Tag Archives: duck down

The Daisy Chronicles Day 16

Is that Ring-tail possum responsible for Daisy not leaving the nest to go foraging til later? It was spotted on camera at 04:27 climbing around the rim of the nest and on the branches and again at 04:47.

Ring-tail Possums are not a direct threat to Daisy’s eggs – they will not eat them. That said, the possum is looking for nesting material and Daisy does not know if it is friend or foe. She must be uneasy because she has always stayed on the nest not leaving for the foraging until the possum goes into his hole in the base of the big nest and goes to sleep.

They are a Marsupial – not like the opossums in North America.

“Ring-tail Possum” by _Stickybeak is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Once the possum is not moving about, Daisy prepares to leave for her foraging. She covers the nest well with all that soft fluffy down.

She flies off at 05:08:41 for her breakfast.

How many of us get tense when Daisy does not return from her foraging? I sure do in the morning. Scared to death that those Ravens are going to set the alarm and be out in the forest early.

While Daisy was away, the cam operator gave us a really nice close up of that nest! It is so beautiful. I never thought a bunch of duck down and old leaves could be so stunning.

Daisy returned at 07:01:38. She took her time, checking around to see if any predators were near, and drying off her feathers.

Daisy had settled in nicely and those fabulous Rainbow Lorikeets could be heard arriving to wish this amazing little duck a good morning.

It is certainly difficult to see Daisy on the nest unless you know you are looking for a duck!

I have heard the Ravens in the distance at 07:50:11 but they have not come to the nest – yet. The Rainbow Lorikeets did return again. They have such a sweet voice.

Daisy, like all ducks, did not get serious about taking off down until she was finished laying eggs. Every day the amount of down seems to grow making that lovely cloud bigger and bigger. She is an amazing Mum.

Daisy’s nest is really quite comfy looking. Look at her extended esophagus or crop, it is quite full. She had a nice foraging venture this morning. That is good. It is set to get warmer today on the nest – up to 34 C. She will need the hydration.

Daisy heard them before I did —— the Ravens flying through the forest. They landed on the high branches of the nest tree but did not come down to the nest near Daisy. They are definitely checking to make sure she is incubating those eggs. I must plot their fly through times. It seems that it is always around 09:00 or so in the morning with possibly 2 others pass throughs later.

Daisy got still and put her head down a bit when they were up in the tree. Her eyes change. You can tell she is afraid but she certainly does not let the Ravens know that. She gave it to them twice. So interesting they don’t bother trying to get her off the nest with their threats.

Other Bird News: I feel so guilty not checking on the Port Lincoln Osprey fledglings. So, after Daisy returned this morning I went to their streaming cam to see how the boys were doing. Mum and Dad are still delivering meals and Ervie, dear Ervie, is still dominant. At the end of the afternoon, yesterday, Ervie had finished one fish. He was so full. Then he got the next fish. He literally ‘sat’ on that fish for an hour and a half before he started eating it. Today, Ervie got the first fish at 06:06:21. Falky got the next delivery at 06:21. Bazza is waiting his turn. What do you want to bet that Mum brings her baby boy a nice fish?

Gabby has been on the nest this morning. Will this be the day for an egg for her and Samson at the NE Florida Bald Eagle nest near Jacksonville?

And Gabby did! It was 17:19:21. Congratulations Samson and Gabby! I think that they count the egg that did not hatch – so Legacy was NE24, ‘Eggie’ was NE25 so this must be NE26. So excited.

We will check back on 20 December for egg 2. This is splendid. This will be Samson and Gabby’s third breeding attempt as bonded mates. They fledged Romey and Jules (2020) and Legacy (2021). Samson is using the nest that belonged to his parents, Romeo and Juliette. — and where he hatched.

Harriet and M15’s eggs are set to hatch at the Bald Eagle Nest in Fort Myers in a week (egg 1). Can you believe a snake came on that nest?! They love eggs. Harriet was able to stomp on it and kill it without harming those two precious eggs. Here is the video:

So for something a little different. Need a holiday pick me up? The other evening I found the most amazing site – a feeding station for Roe Deer. Every day the same man brings pellets and hay but he delivered carrots today! Here is the video of the delivery.

Here is the live stream to this amazing site. It warms one’s heart to see the generosity and caring for these beautiful animals. The deer live around Saaremaal, the largest island in Estonia. They are a small reddish-brown deer that live in the coldest of climates.

It is -13 degrees C in central Canada with snow due to start falling at 23:00. Everything is grey or brown! We woke up to a fresh white blanket covering everything. There were 29 European Starlings sitting on the tips of the lilacs waiting for the Bark Butter delivery! Squirrels were scurrying everywhere and there was evidence that Hedwig had been out at night eating the birdseed on the ground. I should have called her Dyson, too!

The morning light is filtering through the branches of the Old Ironbark Tree and Daisy is illuminated. Just gorgeous in that light.

No sooner had I taken this image than a few minutes later Daisy is frozen in fear. She will remain like this until 09:52:43 – almost three minutes. It was hard to see her even take a breath.

Daisy remains cautious. You can see the shadow of a bird flitting around. The vocalization sounded like a Pied Currawong – the bird that harasses Lady and Dad and the fledglings, the bird that sent WBSE 27 into care from a mob attack. I hope they move along and leave Daisy in peace.

Daisy appears a little more relaxed but she is very alert. Fingers crossed that things settle down in the forest and the rest of her day is uneventful. I will monitor Daisy throughout the evening here in Canada and the wee hours of the morning.

Thank you so very much for joining me. I am so grateful for all of these amazing birds. They give me joy (and anxiety) each and every day. I hope that they bring the joy to you! Take care of yourselves. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, and RMK Hirvekaamera.

Daisy’s great night vision helped her to slip out in the middle of the night!

Daisy left to go foraging at 15:31:45 on a soggy Sydney Friday afternoon. She returned to her eggs at 17:49:49. Two hours and eighteen minutes. Not bad! There was some concern over the wet nest and the cool temperatures but, Daisy knows best!

Like all of her returns recently, Daisy is hyper cautious. She lands on the nest and looks around. Then she listens. We have all seen how the WBSE can arrive in a split second!

Overly cautious when returning from her dabbling.

Daisy even stops to do some preening.

Preening

Then, all of a sudden, Daisy rushes over to get on her eggs. She is a bit of a blur in the image below. Gosh that nest is wet and soggy.

There is plenty of time for the sea eagles or the ravens to return to the nest before the sun sets but, they don’t. Sometimes boring quiet days are the best – even for humans, too!

Daisy settles into incubating.

Not everyone believes that ducks have good night vision. Some people think that birds can only see during the daylight hours – any kind of bird. And if you have bird feeders you will have seen the songbirds arrive at dawn and depart at dusk. Falcons and hawks do that and so do sea eagles. But we have seen Daisy return after dark when the sea eagles have arrived before dusk. And we have watched her leave around 4:00 one morning and return before day break.

Last night Daisy left her nest at 2:45. She tried to cover it up as good as she could but the down is so soggy! She returns forty-five minutes later. Daisy probably took a bathroom break. But again, this solidifies our knowledge that ducks can see when it is very dark. Daisy has been able to freely move around in the forest.

I began to think that she should move any ducklings that do hatch under the cover of darkness while all of their predators are sleeping! Except, of course, BooBook Owl.

Daisy covers her eggs.
Down is wet, some eggs exposed.

You can see in the image above that some of the eggs are exposed. Daisy has done the best ever with that old wet down. Surely the Ravens are asleep and I think that the little owl will not bother them, hopefully. Daisy returns and all is well at her nest.

It is Saturday in Australia. At dawn, the temperature is 21.8 degrees C and they are predicting more showers. However, it should get fairly hot on Sunday rising to 26. This really could be a help in drying out all that down and making it fluffy again.

In the image below, it is 5:30. Daisy is waking up and waiting to see if the sea eagles will fly through the forest trying to catch her. They certainly have done this a few times lately.

Daisy is alert at dawn.

But no one comes. By 7:00 the glow of the morning is spreading across the forest. Daisy is trying to catch some rest. She has her beak tucked under her wing.

Daisy resting.

Wow! Look at the beautiful markings on Daisy’s head and those gorgeous brown eyes.

In the image below, Daisy is rolling her eggs. Remember that Daisy plucked down from her own breast to line the nest and help keep the eggs war. Removing the down creates a bald spot known as the brood patch. This touches the eggs and transfers the heat from Daisy to the eggs so that the duckling can grow. But the eggs cannot simply sit there. They must receive even heat. Daisy uses her bill and her feet to roll the eggs and move them about so that they each receive the same amount of heat. Rolling helps ensure that each of the developing ducklings will hatch at roughly the same time.

Daisy has her beak in the nest turning the eggs and her feet are also gently paddling them. Daisy is such a good mother!

Rolling eggs

It is only 7:30 in Sydney. Wet and cool. So far the WBSE have not ventured into the forest and even the Ravens are not moving about. Let us hope that it is simply a boring day for Daisy!

I will post an update on Daisy’s Day about 11pm CDT. Stay tuned for any happenings during the day. Still, I hope that there is nothing to report.

A big welcome to Daisy’s new fans from Belgium. Our girl is so happy that people around the world care about her plight.

Thank you to Sea Eagle cam, Birdlife Australia, and the Discover Centre for providing the camera so that I could capture the screen shots.

Noisy Ravens come to call on Daisy

It is a soggy day in Sydney, Australia. Rain is falling and the temperature is 20 degrees C. What a change from a few days ago! Wish I knew if Daisy liked it cooler or hotter. Do ducks have a preference? They certainly don’t mind water and their down nest would get wet if Daisy built in on the ground.

Australian Raven

For those of you dropping in but who haven’t been able to catch up with Miss Daisy’s news, I want to focus, for a bit, on the impact of the showers and WBSE Lady’s tearing the down off Daisy’s nest. Daisy doesn’t look like she is sitting on that lovely fluffy nest any longer. Daisy has collected all of the tossed down that she could – which was a lot – and has brought it back onto her nest. Just as quickly as it dries, it rains again. Then the eiderdown gets soaked and turns into a soaking blob. The heat from Daisy’s body will eventually dry it but the forecast is for four more days of rain and cool weather.

There is that saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. I am a very visual person as I imagine many of you are. So I am posting two images in order for you to easily see the impact that rain has on the eiderdown that Daisy has plucked off her breast to line her nest. The top one shows Daisy on her nest when it is dry. Notice how thick and fluffy the eiderdown is. Daisy looks like she is brooding on a cloud.

Fluffy nest with dry down.

The image below is not focused but you will still be able to see the impact of the rain on the insulating down. The down is no longer fluffy. The wetter it gets the more it loses its volume. You can also see that the eggs can no longer be covered leaving them vulnerable to predators. Daisy does try hard to move other plant material on top. She has only so many leaves to use. If you think about it, she has not pulled any twigs over her eggs. She might intuitively know that those sticks of wood could break her eggs.

Matted wet eiderdown

It is right after noon on the nest and it has been a relatively quiet morning for Daisy. She did have several visits from Ravens that sent her hunkering down on her eggs. They flew back and forth around the nest tree and into the forest and back again for about fifteen minutes. They were not chasing the sea eagles but when Daisy hears their caw she really pays attention.

Daisy going into defensive mode.
Daisy relaxed ater ravens leave.

After the Ravens had their turn disturbing Daisy, the Butcher Birds came to the nest tree. Butcher Birds are songbirds. They are similar to Magpies. The grey ones only live in Australia. They have a dark mask or an eye stripe just like Daisy! It is thought that these black stripes or masks help to block the sun for the birds so they can hunt or dabble better. If you know about American football, you might have seen the players smearing a black substance under their eyes. That also helps with the glare and I bet, a long time ago, humans learned that trick from birds. They have brown eyes and legs. The pointed beak, with a hook, is also grey. They can be very aggressive. They live in forests and mangroves feeding on insects and small mammals, fruits and seeds. They are known to also eat lizards or other small reptiles.

Butcherbird

Daisy waits to go dabbling and to the bathroom. Around 15:31, she begins to gather the leaves and tuck in the down to try and cover her eggs as best she can.

Daisy begins to cover her nest.
Daisy pulling down and leaves with bill.

She is in no rush. The ravens and the sea eagles are not about. She can take her time. Because it is cool, she will want to try and get as much insulation as she can over the eggs along with the leaves that she has been pulling toward her all day.

Daisy leaves her nest at 15:31:45.

Daisy leaving to go forage.

Despite the down being somewhat soggy in places, Daisy does a really good job concealing her eggs. Notice the two identical leaves across from one another. Daisy has done a marvellous job at decorating her temporary nest with the terracotta covered foliage.

Eggs are concealed with down and leaves.

So far, except for the anxiety produced by the Ravens’ visit, Daisy has had a relatively quiet day. She has waited til later today to go hunting for food. It is now 21 degrees C and 100% humidity with rain. Sun set is around 20:04. That is four and a half hours away. It is certainly safer for Daisy to go foraging as late as she can because she would miss the sea eagles if they came right before dusk. However, WBSE Dad has been known to show up around 17:00 on several occasions. Let us hope that no one comes, the eggs stay covered, and Daisy returns in about an hour and a half. Hopefully those eggs will still be warm. It is too bad we can’t somehow slip a little electric or solar blanket in that nest for them!

Thank you for stopping in to check and see how Daisy is doing. It is currently day 17 of incubation. The hatch window opens on day 26. So many did not believe that Daisy would still have a nest or any eggs. No one knew how the sea eagles would react. Many thoughts the ravens would force Daisy off the nest and they would then devour the eggs. But so far, none of that has happened. The sea eagles have been confused and have not harmed the eggs other than the one dad ate. So, there could be hope for some of the eggs to be viable. Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful to see the little fuzz balls jump off the old Ironbark Tree nest? Ducklings born in a big sea eagle nest. Puts a smile on your face!

Thank you again for joining us to find out what is happening with the brave little duck whose nest is in an old Ironbark Tree in the Sydney Olympic Park forest. We are so glad you stopped by.

Thank you to Sea Eagle cam, BirdLife Australia, and the Discovery Centre for the streaming cameras where I captured my screen shots.

Sea Eagle arrives! No time to cover the eggs.

Daisy had no more than returned from her dabbling at 16:18:07 and settled in for a wee bit of a rest when the ravens sounded an alarm at 17:55:58. Daisy stretched her neck to listen.

In the image below, Daisy is alerted by the sound of the ravens approaching. Remember that the ravens often follow the White-Bellied sea eagles into the forest.

Daisy stretches her neck. The distance from the river roost of the sea eagles is only about 1.2 kilometres to the nest in the forest of the Sydney Olympic Park.

The sea eagles fly really fast and there is no time for Daisy to cover up her nest. She hurries off to the left of the nest tree tree. Daisy is just a blur in the image below.

You may remember that it has been raining and that the sea eagles have come to the nest sometimes tearing off the down. Lady made a mess the other day and Daisy took her time and moved all of the eiderdown back onto her nest. But this evening she did not have time to cover the eggs and it is cool in the forest, only around 21.8 degrees C.

You might also remember that wet down. Look how fluffy it is now. The temperature from Daisy’s body and the wind as well as the rain stopping have fluffed up the down again so it now has its insulating values back. This is so good!

The sea eagles are still mystified about the little nest holding seven eggs right in the centre of their big nest. Dad arrives and looks. He can see the eggs instantly but no Daisy! He stands and stares at them. What are these eggs doing in my nest? I sometimes giggle because it reminds me of a story that I my mother and grandmother read to me when I was little and, in turn, I read it to my children: Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Do you know that children’s story?

WBSE Dad moves cautiously towards the eggs.

Dad leans down to take a closer look. The only eggs that he has ever know are those of his eaglets that Lady lays. But these are not Lady’s eggs! but they are in my nest!

Again, ever so slowly he moves towards Daisy’s nest just staring into that beautiful nest cup.

And then he sticks his beak in! Oh, no. Is he going to try and roll out an egg to eat it like he did before?

In the same amount of time that Dad took to closely inspect those big white eggs, he raises his head and looks off the nest. Does he know that the owner of the eggs is watching him? does Dad think they are a threat? does Dad associate Daisy with these eggs, a little innocent Pacific Black Duck?

And then he looks down again. Each time Dad looks into the nest cup he rolls the eggs for Daisy! Thank you, Dad sea eagle.

The Dad raises his head and looks off in the other direction. You will remember that Daisy flew around the nest quacking the last time both sea eagles visited the nest. She was very frightened but also, as much as she was scared, she knew she needed to get back to her single focus, incubating her eggs.

The behaviour of the sea eagles towards the little duck’s nest is of great interest to anyone wanting to learn about bird behaviour. No one that I know of has had a close look at the interaction between the largest birds in Australia and a tiny little duck that doesn’t belong in the forest.

Dad simply is stumped. He stands for the longest time staring at the eggs. Then he rolls them one more time and turns around and gets back on a branch of the nest tree.

Dad stands on what is called the parent branch looking around. When Dad and Lady raise their little eaglets in this nest, this is the branch that they roost on to protect the little ones. It is also the first branch that the eaglets attempt to walk and fly to as they get ready for their fledge.

Is Dad looking for Daisy? is he looking for a bigger bird? He flies off the parent branch and back towards his roost on the Parramatta River at 18:06. His visit lasted four minutes. Doesn’t seem like he is too concerned, does it?

Daisy might have taken the opportunity to go and forage some more. She does not return to her eggs until 19:27, an hour and nineteen minutes after Dad has flown out of the forest.

Still she is ever so cautious. In fact, Dad could be lurking off camera hoping to catch her. She stops and looks this way and that.

The rain started between the time Dad left and Daisy returned. Her beautiful fluffy down is all wet again! Let’s hope that her eggs did not cool down too quickly. That would be just so sad for our brave little duck.

And then she stops and listens. Dad was on the nest remember for four minutes and Daisy takes four minutes to make certain that he is no longer a threat.

Daisy slowly lowers herself onto her wet nest to warm her eggs. Remember that eggs need to be held at 37.5 degrees to hatch.

The sun has set and the light on the soggy nest has changed. Daisy knows that the sea eagles will not be back again tonight. Except for BooBook Owl, Daisy can rest. And we know Boo is just curious about Daisy. He is not going to hurt her.

Indeed, I often wonder what the other animals in the forest are thinking when they see the sea eagles coming and going and Daisy returning to her eggs time after time. Daisy is afraid of them but not enough to keep her from brooding. Her hormones and instincts and her entire self are tied to the hatching of the eggs now. She is ‘hard wired’ for incubation.

Thank goodness. Daisy had a very quiet night. It is now just before dawn. Because the sea eagles could have spent the night at the river roost, Daisy is being very careful to listen for the vocalizations of the other birds. She can tell which ones mean the eagles are coming. Daisy has learned much about the forest.

It’s after 7:30 and the sea eagles have not shown up today. It is rainy. The area around where Daisy has her egg cup is soaked with water.

Daisy has a visitor. Can you see the little grey and white bird with the black mask and yellow beak peeking down to see Daisy? Look carefully in the top right corner. They are grey with a black head, an orange or yellow beak and yellow feet. There are white tips on the tail feathers.

It is a Noisy Miner. These birds are loud and create all kinds of havoc in the forest. They like to chase other birds away. They eat insects but are also opportunist especially in cities. They are called ‘honeyeaters’.

The Noisy Miner is a nuisance to Daisy because it can be so loud but it is not such a threat that I am aware of, certainly not like the Ravens and the Currawongs. I am not even sure the sea eagles are a threat anymore. It is really that they keep Daisy off the nest and away from her incubating duties and her eggs are exposed and could get too cool to hatch.

The golden glow of the morning is moving across the nest.

It is going to be a cool day for Daisy and her eggs. The morning temperature is 19.4 degrees C. It is not supposed to get higher than 20 C with rain again for today. It sure is a change from when it was 40 degrees C a few days ago. Then we were worried about the eggs getting too hot. Today we worry about exposure and cold.

Everyone send Daisy your positive energy. Our brave little duck sitting on the big sea eagle nest needs all of it. Daisy is grateful to all her friends who check in to see how she is doing. From around the world – from Canada and the United States, Mexico, Brazil to Australia, Singapore, Australia, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Poland, Denmark, Germany, and France – each of you has joined to wish Daisy good luck. Thank you!

An update on Daisy’s Day in about nine hours. Please check back.

Thank you also to the Sea Eagle cam, BirdLife Australia, and the Discovery Centre for the camera that provides the feed for me to take my scaps.

Oh, what a day!

I wanted to check in with all of Daisy’s fans to let you know that she is such a brave little mother. From the last posting, you will know that Lady, the White-Bellied Sea Eagle who lays her eggs on this nest and who raises her little sea eagles, showed up this morning at 5:37:11. Previous to now, it was mostly ‘Dad’ that came to check on the nest. Once in awhile, Lady would join him. I was always worried about Lady. Dad is, well, older. Someone familiar with the nest told me that he is nineteen years old. And he is laid back. As long as the bird laying their eggs on his nest is not a threat to him, I don’t think he cares. But Lady is different. She takes on the mantel of really being the person in charge of the nest. And maybe she hasn’t been happy with the way that Dad has been unable to evict “the bird” whose eggs are on her nest! It also seems that until today, the sea eagles had not actually caught sight of the the culprit, the owner of the eggs. But this morning Lady saw Daisy. Lady’s arrival and Daisy’s urgent departure meant that they almost crossed feathers! It really was that close. And Lady was mad. She had her whole chest puffed up. Lady became frustrated because she could not pick up the eggs in her beak. And then she began to tear the down from the top of the nest. But, sea eagles do not like duck down! There is no way around it. It is a foreign material to them. They are used to sticks. Down has no weight and it sticks to the beaks. That simple fact stopped Lady from doing any more damage. She tossed the down and, in doing so, covered up the eggs so the Ravens and Currawongs wouldn’t see them. What a nice thing to do for our little duck!

This morning Daisy did not go into hiding. She is getting near to hatch and she has much more invested in the eggs. She did flybys around the nest quacking all the time. The sea eagles left and within twelve minutes, Daisy was back on the nest brooding her eggs. Within a few hours, she had moved all of the down back to the nest and positioned it to warm the eggs. Other than really strong gusts of wind and a few song birds come to visit, the day, until now, has been uneventful. It is nearly 2pm in Sydney.

If the sea eagles are at their roost on the Parramatta River, one or both of them will probably come again today to check on the nest. But the high gusts of wind might discourage them. We can only hope. Right now they are more of a nuisance that keeps Daisy for incubating her eggs but they do not appear to be destructive. Daisy is not a threat to them. If, however, they stayed for five or six hours and the eggs cooled off, this would be disaster. Or if they moved the covering, the other birds might come and try to break or eat the eggs. So, once again, it is much better for Daisy if the day is simply boring and uneventful.

The image below was in the earlier post. It is a picture of Daisy arriving back at her nest with her lovely down scattered all over the twigs and leaves.

Daisy arrives after the sea eagles leave.

This little duck is so marvellous. She goes about what needs to be done. It doesn’t take her long, using her bill, to rake the down that Lady has tossed all about, back on to her nest. In the image below Daisy is tucking it around the edges so none of the cold air gets in to chill the eggs.

Daisy uses her bill to tuck in the down.

Daisy is being tossed about and rocked in the wind and the old Ironbark tree is creaking.

Did you know that Daisy talks to her ducklings? She is constantly rolling the eggs and tucking in and the down and all the while she is clacking away at her little ducklings. She does not know if any of these eggs are viable but she carries on talking to them. Hers will be the first voice that they hear and the first face that they see. They will imprint on their mother, a Black Pacific Duck.

Pacific Black Duck and her ducklings

If all goes well, Daisy will jump from the seventy-five foot nest in the Sydney Olympic Park and her ducklings will follow. They will jump out, spreading their wings to slow their landing, and bounce like a puff ball on impact. They will straighten themselves and get behind their mom and follow her to water where they will forage for food.

I have mentioned the many obstacles that Daisy could face getting the ducklings to water. I understand that is about a kilometre to the nearest water. A very knowledgable friend of mine told me that she had seen ducks take their ducklings through parking lots and schools if need be to get them safely to a river where they will immediately be able to paddle about. Isn’t it marvellous? One day old and they can do everything for themselves. Daisy keeps them warm and safe at night. Amazing.

It is nearing 14:00 at the nest and there is a gentle rain. Daisy’s feathers are waterproof and the drops collect on the surface of the feathers. When Daisy preens she uses oil from an oil gland to coat and restore her feathers. In fact, you might have seen birds spending most of their time preening. Their feathers protect them from cold and heat but also allow them to fly and swim.

The rain forms droplets on the feathers but doesn’t penetrate them.

The rain stays on the surface. And, besides, Daisy is used to being wet – she’s a duck!

Besides the oil that helps to condition the feathers, the feathers overlap. Look at the image below. In addition, ducks have angled barbs on each side of the central shaft of the feather. Each barb has tiny, tiny little hooks help hold the feathers together. Someone told me that it is like velcro on each side. This means that Daisy is covered with a lightweight shell of feathers that protect her and also allow her to float in the water.

The beautiful overlapping feathers on Daisy.

It is now approaching 14:45 on the nest and Daisy is showing no signs of leaving for a break. It is extremely gusty with occasional rain. While the rain does not hurt Daisy and it would roll off of eggs, I imagine that Daisy would much prefer to keep her eggs warm and dry. The wings might blow the feathery down clear from the nest and the nest cup might also get soaked if the showers increased in their intensity.

For now, our little duck seems just contented to let the nest rock and roll in the wind.

I want to thank Daisy’s increasing number of friends from around the world in joining us. It is wonderful to know that so many people who speak many different languages and live in varying different cultures, come together to watch the brooding of a little Pacific Black Duck who dared to make her nest in the tree belonging to the White-Bellied Sea Eagles.

We will look forward to having you with us tomorrow. It will be Day 17 of incubation! And so far, the little duck remains on the nest.

Thank you to the Sea Eagle cam, Birdlife Australia, and the Discovery Center for the cameras from which I took my screen images.

Sea Eagles arrive and almost catch Daisy!

Before I start with today’s update on Daisy, our beautiful little duck living in the forest, I want to thank Daisy’s friends from Brazil, Poland, Mexico, Canada, Australia, the US, and China for checking on her. The whole world cares about a little duck trying to brood her eggs in a huge nest that belongs to the Australia’s largest sea eagle. We are on day 15 of brooding. I am beginning to believe that some of the seven eggs will turn into ducklings leaping to the forest floor. Everyone please send Daisy positive energy. She has had to deal with the sea eagles and the ravens, twice each, in twenty-four hours and now it is 40 degrees C with 98% humidity. In other words, it might feel like a sauna.

Daisy in the hot noon time sun filtering through the tree.

Daisy, you are so beautiful!

Every once in awhile, Daisy tucks in the down and uses her bill like a broom to shift the leaves and plant material closer to the nest so that she can use them to conceal her eggs when she goes foraging.

Daisy stretches her neck to collect more leaves.
Daisy uses her bill to pull the leaves over close to the nest.

Daisy gets every more busy moving leaves. She even gets up off the eggs to bring in some old down and more leaves. Then she begins to cover up her nest so that she can depart for a break.

Daisy begins to conceal the eggs.
Daisy works to make it look like their is no nest.

Daisy was slow and methodical in getting many more leaves up toward the nest cup. Now she is beginning to take some of the down and folding it over.

There were no alarming sounds in the forest and Daisy made a slow walk over to the left hand side of the big nest to fly off. Two things are interesting to me. If she is caught on the eggs by the WBSE who are literally landing on the big nest, she can fly off from her nest through the twigs on the left. Second, today Daisy spent a lot of time getting leaves over. Look how many there are! But she left them scattered and she did not cover the eggs completely with down (or that is how it appears from this angle). I wonder if this is because of the heat – the 40 degrees C scorching heat on the nest?

After having a couple of frights from the sea eagles, Daisy has been very smart to return to her nest about ten to fifteen minutes before sunset. Tonight, she arrives on the big sea eagle nest at 19:55:48. She does not immediately head to where her egg cup is concealed. She stops and listens.

Listening.

Daisy raises her neck up as far as it will go to listen. She has returned a little before sunset and the sea eagles could still come and check on the nest to see if anyone is there.

No alarming sounds so Daisy settles down to incubate her eggs. It is a good time of day to really see her beautiful plumage and the distinctive markings on her head. Did you know that she has about 12,000 feathers?

It is now Day 16 of Daisy’s incubation, 27 January 2020 in Sydney, Australia. This means that there remains 10-14 days til hatch!

Daisy did very well in the 40 degree C heat. It is already 22.8 degrees C on the nest at 4:45. But, there could be a little rain today in the forest where Daisy’s nest is. It will certainly be cooler. The weather report says it should not get hotter than 26. That, of course, means that the sea eagles might want to check on their nest since it is cooler! Let’s hope they just stay at Goat Island. There will be gusts up to 29 kph which means the old Ironbark Tree will really be creaking and swaying.

All is well at 5:15:00

At 5:37:07 Daisy hears someone coming! She puts her head down and then realizes she has to get off the big nest. There is no time to cover the eggs!

Daisy on alert.

It is Lady! And she has seen Daisy. You cannot see her in the picture below but she just got off the nest the second the WBSE landed.

Lady lands.

This is the first time that Lady has seen that there is a real live bird sitting on his nest. This is the first time that one of the sea eagles has swooped in fast enough to catch a glimpse of Daisy as she flies out. Lady is not happy! Someone is trying to take over her nest she thinks. She is puffing out her chest.

Lady looking around for Daisy.

The most interesting thing to me is that the Sea Eagles have not disturbed the eggs as of late. Remember, before she finished laying all her eggs, Dad removed one and ate it. He did not like the taste or he would have eaten all the eggs. And both him and Lady have been curious but not destructive to Daisy’s nest.

Lady stands guard on the parent branch.

Instead of destroying Daisy’s nest, Lady flies to the parent tree. She can hear Daisy quacking in the distance.

Lady watching.

At 6:00:28 Lady is joined by Dad. Since Daisy began laying her eggs, I have never worried about Dad, the WBSE. For some reason, he was very curious when he ate the first egg but he is ‘hard wired’ not to step on eggs in his nest because they might be his eaglets! Lady knows better. And she is fierce and would not want another female bird using her nest. It is hers.

In the image below, Lady is getting ready to jump off the parent branch and join Dad on the main nest.

Lady preparing to return to the nest area.
Lady is not happy.

Dad, sea eagle, just doesn’t seem to care as much as Lady. She is starting to look at that nest with eggs again.

What’s in this nest?

Dad goes up on the parent branch to keep watch. Daisy is quacking and flying around the forest. Daisy knows that this is the last half of her brooding and the eggs cannot get cold! Daisy must be afraid that the big sea eagles will tear up her nest.

In fact, Lady tries to do just that. She pulls out down and tries to grab an egg with her beak but the egg is too big. Relief for Daisy. For some reason, Lady does not try to destroy the eggs which she could do with her talons. But she starts to pull apart the down. She doesn’t like it. It feels funny and sticks to her beak. And she stops.

Lady does not like down in her beak.

Lady jumps up to the other parent branch and watches out for Daisy in the forest as she flies about. And then, she gives up. First Lady flies out of the forest and then Dad. They are both gone by 6:15:15. This terrifying event for Daisy has unfolded over a period of fifty-two minutes!

In the image below you can see the huge sea eagle flying into the forest from the nest tree. In a few minutes, Dad will join lady down on the Parramatta River for breakfast.

Wonder if Daisy will be scared and stay away for five or six hours? She must be quite shaken.

Lady flies into the forest.

Remember that Daisy didn’t have time to cover her eggs for protection. Well, when Lady was trying to demolish the nest, she tossed the down about covering up the eggs. How lucky for Daisy. Now the Ravens will not see them.

The sea eagles left the nest covered.

But wait! I cannot believe it. This is one brave little duck. I think she needs a big round of applause. Daisy only waits in the forest for twelve minutes. The sea eagles leave at 6:15 and she gets back on her eggs at 6:37. Tears of joy are pouring down my cheeks. The eggs will not get cold!

Daisy, you are the bravest little bird I have ever seen to stand up to the big sea eagles.

No doubt Daisy will be on her guard today. The sea eagles are not far away. Instead of being at Goat Island today, they will stay at their roost on the Parramatta River since it is cool.

Oh, my. I hope this is the last excitement Daisy has until sunset. That is when the sea eagles might return to check on their nest. Sometimes, you will remember that they come earlier in the afternoon. Each time Daisy has been away foraging.

Daisy returns to her nest.
Daisy listens.

Daisy has some nestorations to do but her eggs are safe and so is she. That is the important thing. Daisy looks so happy to be back on her nest. She has in a few minutes gathered up some of the down. Thank goodness Lady just really doesn’t like it. She didn’t make a big mess. Daisy can easily get her cozy nest repaired!

I will bring you an update tonight, in about nine hours. Thank you for checking in on Daisy, perhaps the bravest little duck in Sydney, Australia.

Thank you to the Sea Eagle Cam, Birdlife Australia, and the Discover Centre for providing the camera for the scaps.


Oops. Too close for comfort!

Before I bring all of you up to date on our cute little duck, Daisy, Daisy wants to thank everyone from Canada, the US, Australia, and all the people from Poland who are concerned about her and come to check on how her day has been going. The last 20 hours have been anxious ones for Daisy.

Zanim opowiem wam wszystkim o naszej uroczej małej kaczce, Daisy, Daisy chce podziękować wszystkim z Kanady, Stanów Zjednoczonych, Australii i wszystkim ludziom z Polski, którzy się o nią martwią i przyjeżdżają sprawdzić, jak minął jej dzień. jechałem. Ostatnie 20 godzin było niespokojnych dla Daisy.

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It had been so hot on the nest, with the temperature rising to 36 C, that Daisy took another break, yesterday, at 16:14:38. It had only been four hours since she returned from her last break. The heat is very hard on Daisy. She has lost so much weight and her stores of calcium creating eggs, laying them, and now brooding. And unlike other mated pairs of birds, she has no one to bring her food to the nest or to relieve her. Daisy is all alone. There is no one to even protect her from predators except herself. And the predators are lurking about today.

Daisy sitting in the hot sun before she takes her break.
Daisy carefully covers up her nest of eggs with lots of leaves and other plant material.
Daisy using her bill to get more leaves to cover her nest.
Only a little bit of down is showing!

While Daisy is away dabbling, one of the White Bellied Sea Eagles flies in to check on the nest.

Dad sits on the branch at 20:04:58

WBSE ‘Dad’ looked out all over his territory and waited by the nest right at dusk to see if anyone was there. But no one! You don’t see anyone on the White Bellied Sea Eagle nest, do you?

Daisy was very lucky.

Daisy returned to the nest at 20:15:36. Our little duck might not be a permanent resident of the forest but she has learned how to listen and tell when the big eagles are about. She waited until she was certain that Dad would not be returning. They missed one another by eleven minutes!

Daisy carefully returns to her nest.

The sun had completely gone down by the time Daisy returned to her nest. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that ducks are not smart. So far she has used all of the powers that she has to keep her and her eggs safe. And we have also learned something. Daisy has much better night vision that the sea eagles. In the image above she is carefully returning to her nest. She does not want to drawn any attention to where her eggs are.

There are no visitors to Daisy’s nest during the night. She is awake many times preening or turning her eggs. The sun will be coming up in about half an hour.

Daisy is awake on her nest at 15:53.

It is going to be 40 degrees in Homebush Bay, Australia where the duck nest in the Ironbark Tree is located. I wonder if Daisy will go out to forage and cool down before dawn?

Daisy thinks she has heard something in the forest.

Daisy decided against going out to forage. But at 5:50 am, she raises her neck. She has heard something!

Daisy has a split second to get off her eggs before the Sea Eagle lands on the nest! In the image below you can see her flying directly off the eggs to get out of the way of danger.

Daisy flies directly off the nest and out of the tree.

Daisy had no time to cover up her eggs. The White Bellied Sea Eagle lands just as Daisy clears the big branch. It is 5:50 am.

Daisy had to leave the eggs uncovered,

The White Bellied Sea Eagle walks over to check on the nest and look around.

First of the sea eagles lands and looks around.

In a few minutes the second White Bellied Sea Eagle comes to the nest in the old Ironbark Tree. In unison, they both look down at the eggs.

For some time, the sea eagles have appeared utterly confused by what is happening in their nest. Who has laid these eggs? Where are they? Who are they?

I often wonder if they think it is a bigger bird trying to take over their territory. There is, of course, no concern that a tiny little duck would want to do that.

Utterly confused.

Both of the sea eagles look like they are talking to themselves. One of my friends thinks that this could be a very funny conversation between Dad and Lady with Dad trying to explain to Lady that he has nothing to do with these eggs.

WBSE look like they are having a confab.

Once again, the White Bellied Sea Eagles do not disturb the nest. They are curious about the intruder into their territory but they do not appear to be hostile to the eggs. It is all quite interesting.

For a few minutes both of them are on one of the branches of the big Ironbark Tree. You can barely make out one on the branch that cuts through the middle of the right hand side of the image.

Sea Eagles stay on the tree watching.

At 5:57 the sea eagles do the second of what is known as the ‘duet’. It is a morning greeting for the sun. At the same time it is also a sound they make when they are defending their territory. It is a series of honks.

Lady leaves at 6:11 but Dad stays on the branch for at least another hour. Meanwhile, Daisy eggs are exposed. It is 21.8 degrees C.

Exposed duck eggs.

Daisy returns at 7:50:11 and once again is very careful when she gets on her nest. She has no more than relaxed and she begins to hear a commotion in the forest coming towards the nest tree. She raises her head to listen carefully.

Daisy listens to see who is coming.

Daisy listens very careful. It is the Ravens. The Unkindness comes to the tree at 7:58:06. They are cawing and Daisy is afraid. She fans out her feathers to not only make herself look larger than she is but also to protect her nest. Just like raptors protect their food, mantling.

Daisy stays still. You can see one raven on the top right.

The ravens leave after about ten minutes returning in half an hour to harass Daisy again. They want her to get off her eggs so they can eat them! Daisy remains still turning in the nest so that she can always see where the ravens are.

Whew! In the period of two and a half hours, Daisy has been frightened off her nest by the WBSE and has had two visits by the Ravens. It is getting hotter and hotter for our little duck. She is going to have to come and go often today if she is to stay cool. The humidity is 98% and the temperature is climbing steadily up to 40. Right now the nest is in the shade. It is nearly 11 am and maybe Daisy will now have a quiet day. The Ravens and the WBSE should be trying to find a spot to stay cool for the day.

I have checked with a person who knows about eggs. The Ironbark Tree is a very deep and wide tree. It actually holds the heat. Daisy’s nest is right in the middle. Even though she did not get to cover her nest and despite the fact that it was only 21 or 22 degrees C then, it is thought that the down and the warmth from the WBSE nest would have kept the eggs sufficiently warm. This is Day 15 of incubation. Let us hope so! The individual that told me about the temperature said that they were worried if the eggs got too hot from being exposed to direct sunlight. We learn something every day!

Thank you for joining Daisy. She hopes to have a nice quiet albeit hot day in the Sydney Olympic Park forest. I will provide an update if anything should happen in about six or seven hours. Otherwise Daisy and I will see you tomorrow. Good night. Stay safe!

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Thank you to Sea Eagle cam, Birdlife Australia, and the Discovery Centre for the cameras where I took my scaps.

Ravens threaten Daisy!

Daisy’s Monday morning in Australia (Sunday in North America) started out as beautifully as it ended the evening before. She had gone to forage returning at 19:45 yesterday evening. It appears to be a growing pattern, leaving in the heat of the afternoon and returning right before dusk. This pretty much ensures that she will miss the sea eagles if they come.

While she was away yesterday, the Rainbow Lorikeets came to visit Daisy, full of energetic chatter but, at the same time, wondering where she was! They are so cute. They almost look like stuffed plushies someone has placed on Daisy’s nest tree.

Where’s MY Daisy?

It is going to be hot again today for Daisy. They are predicting temperatures of 34 climbing to 39 tomorrow. Our pour little duck needs a paddle pool up there with her!

Daisy decided not to leave this morning for a bathroom break or to forage. Instead, she stayed on the nest. The Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos can be heard around 7:15 but it is an Unkindness that rattles Daisy’s world at 8:04. A group of Ravens is called an Unkindness and they were certainly not nice to Daisy. In fact, they were downright threatening. They moved from the top of the tree down closer. It was impossible to get am image of them in the tree (see second image below) but their shadows could be seen and their noise was deafening. Daisy was so frightened.

Australian Raven. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Look at the image below. Notice that Daisy has spread her feathers out in a manner similar to when a raptor mantles its prey. Her tail is fanned out and the feathers on her back are raised. She is protecting her clutch of eggs from these predators. The Ravens try harder and harder to get Daisy off her nest of eggs so they can eat them!

Daisy flattens her feathers and her head against the nest.

The Unkindness bullied Daisy trying to get her off her nest for five minutes. It must have seemed like a life time. And then they were away!

Except for the heat, the rest of the day has been relatively uneventful. The birds and animals of the forest are trying to expend as little energy as they can and remain cool in the hot Australian heat.

Daisy gathers up leaves and methodically covers her clutch of eggs and flies off to forage at 13:04:44.

Daisy leaving her nest to forage.

Notice how Daisy has moved leaves over on top of her down and tucked it in tight today. She might be worried about the Ravens coming back to try and find her nest. Or maybe she thinks the sea eagles might stop in to see if anyone is incubating the eggs.

Daisy flies from the nest.

Look at the image above. You can just see Daisy flying off. It got really hot on the nest today. The afternoon is the worst. Daisy left a little earlier than usual. Eggs are incubated at 37.5 degrees. It is possible that the heat from outside and the down stuffed around could keep the eggs toasty warm until later today. I wonder if Daisy will return around 17:00 or if she will wait til almost dusk.

Update: It was a very short foray for Daisy. She was gone only until 14:32 – so under an hour and a half. When she returned it looked like she was pretending like she had just landed on the nest. Like always, she looked around and walked very slowly before going over to her nest. What I find interesting is that she does not immediately move the leaves or open the down. It is always like she is simply waiting a little more being overly careful. Daisy is so cautious. What a good little mother!

Thank you for joining us and checking in on the little duck that built her nest inside the nest tree of the big sea eagles.

Thank you to the Sea Eagle cam, Birdlife Australia, and the Discovery Centre for the cameras that provided the images.

Incubation Day 13 or the hottest day in Sydney

Daisy has been on the nest quietly but alertly brooding her eggs. She took a very early morning break from 4:13:44 to 5:16:34. Possibly a bathroom break for a duck or a chance to grab a quick breakfast and cool off in the water before one of the hottest days on the nest. It is 14:06:40 and our cute little duck is panting quickly in order to regulate her temperature despite the fact that there is now shade on the nest.

There is finally shade on the nest but it is still very very hot for our favourite duck.

Someone asked me about the ducklings. Is it safe for them to hatch and jump from a nest in a tree 75 feet high? Yes, it is perfectly safe. The ducklings are not harmed because the down on their body absorbs the impact. In fact, I am told that they actually bounce. It is hard to imagine! Last year a pair of Canada Geese laid their eggs in an Osprey nest in Minnesota. The goslings were recorded leaping down to the ground to everyone’s amazement. Some geese are known to build their nests on cliffs 150 feet high to be away from predators. No harm has come to the goslings when they have left from those nests.

Here is a video of a Wood Duck whose nest was in a very high tree. It is only 1.33 minutes long. Have a look. This is what Daisy’s ducklings will do. She will leap down to the forest floor and they will jump! Enjoy.

Wood Ducks Leaping from a very high nest in a tree.

Of course, there are many fears for Daisy. Remember, she is effectively a single mother in an environment that is unusual. Her ducklings will hatch and immediately start peeping. This will draw attention to the nest. It is only twenty-four hours after hatch that they take their ‘leap of faith’ jumping off of the big nest on the Ironbark Tree. But first, before they can do that, they have to survive any predators and somehow make their way through all those twigs to the rim without getting their little paddles caught up in them. And then there are the predators on the ground. I have often wondered why WBSE Dad has not damaged any more eggs. Is he just dropping by to check, waiting for them to hatch? Him and Lady are well known for bringing in the Silver Gull chicks to the nest for their eaglets. And then there is Mr. Raven and all the Pied Currawongs and last, but never least, the foxes. I am told that they have been removed from the park. I hope so. That would be one less thing for Daisy to worry about. But for now, we will just simply rejoice in every hassle free day that Daisy has. We are now half way in the incubation period to hatch watch: February 6-10.

It is now late afternoon in the forest. The sun is back shining on Daisy’s head and the nest cup. It is so hot that there are no sounds of any birds. Everyone is trying to keep cool.

Daisy begins to tuck the down in around her nest along with pulling leaves closer to her nest. Then she sees a shadow of a bird cross the nest and she stops! She waits and listens. Five minutes later she resumes her preparations for concealing her nest and heading to the water to eat and cool off. She flies off the nest to the left, to the closest water source, at 15:11:10.

Daisy moves her quickly to tuck in the down and pull leaves towards the nest.
Daisy finding some last plant material to conceal her eggs before leaving.

It was so hot yesterday and it is even hotter today. If Daisy follows her pattern of late, she will return to the nest between 19:45:00 and 20:00. And if the Sea Eagles are being typical, if they are coming in to check it will be around 17:00 and Daisy will be gone!

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Daisy wants to say hello to all her friends in Poland and she welcomes her new viewers from China. Thank you for joining us on Daisy’s journey.

Thank you to Sea Eagle Cam, Birdlife Australia, and the Discovery Centre for providing the camera for my scaps.

Oh, it is going to be hot for Daisy!

Oh, welcome to The Daisy Chronicles, a daily update on the life of the little Black Pacific Duck that has made a nest in a White Bellied Sea Eagle nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest. It is Day 13 of incubation. We could be half way to hatch!

Och, witamy w The Daisy Chronicles, codziennej aktualizacji życia małej kaczki Black Pacific, która założyła gniazdo w gnieździe bielika morskiego w lesie olimpijskim w Sydney. Jest 13 dzień inkubacji. Mogliśmy być w połowie drogi do wyklucia!

————————————————————————————-It is 7:44 on the nest in Sydney, Australia and Daisy knew what the weather was going to be today. She got up early, at 4:13:44 to go for a swim and some foraging. The weather news says it will be 36 in Sydney today and it will be hotter on the nest with the direct sunlight at times.

How many times have you checked the weather only to find out that the weather report was wrong? When I was a little girl staying with my grandmother, she would open the front door of her house and ‘sniff’. Then she would declare that it was going to rain. At the time, not knowing anything, I thought she was a witch! How silly was that? But how do birds know the approaching weather?

Some say that the hollow bones of a bird help them determine the barometric pressure and, thus, they are able to anticipate incoming weather. Others say that it is the pressure plates within their ears. Daisy is not a bird but a waterfowl and still she anticipates the changing in temperature, rain, etc. That is because she, also, has hollow bones. Recent research at The University of Western Ontario suggests that birds have an internal barometer. They can tell even the slightest change in barometric pressure and temperature. And, of course, they have these skills because knowing if they should forage or hunt immediately, if rain or snow are coming, are essential to their survival. Researchers at the University tested their ideas by lowering and raising the air pressure inside a specially built wind tunnel. If they lowered the air pressure, the birds would immediately start looking for food and prey. Low pressure means that a storm or rain and winds is approaching. They might even have to find a safe place to stay for hours or even days depending on the strength of the storm. Likewise, if the barometric pressure and temperature rise a bit, the birds will have a reasonable morning in the nest preening before heading out to hunt or forage. Today, Daisy leaves her nest early because she knows that it is going to be very hot during the day and she may need to dabble several times rather than just one long foraging trip.

For those of you who are ‘sort of’ keeping up with Daisy, things have been relatively quiet for a few days. Today is day 13 of brooding. The WBSE ‘Dad’ made a surprise visit to the nest tree last evening at 16:59:24 but as quick as he appeared, he left at 17:03:43. I am sure he thought he would catch whoever was brooding in his nest. But Daisy has been very smart. And with the heat she may stay out foraging or dabbling longer. She landed on the rim of the nest at 19:49:49 but was very cautious looking around before venturing over to her eggs. In fact, she did not actually go over to the nest cup until 19:52, three minutes after arriving.

Daisy lands on the right side of the nest. She does not look at her nest and proceeds with caution in case there are predators about.
Daisy is listening and looking.

Daisy is very much aware that the White Bellied Sea Eagles come and go in the forest. Sometimes they stay for a few minutes, other times for many hours. She listens for the vocalizations from the other animals and birds in the forest to let her know if they might be coming. Her survival depends on it.

Daisy aerating her nest.
Satisfied that no one is around, Daisy sits on her eggs.
Daisy is busy as the sun sets and the Infra-Red cameras come on. Here she is fixing the down.

At 4:13, it is already more than 22 degrees C on the nest. Daisy is anticipating a very hot day. She has decided to go dabbling early before all of the other birds and animals in the forest are awake. You can see from the image below that it is still very dark in the forest. What we are learning is that Daisy, a Black Pacific Duck, can see in the dark better than the WBSE.

In fact, anyone observing this nest is learning a lot. No one can remember a Black Pacific Duck making their nest on a Sea Eagle camera or a place where we could easily observe without threatening the wildlife.

Daisy turns in the down and scatters the plant material around so no one will notice her eggs.

If you look carefully at the image above, you can see Daisy’s tail on the right behind the tree branch. She is just preparing to fly off to the water.

Daisy tucks her bill under her wing resting.

Daisy forages for a little over an hour. She returns to the nest and quickly bets on her eggs to incubate them. She rolls them with her paddle feet carefully and turns in the nest gently.

Daisy has returned from her morning foraging.

Daisy returns just after 5am. Sunrise is at 6:05. She knows that the sea eagles often fly into the forest at dawn. In the image below she has heard the sound of ravens. Ravens, you will remember, often chase the sea eagles. She listens carefully for several minutes before settling down.

Daisy raises her neck and listens for intruders.
Daisy resting.

By 8:30, Daisy has already had visits from at least one Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos and the Ravens were alarming at 8:04. Now the Rainbow Lorikeets can be heard in the forest but I cannot see them on the nest yet.

A Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

It is now after 10:00, and the sun is shining on Daisy in the nest. She has already starting panting in order to regulate her temperature.

The hot sun pounding down on Daisy.

It will be 36 degrees C in the forest today. It is understood that it is hotter on the nest. Look carefully and you can see Daisy’s bill open. That is her panting. The shade is ever so slowly moving over Daisy but the heat is almost unbearable. Instead of panting slowly, now it is a fast clacking of her bill.

Let us hope that it is way too hot for the sea eagles to be in the forest today. A day without sea eagles is a safe day for Daisy! And it is going to be so very hot that she doesn’t need a hassle with other predators either today.

Thank you to the Sea Eagle Cam, Birdlife Australia, and the Discovery Center for the camera that supplied the scaps of Daisy and her nest.