Tag Archives: Dorcha and Louis

Late Monday news in Bird World

8 August 2022

The condolences continue to pour into Poole Harbour for the loss of 5H2 due to the goshawk attack and to Loch Garten’s 1C1 to unknown causes. It is worse when the osplets are older and flying. The number of Osprey in the UK is very small compared to North America and the loss of these two chicks on significant nests took its toll today. Last year the osplets died due to weather issues when they were so little. This year we lost a wee one at Llyn Brenig, the third hatch at Loch Arkaig when its foot caught and it could not get under Mum during the worst weather. Siblicide at Loch of the Lowes. It is hard either way but raising chicks to fledge and then losing them is just tragic.

I have had many letters asking if Loch Garten is doing a post-mortem. Yes, they are! The cameras will be turned off during the removal of the chick and then turned back on. We have seen three ‘mysterious’ deaths this year on streaming cams of Ospreys -Big at Captiva, Molate at SF Bay, and now 1C1 at Loch Garten. I included Big because there was no confirmation of why she died. Molate was visibly unwell for a few days, just like 1C1. Is it the same? (It is unclear to me as to whether GG Audubon ever removed Molate’s body from the grid as fledglings Brooks and the Visitor continue to come to the nest. Speculation is a lung infection. I do recall Molate also had trouble breathing. Curious.

Elsewhere in Bird World, life seems reasonably stable but everything can change in a few seconds – without any warning – as was the case of H52.

The great experiment by Urmas and Dr Madis to save the Black storklets of Jan and Janika would have been significant if not for the loss of all the chicks on Eedi’s nest due to predation (possibly another Goshawk attack). There is one survivor, Bonus. Bonus is doing tremendously well. He is 78 days old today. Karl II and Kaia have found the filled fish baskets and the chicks are so full that when Karl II comes in with a delivery the four of them cannot eat all the fish. Yes, it is true!

Fledging could come at any time. Bonus is overdue but because of his delayed development due to stress and lack of food, he will fly once he is ready, not by a calendar. Kaia often leaves by 11 August so we are watching to see what will happen this year.

It is mostly quiet. Many of us are watching the females in the UK to spot on leaves when. Maya is still at Manton Bay in Rutland.

I could not get a good look at her face but this is that amazing female who raised three big girls with Blue 33 this year! She is the mother of Telyn at Dyfi.

1H3 has enjoyed a nice fish delivery today.

1H1 is screaming to goodness for Mum or Dad to get a fish on the nest for her!!!!!!!!! What a beauty.

All of the fledglings could catch their own fish. The parents do not have to teach them – 60 million years is hardwired into their DNA. The fledglings just do not know that they can do it! During migration they will have to begin to fiend for themselves.

These females are such characters. Blue 33 could hear his girl across the lake! “I want a fish now!” Blue 33 is one of my great loves as far as ospreys go. He is 11 years old this year and is ending his 9th breeding season. He has raised two sets of four osplets to fledge with Maya…They are a super couple in a realm of their own.

Remember that flapping fish that we thought had killed at least one of the little ones – they survived. All three nice big girls!

It is hot at the Dyfi nest in Wales of Idris and Telyn. Tomorrow it will be 30 C. Telyn is still here. She has been chasing off an intruder which appears to be annoying her to no end. I do not blame her. Now is not the time for an injury. Telyn will leave Wales and fly to The Gambia. According to Chris Woods who travels to The Gambia in the winter, he knows precisely where her favourite perch is. Brilliant. It is always reassuring to know she has arrived safely.

Just look at all the cameras.

Relaxing down by the Dyfi River.

Emyr Evans has posted a very interesting blog testing different hypotheses about the unringed visitor to the Dyfi Nest. It has some information about fledging ages and the start of migration. Thanks EE – we love the Dyfi Data!

https://www.dyfiospreyproject.com/blog/emyr-mwt/extremely-rare-visitor-unringed-fledgling

I see no word that Blue NC0 has left the Loch of the Lowes either. Both chicks have been flying for at least 3 weeks and they are doing some fancy landings and take offs from the nest. I was able to catch them on the nest today – one with a fish and the other screaming to Laddie LM12 (Dad) to bring another pronto! These males sure get a work out at the end of the season. No wonder their legs are so strong and muscular.

These two look to be in brilliant shape!

Mrs G is still here. She is on the perch to the left while Aran is on the one at the right.

Aran and Mrs G looking out on their territory from the Glaslyn nest. Aran is in the back, Mrs G, the oldest osprey in the UK, is in the front.

Fledgling eating a fish on the Glaslyn nest while Mrs G is at the nest.

I cannot read the Darvic rings but this looks like a different fledgling enjoying a meal earlier in the day.

I was also able to catch Seren and one of the chicks on the Llyn Clywedog nest in Wales. It is so rare to see chicks on the nest that I feel fortunate checking all of the nests and finding at least one today.

Dorcha and the two fledgling chicks were on Loch Arkaig! I did not see Louis but he is about bringing in fish.

This one desperately wants a fish!

They do not know that they are getting ready for the most challenging two years of their lives. If they live to get to the South of England or parts thereabouts, they will feed up. There are scores of birds that will be at Poole Harbour making their way to their winter homes. How many of them will survive? When we hear averages, it must be the entire raptor family, not just specific species. We know that the UK birds will either land on the Iberian Peninsula and winter or they will continue to Africa and winter in The Gambia and Senegal. I hope to get some figures for Ospreys only. It will be easy to get UK figures of 2 year survival – or thereabouts – as from the Dyfi note – all known birds have Darvic Rings except for a few nests in Scotland and maybe one hiding in Montgomeryshire in Wales. The figure is going to be low and it could provide us with more insights. Less than 1 in 3 I suspect.

Remember – send me the stories you remember about migration. I am particularly interested in the huge challenges these birds face. Get it to me by Thursday night. Thanks!

I peeked in at the Osoyoos and Fortis Exshaw nest briefly throughout the day. The heat dome is definitely hitting BC again but Soo and Olsen seem to be weathering it fine. I have also checked on Titi who has been hovering but has not fledged. Titi is in a very dangerous position if he cannot fly – he is literally the sitting osprey for that Goshawk that continues to fly around the nest! I wonder why he is not moving? We saw Nuppu try to beak her youngest to fly. Titi has no mother, only a sibling and Dad and he needs to work those wings and get out of there.

The latest updates on Victor came on 3 August. If you missed it, here it is. There has been nothing since. We must assume that Victor is continuing to progress. Treatments for heavy lead toxicity take a long time.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or posts where I took my screen captures: Finnish Osprey Foundation, The Eagle Club of Estonia and Looduskalender, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, CarnyXWild, LRWT, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Wildlife Trust.

Sarafina flies, Too many fish at Osoyoos, and other good news in Bird World

31 August 2022

Good Morning! I hope this finds all of you well. For those of you waiting to see Sarafina fledge, she did it at 0655 Sunday morning, 31 July. Congratulations to Louis and Dorcha and to all at Loch Arkaig!

I am so glad that Saturday is over! This means that if the forecast is correct, the nests in the Pacific Northwest that are broiling will begin to get some relief from the heat in two days. Gosh, that seems like such a long time but they have weathered extreme heat for nearly a week and all are still with us.

Olsen and Soo have really done an amazing job keeping the two osplets in the shade on Saturday and, well, anyone who has ever fished know that the fish go down deep to get into cooler water. Ospreys are only able to dive 1m or 3 feet below the surface of the water – so they need those fish swimming around near the top not going deep to get cooler. By 0930 Olsen had delivered quite a number of fish, apparently some better sized than others. I did not count them. There was one delivery around around 19:30ish. It appeared that the two chicks were super full and Soo got some nice fish, too. — They look good at the end of today. Such a relief.

‘H’ sent this image of the ‘unwanted’ fish.

At 08:55 Sunday morning, One chick is sleeping on a fish piece, the unwanted is still there, and Soo has a super nice crop. I sure hope Olsen got some good fish, too. This family is depending on him! And Olsen, you get the gold star for the week. You and Soo are doing amazing.

On Saturday, Ferris Akel ended his tour, as always, with a stop at the Cornell Campus home to Big Red and Arthur. He found L4 prey calling to Mum and Dad. Big Red was also located.

Oh, my goodness, what a handsome fledgling. L4 has lovely light grey-blue eyes that will get darker and darker turning into an exquisite espresso colour in adulthood. He will also get his red tail when he is a year old.

L4
L4
L4
Big Red

The White-Bellied Sea Eagle nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest is becoming much calmer. There is plenty of prey. Lady feeds SE29 and 30 still about every hour. I noticed that the feedings are getting a little longer and that both chicks have nice crops at the end. It will not be long until there are fewer feedings with the chicks consuming much more prey.

What to expect as we end week 2 and prepare for week 3? The chicks will have doubled their size. You might also notice that their shape is changing – they are getting longer and so is their beak! We will begin to see them climb out of the nest or egg cup exploring their surroundings and pecking at leaves. By week 4, some pin feathers on the wings will begin to show.

The last feeding before night fall in the forest. If you look carefully you can see how the down is ‘looking different’. There will be little ‘black dots’ soon.

If you love White-tail Eagles then you will be excited to know that the oldest WTE couple on Mull Island just fledged their 25th chick! Skye is 28 and Frisa is 30. Look at that beautiful baby!

https://www.birdguides.com/news/uks-oldest-known-white-tailed-eagle-pair-fledge-25th-chick/?fbclid=IwAR2VaicG4ZgKYXqWASf-x4qjwOstyti3NUx0uEiQnEJ51PY8waezLbHO-ig

Another article about our dear Victor’s recovery.

Please note that Victor is not standing on a towel but has moved to a low perch. Lovely.

https://www.ojaivalleynews.com/news/sick-bald-eagle-recovering-at-orc/article_c4540a4a-0f08-11ed-91fc-4ba35f94378b.html?fbclid=IwAR1dT0-m8dw_Q5mF4p4ZyPyaGIuZ6Wo_9uuVq1-WpQ4PLlLe3CI0LF-Fs3Q

I am certain that everyone will agree that you can see the improvements in Victor. The top image is a couple of days ago- the lower one is when Victor began his physio.

I saw no images but on thee Notre Dame chat, Little Bit ND17 was seen by someone at the park. That is good news.

Our other lad, Ervie, really flew about Port Lincoln yesterday!

You may recall that the Port Lincoln Osprey Project carried in parts of a new tower platform nest for the couple at Turnby Island. Previously their eggs had been predated by foxes on the island. The new tower was to stop that predation with a plan in place to rid the island of its invasive fox population. The time for egg laying is near – and look what is causing the ospreys to alert.

Port Lincoln says this foxes’ days are numbered. He cannot, however, get to the eggs which were previously laid on the ground. Thank you Port Lincoln!

The two Ospreys at the Janakkalan nest are safe from the Goshawk again. They eat and sleep, sleep and eat…

Eating..

Dad with another delivery.

Last but he could never be least – one of our ‘saviours’ of the year – Alden. Alden who insured that Annie’s eggs and the last of Grinnell’s chicks would hatch – with maybe a contribution of his own! (No word on that yet). Alden finally found a little time to ‘loaf’.

Thank you so much for joining me today. It is a little wet on the Canadian Prairies – again. My garden is like a jungle. The three fledgling Blue Jays and the three fledgling Crows continue to visit. Images to follow tomorrow. I hope that all of you are well and enjoying some time in nature today. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, FB postings, etc which have become my screen captures: Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Osoyoos Ospreys and ‘H’, Sydney Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Sydney Olympic Forest, BirdGuides, Ojai Raptor Centre, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Port Lincoln Ospreys, and Cal Falcons.

Saturday in Bird World

28 May 2022

Do you like condors? If so, then you should be listening to the once monthly Condor discussions and updates from Ventana Wildlife. They take care of Central California’s Condors – Big Sur and Pinnacle. The home of Iniko 1031!

Part of today’s discussion touched on the issue of lead toxicity. The Bay Area has high levels of lead caused by the old mining industries. Because the California Condors and the Buzzards in the areas feed on carrion – dead carcasses – they are susceptible to the lead from the ammunition used in hunting. Did you know that part of the programme of thee Ventana Wildlife Society is to get lead-free zones? Since 2012 they have been providing lead-free ammunition to the farmers and hunters in their area to attempt to eradicate the problem in their area.

Before the pandemic there were 100 California Condors in the Central California area. Today there are 87. That is the bad news along with stories about those special birds lost – some just turning 2 years old, others just getting to their prime and ready to breed. Condors normally live to be 50-60 years old in the wild so these were significant young loses. Those who work with the birds talk about how each is such an individual and how they get to know them so well – losing one is a very personal issue. The good news is that the hatch rates in Central California are catching up with those in Southern California and they are hopeful that next year will be better.

The next discussion is slated for the 30th of June. Here is the link to the presentation of 26 May. Very informative.

Little Bit 17 really deserves a standing ovation. I am so impressed with this wee eaglet on Friday! Little Bit 17 had some big meals on the 26th – the last being an overly stuffed crop at 21:25 Thursday night. Indeed, Little Bit had full crops every day from the 16th of May to the 26th.

It was rainy today. A small fish was dropped off by one of the adults after 20:15. The oldest ND15 got the fish – it was not that big. What was significant was that Little Bit 17 went right up into 15’s face for the entire time Big Bob was eating the fish. Little Bit 17 really earned his name as the ‘Snatch and Grab King’ today, though. Yes, he got a little fish that was dropped – actually one nice piece. But the heroics was when the snatched and grabbed and got the fish tail!!!!!!! I know you don’t believe me. It is true.

There is 17 moving to get right up at the front where the action in. Little Bit is clearly a very brave eaglet that given half a chance can survive in the wild because he is not afraid of the hard work in getting food.

Little Bit 17 showed no fear when ND16 was coming up from behind.

Little Bit has the tail – it still has a nice bit of tender fish left! Go 17!!!!!!

Little Bit 17 is mantling his cache. So far 16 has not noticed that 17 has the fish tail. Remember 16 is also hungry.

Then 16 notices and starts to try and get the piece of fish. 17 mantles harder. 17 will also keep the fish in its beak and mantle turning around and around.

Little Bit gets his treasure over to the other rim of the nest away from 16. However, he is alongside 15 and 15 would very much like to have that fish tail as well.

Little Bit 17 was able to get a few bites of the fish before Big Bob took the tail back but, what a brave little eaglet to go up against both wanting his food. I am so proud of Little Bit. That is really something to go up against these two – just look at how big they are compared to him.

We really need more fish brought on to the nest. If the adults just drop off small fish Little Bit might lose out. He does better when Mum comes in and if he can feed on an opposite side. Little Bit can also self-feed as good or better than the older siblings. So if they are full and there is fish available there is no issue with this ‘Little Eaglet Who Could’ feeding itself! We just need fish!!!!!! Lots of fish. No time for parents to be cutting back the fish. Both of the adults should be out fishing and providing 5 or 6 fish to the nest. We would really see a huge growth spurt in 17 because the other two are levelling off now.

Saturday morning has not been good for Little Bit. The big siblings are really hungry today with so little food since the evening of the 26th. There have been three deliveries: 08:44, 09:01, and 10:54. The power of the bigger siblings was really pronounced. At 08:43 Little Bit was attacked by one of the big siblings. We are now assured that it is not a lack of feather growth on its head but a bigger sibling – I suspect 16 – pulled it out!

The parents at the ND-LEEF nest need to come in with a huge fish and then another one and another to get this back on track after that single day of bad weather.

The two osplets at UFlorida-Gainesville cannot blame the parents for being hungry today. A catfish with its head came on the nest a little after 08:00. Catfish are problematic for the best self-feeders until they figure out how to unzip them. Both chicks had a bit of a go at it and then the fish was moved over to the rim of the nest.

Their looks were priceless. Think they learned a lesson today – keep the fish in the middle of the nest!

Thankfully Dad arrived a few minutes later, at 08:13:52, with a nice chunk of fish.

Looks like Big Bob gets it.

Middle is sniffing around for that fish. Stop for a moment though and look at the dark bands on their tails.

Middle gets it! Remember Middle is really good at snatch and grab. Meanwhile the adult was watching everything that was going on with its kids. There will be more fish today. Th adult did not have a crop so he needs to eat, too.

Middle really enjoyed that chunk of fish. Big did not try to take it nor did she try to attack. This nest really turned around with two nice osplets that are healthy and will fledge. Middle finished the fish tail at 08:48.

I wish every eaglet, storklet, eyas, or hawklet – whatever you wish to call them was fed as well as the two osplets on the nest of Richmond and Rosie in the SF Bay. Today the duo were fed for over half an hour – you can compare this with the length of feeding at some of the nests with much larger offspring. They were so full that when one rolled backwards with a flake of fish in its mouth – it could not get up!

Mom is on the nest at the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge. Is she thinking that Ervie might be going to land with one of his puffers and she wants to be there to chase him away? While it is true that other parents like Diamond and Xavier had to chase Izzi away as breeding season approached, I lived in some kind of ‘delusional’ hope that Mum and Dad might tolerate Ervie at the barge.

Ervie’s talon has not grown in but he has brought a significant size fish to the nest, not just puffers. That demonstrates that he can catch larger fish. We should not worry about that. We will just miss him as he has been such a character – and oh what joy he has brought to our lives!!!!!

Hats off to Dylan and Seren who did a tandem feeding at the Llyn Clywedog Osprey nest today. I had said that I was concerned about the third hatch on this nest – it looks like they were, too. Well done – great parenting! Now if we could only get Laddie to stay in that nest and feed Little Bob (Loch of the Lowes).

This is just wonderful to see. Tears!!!!!

As the sun rises, Seren is feeding the trio. They are all lined up and it looks like everyone will have a wee crop. Nice.

Idris has the fish on the nest and Seren is doing the first feeding of the day at the Dyfi Osprey nest in Wales.

And then – there were 3 at the Dyfi nest! I love how Emyr Evans at the Dyfi Osprey Project collects and puts the data out there. Chick 1 hatched on 25 May at 39 days in the shell. Chick 2 hatched on the 26th of May at 36.9 cays in the shell. Chick 3 hatched on 28 May at 35.7 days in the shell. All look great and all hatched within the normal range with the eldest being the longest and the third being the shortest gestation period. Let’s see if this impacts their growth over the season. The closeness of the hatches will certainly bode well for the third osplet as it is only two days younger. Telyn really ‘nailed’ that incubation. These three should thrive. Congratulations Telyn and Idris!

Daddy Longlegs (Idris) has brought in a nice fish for Telyn and the trio.

Good Morning Dorcha at the Loch Arkaig nest. It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day! Now where is Louis with the breakfish?

Blue 33 has the fish on the platform as the sun rises over the water at Rutland. Maya is waking up but the Three Bobs seem to be wanting to sleep in on Saturday!

Blue NC0 had to take a personal break at the Loch of the Lowes. There are the three wee ones in the nest. They look good.

She is back and is waiting for Laddie to bring the first fish of the day. Just look at those lovely rose gold kissing everything at the loch. Beautiful.

Sometimes Blue NC0 makes it difficult to tell who has been fed and who hasn’t. At one feeding where I could clearly see, all three chicks were fed. Nice. I do not think that Little Bob is out of the woods yet. Fingers crossed.

The falcons at the Manchester NH scrape are really losing their baby down. The flapping of the wings sends it flying all over the scrape. Their legs are strong and – well, this has been an amazing nest to watch in terms of the sheer effort by the parents to make sure that each of the five survived and thrived.

Spirit hatched on 3 March. She is 86 days old today. Bald Eagles generally fledge from 10-14 weeks. Spirit is certainly looking out to the territory!

Kana’kini has been doing a lot of hovering and today she actually did that with a stick in her mouth. Here they are the three of them – whoever dubbed the trio ‘The Three Amigos’ is so right. What a fabulous group of eaglets to watch and the thanks goes to Thunder and Akecheta who kept feeding them and kept bringing food to the nest! Great parenting.

Those little ones at Cal Falcons are so adorable. I was sooooo shocked at the little male. He reminds me so much of the male at Captiva Ospreys – Middle Little. He was really loud too. You could hear him fish calling in Fort Myers. Alden and Annie are doing a fantastic job. It was very interesting to me that Cal Falcons noted that Alden was ferocious in his protection of the scrape with Annie yesterday whereas Grinnell used to leave that to Annie.

Want to take part in the naming. See the band at the bottom of the image.

The sun is beginning to come out. The weather forecast is for rain for four days but I am hoping to get out to our other nature centre sometime. Maybe today! Thank you so much for joining me. Wish for fish for ND-LEEF. The river should be going down and clearing after the storm so Suckers and Catfish will be easier to catch for the eagles. Little Bit 17 needs a lot of fish to be delivered so that it can get some. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Ventana Wildlife Society, ND-LEEF, UFlorida-Gainesville, SF Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, CarnyX Wild, Dyfi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the People’s Post Code Lottery, LRWT, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Peregrine Networks, FOBBV, Explore.org, and Cal Falcons.