore to kept an eye out for Ervie. This is his latest tracking in the area. The green pin indicates his position at the time of the tracking. Continue to notice that Ervie goes back to the nest on the barge. For several weeks I have said that I felt Ervie would continue to stop in. Let us all hope so! It was lovely to see him yesterday. He is in good form.

One of Ervie’s greatest fans is ‘A-M’. She believes that Ervie stopped by to see Dad and to tell him, “ I found a place, it’s cool. I need help moving sticks and nest stuff. Come visit and bring fish!” It brought tears to my eyes. This is the first time I have been able to watch the interaction between the adults and the juveniles after they have fledged other than the adult bringing a fish and getting out of the way quickly. There was something very heartwarming about seeing Ervie and Dad just sitting around the sticks, as if it could be a campfire, with one another.

So keep watching the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. You might catch a glimpse of our handsome Ervie.

After seeming to be missing in action for two days, the male GHOW at the Savannah Owl nest has returned. The Mum was so excited. His return is on video when he brings a nice fat rodent for her to feed the owlet. The sounds from the owls is adorable.

That is excellent news. With all the intruders at that nest, including that Red-tailed Hawk, it would have been almost impossible for the Mum to raise the owlet alone. Cornell did a very cute video of the female GHOW feeding the two-day old owlet Dad’s prey. Have a peek:

Gabby and Samson are doing a great job trying to entice NE26 and 27 to self-feed. Fish are brought to the nest unzipped and left for the two hungry eaglets. So far NE27 who learned to feed itself more than a week ago has done the best. After the eaglets work on the fish then either Gabby or Samson comes in and fills the two up! This nest is doing so well. No one is hungry.

That old saying is knock on wood. And that is what I am doing. It seems that the nests are doing well. If you are a fan of the National Arboretum nest, Lotus laid her second egg yesterday – the 20th of February – at 18:39. Bella and Smitty are both working on the NCTC nest. Another eagle has been seen soaring and both Bella and Smitty have taken to easing it out of the territory.

The couple at the new Bartlesville Oklahoma Bald eagle nest are incubating two eggs laid on 15 and 18 February. I grew up in Oklahoma and it will always hold a special place for me. I hope this couple are successful and have to great fledges. The link to the camera is:

Live Eagle Camera

Look closely at the image below. Do you see a ‘meadow muffin’ or a ‘cow pie’? Looks like the Oklahoma eagles have a unique item that they are going to line their nest with!!!!!!! Can I say ‘only in Oklahoma’?

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and FB where I took my screen captures: The Sutton Group, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Window on Wildlife, Cornell Bird Lab, and NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF.

Friday in Bird World

The Lost Words is a book by Robert MacFarlane, Fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Its focus is on the words that the editors of the Oxford Children’s Dictionary removed. Its 128 pages, 27.9 x 37.6 cm in size, are gorgeously illustrated with the watercolours of Jackie Morris, writer and illustrator, who lives in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The missing words that concerned MacFarlane are the following: acorn, Adder, Bluebell, Bramble, Conker, dandelion, fern, heather, heron, Ivy, Kingfisher, Lark, Magpie, Newt, Otter, Raven, Starling, Weasel, Willow, and Wren. At a time when our focus as adults should be to strive to install the wonder of the natural world and our responsibility to it in the children, why, then, would anyone choose to remove words that are directly connected with our environment.

I mentioned this book awhile ago. I have returned to it many times always admiring the illustrations, such as the images of the Ravens on the forest floor amongst the fallen conkers. Conkers are the fruit of the Horse Chestnut Tree, Aesculus hippocastanum. Horse Chestnut trees can grow quite large. Ironically, the conkers are poisonous to horses and I believe, all other animals. The type of poison is called esculin.

That illustration conjured up a beautiful memory of the time my family spent in England. Up on the gorse was a Conker Tree. We had never seen conkers – it was something wonderful and new. The children played a game with them. First you had to drill a hole and run a cord through the conker and secure it with a nice big knot at the bottom. The children would then ‘conk’ their conkers trying to see whose would break first! It was free entertainment and kept them busy for hours.

“Conkers on a string” by MrsEds is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Creative Commons had this historical picture of two young lads trying to break the others’ conker.

“Its conker time” by theirhistory 

The rolling hills with their public paths were marvellous places for the children and the adults to take walks and breathe in the air. We were fortunate to have a ‘gorse’ within 50 or 60 feet from where we lived. It was full of butterflies and birds and the most delicious blackberries. It was a time when children played outside with their mates. No one set in front of the telly or spent hours looking at screens. Bikes were ridden and trees were climbed. In the three years we lived in Lincolnshire, it snowed once. There was about 4 cm on the ground – just enough. Still, everything stopped. Children stayed home from school and anything and everything that could be used as a sled was used to slide down the hills of the gorse. I wonder what all those children would think about the snow in my garden today?

The nice thing about snow is that it can cause people to slow down. To enjoy a cup of hot tea and a book. To stop running around worrying about things that are not always that important, to pause long enough to take in the moments.

It seems like it is rather quiet in Bird World but, is it really? Eaglets are growing bigger by the day all the while their plumage is changing. Thankfully, none are ready to fledge. E19 and E20 spend time flapping their wings as does the Osceola eaglet. Other eagles are incubating eggs. It is not time for Osprey season unless they are in Florida. Diane is incubating 3 eggs at Achieva in St Petersburg while Lena, laying hers a month early at Captiva, will be on hatch watch this weekend. Annie and Grinnell are only dreaming of eyases. Today Grinnell had to tell a 2 year old juvenile female to get off the ledge of The Campanile. Cal Falcons posted a video of that encounter.

Ervie continues to fish call off the barge at Port Lincoln. We can hear him but we cannot see him.

Kincaid is 29 days old today. He is starting to walk. It is so cute to see those first ‘baby steps’. Louis brought in what looks like an egret (or a part of an egret). When it looked like Louis might want to eat some of it, Anna promptly arrived at the nest. To Anna, prey brought to the nest belongs to her and Kincaid, not Louis who brought it! Anna is pretty strict in that regard. Not all female Bald Eagles behave that way. Anna proceeded to try and remove one long leg while Kincaid, with an already large crop, waited patiently.

Kincaid is mimicking what Anna is doing as he grabs the other leg and pulls on it. So cute. Kincaid also keeps himself busy moving around nesting material. These little eaglets learn from watching the adults.

Kincaid is already making attempts at self-feeding.

Kincaid is, of course, not the only one trying out eating by itself. I posted an image of R2 at the WRDC nest a week ago eating a fish. The eaglets of Harriet and M15 are also attempting eating on their own. E20 has become a bit of a pro. It seems like all of the eaglets grew up faster than they have ever done previously. Does it seem that way to you?

At the White-tailed Eagle nest of Milda and her new mate near Durbe, Latvia, the snow has melted. Milda will be laying her eggs about the same time as Big Red in Ithaca, New York – the third week of March – if all goes to plan.

There is more snow forecast for Big Red’s territory. The temperature in Ithaca is 1 C.

What I like about the image below is that you can see the nest cup area that Big Red and Arthur have been working on. In Milda’s nest sprigs of pine with their cones line the area of the egg cup. It is so fascinating watching the couples prepare for the upcoming breeding season. It is so intriguing. I would love to ‘speak hawk’ and sit by Big Red and Arthur when they discuss what needs to be done!

At least five eagles poisoned, one dead, four in serious condition in Manchester Maryland. Was this lead poisoning? or was this something else more sinister to impact all of the birds at the same time? There is an investigation underway.

Multiple bald eagles poisoned after scavenging on deer carcass in Manchester, Md.

Here is a short informative video of why eagles eat carrion in the winter.

https://fb.watch/b6jnYJByKa/

There is good news coming out of Australia about WBSE 27. You might remember that twice, after fledging, 27 was taken into care. 27 was not taught by the parents to take care of itself. Once 27 fledged, it was taunted and chased by the Pied Currawong. Both times 27 was extremely dehydrated. The last time the Currawong had gathered and had pecked 27s head. When 27 was taken into care the last time, I hoped that rehabilitation would include flight training as well as training for getting prey. This takes longer than a two week stay in a clinic. Some wildlife rehabbers keep birds for 2 years to make certain they are capable of caring for themselves with confidence. It looks like 27 is getting that great training. The news is excellent!

Isn’t she lovely? And – yes – 27 is a she!

I wish that all of the sea eagles that fledge from the WBSE nest in the Sydney Olympic Park would not be harangued by the Pied Currawong. They chase them out of the forest. They never learn to fly or to catch prey. How many of them survive, if any, unless they wind up in care?

The camera is now working again at Port Lincoln. Ervie was on the nest and, at various times, in the shed with Dad. Sometimes he was in the shed alone. I cannot tell you if he had a fish but there was definitely a lot of fish calling.

Checking in on Jack and Diane at the Achieva Credit Union Osprey nest and Jack is busy delivering fish and helping incubate the eggs.

If you are into garden animals and song birds, with a few surprises, you might want to check out Wildlife Kate. She has several wildlife cams and is featured on Springwatch in the UK. Have a look. You might find something really interesting like Yew Pond, or the Kestrel Box, or the Woodland Pond.

This is Woodland Pond. The cameras are live with no rewind. Enjoy.

https://www.wildlifekate.co.uk/

I haven’t posted anything about the eaglet at Berry College for a few days. Thermal down is coming in nicely. Pa Berry did a great job feeding the little one this morning. B15 is still walking around on its tarsus (not yet with its feet) and doing a lot of preening. B15 is doing great. Missy and Pa Berry are doing a great job raising this baby.

B15 is a sweet little eaglet. You can see how its plumage is beginning to change.

I will leave you with a gorgeous image of Jackie incubating her eggs at Big Bear Bald Eagle nest in California. Fingers crossed for a great season for her and Shadow!

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Friends of Big Bear, Achieva Credit Union, Wildlife Kate, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Berry College, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, KNF, Latvian Fund for Nature, and Sea Eagle Cam FB Page.

Late Tuesday in Bird World

First, in my blog Birds and Drones Don’t Mix, the number of Tern Nests evacuated because of the drone crash on Huntington Beach in June 2021, was 3000 not 300 as I reported. Incredible. Can you imagine a whole generation of birds completely wiped out? That is what happened.

This morning Kincaid was waiting for his breakfast when I left to go for my walk. Louis brought seven fish on to the nest while I was away. Kincaid has a full crop. He is such a cutie. The sound is so good at the Kisatchie National Forest Bald Eagle nest that you can clearly hear the eagles chattering. Today, little Kincaid, all interested in what they were doing joined in with his own vocals. It was nothing short of adorable.

My goodness Kincaid is full to the brim! I wonder if that full of a crop is uncomfortable?

Are we heading into a food coma?

Louis is on the nest and Kincaid wonders, even with that huge crop, if he might get a few bites of fish!

Oh, gosh. How do you spell cute? Is it NE 26 and 27?

Samson did a great job of feeding his babies this morning. 26 and 27 both ate really well, had crops and were wonderfully behaved!

The storm has really wiped out the wifi at the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge. No news on Ervie. I am sure they are OK but I wonder how much Ervie has had to eat. With choppy weather, Dad excels at fishing but I doubt Ervie is good enough at fishing to be successful in stormy weather.

Big Red and Arthur both came to the Fernow Light Stand Nest today at 06:57 to check on it. Arthur stayed longer actually rubbing the nest cup to check on it. We are about six weeks away from egg laying – unless Big Red is early!

Falconer Laura Culley will be joining in on the morning chat discussions. It is a great time to learn everything about Red-tail Hawks that you thought you would never want to know.

This is the 25th anniversary of Cornell’s Backyard Bird Count. It takes place this year from 18-22 February. It is free and I urge all of you to join in. This is citizen science at its best – helping to establish which birds are where and how many before the spring migration. Please do take part. Please go to https://www.birdcount.org/participate/ to sign up. You can participate for as few as 15 minutes a day. You can use the Merlin Bird App on your phone or use your desktop or laptop computer. It is fun and it really helps understand bird population growth and decline.

Thanks everyone for joining me today. My regular blog will be coming later in the afternoon for the next week. Take care. Stay safe. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, KNF, and Cornell Bird Labs Red-tail Hawks.