Tag Archives: Cowlitz chicks have crops!

Nest Hopping on the Summer Solstice

Today in the Northern Hemisphere we are celebrating the Summer Solstice. In the Southern, it is the Winter Solstice. My friends in Australia are finishing up their gardens, eating the last of the tomatoes and clearing up the vines, enjoying the first of the cabbages. It is even time for them to light the small fires that keep them warm. For the rest of is it is the beginning of summer officially. A time for school to be over in Canada and people to start thinking what they will be doing to enjoy themselves for the second summer of the pandemic, living under various restrictions.

There has been a lot of action in Bird World this past week – some good and some tragic. We lost the two seemingly healthy Ospreys chicks at the Urbaidai Biosphere Nest. The staff believe the cause was hypothermia. There had been lots of rain and the nest was wet. It is so sad because those chicks were quite large and doing so well. Now at the Golden Eagle Nest in Bucovina, Romania, the beautiful little Golden Eaglet has not had a good meal since the 16th of the month. Today it was so hungry that it had to eat one of the leg bones from the deer brought on the nest. The father had been helping with prey – hunting and then doing an exchange with mom. I wonder if something has happened to him. The female brought in only a small bird since the 16th. It is so frightening because this nest is beginning to feel like a repeat of the absolute horror at Spilve’s nest in Latvia last year. Spilve’s mate died and then her beautiful Klints, almost ready to fledge, starved to death. Spilve could not get enough large prey for Klints to survive. That said there is a difference. A human frightened the male provider while putting up a camera. Spilve’s mate was injured or died. Think about it. This is the reason that no one should go near an active nest once the birds are there. The question is this: does the individual who put up the camera have a ethical obligation to provide prey for the Golden Eaglet?

The eaglet had a crop but I believe it is only from the eating of the bones. I want to be wrong. My friend T sent this picture to me and we both hope he had some real food.

Just now the mother has brought in a very small bird for the eaglet. It is 17:28 nest time in Romania. Eaglet had seen her and started food calling. Oh, I hope that nothing has happened to the father so that larger prey can come on to this nest!

There has been a lot of sadness at various of the nests this year. K2, the middle hatch of Big Red and Arthur, is having some issues. No one knows specifically what the matter is. The beak appears to be layered with dried food that did not get cleaned off. The eye issues could be compounded by the chick’s scratching. It was a good day for a fledge for K1 and K3 but that did not happen. Big Red fed all three chicks on the nest tonight – including K2 who ate well. Big Red knew that heavy rain was coming and she kept those babies on the nest. Oh, she is such a wonderfully experienced mom!

K3 is the one facing towards the street standing in front of the light box. If you look carefully you can see the accumulation of dried prey on the beak. I am hoping that is all that is the matter with her beak and that antibiotics, fluids, and TLC will have her fit to release. I say her. I actually believe K2 is a he. If K2 goes into care they will surely do a DNA test and we will find out – boy or girl.

Around 9:26 this morning Arthur brought in prey for Big Red and the Ks. These parents are being very attentive to their three hawlets as the time comes closer for them to fledge. Already this morning K3 has taken the spot on the fledge ledge. It will be 80 degrees and sunny. A nice day to fly for the first time!

There were three fish deliveries that I am aware of on the Cowlitz Nest today in Longview, Washington. That is wonderful. There continues to be food insecurity and competition on the nest. The smallest chick is very feisty, just like K3, and does take advantage of that when feeding time arrives. I do not know how soon this will stop but I do hope that Wattsworth will bring more fish to the nest so that these two can begin to grow and thrive. Chick 1 hatched on May 27th making it 23 days old and chick 2 hatched on May 29th making it 21 days old today. They are physically behind in their development but that might not be a bad thing unless they are not ready for migration when August or September arrive. It would be like having a child who is either small for their age that they are at the bottom of the chart or, likewise, one that is really big for their age. I was happy to see crops on both the chicks today and also to see a pair of fat little bottoms. Hopefully they will be fine but they need consistent fish brought to the nest for that to happen! Wattsworth!!!!!!!

You can just see the coppery colour starting on their heads. They still have the white stripes on their back and their dark charcoal down as infants. It looks like their spider legs are beginning to fill out a bit but the little bottoms today – at least – are plump and round. These kiddos have been a bit of a worry because there is no rhythm to this nest. All you have to do is look at the nest where the chicks are thriving and see the dad bring in a fish first thing in the morning – it is there just as dawn is breaking – and at tea time or before bed. And, of course, in between. Wattsworth is not regular. It makes for so much insecurity – and hunger – which leads to rivalry.

There they are those sweet little kiddos with their little tails coming in. Oh, you keep every morsel of positive energy you have going the way of these two. They cannot help who their father is – I just hope that for them Wattsworth will continue to provide more and more fish. They can get over it. Just look at Tiny Tot! But they are going to need lots of fish as they should be entering their biggest growth period.

Jack brought in two fish to Tiny Tot at the Achieva Credit Union Osprey Nest. The first of the day was actually the tea time fish at 4:52:33 and the last was at around 7:50. Tiny gets so excited when he sees fish coming in – he food calls and starts mantling – always backing up on the nest so that dad has a place to land.

It was a really quick hand off. Tiny is great – can you tell in the image below that he has a fish in those talons? I couldn’t for the longest time.

In the Karula National Forest in Estonia, the Black Storklings are thriving. Karl II and Kaia have done a wonderful job parenting the three of them. This is the nest where Karl’s former partner typically laid 5 or 7 eggs and then would toss the smaller chicks off the nest. I am hoping that Kaia only lays three eggs every year so that all can survive – providing there is enough food. Food insecurity triggers the elimination of the smaller chicks.

So much on these nests – every nest no matter the species – depends on a regular supply of prey. Any nest can change in an instant if something happens to the amount of prey or the weather turns cold and damp.

Aren’t they adorable?

I do not know if the community is still feeding the storklings in Mlade Buky. You will recall that their mother was electrocuted and Father Stork was going to have difficulty protecting the little ones and getting food for them. The community chipped in little fish and various other small mammals for both Father Stork and the storklings, feeding them three times a day. Those generous caring people made it possible for these three to grow strong and fledge. When I check now, it is Father Stork who is feeding them.

Here is father stork feeding them just after 10pm last night in Czechoslovakia.

And today you can see how big those storklings have grown.

It is morning in Scotland. There is a beautiful golden glow falling on NC0 and the Two Bobs. Look how big they are? At one time I worried so much for the Little Bob and NC0’s feeding ability but she has proved herself to be an excellent mother.

There is a bit of mist as the sun breaks in Wales at the Dyfi Nest of Telyn and Idris.

Let us all hope that the golden glow that falls so beautifully on NC0 at the Loch of the Lowes will bless all of the nests this week so that everyone is well.

Thank you for joining me. You stay well, too!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Dyfi Osprey Project, Scottish Wildlife and Friends of Loch of the Lowes, Achieva Credit Union, Cowlitz PUD, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Mlade Buky, Eagle Club of Estonia, and the Bucovina Golden Eagle Cam.

It was..and then it wasn’t a good day to fledge

The Red tail Hawks and, especially Arthur, have been giving aerial demonstrations for their three eyases, the Ks, today. The weather was lovely and the winds were fantastic. K3, the youngest was really getting into having that wind go underneath his wings.

Some, much more experienced than me have shared their wisdom with me. Large female birds take longer to get their feathers. The females are already larger than the males. As a result, it takes longer for the feathers of the female to come in and for her to be ready to fledge. This certainly was correct last year with J1 who fledged last and was determined to be a ‘she’ at her autopsy. The youngest, J3 fledged second with J2 fledging first. Ironically, J2 was the second to hatch but the first egg laid if I remember correctly. Now we will see what happens this year.

There is a bit of a spanner in the works because of K2. There is something wrong with K2’s beak area and eye on the right. She has been scratching it today which is not making things any better. No one knows what is wrong but if K1 and K3 fledge then an attempt will be made to take K2 into care.

For now, though, K3 is really having a bang up time jumping, flapping, and watching Arthur do his aerial stunts. I did short videos to show you the action.

In the first one you can see K3 watching Arthur flying around the nest and getting excited. At one time he tries to go upon the light box. That is, in fact, the way that J2 sort of fludged last year – climbing on the light box and being forced to fly off as he fell off it.

In the second, K3 really gets going with the wind under its wings and jumping high. Just look at those great legs and that little one go!

Stop and count the dark lines on K3s tail. You will see if you look carefully that there are six! K3 has enough tail length to fly nicely.

And then, as quick as a wink, the rains came. Fledging will have to happen another day. No one wants these Ks trying to take their first flight with heavy wet wings across that road!

If you want to watch all the action of Big Red, Arthur and the Ks as fledge gets closer, here are the links. There are two cameras.

This is the normal camera which can be moved and zoomed in by the camera operators:

This is the Fixed Camera. It looks down towards the fledge ledge.

In other news, Tiny Tot has been defending his natal nest in St Petersburg today. Jack has brought him or her a fish. The Cowlitz kids were eating the last time I checked on them and sadly, if you did not see my earlier news, all three chicks on the Urdaibai Biosphere Park Osprey Nest have now died. It is a very sad day for everyone celebrating the success of the translocation project. And in Australian news, Lady has laid her first egg at the White Bellied Sea Eagle Nest in the Sydney Olympic Park. Another one will be laid in 2 or 3 days.

Thank you for joining me. Take care. Enjoy your weekend.

Thank you to the Cornell Bird Lab and the streaming cam at the Red Tail Hawk Nest on the Cornell Campus. That is where I took my video clips.

Fishy Friday or is it Fish Friday?

My son lives in the West Indies. On Fridays, there is a fish dinner up on the coast in one of the fishing villages. Every kind of fish you could want cooked many different ways along with all of the sides and homemade strawberry ice cream. Oh, yum. The barbecued Red Snapper is so tasty! When I think of all the Ospreys eating fish on Friday it reminds me of those dinners on the island. If my memory serves me correctly almost all of the islands have a Fish Friday at one place or another. If you wind you there, check and see. And then get ready to enjoy.

Most of the time when people are watching nests not much is happening. Everyone gets excited when a fish appears and there is some action and completely distraught when the chicks are hungry. Well, it is Friday and it looks like everyone is being fed.

So far today, Tiny Tot on the Achieva Nest has had two fish. Jack brought in one around 8:41 am and a second before bedtime at 8:25.

Thanks, Jack! Tiny has been guarding the nest for you!

Tiny is really good at mantling. No one is taking his fish.

The poor little munchkins over on the Cowlitz PUD Osprey Nest had two fish deliveries today, too. One was small with the late afternoon tea time one a little bigger. It sure would help both the mental and physical state of this nest if Wattsworth would get 4 fish on that nest every day – and not twiddlers either. The kids fight because they are hungry. Getting enough fish to exist but not really thrive. Right now both of the chicks have a crop. Thank goodness.

And you may not see the fish but when you see a PS like the one in the image below, you know that those Two Bobs on the Loch of the Lowes Nest have eaten well! Laddie and NC0 are nothing short of terrific.

It seems like Idris at the Dyfi Osprey Nest has entered some kind of local fishing contest. He continues to bring in whoppers. Yesterday it was the largest mullet ever recorded at the nest. Today it was another big one. Here is the image of the one yesterday if you missed it. They figure that the fish weighs more than Idris which I find interesting because most people state that these fish eagles cannot weight carry that much. Idris you might be changing our thinking on that. It is the largest mullet ever seen on the Dyfi nest.

Idris might have heard about that wall for Monty and figures he might have a chance at one too if he is a great provider. I guess time will tell. He sure is a cutie! Look at those big yellow eyes.

Idris is up on the post and Telyn is feeding the two Bobs. I believe that these two Bobs will be ringed in the next couple of days. Super!

Idris and Telyn are over on the nest perch keeping watch over their babies while they sleep. Hopefully it will be a quiet night at the Dyfi nest.

Dylan keeps bringing in sticks trying to build up the wall on the nest for the Only Bob at Clywedog. Meanwhile, while he is thinking about that, Seren is feeding this little cutie. You can hardly see the nest. Only Bob is a pretty good aim with that PS! There must be a bullseye on that camera.

It was very sad to lose the little albino chick on the Urdaibai Biosphere Osprey Nest, the other two older siblings are doing really, really well. Like all the others they are also enjoying their Friday fish.

Between the condensation and the PS on the camera it is really hard to see the Two Bobs at the Manton Bay Nest at Rutland Water. It has been raining all day. They are hoping to ring these two Bobs but it cannot happen when the weather is bad. They have a couple more days. Fingers crossed. The rain doesn’t seem to bother Blue 33 (11) – he gets the Fish for Friday up on the nest.

All of the babies are fine and I hope you are, too. Take care of yourself. Thank you for joining me. It is always a pleasure to see so many bird lovers.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Dyfi Osprey Project, Urdaibai Biosphere Park, Achieva Credit Union, Clywedog Osprey Project and Carnyx Wild, Cowlitz PUD, and the Scottish Wildlife Trust and Friends of the Loch of the Lowes.

Happiness in Bird World

It seems like it has been a pretty good day in Bird World.

The two little ospreys on the Cowlitz Nest had plenty of food today and nice crops albeit one of them had a bigger crop than the other. But, hey! I am not complaining. Fish is fish and they both ate really well. So did their Mom! Yippeee.

The little ones really blend into that nest with that bright sun. The one is in profile and the other is still being fed by Electra. And, of course, Wattsworth is hovering in case there is fish left! Can you hear me growling? Electra has done really well eating along with the two chicks and using up every morsel of the fish.

Now this Bob has a bit of a crop, too. He is going to drop it shortly. Wish he had done now and turned to get some more fish. For some reason this chick does not eat as much as the other.

Little Bob on the Foulshaw Moss Nest was right up there today with his big siblings – all standing in line nicely. Blue 35 is doing a fantastic job keeping those kiddos in line.

Little Tiny Bob has figured out where the ‘sweet spot’ is for feeding. Good for him. He has a lot of growing to do but, already, he is getting his beautiful curved feathers. What a cute little one.

Jack brought Tiny Tot a fish at 11:57:26 and then the rain started falling. Tiny really earns that fish. All day he has had to contend with adult intruders. He is doing an amazing job keeping those adults moving off that nest. Here is a short video of Tiny Tot getting one adult off the nest. That adult had the nerve to dive bomb Tiny!

Over at the The Landings Nest on Skidaway Island (Savannah) the second chick has fledged. That happened this morning at 6:13:51. By 8:50 both were on the nest having some breakfish. Scarlett and Rhett do not seem to be in any hurry for these two gorgeous ospreys to leave the area. Food arrives in good time to keep them on the nest and practising their flying skills before taking off for good.

There was quite a bit of excitement over in the UK today related to Ospreys. The 150th juvenile to fledge from Rutland Water has returned today for the first time. It is Male 056 hatched on the 13th of May 2019, one of four chicks of Maya and Blue 33 (11). 056 was seen in January 2020 in The Gambia. Wow! That really points to the success of their reintroduction programme.

Now to celebrate the translocation project of Poole Harbour. Translocation is when young birds are taken, at a certain age, and moved to a different location to try and establish an osprey colony where there is none. Such was the situation of Poole Harbour. In an earlier blog, I told you how Roy Dennis worked with the Poole Harbour Ospreys to introduce birds from Scotland to Poole Harbour. Remember, male birds normally return to the area of their natal nest to breed while females go elsewhere. The celebration is not happening at Poole Harbour per se but over in Glaslyn in Montgomeryshire Wales. There is the nest of Mrs G and Aran and then there is the PC nest. Z2 is the 2019 hatch of Monty and Telyn and his mate is Poole Harbour 014. And, while there are no images available, boots on the ground note that the behaviour in the nest has changed and it looks like there could be two hatches now! There is really good DNA in those chicks – lucky youngsters!

And everyone is wondering what in the world is going on in Missoula, Montana. Iris had the most handsome visitor – a three year old juvenile returnee visiting on her nest. His name is Congo 4C and he was hatched at the Dunrovin Nest in Missoula in 2018 just when Iris was taking care of her last ever chick, Le Le. This image shows Iris on the nest. She has been doing all manner of nestorations this morning. Then Louis has gotten a whiff of the visitor who is flying overhead with a fish! Like everyone else, I would love for this to get interesting!

Iris is on the left and Louis has just landed on the right. Overhead you can see Congo 4C coming with the fish – possibly for Iris? Now wouldn’t that be an interesting match? The oldest Osprey in the world with a 3 year old. And he is trying to show her he can fish.

Someone once told me that Ospreys do not have territories since they all fish in the same spots. That said, I have always understood that Iris’s nest is on Louis’s territory – that Louis more or less inherited it when Stanley died. But can a territory be divided? what about Starr and her chicks? My answer to that is that I wish Louis would take good care of his family at the baseball park and let Iris find herself a young man who wants to take care of her!

Here is Congo with Iris on the nest earlier:

Wow. Lots of things happening and then there is the fledge watch at the Redtail Hawk Nest of Big Red and Arthur. Laura Culley says it isn’t going to happen til next week. I hope she is right. K3 almost fludged today! But K2 has a bit of a sore or something causing its mouth not to close and a problem with an eye which Cornell experts are monitoring. I am really hoping that she has not cleaned her beak well and this is dried prey. The eye issue could relate to the chicks pecking at one another when they were younger???

K2 is on the left and K1 is on the right. K1 is distinguished by her very dark and thick belly band.

And then there is the adorable K3.

I am a real sucker for these tiny third hatches – for sure!

Thank you so much for joining me today. The ten goslings at Schloss Benkhausen in the White Stork Nest hatched and jumped to the ground this morning. You can see it here again:

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I get my screen shots and video clips: Schloss Benkhausen, Achieva Osprey, Cowlitz PUD, Cornell and Skidaway Audubon, Cornell and Montana Osprey Project, and the Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

The Tale of the Cowlitz Fish

Some very intriguing events happened on the Cowlitz PUD Osprey Nest the afternoon of 12 June. I mentioned some of these in an earlier posting today. As I continued to watch the behaviour of the birds on the Osprey nest, it seemed that everything needed to be placed in some kind of order – however chaotic that might be. The Cowlitz PUD Osprey Nest has two cameras with sound. There is a re-wind feature but, for the life of me I cannot see a clock! Because of that I can only infer that this story begins on or around 14:30.

Electra and Wattsworth are the two adult Ospreys. There were three hatches in 2021. The first on 27 May, second on 29 May, and the third on 30 May. The third chick did not survive. Shortly after hatch it somehow got stuck to Electra’s wing and was tossed from the nest and died.

This is an image of the two surviving chicks being fed on 2 June:

This is an image of the two chicks being fed on 8 June:

Today, Big Bob is 16 days old and Little Bob is 14 days old.

Here they are looking out over the rim of the nest. The oldest will actually go down into the twigs.

When the fish arrived on the nest, one of the Bobs was on the top far left of the nest at the very edge. The other Bob was on the nest but watching the one in the twigs.

In the image below, the chicks have started moving towards the nest bowl when they see the fish arriving.The chicks begin to make their way to the nest bowl. Please note how thin the chick closest to the fish appears.

Shortly after Electra brings the fish to the nest, Wattsworth arrives. He is beginning to really annoy me. He reminds me of Louis at the Hellgate Osprey Nest with Iris. Louis is always coming to the nest to try and steal the fish Iris catches for herself.

In the confusion, the chicks go to the centre of the nest where they begin fighting. It is straight forward food competition. While the chicks are fighting and not demanding food, Electra is eating. Wattsworth is on the other side of the nest wanting to take the fish. Does he seriously care so little for his family?

It has been roughly 36 hours since the chicks had any food. They went to bed food begging last night. Their heads are very big. Their bodies have become very thin. I actually worried that they were shrinking before our eyes. At their age they would be moving into the Reptilian Phase but it seems that their thinness could be attributed to being under nourished.

Electra ignores Wattsworth and feeds both of the chicks. Electra has eaten the head off the fish before bringing it to the nest. She has also been eating while the chicks were fighting. She will now turn all her attention to her babies.

It is good to remember at this point that the chicks have not had regular meals and have not had a feeding all of Friday. They may eat and feel full and stop which is precisely what they did. If you look at the image above and the one below you can see how the crop is filled.

Now this is where it gets interesting. Electra thinks she is finished with feeding her chicks. But…

No. They would have let the food into their stomachs and the chicks begin to cry for food again and walk over to the fish. Electra feeds them again.

Meanwhile, Wattsworth is getting impatient. He would like some of Electra’s fish!

Electra continues to feed the chicks til they are full. Wattsworth seizes the moment and moves in to take the fish.

Wattsworth moves the fish off the nest.

Electra broods her babies while they have little fish dreams.

A few hours later, Wattsworth returns with what remains of the fish. He had a nice feed off that big mid-section but it is very good that he returned the fish so Electra and the babies could eat again.

The second that fish hits the nest the two chicks are ready for another feeding! Electra begins to feed them. One of the chicks gets full and goes back to the centre of the nest to sleep.

Then they are both full and sleepy.

Wattsworth would like the rest of the fish but Electra decides she is going to keep her talons on it and not let him take it away. This was a real stand off. Did the Bobs sense that the fish was going to leave the nest again? Something prompted them to move up between the two adults. The entire time they are food begging. The crop is smaller. They have allowed it to drop to fill up their stomach and get their digestive system working again.

Electra feeds them. The chicks get full again.

They go to sleep. Electra still has her talons on that fish. It is not going anywhere!

The fish scuffle wakes the chicks up again!

There is a tug of war with the fish between Wattsworth and Electra. During this time the chicks are food begging really loud. I wish I could get that sound on this page.

Electra won!

For a bit it looks like Wattsworth is going to leave but no, he wants that fish and gets into a fish fight with Electra.

Electra held her ground for a long time. Was she waiting to see if the babies wanted some more food or was she hoping to hold on to that fish for later.

Eventually Wattsworth takes the fish. Electra broods her sleepy chicks and then it begins to rain. They are all full. Electra will keep them warm and dry as the rain falls.

It was a real miracle that Electra went out today and brought in such a big fish so that her and her babies could eat their fill. At the same time I could not help but be more than annoyed with Wattsworth. He is not injured so there is no reason that he should not be fulfilling his role as provider and security for his family.

At the same time, while watching this nest so closely today, I could not help but look at the disarray of the sides. I am truly hoping that this is the camera angle and the walls of this nest are much higher than they appear. At the beginning when the one chick was well off the floor of the nest proper and into the twigs it looked like it could easily fall off.

My heart really goes out to this mother and her two chicks. I hope that Electra will take the initiative tomorrow and go out and fish if Wattsworth does not have fish for them early in the morning. As I sit here I think of all those Ospreys nests in the UK where you know that Blue 33, Laddie, Idris, and Dylan are going to be right there – responsible – with fish in hand as dawn breaks.

Thank you for joining me as I recount the fish battle on the Cowlitz PUD Osprey nest on 12 June. You are probably shaking your head as much as I am at the behaviour of Wattsworth – and sometimes Electra. She has allowed Wattsworth to take fish off the nest when her babies were starving and crying for food. Hopefully she will stand her ground and will go out and fish again if it is needed. The proper growth of the chicks feathers and their internal organs depend on the hydration of the fish. Researchers can actually look at the feathers of food deprived birds and show you when those events took place. —— Well, take care everyone. We can all go to sleep feeling good for Electra and her babies. One day at a time.

Thank you to the Cowlitz PUD for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots.

Cowlitz kids are eating and some Stork Tales – updated version

I tried not to check on the Cowlitz Nest today because I was so afraid those two little Ospreys were dead. I have complained about the mother, Electra, eating food and then letting the father, Wattsworth, take the fish off the nest when she hadn’t even fed her babies. They were crying so hard for food. Thin little rakes they are. A big fish came on to the nest around 2:30 ish nest time. The starving kids could only fight while Electra ate. Then finally they stopped. I thought the little one had died actually. Electra ate her fill and Wattsworth is at the side of the nest waiting to take the fish. She is feeding the chicks right now as I type. Let us hope that she fills those little babies from the tip of their talon to the top of their crop. They need it.

It is unclear to me how long chicks can go without food before there is damage. If you followed the Glaslyn Nest, the chicks were without food for 48 hours. Mrs G is an excellent mother. The circumstances were just so different. Raging storms and force 11 winds along with intruders put the Glaslyn Nest at risk. Aran had injured his wing and could not fish. Glaslyn Wildlife spoke to experts and supplied a fish table for the family. Despite eating on the Sunday, the chicks began to die that afternoon not having anything since noon on the Friday. The oldest first and then the youngest on a subsequent day. Aran is still healing and gets his fish from that provided by the community. Aren’t people kind?

Electra finished feeding her two chicks. They were still not looking full. I wonder if their little bodies can only hold so much. Or maybe get that crop filled and drop the contents into the stomach so that they could eat some more. That would be brilliant. I feel so sad for these little ones.

Well, good gracious. The little ones cried long and hard enough that Electra is feeding them some more fish. I couldn’t stop crying.

Here is a brief video clip of part of that feeding.

They are still being fed. I think they both remind me so much of Tiny Tot when he was starving – well, gosh. Tiny Tot has several times when he had not eaten for 72 hours. Diane needed fish and when she started bringing in big catfish herself that nest at Achieva turned around. Today Tiny is a force to be reckoned with and it is grand.

I wish that when the two are full that Electra would sit on that fish. They would feed them several times before bed and food for in the morning. Oh, please, Electra don’t let Wattsworth take that fish!

The babies were still hungry as Wattsworth took the fish off the nest. Do we dare hope that he might keep it somewhere for his family and bring it back in a few hours?

UPDATE: Wattsworth brought the fish back and Electra is feeding the chicks again. Tears are pouring down my cheeks. I so wish this behaviour would continue every day on the nest but, for now – those little ones are feeling good and they will go to sleep tonight full not crying for food.

Oh, wow. Thank you Wattsworth. Look at the crop on that one chick! These little ones will have happy fish dreams tonight.

Tiny Tot is waiting on the Achieva nest for an evening fish – or he is really hoping an evening fish comes in. Me, too.

In Czechoslovakia, the surviving three White Storks were banded today. And they have names: Pankrac, Servac, and Bonifac. They were banded on camera. The bander was really gentle with them! Thank you to my friend, ‘T’ in Strasbourg for alerting me to the banding. I might have missed it!

It is better to watch the video. The bander covered them with a towel so that they would not be frightened. Here is the video:

Oh, and the three precious storks of Karl II and Kaia on the nest in Southern Estonia are doing so well. Nice fat little babies. Well fed. Watched over with great care. It is totally refreshing after the Cowlitz nest.

Thank you for joining me today. We can only hope that the fishing will be good and that Electra will respond in a positive way to the hunger cries of her babies. I so wish she had continued feeding them – they did do a crop drop. Now they need food to store for later. Send warm wishes their way! It is all we can do!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I grab my screen shots: Cowlitz PUD, Eagle Club of Estonia, and Ziva Camera Mlade Buky.