Tag Archives: Dulles-Greenaway Bald Eagles

Early Friday in Bird World

14 October 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

Some snow fell last night and it was still here – not melting – until half an hour ago. Everyone has been in the garden this morning and Canada Geese have been flying overhead. Everyone is visiting the garden. The number of Dark-eyed Juncos has increased, and the Starlings are here waiting for me to go and get Meal Worms and Butter Bark. I plan to do that shortly. They do cause chaos, but they are such beautiful birds and they also deserve a good feed on a cold day.

Making News:

Oh, I adored Rosa and Martin’s 2022 eaglet, Orion, at the Dulles-Greenway Bald Eagle nest. What a gorgeous chick. Orion hatched on the 13th of March. Well, guess what? Orion returned to the nest! But it gets better ———— Martin and Rosa were there!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is the video:

Harriet and M15, the famous Fort Myers Bald Eagle couple, have made The Washington Post with their rebuilding activities! The raptors can show us all the way. Don’t grumble about what life throws at you, just get on making it better!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/10/14/bald-eagles-rebuild-nest-hurricane/?fbclid=IwAR2VxX84BEELvFGm6uHJXCm2lIm2qfvsDUHwDj4GLnnYCx9GTfPR0YsTYZU

Abby and Blazer from Eagle Country are on their nest tree. Just look at what Hurricane Ian did to their wonderful nest. I wonder if they will rebuild in the same place?

Do you adore the Kakapo, the charming green flightless parrots of New Zealand that are so threatened? Well, I do and am always thankful for the care they are given. They were New Zealand’s Bird of the Year for two straight years but, because of that, they have been struck from the ballot this year. Some are wondering if that is fair.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/12/new-zealand-bird-of-the-year-contest-favourite-kakapo-blocked

New research comes from all the poo samples collected of the Kakapo. Here are the results that shows gut health is key to their survival.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/10/kakapo-gut-bacteria-key-to-its-survival.html?fbclid=IwAR3ArV1bv8gLBVh4wIP0drEOQQICOkkxbimeWUZwoMlwQTou2g6UZz5S3Is

Nest News:

Today, at Port Lincoln, Big is 27 days old, Middle is 26, and Little Bob is 23 days. Those four days and, perhaps, a gender difference with Big Bob certainly being a female, sure set those two apart. According to Port Lincoln’s data chart, there were 4 fish delivered with 5 feeds. That does not tell us much about what happened on this nest. I was, however, delighted to see that Little Bob had a feeding around 0100 Friday morning. That is interesting as the night before, Middle had been the recipient of those precious bites. I could not rewind to see how much fish Little Bob got but, on Friday in Australia, Big ruled the roost in frenzied attacks on all the siblings. Little Bob had some fish around 10:45 before it was attacked by Big three minutes later. That feeding was highlighted in my last blog.

There was a feeding at 12:36. Little stayed rolled up tight and did not get any. The third feeding at 16:28 Middle got some but Little did not. It was the break through very large whole fish that helped Little Bob. It arrived at 17:17:45. Little Bob moved up to eat with Middle at 17:36 getting its first bite at 17:37:58. After that Mum worked that fish tail again giving Little huge bites at the end. Little Bob went to bed full of fish. That is a good thing.

There was not a late fish delivery like there had been the night before. It sure would have benefitted Mum and Little. Big is out for the count so full after gorging all day. I remember the second hatch at Achieve Ospreys in 2020. That osplet would eat and eat and eat so that Tiny Tot could not get any food. We wondered how it could even hold another bite.

Looking at Port Lincoln and the age of the Osplets, let us remember that the beaking started on day 8. The late and only fish delivery that day came after 1500. It was also the onset of the Reptilian phase. We are now moving out of the Reptilian Phase and this nest should settle —- if it is going to. It is why the ages of the osplets are now important as the development of their juvenile feathering. Oh how I wish we could measure their hormonal levels leading up to that Reptilian Phase and then coming out of it.

The chicks at Melbourne were once again left out in the hot sun yesterday. I am mystified at the female at this scrape. I have never seen a female consistently leave her chicks for an hour and a half or longer every day. They were so hot. Hopefully in another week – when, according to the Melbourne weather reports it is to get hotter – they will be able to run to the other end of the gutter for shade. I want to say ‘should Mum leave them alone in the hot sun again’ but, it seems that a pattern has formed and that is precisely what Mum will do, sadly.

Indigo and Rubus are being well fed and taken care of. Rubus now gets lots of food and you can see that it knows precisely where Mum’s beak is. The eyes are open and they are focusing. When Rubus is an adult it will be able to see a prey item a mile away. There were six feedings yesterday at Orange.

Rubus and Indigo are just cute little buttons of things. Indigo is so calm and Rubus seems to be a live-wire. I do love watching Indigo take food out of Rubus’s mouth – but, only if, Diamond replaces it for Rubus!

There is no news about SE29 or SE30. I will be back with updates on migration later today along with the breakfast news from the nests. For those watching the Finnish Ospreys, Salli left Finland on August the 25th and she arrived at her winter home in Rwanda on the 13th of October. She is now feeding at Lake Llaema. Fantastic. The adult Royal Albatross have been arriving on Taiaroa Head. Some have been around Lillibet’s nest. Check it out.

Thank you so much for being here with me. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their news, their posts, and their screen cams where I took my screen captures: ‘A’ and ‘H’, Dulles-Greenaway, Osprey Friends, Eagle Country, Kakapo Recovery, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, and Port Lincoln Ospreys.

Monday Morning in Bird World

27 April 2022

Good Morning Everyone. I hope that all of you are well and that the sun is shining bright where you are.

Middle or LittleO at the Captiva Osprey nest roosted on the rim of the nest box. He spotted Andy and started fish crying. You could have heard him all the way to Fort Myers! At 07:30:05 Andy delivered his middle child and oldest surviving of the 2022 season a really nice catfish for his efforts!

Here comes Andy! Good one, Dad. Middle (LittleO) is really hungry.

Andy gets his talon nipped again.

Catfish are really bony and a challenge to eat. I wonder if Lena will come and help?

No. Middle (LittleO) had to work on that bony fish all by himself. He flew off of the nest at 09:02.

The clean up gang came up to the nest to see what was left of that nice fish.

To my knowledge, there has been no sighting of Little (or MiniO) since she fledged.

There was an early morning fish delivery at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. Civility continues. The time was 08:13.

Both siblings have nice crops and there will be fish left for Mum.

Chase has two big fish on the Two Harbours nest for Cholyn and TH1 this morning. After all the activity with the eaglet falling out of the nest and being rescued yesterday, it is hoped that nothing eventful happens until banding day!

Big Red is not giving much away but that 4th egg still has a lively pip happening. Cornell says that part of the shell is crashing so that is a good sign.

These three have been having a banquet of critters.

Arthur – isn’t he a darling? – got a chance not only to deliver prey to the pantry but also to brood his chicks! Fantastic.

The goslings are hatching at the old Bald Eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa. Mother Goose is really protecting them. So cute! It looks like four so far. Two more to go. There will be six in total if all hatch.

Here is a video of the hatching:

Here is the link to the camera for Mother Goose! Don’t be fooled by the Bald Eagle – this is Decorah’s old unused nest leased to Mother and Father Goose. When will the goslings jump? When they are all hatched, are dry, and have developed their protective fuzz. Probably tomorrow morning.

DN15 and DN16 are having a lovely morning with their Mum, Mrs DNF (Decorah North Female) looking over them. Because of the recent Avian Flu deaths in the Midwest, I will continue to check in to make sure everything is alright on this nest. They are looking good this morning.

All three of Thunder and Akecheta’s eaglets are up on the nest this morning! It looks grey and dreary there.

Rosa and Martin’s Only Eaglet at the Dulles-Greenaway Nest has certainly grown. It is waiting and hoping that someone is going to bring breakfast!

I am very concerned about the MN-DNR and have written to find out the status of the two eaglets. I hope that they are both just very very sound sleepers and this is not another two eaglets taken by H5N1.

At 06:03 both were tucked up under Nancy.

At 08:09 a parent was on the nest checking on them.

One ate at 08:00.

I will report later if anything is confirmed at this nest. This would be such a loss.

I hate to leave on a what could be a sad note. The number of cases of Avian Flu in the Midwest are growing. If you would like to see the spread of this deadly virus, here is a link to the USDA data:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-wild-birds

Thank you for joining me. Please take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: MN-DNR, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Explore.Org, Institute of Wildlife Studies, Dulles-Greenaway Bald Eagles, UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey Nest, and Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife.

Late Tuesday in Bird World

19 April 2022

Right now it is hard to believe that snow will be arriving again in about 4 or 5 hours. All of the garden animals are out and about running around on the hydro lines and poles and checking to see if there are any corn kernels hidden in the wood in the little sheds. Dyson knows it is there! He will find it for sure.

Sharpie seems to have some competition in the garden now with a Cooper’s Hawk (note the curved tail). This hawk is much larger than Sharpie. I wonder if it is a female. Certainly didn’t need to worry about birds at feeders!!!!!!!! They took off but a few went down under the deck and Cooper knows they are there.

Besides the garden chaos with Cooper, there has been a mini-kerfuffel going on in my City today. To feed the songbirds or not? to put out feeders or not? in times of Avian Flu. I decided to ask the Cornell Bird Lab and also sent a question to Dr Thijs Kuken at the University of Erasmus in Rotterdam who is a virologist and studies Avian Flu. I have not heard from him. But the Cornell Bird Lab did send the following information:

“Hello,

Thank you for reaching out to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

We are paying attention to the situation. Avian influenza viruses occur naturally among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species. Wild aquatic birds can be infected with avian influenza viruses in their intestines and respiratory tract, but usually do not get sick.

There are no suggestions to take bird feeders down unless you have backyard poultry or work with poultry or other domestic birds. Of course, this may change as birds begin their migrations north.

Below are some resources that should help.

Fact Sheet from the Cornell Vet School: https://cwhl.vet.cornell.edu/system/files/public/cwhl-fact-sheets-ai.pdf

I hope this helps.

Thank you.”

Sarah Wagner, PhD
Public Information Specialist
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

It is recommended that you clean your feeders with a very mild mixture of dish soap and either white vinegar or bleach (very, very mild). You should allow everything to fully dry before using them. There are also recommendations that you clean your feeders every 48 hours. But do note, if you have feeders near poultry – as in a back yard poultry area), those feeders should be removed!

Checking on the UK Ospreys, Mrs G and Aran have their first egg. It arrived at 19:37! Aran saw the egg and went to get Mrs G some more bedding. Sweet.

Telyn and Idris welcomed their second egg at the Dyfi Osprey nest at 18:01.

Sweet. A nice fish for Telyn. Oh, Idris. You are a darling.

A small piece of fish with the tail arrived at the Dale Hollow Eagle nest late in the day. Big and Little Middle were decidedly hungry! It was nice to see the adult feed them both.

I know that the parents slow down the delivery of fish as the eaglets get older providing them with plenty one day and nothing another so they learn about living on their own. However, it sure was nice to see a piece of fish show up for these two!

Martin and Rosa’s eaglet at the Dulles-Greenway Bald Eagle nest is doing great. They have had some bad weather and it is still really windy there.

Akecheta has been busy protecting his three eagles at the West End nest on the Channel Islands. It looks like he was concerned about some gulls that were overhead this afternoon.

I did not see it but ‘B’ sent me a video clip of an intruder getting right in the scrape box at Cal Falcons. I am glad I did not see that event live. Thank you, ‘B’.

Sadly, the successful breeding and relocation programmes often cause a lot of floaters looking for nests that can be quite disruptive to established pairs with eggs or chicks. Or, sadly, cause fatalities.

Little Bit has a nice crop. You can see it in the ‘cuddle puddle’ on the nest. That fuzzy light grey marble looking thing is its crop! The nest has done well today. Mum has tried to keep those osplets cool.

Jasper at the NE Florida Bald Eagle nest took its first flight and has since made several others. Rocket is ‘thinking’ about flying. Jasper, however, seemed to have everything happen the day he flew for the first time. He roosted during a storm on the nest tree and, as the AEF realized, he was also hit by an owl! Needless to say he was tired and starving when he got back in the nest. Here is the footage of the owl attack.

This has been a very short newsletter. I hope that everyone is doing well. Take care and I will see you again soon – with more eggs being laid tomorrow in the UK! Thank you for joining me.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: DHEC, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Explore.org, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Dulles-Greenway Eagles, Pix Cams, and Dyfi Osprey Project.

Friday in Bird World

15 April 2022

It has been a cracker of an afternoon in Bird World. The ‘New Guy’ – to finally have an official name at noon on the 18th – is ready to step in and incubate when Annie calls. I like this fella’. No, he will never replace Grinnell – he is his own endearing self. Through his kindness and generous spirit of heart, ‘New Guy’ saved this clutch and won the heart of Annie and so many of us. Precious.

The more I watch the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest, the more that Mum endears herself to me, too – just like the ‘New Guy’. At lunch time, she had a huge chunk of Mullet (please correct me if I am wrong) to feed the trio. That is nothing extraordinary but how she checked on Little Bit offering it bites when Big Sib had calmed down, how she moved the fish to feed again when Dad came wanting leftovers, well…none of the chicks were left out. They all had a nice feed. Little Bit is spunky, too. Big tries to intimidate both Middle and Little Bit but, thankfully, is not all that aggressive. They wait and head back up, sometimes walking right in front of Big to get to the beak. I am impressed.

Each raptor mother has their own personality and way of feeding. Some feed fast and only to beaks open at the front. This Mum is slow and methodical, not stopping til all are full unless the fish runs out. Oh, I wish I knew more about this couple!

Little Bit managed to get some nice big bites amongst lots of smaller ones.

The bigger siblings can eat more at one feeding than Little Bit but this morning it appeared that Little Bit did a bit of a crop drop and wanted more fish. Excellent.

When the Dad arrived the Mum went to protect the hunk of fish and the chicks moved up and she fed them more.

Then Mum moved the fish and continued feeding -topping everyone up. She is very, very smart. She topped herself up, too. It is hot on top of that light stand – fill the kids up!

Little Bit wants more fish and Mum made sure he got some more.

Mum ate some of the nice fish once the babies were full and sleeping.

Then she began to call for Dad.

Food comas.

The third hatch at the Venice Golf and Country Club Osprey got some fish at the beginning of the 13:07 feed. All three are fine.

Blue NC0 and Laddie now have two eggs in their nest at Loch of the Lowes. Congratulations!

B15 is believed to be a female. She certainly is a big fledgling. B15 has stayed around the Berry College nest of her parents, Pa Berry and Missy, learning to fly and coming for food. Missy loves to feed her baby! This is such a huge help to the success of this gorgeous juvenile. It was a great year for Berry College.

There is another fledgling happy to visit home. Oh, is Kincaid ever loud! He will be just as happy if Anna wants to feed him, too, like B15. Last year Kistachie shot out of the nest never to be seen again. That is not especially a good thing. This year Kincaid is hanging around to the delight of everyone.

There is Kincaid on the branch of the nest in the Kisatchie National Forest near Alexandria, Louisiana. The sound on their camera is simply incredible.

Want to have a listen? Here is the link to the camera. The laughing frogs will put a smile on your face.

Martin and Rosa’s eaglet at the Dulles-Greenway Eagle cam lost all that baby down and is getting its juvenile feathering. The change seemed to come in a blink of an eye. The eaglet hatched on 13 March making it (counting hatch day) 33 days old today.

Just look at those ‘Daddy Longlegs’ on Little at the Captiva Osprey nest! Good gracious. He will rival Idris!!!!!! Little got the 11 am fish. Lena is calling Andy to get some more fish on the nest. She is so loud, you could hear her in Fort Myers.

There was a wonderful article about the Bald Eagle Mum at the Pittsburgh-Hayes nest that defended her three eaglets against a determined intruder. Have a read and look at the picture. That was an amazing event on this nest. I would never want to make an Eagle mother upset – absolutely never.

https://triblive.com/local/dont-mess-with-momma-hays-bald-eagle-defends-against-intruder/?fbclid=IwAR3mMoCGGnzMsuESvp53P4ndAqCpyeHk6dCO_nlt8xKR4Wy-wc3KM8pDMK4

It is always nice to see Iris. What a joy it was when she returned to her nest at Hellgate Canyon in Missoula, Montana this year — the oldest Osprey in the world believed to be 28/29 this year.

So loved.

Port Lincoln posted a great remark on the chat for the PLO barge:

​”Who said Ospreys don’t fly around at night. Mum returned to the barge at 23.02 tonight and Ervie was fishing off the end of the main wharf at 20.47.”

It is always wonderful to hear about Ervie!

Aran and Mrs G have been in the nest. Later in the evening, the pair fly out to a favourite tree of Aran’s admiring their territory. This is what ospreys do on a Friday night in Wales.

Idris is on his perch while Telyn works on nestorations. She is a great one for moving large twigs. Wow.

A nice fish came to the Dale Hollow nest at 13:45. Both of the eaglets had a great feed.

Big is full and now it is Little Middle’s turn.

Then Big wanted some more of that nice fish.

Both eaglets were happy and had nice crops. A whole fish doesn’t go a long way anymore. If you count hatch day, the DH eaglets are 47 days old today.

Can you tell who is who?

The way to tell Little Middle is that he has a more prominent white ruffle on the end of his tail! (The angle of the camera makes Little Middle who is closest to the bottom appear slightly larger than he is but…that good fish is really causing this eaglet to grow).

It has been a great Friday in Bird World! The sun is still shining on the Canadian prairies, the wind is calm, and the snow has stopped. Nice.

Thank you for joining me today. Please take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: UFlorida ospreys, VGGCO, Woodland Trust and Friends of Loch of the Lowes, Berry College, KNF, Dulles-Greenaway, Port Lincoln Ospreys FB, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Montana Osprey Project, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi, and DHEC.

Middle out smarts Big at Dale Hollow and more Bird World News

22 March 2022

We had more snow last night – not a lot. But the humidity this morning is impacting the key pad on my computer. Has that ever happened to you? It is driving me crazy.

Oh, my goodness. Out in Bird World there are lots of storms moving through. One of them, with winds gusting to 46 mph, went through Captiva during the night. Lena held on tight and kept both of her babies safe.

By the time Andy brought the very first fish to his family things were a lot calmer.

It is still a bit windy. You can see Lena’s feathers blowing. Aren’t the feathers on Middle and Little gorgeous?

There is another storm system that is going to impact almost all of the nests we have been watching as it moves east – save for those nests in the West.

In the Kisatchie National Forest, home to the Bald Eagles Anna and Louis and their eaglet of 2022, Kincaid, they are waiting for the very severe weather shown in the top map to hit any moment. Kincaid is already finishing his breakfast.

Kincaid loves the wind and is flapping all over the nest as the storm approaches. Kincaid, wait! No branching today.

The storm has hit. Anna and Louis will be perched in nearby trees. Kincaid is hunkered down. Fantastic.

That same system is also going to impact the Dale Hollow nest where Middle DH15 needs big fish deliveries today. River stayed on the nest with the two during the night. I hope she returns with a huge fish so that the trauma DH15 endured yesterday does not happen again today. If you are wondering why it does not fight back, take a look at the difference in size. DH15 or Middle wants to survive, too.

Amanda777 posted the following video about the Dale Hollow nest yesterday.

I don’t know Amanda777 but in a comment on the video, she said, “This is a very strange nest”. Indeed, it is in so many ways. First, siblicide on a Bald Eagle nest appears to be very rare. This is supported by much academic research. To have the same Bald Eagle nest with the same parents have at least two incidents of violent siblicide is not normal. One might begin to wonder if the offspring are predisposed genetically? or is it this nest territory? the weather? intruders? available prey? gender of the siblings and birth order? the distinct type of parenting ? or the synergy of all the factors?

I asked a couple of eagle experts about the life expectancy of Bald Eagles in the wild. The general consensus is that it is about 20-24 years. Some do live longer. Many never reach their first birthday. Keeping that in mind and knowing that River and Obey are both supposed to be 24 years old also gives a different perspective. They are elderly. When siblicide happens, the biggest question is always ‘why’? Sadly it appears that the eagles are driven to breed whether they want to or not and to lay eggs, the number they do not seem to be able to control.

Obey has just landed on the nest alerting! Then River comes. It is 07:43. Oh, goodness. This is not a good start to the day!

It is nearly 010:30 and Big and Middle are still waiting for breakfast. This does not bode well unless this is an enormous fish when it comes. Fingers crossed.

At 10: 27:03 one of the parents flies in with an American Coot which it is plucking. Big is very hungry and is right up there. Middle is watching and listening but staying out of the way. Smart! Let Big go first. You will save yourself, Middle, if you do! (It is possible that this is Obey, the Dad, but I am not 100% sure. The feeding method is different).

The adult twists and turns plucking and maybe nibbling?? Middle is very attentive but no matter how hungry he is, he is looking like he knows to stay away from Big.

Well, would you look at this! Middle didn’t wait!!!!!!! He is right up there at the beak. I sure hope Big doesn’t get mad.

Big did get mad! Middle ducked and began moving along the rim away from the food. That appeared to satisfy Big who is extremely interested in the plucking.

Middle had a plan. He gets over to his normal spot on the rim and he turns and checks on Big. And then he makes his move.

Still watching Big very closely Middle moves around the rim of the nest.

He gets himself right up by Obey and he Dad starts feeding his boy some Coot. Middle really likes it.

Did I say Middle really likes Coot? He is practically under Dad’s head trying to get some more.

Middle is going to eat much more of this Coot than Big.

Can you see Middle’s crop?

At 11:00 Middle is still eating. It has been a half hour feed.

At 11:04 Obey is pulling out the stringy bloody bites and Middle wants them!

The feeding might have finished at 11:07 but Middle thinks that there could be a little more food and continues until 11:10. Both Big and Middle have gigantic crops!!!!!!! Seriously huge. Middle will be waddling around and sleeping on a cropzilla.

Middle did a PS at 11:11:13. These babies are so full. Life is good. Tears are rolling down my cheeks. Middle is getting strategic and that was a great meal.

A Bald Eagle nest with three sweet little babies that is thriving is the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta.

The winds have really calmed down for Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear Valley. They were practically blown off the nest yesterday. Little one had a wonderful early breakfast.

A quick check at the nest of Cornell’s Red tail Hawks, Big Red and Arthur and all is calm. Arthur has come to give Big Red a break. Isn’t he cute? Yesterday, Arthur brought a snake on to the nest. It’s true. He ate it while he was incubating the eggs!

Was the snake meant as a treat for Big Red? If so, she might not ever know.

I know that many of you fell in love with Harry, that young 4 year old dad that did so well on the MN-DNR nest last year. Well, Harry was busy packing the prey in the nest yesterday. Him and Nancy had their first pip of the 2022 season! I was expecting a hatch during the night or early morning. Waiting for word. Nancy is not giving a thing away!

Two of the three eggs have hatched at Pittsburgh-Hayes. Here is a great look at one of the recent feedings.

LM12 or as he is fondly called, Laddie, has been creating the nicest nest of all it seems. I wonder if Blue NC0 will like it when she arrives?

Maya and Blue 33 (11), two of my favourite Osprey parents, have been working on their nest and getting reacquainted after their winter migration. Blue 33 returned yesterday. Maya was home at Rutland Water on March 15. Last year the couple arrived within half an hour of one another.

While Maya and Blue 33 work on their nest, the three little Bobble heads of Thunder and Akecheta are just waking up and having breakfast. It is 06:27 on Catalina Island in California.

Liberty and Guardian are also waking up in Redding, California with their first hatch wanting breakfast. This was actually egg2 and it joined us at 21:24 on March 20th. Liberty has a nice big fish in the nest already.

At the Dulles Greenaway nest of Martin and Rosa, the wee babe is wide awake and Rosa moved so we could have a peek.

Sweet and sleepy.

There is so much happening in Bird World. I hope to get someone to do a quick cleaning of my laptop today. You might not hear from me until much later. Please send your warmest wishes to all of the nests and, in particular, Dale Hollow. Middle did fantastic this morning! Joyful tears. We just need this to continue.

Thank you so much for joining me. Take care.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Captiva Osprey and Window on Wildlife, KNF Bald Eagles, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, Cornell RTH, Dulles-Greenway Eagles, LRWT, Woodland Trust and Loch of the Lowes, Pix Cams, MN DNR, Friends of Big Bear Valley, and CNN Weather Tracker.

Friday Morning in Bird World

18 March 2022

I am a night owl and not generally up before 07:00. This morning I wanted to check on the status of the Dale Hollow nest. In all the sadness there, it is good to pause and to continue to thank all those amazing ‘bird’ mothers and dads out there. Over the years I have seen them separate chicks, get their mate to help with tandem feedings, and go fishing or hunting themselves to ensure that there was ample food for all on the nest. I am desperately trying to understand the ‘root cause’ of the issues at Dale Hollow that have taken us to this morning. River has come into the nest alerting and Big is still attacking. Rain started at 10:17.

It was a beautiful morning on the Gulf of Mexico at the Captiva Osprey nest in Florida. Lena was up waiting and trusting that Andy was going to get a fish on the nest for Middle and Little (Little and Mini). Andy did not disappoint!

The chicks are full and Lena is going to go for her bath to get off all the fish. Middle and Little look great!

At the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest of Samson and Gabby, breakfast has arrived. Jasper is being fed and Rocket is self-feeding. If you are new to this nest, the eldest, Jasper once demanded to be fed first and tried to keep Rocket from eating. Rocket became an expert at the ‘snatch and grab’. Rocket even took fish from the parents and was a pro at self-feeding early. Rocket learned great survival skills.

These two have not branched yet but that stage of their development is coming soon.

DG1 has had a few feedings already this morning at the Dulles Greenaway Bald Eagle nest in Virginia. Martin even took a turn at feeding the chick while Rosa had a break.

This little one is alert and ready for some more fish!

There is a second egg but time for pip is passing. Maybe this little one DG1 will be an only child.

There are three eggs being incubated at the Pittsburg Hayes Bald Eagle nest and this week we are on pip watch.

Are you a teacher looking for resources to teach about Bald Eagles? The Pittsburgh Hays Bald Eagle nest has posted a link to the Audubon Resources. Not a teacher? Have a peek. We are never too old to learn!

http://www.aswp.org/pages/educator-resources

The US Steel Bald Eagle nest was built in 2019. Eaglets have fledged from that nest in 2020 (1 fledge) and in 2021 (2 fledges). There are two eggs being incubated on this nest and Dad is on duty this morning.

At the White-tailed Eagle nest in Matsalu National Park in Western Estonia, the breeding couple are on the nest. Last year, two eggs were laid. The first on 20 March and the 2nd egg on the 24th of March. Both chicks died. Cause of death was confirmed to be H5N1, the highly pathogenic Avian Flu.

The White-tailed eagles are extremely rare in the Balkans and it is hoped that this nest is successful in fledging little eaglets this year. Here is a link to the camera:

Milda is at her nest in Durbe Municipality near the city of Liepaja in Western Latvia.

Milda has a new partner this year after losing her long time mate, Raimis, last year after she had laid her eggs. Her new mate, Mr L, and Milda bonded last year. I hope that he is of good help to her and that this nest also has successful fledges this year. There are many interlopers and both eagles have been on alert today.

Everything is great at the West End Eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta. The three sleepy heads looked around when it was time for breakfast! Like what, is it that time already!?

The to be named chick at the Big Bear Valley nest of Jackie and Shadow is 15 days old today. It is doing really, really well. It is good to keep in perspective the size of this chick compared to DH16, Little Bit, on the Dale Hollow nest. There are stressors on the little ones that cause a lack of feather development or lines in the feathers. This wee one is getting 8 or 10 feedings a day and is extremely healthy.

Big Red is patiently incubating her two eggs in the shade on the grounds of Cornell University campus in Ithaca.

That is it for me this morning. Every nest that we are following is doing well except for Dale Hollow. I really hate to see the Little Bit suffer. Nature is not kind. I hope to have some new Osprey arrivals for you late this evening. There is still no word on the cause of Big’s death at Captiva. We wait for the results.

Take care everyone. Thank you for being with me today.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Looduskalendar, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Pix Cams, Friends of Big Bear Valley, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute of Wildlife Studies, Latvian Fund for Nature, The Eagle Club of Estonia, Dulles-Greenaway Bald Eagles, and NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF.