Tag Archives: Darvic Rings

Name the chicks! Late Thursday in Bird World

9 July 2026

Hello,

We hope that each of you had a good Thursday and that the end of the week will be kind

Please make sure that you suggest names for Dorcha and Louis’s two daughters! See below. The deadline is noon Monday – Loch Arkaig time.

First, I wanted to tell you who had been visiting the feeder for the homeless cats. It is a fantastic camera that has been running for more than two days and still has 97% of its power left. The image is fantastic, and it will take video clips if movement is detected. In this instance, we set it to ‘pets’. The first visit was Mr Crow who loves to dump the cat kibble out of the stainless steel bowl. Then Mr and Mrs Blue Jay along with all the other Jays. A red Squirrel and some grey squirrels, an orange cat named Samson, a tabby cat named Kiwi (no Brock), and, hold on, a skunk. I will keep the camera running except when I know it is going to rain which might happen tonight.

Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Thursday 9th July 2026

It’s a girl! Two of them, to be precise – Louis & Dorcha have produced two female chicks this year, continuing their tradition of same-sex clutches. The exception being 2023 which had a solo male chick – would the egg lost overboard also have hatched out male? We’ll never know. However, in not very good news, ringer Lewis Pate found the nest to be festooned with fishing twine, and one of the chicks entangled. He was able to remove it all, thank goodness, otherwise the chick probably would not have been able to fledge. George WTS has opened the name game – suggestions must be in by noon on Monday, don’t forget to use hashtag #2026NAME otherwise your suggestion might not be included. A panel will short list the suggestions and make their decision on Monday evening, which George will announce on Tuesday. In regular business, Garry LV0 brought two fish for Aurora, taking the Nest One tally to one hundred and fifty eight, and Louis brought five fish for Dorcha and the chicks, taking the Nest Two tally to two hundred and fifty seven. No disturbances today, the chicks were settled, the weather was settled but is due to change to overnight drizzle and a low of 15°C, and thundery showers, sunny intervals and a high of 23°C tomorrow.

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/-pm7UfxK_n4 N2 Name those chicks! Name Game open now until noon Monday 13th https://youtu.be/dzeVEwfADQQ N2 Are the chicks still full from last night? Neither’s interested in fish one 04.28.03https://youtu.be/Btb8Cm0MpR0 N2 Fish two gets hidden then the chicks try self feeding 05.03.07https://youtu.be/zy5OhBs5nk4 N2 Dorcha’s causing havoc with sticks 12.18.56https://youtu.be/OIHui3ptAqk N1 Aurora takes the fish and departs, Garry settles on the egg 14.12.37https://youtu.be/-0eCsSKqnDE N2 Fish three gets a 20-second handover 17.17.59https://youtu.be/QM-dPgIy0es N2 Tiny tiddler fish four is gone in 2 minutes 20.39.59https://youtu.be/UoIr0cwnAZk N1 Garry delivers fish two then both depart – empty nest 22.05.00https://youtu.be/4RzQT_DMpS4 N2 Dorcha almost barges Louis off the nest to get to fish five 22.51.17

You’re invited to join the friendly and knowledgeable community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum – it’s fun and free, everybody’s welcome:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

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Kelly Sorenson has sent out the following e-mail regarding the search for Iniko:

From the Director Iniko 1031 The News We FearedDownload

Some good news coming out of Wales.

SK Hideaways has a new video of Sandy and Luna protecting their territory. https://youtu.be/voxNZ7CTeDM?

For those of you intending to donate again to Save Moon Camp, please do so before the end of the month. SaveMoonCamp.org

Little Dewey is not so little and she is standing on the rails looking out at the world beyond. Good fish count today – thanks Pam and Heidi: Dewey fish count 7/9…8 Total…Mom 6 Menhaden, Dad 2 (1 bluefish, 1 Menhaden)

Osprey are dying all over the US and in Canada. What is the precise reason for those that are not part of the industrial trawling of Omega Protein? Is it heat stress on the fish? Those that depend on trout as their primary food are having trouble in Long Island Sound and other adjacent areas where the temperature in the water where the trout live exceeded 65 F. We saw this a couple of years ago in Montana.

Still, Menhaden are a huge issue in the NE or rather, the lack of them.

For those of you who might have missed it, I encourage you to read Viki Volk’s diary over her two decades of watching ospreys from her front porch on St. George’s Island, Indian Creek, Maryland. The ospreys thrived, and now, there is one little one struggling to survive. This is a tragedy unfolding before Viki’s eyes and all those who are watching the ospreys closely in this region. That diary is here: IslandCreekOspreys.com. It is free. You will learn something from an individual who loved/s our fish hawks.

I found entry 2020-3 interesting. There is a mention of supplementary fishing in that entry.

Something that is troubling me is that we are now finding more fishing equipment in the nests of the UK Ospreys – something unheard of in years past. This happened on the nest of Louis and Dorcha when the ringer found one of the chicks tangled in line. We know that Telyn swallowed a line and lure – and I am certain there was mention of at least one other nest with issues. What is going on? why now?

I wish that the female at Blackbush would feed the big siblings slower and then when she feeds Tiny she is focused and feeds fast. She drives me crazy.

The little one at Cowlitz PUD is moving about but I still have serious concerns about its survival. Let me be wrong!

I continue to have concerns about the only surviving chick at Osoyoos also. One day at a time.

Things look good for the pair at Coeur d’Alene Idaho.

The video of the ringing of the chicks at Fru Rauer in Norway is now available: https://youtu.be/xeMiYYPGVg8?

We continue to put wildlife in harm’s way with our activities including the mining of the ocean floor.

Species’ ingenious survival strategies no match for human destruction, red list revealshttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/09/species-ingenious-survival-strategies-no-match-human-destruction-red-list?CMP=share_btn_url

If you have travelled to Spain and Portugal recently you will, no doubt, have seen the multitude of storks that live there. Where do they eat? The dump. In fact, Bald Eagles in my City frequent the dump for food because road kill and small mammals are ot plentiful. They used to be but expanding housing developments and rodenticides to kill mice and rats have caused their food sources to dwindle. Now, we endanger their lives with all our junk food loaded with chemicals in those landfills!

Health risk fears for storks in Europe over ‘junk food’ from landfillhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/08/health-risk-fears-for-storks-in-europe-over-junk-food-from-landfill?CMP=share_btn_url

Thank you so much for being with us. It has been a bit of a long day, but a very productive one. I have been decluttering, and there is an energy in setting a simple goal, such as a single drawer, and seeing it only holding what is essential. Like a rental property on holiday! We wound up cleaning three drawers and taking a good look at the basement, which is going to get cleared. Tomorrow it will be Toby’s clothes. He has certainly grown from that little puppy that arrived 15 months ago. Someone is going to love those cute sweaters – hopefully some of them will go to Ann’s sweet little Australian Shepherd, Lucy.

Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to Geemeff for her daily summary and videos, SK Hideaways for their videos of Luna and Sandy, to PB for keeping me informed, to those who posted information and images on FB, to Kelly Sorenson and his team for their dedication to the California Condors, and to the owners of the streaming cams that allow us to witness these amazing creatures. Thank you to the Guardian for their continuing reporting on wildlife and the environment.

Late, late Wednesday in Bird World

8 July 2026

Good Evening Everyone,

I thought it was a beautiful day, weather-wise, in Winnipeg. It was a little hot, but it is going to get worse. We are expecting 45 C with the humidex in the coming days. There are warnings of thunderstorms and the heat. I feel so bad for the animals outside. I did check today, and it is 6 degrees cooler in the tree tunnel in the back garden. The front part of the back garden was nearly as cool. As a result, I have contacted my back neighbour, and he is going to dig up the area behind the conservatory, and I intend to plant it with trees so that, with the exception of a small area for garden tools and recycling bins, etc., it will all be forest. I may even dig up the bottom part of the deck! Why am I doing this? First, to help the wildlife and animals that come into our garden. Second, to help keep our house cooler in the coming years and to defy our bloody City government, which has decided to cut the tree planting programme in favour of cement!!!!!!!!!! Don’t even get me started. There is an election coming up. I hope that we get some people who care about the quality of life for every living soul, not just developers.

I am grateful, and we will be OK. My house has triple-pane windows throughout. With the exception of the conservatory, they have special glass that keeps the warmth in during the winter and cools in the summer. I also have one extraordinary AC unit. When the extension was built, it was already known that temperatures would rise in the summer and could be much colder in the winter, so that was all taken into account. I do need to redo the insulation in the attic, and hopefully, after my son removes anything valuable from there in a week, that can be done.

So, please take care of yourself as this heat spreads everywhere. Remember that water is important for life, and a bowl of water set out could save a life.

The chicks of Louis and Dorcha were ringed Wednesday evening. Geemeff has all the details that are known in their daily summary:

Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Wednesday 8th July 2026

The weather was settled and both males provided well for their mates – Garry LV0 brought two fish for Aurora 536, taking the Nest One tally to one hundred and fifty six, and although both of them left the nest unattended for long periods, at the time of filing this report, half past midnight, Aurora is still in residence sitting on the egg. Louis brought seven fish for Dorcha and the chicks, taking the Nest Two tally to two hundred and fifty two. The family had a bit of a disturbed day with an intruder Osprey nearby and various aircraft passing near the nest, and then the major disturbance in the evening which is also the main story of the day – a visit from the ringers! Lewis Pate, the intrepid raptor expert who climbs 70 foot tall trees only to be nipped by sharp little beaks, attended today to ring the two chicks. This time he did it on the ground, climbing up to put them safely in bags, bringing them down and carrying out the ringing then climbing back up again to return the chicks to the nest. The actual process involves not just putting a Darvic ring on the left leg and a BTO ring on the right leg, but also taking various measurements, noting weights and making a gender assessment. That information will be given later but today we know their Darvic IDs, and the golden chick is now 8P6, and the dark chick is 8P7. The chicks were still pancaked when the nest cam cam back on after the ringers had left, but Dorcha was perched nearby and Louis brought the last two of today’s seven fish, and actually fed one of the chicks himself, and the whole family seems pretty much back to normal by the end of the day. The overnight forecast is for light clouds, light winds and a low of 14°C, continuing tomorrow with a high of 20°C.

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/PcIGga48Mis N2 Early breakfast but fish one doesn’t last long 05.15.26

https://youtu.be/ddVnYNbnrL8 N2 Chicks are full so Dorcha gets most of fish two 05.45.21

https://youtu.be/mlUUrshkuAY N2 Fish three arrives an hour after the last  06.45.20

https://youtu.be/txcgIyGSLuQ N2  Dorcha stares lochwards, ignoring fish four 12.42.51

https://youtu.be/50g6P5_5ftA N2 Everyone’s full when Louis brings fish five 15.12.42

https://youtu.be/nJXkZ2c0I20 N1 Aurora departs with fish one leaving Garry on the nest 15.54.21

https://youtu.be/UdIdOtRYEX0 N1 Garry remains on the nest after Aurora departs with fish two 20.28.05

https://youtu.be/gmOsyBa-EoM N2 Dorcha stays on the perch so Louis feeds a chick with fish six 22.01.10

https://youtu.be/7zWGgNzcMwc N2 Dorcha flies off with fish seven leaving Louis in charge 22.19.49

Bonus read – BTO history of ringing (you might be surprised at how long it’s been carried out): 

https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/bird-ringing-scheme/about-ringing/history-ringing


Come and join the friendly community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s fun, free and everyone’s welcome:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

It is no secret that I am simply gutted about the death of P3 at Cornell. Thank you, Pam Breci, for taking the time to cheer me up! And you did that with a great screen capture of Tiny at Blackbush with a huge crop and then you put a big smile on my face.

“This will make you laugh…19.59.12 Tiny feeling fat and brave went after another sib but then ran and hid under moms tail.”

I laughed. This is one little stinker that wants to live despite all the abuse it has taken and the food that it has been denied. This chick reminds me of Tiny Tumbles at Achieva in 2020 – or was it 2021? A survivor.

A beautiful story about a disaster, hope, and determination from the Lonely Camp:

“Condor 316 laid her egg in a cave on the edge of an Arizona cliff in April 2023, one of her last acts before avian influenza killed her. Her mate, Condor 680, was sick too. He stayed on the egg. For three weeks he incubated it alone, refusing to leave the cave to eat or drink. A California condor egg takes 57 days to hatch. A single parent cannot maintain the temperature alone for that long. The egg and the father were both going to die in that cave.

On April 17, biologists from The Peregrine Fund who had been monitoring 680’s movements waited outside the cave until the male made a rare departure to briefly stretch his wings. They scrambled inside, wrapped the egg in towels, packed it into a small field cooler with hand warmers, and drove 300 miles south to Phoenix. Jessica Schlarbaum, a Peregrine Fund spokesperson, said 680 had been so focused on incubating that he was not leaving to find food and water for himself, risking his own life.

At Liberty Wildlife in Mesa, Arizona, veterinary technician Jan Miller candled the egg, holding it to a bright light to see if anything was alive inside. The clinic had spent the previous month caring for flu-infected condors. More than half had died, including 316. Miller had little hope. She was looking for blood vessels or movement. She saw both. The mood in the room shifted instantly. Oh my god, it is actually viable.

The egg surface tested negative for the virus. The chick inside was poorly positioned and required an assisted hatch. Veterinarian Stephanie Lamb carefully cut away sections of shell. On May 1, 2023, the chick emerged. Liberty Wildlife staff spent two anxious days waiting for the HPAI test results. The chick was negative. They learned she was female. In a species where males outnumber females, her sex made her survival even more significant. They named her Milagra, Spanish for miracle. Her official number was 1221. The Peregrine Fund normally identifies condors only by number, to avoid humanizing a wild species. They made an exception.

Within a week, Liberty Wildlife veterinarian Stephanie Lamb flew the chick to The Peregrine Fund’s breeding facility in Boise, Idaho. Milagra needed to be raised by condors, not people. Her foster father was waiting. His name was Cuyama, officially Condor 27. He had hatched in the wild in California in 1983. When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made the decision to capture every remaining California condor on earth to save the species, there were 22 left.

Cuyama was one of them. He had spent four decades in the breeding program, siring and raising captive-bred chicks that would be released into the wild. Now, at more than 40 years old, he was raising one more.

Milagra spent over a year in Boise, first with her foster parents, then in a socialization pen with other young condors and two older mentor birds. She learned to eat, preen, interact, and establish her place in a condor social hierarchy, all from birds, never from humans.

On September 28, 2024, The Peregrine Fund opened the door of a flight pen on a red cliff at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, 50 miles from the Grand Canyon’s North Rim. Six hundred people watched from the basin below. Milagra was inside with three other captive-reared condors. The first bird left after 20 minutes. The second after 40. Milagra sat in the pen for an hour and 20 minutes. Then she walked out. She did not soar. She stepped onto the ledge and looked around.

She found a carcass that the field crew had laid out below the cliff and began eating. An older condor landed beside her. He was male, large, and his smooth pink head showed his age. They fed side by side. For a moment they turned and faced each other on the rocky ledge. The older bird was Condor 680. He was Milagra’s biological father. Tim Hauck, director of The Peregrine Fund’s condor program, said it was unlikely the birds recognized their family connection. For the humans watching, it did not matter whether they did.

Condor 680 survived. Removing the egg from the cave saved his life. He left the nest, recovered, and has remained healthy. Condor 316 had raised two chicks before Milagra. Neither survived to adulthood. Milagra is her last descendant.

Source: The Peregrine Fund / Audubon Magazine / Smithsonian Magazine / Associated Press / Salt Lake Tribune.”

A big shout out to Debbie Campbell of Menhaden – Little Fish, Big Deal. Debbie is going to set up a Zoom link for me and my readers to watch and interact with the director of The Last Osprey in August. I will keep you posted on how to sign up!

Ringing took place at the Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Foulshaw Moss Osprey platforms:

One of two osprey chicks at Bunarkaig has died.

Lots of activity at Fraser Point. SK Hideaways has some of it on video! https://youtu.be/IeQYmmnGWzA?

Thank you for being with us today. Tomorrow I will tell you who has been eating at our feral cat feeder!

Thank you to Pam Breci and Tiny for the smiles, Geemeff for the summary and videos, SK Hideaways for keeping us informed about all things going on with those California eagles, and to all those who posted information and images on FB – I am so grateful to you and the owners of the streaming cams.

Can you help the Bird Banding Lab?

21 May 2025

Hello Everyone,

This is happening tomorrow and that is why I am posting tonight!

One of our readers sent this to me and I wanted to forward it to you in case you would like to voice your opinion! Over the years one of the many things that is said to me is: all of the birds need to be banded. Well, now that this practice is under threat it is time to tell them why banding/ringing is important.

Laddie LM12 delivers four fish and other brief news in Bird World

20 June 2022

This will not be a very long posting this morning – . It is a beautiful sunny day here and not nearly as hot, yet, as yesterday. A good day to be out and about.

It is a relief to tell you that Laddie LM12 at the Loch of the Lowes has brought in at least three large fish to Blue NC0 this morning for her and the two surviving osplets. So what was going on? Everyone up at Loch of the Lowes believes it was intruders that kept Laddie busy and not fishing.

Oh, he is up to number 4 this morning!!!!!!! Making up for lost time. My gracious.

We all know what intruders can do to the Ospreys and the nest. I believe that Laddie is at least 10-12 years old. Very experienced but the breeding pairs should not have to contend with the young juveniles (2 years old) returning that have no mate or nest – similar to the chicks on Taiaroa Head when the juveniles arrive in December.

Fish number four!!!!!!!!!!! This is awesome. We can all not worry today. Laddie is out performing himself. Fingers crossed that the intruders move on.

The three chicks were ringed this morning at the Rutland nest just like everyone believed would happen. This is the all the information and images from Rutland. Everyone is already thinking these three girls will be heading to Wales in a couple of years to find Welsh males for mates!

https://www.lrwt.org.uk/blog/guest-blog/ringing-manton-bay-chicks?fbclid=IwAR0Q6DLKwWhyIgsjeN2jnS-Ye5cIzvjnY8O4Obq-9gleuCMAp9vPDbWdGVQ

A really nice sized fish was delivered to the three at the ND-LEEF this morning. They are 81, 80, and Little Bit 17 is 76 days old today. First news is that 16 has branched so both 15 and 16 are in the line up for fledging.

One of the older siblings gets the fish first. It is then taken by the other older sibling.

At 09:50:05, Little Bit 17 steals that fish! What a great start to the day.

It is time for me to get ready for some appointments this morning. I will check on all the problem nests later today. We can now breathe easy – for a couple of days – that everyone has been fed at the Loch of the Lowes. Send best wishes for those intruders to move themselves along! I am still working on the list of loses and the wildlife rehab articles. Last night I got up to number 60 on loses. It is all a bit gutting. The last additions were the three osplets that died when their nest collapsed at Patuxent 2. What a tragedy.

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

Thank you to the Friends of the Loch of the Lowes, the Rutland Osprey Project, and the ND-LEEF for their streaming cams and/or FB announcements where I took my screen captures.