Tag Archives: Daisy

The Daisy Chronicles, day 3

Daisy appears to have established a routine coming to and from the nest. I will check this today once it approaches dawn in Sydney.

Yesterday she arrived before dawn and checked on the one egg. She cautiously returned later and laid her 2nd egg. Once it was hard and she had warmed it for a short while, she began bringing leaves from all around the nest – stretching her little neck to its fullest. If she heard a predator, she would stop everything. Slink down into the nest cup as best she could and wait. Then she would begin gathering leaves again. Then she departed.

The images below are from the time Daisy arrived til she left on day 2.

Today is Day 3! Oh, our brave little duck. She arrived before dawn. Egg 3 was laid at 6:55:07. You can see that moment in the images below. Oh, this little duck from last year learned so much in a year. Many of you have written to me remembering that last year we felt that if Daisy had arrived a month earlier the eggs might have all hatched. Well, this smart duck did that this year. This would be her first clutch of the season. She can lay eggs twice. Last year Lady and Dad spent the month of December at Goat Island for the most part rarely checking on the nest. We will never know if Lady hadn’t tossed the down all over the place if those eggs could have remained hidden from the Ravens. But, if Dad and Lady are away from the nest ———— well, Daisy, we are all sending you the best energy that we can.

You could hear the Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos and the other birds in the forest. Daisy is extremely cautious – as she should be.

It looks like there are a few sprinkles on Daisy’s feathers. Our beautiful little duck is standing above thee eggs so the third will dry and the shell harden.

Daisy will do what she has done the other two days. Allow the shell to harden. She may stay on the three eggs a bit before covering all three and leaving the nest. She appears to not have removed any down from her breast yet for the eggs.

The egg is now dry enough to Daisy to lay down on all of the eggs.

I wish Daisy knew how many well wishes she has from around the world including her good friend ‘I’ from Poland.

Thank you so much for being here for Daisy today. Stop in tomorrow for Day 4 of The Daisy Chronicles. Stay safe!

I will continue to monitor the situation — and, of course, you can, too. Here is the link to the streaming cam!

Thank you to the Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

The Daisy Chronicles, day 2

We are going to start off with a check on what is happening in San Francisco – before moving on to Daisy.

An absolutely adorable 4 min 16 sec radio discussion on The Love Story in the Sky at The Campanile.

Did you know that Peregrine Falcons were virtually wiped out in California? In the late 1970 there were only two nesting pairs? This was the result of DDT. There is lots of literature but reading Rachel Carsons, Silent Spring, is a very good start.

DDT might have been banned after the revelations of Rachel Carson and others but it remains in the soil in various places. One of those is Big Bear California where DDT was sprayed on Big Bear Lake to kill the mosquitoes. It is still a contributing factor in thin egg shells which may be part of the problem with Jackie and Shadow, the Bald Eagles that have their nest at Big Bear.

Daisy the Duck did not spend the night on the White-Bellied Sea Eagle nest.

She arrived before sunrise to check on the nest. No one else was there. Daisy will be very cautious. She does not want to draw attention to the egg cup where her first egg was laid.

She goes over to where her egg is and checks. It is still there. Safe.

We can see where Daisy’s egg is because we know it is there but it is nicely covered with leaves and nest material so the predators cannot find it.

Daisy leaves right as the sun is rising and the forest is waking up.

Daisy carefully waits on a branch when she returns an hour and a half later. Can you see her?

She is checking and rolling her egg.

Daisy is very still. When she is in labour, her tail will move up and down.

There are now two eggs! Look you can see them both. Daisy is holding herself up so as not to break the second egg. When the eggs are laid they are soft. The air will dry off the surface and make them hard.

Daisy has settled on the eggs nicely. She is having a rest. Daisy will not do hard incubation until all of the eggs are laid. That is so they will hatch at the same time.

This last image of Daisy was taken a few minutes ago. It is nearly 08:30 in Sydney, Australia.

So far Daisy has been lucky. Lady and Dad did visit the nest tree a week ago and then on the day that WBSE 27 was released from care, they were not at the River Roost. They will often go to Goat Island if there are no eaglets to look after. Still, we know that they do come to check the nest.

Someone asked me why Daisy does not stay on the eggs now all the time. If she did they would not all hatch on the same day. Secondly, she is a very smart little duck. Her presence on the nest makes all of the other forest animals and birds curious. Last January they had never seen a duck on the big sea eagle nest — and neither had anyone else! I think Daisy will try and protect her eggs really well this year from the Ravens. She is almost a year older and she is ‘wiser’ now. Her breeding and the laying of eggs normally coincides with plenty of food and water. Her mate, who came to inspect the nest last year, only takes part in the mating ritual. The rest is up to Daisy. That is why she is so vulnerable. Only 20% of Pacific Black Ducks live to be 2 years old. Indeed, the average life span is only about two years. Oh, I so hope that she is successful this year! There are so many people hoping for Daisy!

You can join in and become a real Daisy fan. She needs all the love and positive energy we can all send her. Soon the name of the streaming cam will be changed from Sea-Eagle to Duck Cam! Here is the link to the streaming cam. Daisy arrives about 13:15 CDT or around 05:15 Australian Time. I am not expecting her to stay all day but she might surprise me.

Once Daisy lays all of her eggs (there could be 11), she will begin her hard incubation. Incubation will last for 29 days after the laying of the last egg. This is the difficult time. Daisy still has to eat and have some relaxing time. Last year she even went out during the night. It is then that the eggs are vulnerable. As long as she is incubating them, the Ravens seem not to bother. Our fears of the sea eagles proved to be nothing. They could behave differently this year but they were not a threat last save for the fact that scattering the down nesting material allowed the eggs to be seen. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for joining me. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the Sydney Sea Eagle @ Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

Happenings in Bird World

Holly Parsons, the administrator for the Orange Peregrine Falcon FB group, has posted the following from Cilla Kinross regarding Yurruga:

I took some images of beautiful Diamond throughout the day.

We would expect the parents to visibly be supplying prey to Yurruga. Many of you will have seen the adults at 367 Collins Street bringing in prey. You might recall how the Dad tried so hard to feed the little male when he was too sick and could not eat or swallow anything. Just pause and remember the healthy chicks at that nest and the noise they made even prior to fledging when food was around. Then remember Yurruga and how he behaved when prey came to the scrape. The falcons are loud in their food begging just like the four lads at Port Lincoln. The little ones simply cannot go without eating and while they are learning to fly they are also being taught how to hunt. It is unclear how instinctive hunting is. For example, the adult Ospreys do not teach their fledglings how to fish. They simply are hardwired to do it. Peregrine Falcon parents spend much time passing prey around, dropping it for the wee one to catch, etc. Certainly Yurruga had at least a days training because he was seen flying around with the parents prior to the big storm. There would be several prey drops during a day. No one has anything confirmed after last Thursday in Australia, 9 days ago now. I know that each of us wants this outcome to be different and I would like nothing better than for someone a mile away to phone Cilla and tell her that Yurruga is on their roof or in their garden. The long sessions in the scrape together may be Xavier and Diamond bonding in grief. There is also the additional issue of the absence of the eggs. Diamond has spent an inordinate amount of time scraping where the eggs were. My heart really goes out to her.

Sad news is also coming out of California. The California Condor chick #1075 died at the Los Angeles Zoo on 12 November. He had sustained injuries from adult male condor #247 during a territorial dispute. I know that many of you watched that streaming cam. Their lives are so very very fragile and to have a death of a promising chick due to fights is extremely difficult to process. There seems to be a lot of territorial disputes. You might remember that California Condor #1031 Iniko who survived the Dolan Fire was actually injured when an adult male came to the nest tree. —— Which reminds me! Iniko will be released back into the community of condors where he hatched on Saturday along with two others. This is great news coming on the heels of grief.

We really need some good news in Bird World. Iniko’s release is, of course, one of those. I really hope it is OK to cut and paste this amazing story from that Valerie Webber posted on the Loch Garten and Other Ospreys FB page. It is a marvellous tale of German Osprey Black 1FO seen in Portugal in Dec 2005/Jan 2006 and again in September 2021. So the question that is being asked is where has this bird been? It is more than 16 years old and this is truly remarkable – 3 sightings only in all those years. He really is a very handsome bird.

More good news come in the form of a Pacific Black Duck named Daisy who has now laid her first egg in the Sydney White-bellied Sea Eagle nest. An earlier blog today gave more images and some details. So nice to have her back! I am so excited about Daisy’s return that I can’t sleep! You can catch her on the Sydney Sea Eagle Cam. She laid her first egg today. She must have rushed to get to the nest OR she had made a nest elsewhere and predators came. We might not know. She will begin lining the nest with the down from her breast. That down will not only make it soft for her and the eggs but also will help cover the eggs when she has to go forage. She will also mix the down with leaves on the nest and cover the nest with those leaves. I hope there are lots of them!

Every one of the lads on the Port Lincoln Osprey Nest has had a fish today. Port Lincoln also says that the three have been seen at the shore going for a bit of a swim or a bath. Fantastic.

The three are over on the perches and ropes near Mum. What a beautiful image. I wish that Dad was there, too. The fledglings are gradually spending more time on the perches and ropes and flying around. They are growing up and shortly might be off on their own. I need to check and find out when Solly permanently left the barge. That might give us some clue.

I know that many of you are familiar with the Welsh Ospreys, Aran and Mrs G at the Glaslyn Nest. You might also know that one of Monty and Glesni’s sons, Aeron Z2, and his mate Blue 14 have their nest close by at Pont Croesor. Glaslyn has announced that the new hide is finished and visitors will be able to observe the nest of Z2 and Blue 14. That is great news.

That is it for me. I am sufficiently exhausted from the excitement of Daisy that I might be able to sleep. This is my Friday newsletter. I will bring updates later tomorrow (Friday the 3rd) evening.

Take care everyone. Thanks for joining me.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Loch Garten and Other Ospreys FB, Orange Peregrine Falcon FB, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Sydney Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, and Charles Sturt University and Cilla Kinross.

Daisy is back!

Daisy is a Pacific Black Duck. This past January Daisy laid her second clutch of eggs in the old Ironbark Tree used by the White-Bellied Sea Eagles for their nest. She has now returned to lay her first clutch for the 2021-22 season. She laid her first egg today!

Last year we held our breath watching Daisy pick the nest with her mate, lay her eggs, be frightened off by Dad and Lady only to find out their were curious – not harmful. WBSE do not like duck down! It sticks to their bills and must feel ‘fuzzy’. The Rainbow Lorikeets came to visit Daisy every morning. The culprits were the Ravens.

The female Black Pacific Duck normally lays their nest on the ground. Daisy might believe or know for certain that is unsafe. So she tried this high tree deep in the forest. I wrote blog after blog about this brave little Duck that outwitted the big sea eagles. Sadly, the WBSE scattered the down lining the nest cup that had come from Daisy’s chest. She was able to replace it once but then it rained. When she got up off the nest to get food for herself (her mate does not help her at all), the Ravens saw the eggs and ate them. They were within a couple of days of hatching. It appears that Daisy wants to take her chances again using the nest of Dad and Lady. My goodness. Welcome back, Daisy!

Can you see her?

There it is!

You will notice that Daisy has not lined the egg cup with the down from her breast. She will. It seems she was in a hurry to get into this big nest and lay that egg. I wonder if she laid eggs elsewhere and was frightened away? Isn’t she beautiful?

This is so exciting. Daisy renewed my love for ducks last year. The camera operator at the Sea Eagle nest is very good at getting close ups of the beautiful nest cup she will make. The image below is from day 13 of incubation. Daisy was half way to hatch. She is listening for the sea eagles. You can see the mess that Lady made with the duck down – that precious lining and covering, scattered.

Daisy’s beautiful lined nest in early 2021

Daisy was always very cautious when she returned to the nest. She would listen and look around for a long time. She did not want anyone to see where her clutch of precious eggs was.

Satisfied that no one is around, Daisy sits on her eggs.
A friendly Rainbow Lorikeet curious about the little duck in the big sea eagle nest.

This morning I wrote that there wasn’t much happening in the Australian nests and wow – Daisy, you just changed all of that. So everyone even if you think you do not like ducks you will want to watch The Chronicles of Daisy – the little duck that thwarted the great big sea eagles! Here is the link to the camera. Oh, I am so excited I can hardly sit still. Seriously, this is better than ice cream or your favourite mystery thriller.

Just a note. Daisy will not do hard incubation until all of the eggs are laid. There will be between 7-12 normally. The ducklings will all hatch at once and jump off the nest when they are 24 hours old. They will then follow Daisy quickly to the Parramatta River where she lives and where they will immediately forage for food.

Thank you to the Sea Eagles @ Bird Life Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took these screen shots.

Everyone’s favourite duck is back!

Lady and Dad had no more than finished eating the fish that was brought to the nest yesterday – in case one of the eaglets showed up – than our very own Daisy flies in! Yes, you read that correct!

Daisy is a Pacific Black Duck. Last year her and her mate visited the White-Bellied Sea Eagles’s nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest in December. They decided that it was the perfect place for Daisy to make her nest and raise her ducklings. The pair worked very hard making a nest cup lining it with leaves and the soft down that Daisy pulled off her breast. It was a work of art!

There were seven eggs in the nest. In total, however, Daisy laid nine eggs. Dad ate one and it is presumed that Daisy laid one egg elsewhere on a day when Dad decided to stay all day at the nest trying to catch her. Daisy is a very intelligent duck!

Here she is laying her last egg.

No one knew how but Daisy managed to thwart efforts of eviction. Lady and Dad were very curious and would come to the nest and mess it up but they were curious only. Dad had tried to eat a second egg and couldn’t and seemed to not like the taste of them anyway! Daisy would wait for the sea eagles to leave and return quietly to incubate her eggs. They were close to hatch when, at a time she was off the nest, the Ravens came and found them. Hundreds of people cheered the little duck on. No one thought that her or her eggs would last longer than a week but, she almost made it. Maybe this year she will.

This morning Daisy came to visit the nest again. Look closely. Her camouflage really works well. Can you see her?

There she is right in the middle of the nest.

What a relief to see that our darling little Daisy survived another year. She looks really nice and fit except for her paddle feet which look a little worse for wear since last year.

I could not see if her mate was with her or not. He certainly didn’t come into the nest but he might have been on one of the branches. Last year, he was very active in helping Daisy select the nesting site. Sadly, he was not active in protecting Daisy and the eggs.

Normally Black Pacific Ducks would make their nests on the ground near water. In this case it would be somewhere along the Parramatta River. There are, as we well know, predators ready to steal the eggs or eat the ducklings the minute that they are laid or hatch. Perhaps Daisy still thinks it is worth the risk of the ravens to try for a clutch here. Black Pacific Ducks lay two clutches of eggs a year. This is earlier than last year so, perhaps, this would be the first of two clutches this breeding season.

Oh, those beautiful wings. I cannot tell you how excited I am to see Daisy and to think of the possibility of seeing ducklings jump off this old nest in the Ironbark Tree. That would be really amazing.

I will keep you posted of developments or you can tune into the Sea Eagles cam to see if Daisy returns tomorrow morning. Here is the link to Cam 4 without the chat:

If there are any updates on WBSE 27 I will bring them to you tomorrow. There was some clarification about what happened. 27 had been standing on the road or sidewalk. When it flew up it was attached by a group of Currawong who kept hitting its head and it fell to the pavement. Thankfully a ranger was close by and 27 was alert in the transport van. So far no news is good news. I am really hopeful that 27 will get great care and if there was nothing broken or no internal injuries, it will make a full recovery and be returned to the wild. Indeed, this could all be a blessing in that 27 will be strong and well fed and able to fly before it is released. This might be just the chance it needs to survive.

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

Thank you to the SeaEagle Cam@ Birdlife Australia for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.