Tag Archives: Dylan and Seren

Late Wednesday in Bird World

8 June 2022

We are continuing to have the most beautiful days with bright sun and blue skies and no rain. The ground is actually spongy the water table is so high and there remains clear evidence of how high the river continues to be when I drive through the park. For the past week I have attempted to find and count goslings and ducklings. In the beginning it was very frustrating as all I could find were six goslings with two other Canada Goose couples incubating eggs. Then a couple of days ago I decided to go ‘somewhere else’ to see what was happening! There sure won’t be Guinness World Records broken this year for the number of goslings and ducklings in our City. It is quite sad! At the same time, when I hear someone interviewed about the issue of Canada Geese down by our Legislative Building and their solution is to tear up the nests and break up the eggs, I go wild! What they have now is a loud speaker projecting the sounds of hawks that are keeping the geese away from the water and the grass. Why not hire workers to clean the sidewalks? One day we will wake up and there will be no songbirds singing or geese honking or little ones scurrying to catch up with the attitude that it is simply alright to destroy their nests. It isn’t alright. They are protected by our 1994 wildlife protections for migrant birds.

At any rate, I found spawning fish, an Osprey flying overhead, a single American Pelican, and lots of geese along with a couple of duck couples at one site.

A female Mallard with her 9 ducklings. She never took her eye off me. The male left the edge of the pond first and then she went in with the 9 ducklings. I was approximately 37 metres or 120 feet away.

One Canada Goose family with four little ones.

At another park, I found a couple of Mallard and Goose families along with a lot of male wood ducks and only one female in sight.

These little ducklings were having so much fun racing ahead of their Mum.

At the other end of the pond, a single gosling constitutes the ‘family’ for these two geese this year. Back on the island scattered about are abandoned eggs that would have been destroyed by the flood waters at the pond.

The Wood Ducks were not at this park the last time I visited. It was very disappointing as the pond is normally full of them. There were some this time, thankfully.

The little female Wood Ducks are adorable.

Mixed in with the geese and ducks was this one particular shape that did deep dives into the water. The light was not good but what you are looking at is a very wet Common Goldeneye below.

What is interesting to me is that Common Goldeneyes will seek out tree cavities or stumps – even chimneys. The females have also been known to lay their eggs in another duck’s nest (if they do not have a suitable one). This is known as ‘brood parasitism’. Thankfully ducklings are precocial – they can take care of themselves once they hatch! There could be as many as 30 in a single clutch! Since ducks return to the site where they hatched, it is common for them to be related to one another.

This is the first time I have seen this species at this pond. It is a female. It is possible the floods have caused a variety of species to come to the city where it is dry than stay in the rural areas where the fields are totally flooded.

At another park this afternoon, there was one group of goslings totalling 11 with both parents and another younger group totalling 9 with no parent visible. It felt odd to see them alone and not a single goose with them!

It was, however, great to see those fuzzy little bodies on the water paddling or eating grass.

Let’s take a spin around the nests and see what has been going on.

At the ND-LEEF Bald Eagle nest, ND17 Little Bit 17 does an amazing steal at 13:08. Little Bit just seems to be coming into his own – much more confident. Today at 13:08:53 he made a major steal from one of the big siblings. I believe it was 15.

In the beginning Little Bit went up between the two sib siblings looking to snatch and grab. That didn’t work so well.

He crept closer to the beak but the big sibling only started flapping its wings.

Little Bit went back by the porch when 15 started flapping. Meanwhile 16 is looking to see what is going on.

Little Bit wasted no time getting up on the other side of the big sibling.

The kid is lighting fast – he grabbed that prey item and off he went to the porch. Both big siblings look on in dismay. Dismay because Little Bit actually pulled the prey item out of the beak of 15 and ran with it!

Little Bit ate all of it! Great steal. This kid is really getting so confident. When he wants something he has been able to get it – at least for the past couple of days. Just imagine if he had food everyday. This eagle would be a very formidable opponent – long ago. He is getting there now.

As evening arrives, it is pitching down rain on Little Bit 17.

All three Bobs are growing and doing well at the Loch of the Lowes nest of Laddie LM12 and Blue NC0. Even Little Bob is growing – still smaller but right up there.

Aran has a huge Perch for Mrs G and the trio at the Glaslyn nest.

Come on Little Bob get up and get some fish before bedtime.

The winds are blowing a gale up at the Llyn Clywedog nest. They even sent Seren flying over the edge of the nest earlier. Here Dylan (on the right) is helping Seren feed the three Bobs so that everyone eats. There has been some nonsense on this nest in the past couple of days.

Idris just keeps catching whoppers for Telyn to feed their three Bobs at the Dyfi nest. Just look at that fish! And they still have big crops from an earlier feed.

Idris takes the fish he just brought and Telyn gets a piece from the nest and they do a tandem feeding. Everyone gets fed – once again before bed – including the littlest Bobbi who goes over to Dad!!!!!!! Do you find that the males seem to empathize with the small little males having to fight sometimes for food? like they might have had to do once?

The three Bobs are still lining up like a perfect choir for Maya to feed them at the Rutland Water Osprey nest she shares with Blue 33.

Besides L1 and Clem fledging, Jack at the Cromer Peregrine Falcon scrape fledged yesterday.

Speaking of Clem fledging. They are keeping an eye on her and Maria, the local Wildlife Rehabber, will return her to the scrape if she can. A big shout out to all the wildlife rehabbers that help these wee ones.

Middle has dropped his crop at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. For several days, many of us have watched intently believing that now was the moment he would fledge. Middle is still with us! He will fly off easily, just like L2 as if he had been flying all his life.

That is just a quick stop at a few nests this afternoon. Everyone of the Ospreys nests in the UK appears to be doing fine. Lots of eaglets wanting to fledge in the US. Different events happening all over the place! Looking for more fledges at Cornell this week and surely Middle at UF-G will let the wind carry him upward and forward. I am working on an article on a couple of amazing Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres for the beginning of next week. If you have a favourite send me a note and tell me how they pulled your heart strings!

Thanks so much for joining me this afternoon. Stay safe. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: ND-LEEF, Dyfi Osprey Project, Llyn Clywedog and CarnyXWild, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Loch of the Lowes and Woodland Trust, Cromer Peregrines, LRWT, and Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn.

Late Tuesday in Bird World

7 June 2022

This blog is mostly about Little Bit 17. It has been a good day for our little trooper!!!!!!

Little Bit 17 (formally known as ND17) at the ND-LEEF nest is 63 days old today. Big is 68 days old and Middle is 67 days old. Little Bit is decidedly behind in food from the two older eagles and he might well be a third of their size but that does not stop him. I call these third hatches ‘The Little Eaglets that Could’. Little Bit 17 has no idea he is small. No one sat down with him and explained size ratios, lack of development due to lack of food, etc. Now, some people might think it is a bad thing that Little Bit is a little eaglet. Perhaps not. He is decidedly quick- he can snatch and grab the prey before the two big eaglets. He is also extremely intelligent – he has learned to read the environment and know when to go in after the prey rather than get injured. Great lessons for the future. Later on he will be able to get that prey and fly off with it.

Today ‘something with a pelt’ came on the ND-LEEF nest. The older siblings simply cannot be bothered to work hard for food. That is another huge difference. Because Little Bit has been so hungry, he will eat things that the older two, more privileged will not. That really ticks the box for survivor for me.

At 13:41:08, Little Bit 17 grabs that squirrel pellet and works on it. At 13:56:23 he horks it down! Don’t worry. He will not choke. You have probably seen falcons being fed feathers, etc. The raptors do not waste a thing. Each has a purpose. In her book, The Hawk’s Way by Sy Montgomery she reminds us that people do not have to hunt but hawks do and so do eagles and all of the raptors. They live by four rules in the wild: Hunt hard. Kill Swiftly. Waste Nothing. Offer no Apologies.

Little Bit 17 watches the older sibling eating. He sits waiting. It must be 15 because the two of them tolerate one another rather well.

Little Bit 17 has taken the pelt and is eating it. The older sibling does not care.

Little Bit 17 works away on his meal – grateful to have food today!

At 14:47:54 Little Bit takes a UFO that lands on the nest!

But wait. At 14:55:39 Mom brings in a Rock Bass. The older siblings look at it but no takers. Little Bit waits and watches. When he is sure that 16 is not going to rip him up if he gets near it, Little Bit 17 moves in and takes that fish. Little Bit ate the whole thing.

The Rock Bass has arrived.

One of the older siblings checks out the Rock Bass but doesn’t want to have to unzip it. Meanwhile 17 is watching —–and you can bet that Mum is watching what is going on, too.

Little Bit has the fish. He is mantling.

Little Bit is pulling it over to the porch where he feels safe. He will eat the entire fish.

Little Bit has a huge crop. Isn’t it wonderful. In fact, Little Bit has been eating most of the day. He should definitely be energized. Let us all hope that this warrior of an eaglet will get as much food tomorrow!!!!!!!

The struggle that this little eaglet has made to live is inspiring. We should all sit back and take a page out of his playbook. Little Bit never gave up – never!!!!!! Little Bit is grateful for any and all food that he gets. He has taken each day and has made the best he could out of it. When there was no food for several days, he rested saving up the energy he had until food did arrive. Little Bit 17 is pretty amazing.

There is good news coming out of the UK. One of the Salisbury Cathedral eyases fell from the scrape. It is hard to imagine that it was not injured. Have a read:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/07/young-peregrine-falcon-falls-from-salisbury-cathedral-tower?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR3i2ekRjCwN_3McrdzQ2zLJIPRm9kEVRMAXE-0FiC_G0BbZGZHRe0b-bjE

L1 is going to give everyone a heart attack. She is going to fledge any moment.

Middle remains on the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. He is inspired also and has been taking prey items and not deferring to Big. Confidence is growing and growing. Like L1, he is going to fledge any moment.

The population of Condors is so very fragile. To lose one is a real tragedy. Condors clean up the ‘dead’ – the carrion like the Vultures, Eagles, and other birds like Corvids. They are highly susceptible to lead poisoning. Help make the world a better place – tell your friends and family to use non-lead fishing and ammunition. Write to your government leaders. There are options that would greatly impact the life of our raptors and Condors.

The 18 year old male at the Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey nest in Lewes, Delaware is believed to be missing. He did not bring in a fish this morning or at all during the day. The chicks are old enough to be left alone but still are too young to not predated by larger raptors. I really hope that Dad returns. Fingers crossed. Will Mum go fishing? Yes, she did. She returned wet but with no fish. Just look at those three chicks! Send all your positive wishes!

Right about now you might be thinking that I am wishing for Urmas to send over his fish basket! or for him to climb that platform and put some fish on that nest!!!!!

Big Bob on the Llyn Clywedog Osprey nest is being unkind. He gave Little Bob quite the going over today right when a fish arrived. This nest has had weather issues and you might remember that Dylan was missing in action for a day. Hopefully, Big Bob will settle down. He should! Seren was fighting with a fish delivery that went wild across the nest.

A falconer friend of mine posted this article on the Japanese falconer, Hidetoshi Matsubara. He has been a falconer for more than 50 years. Learn about falconry in another culture! It is a beautiful 7 minute read.

https://www.patagonia.com/stories/the-last-takajo/story-120760.html?fbclid=IwAR0C5JaLwQ3bEpa2zWi7kKG5e07Ll-vAJe9IjHFmHMyBs6MTY0wQLoI7twc&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=s22_content&utm_content=last_takajo

I had a wonderful afternoon and found lots of ducklings and some goslings. More about that tomorrow.

Thank you for joining me today! So happy for Little Bit 17 that I can’t think of too much else. I just wish that camera had higher definition so we could actually get a good image of this little warrior. See you soon. Take care.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Ventana Wildlife Society, Cornell Bird Labs RTH, Osprey Web Cam Cape Henlopen, Nd-LEEF, CarnyX Wild, and UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys.

Early Monday in Bird World

6 June 2022

Liz has posted a video of Urmas and his team removing the Black Storklets from Janika’s nest in Jegova County, Estonia on 5 June. I reported earlier that a glove like a Black Stork shape had been used to place the storklets in the basket. That information is incorrect and my apologies. Bare hands were used. One storklet, sadly, died in the nest over night before the intervention. They need temperatures of 22-28 degrees C. They cannot thermoregulate their temperatures yet. In addition, it rained and well – I hope the remaining chicks survive and thrive. It will be a first for the Veterinary College to raise Black Storklets to fledging. Good luck to Urmas and his team!

Here is the video that Liz posted:

The White Storks Bukachek and Betty still have five storklets in their nest in Mlade Buky, The Czech Republic. You can see the difference in size from the oldest to the youngest known as ‘Little Finger’ by the chatters.

Bukachek (male) is making sure that the wee storklet gets food in the image below.

It has been raining on and off. The rich Red Iron in the clay makes all of the Storks look dirty. Maybe when it is not so rainy more straw will be brought to the nest! That would help.

Awhile ago I mentioned the Lesser Spotted Eagles. Andris and Anna, at their nest in Zemgale, Latvia. The camera was down for awhile but it is now back and running. In the meantime, a beautiful little Lesser Spotted eaglet has hatched!

It is so cute and fluffy! There was only one egg so this is the only chick. Had there been two eggs, the first hatch most always predates the second. So having only one is a good thing! The parents can focus on bringing food to this cutie pie.

Voldis came to the White-tailed Eagle nest that he shares with Milda near Durbe, Latvia. He arrived at 05:30 and stayed for well over an hour.

Milda has had a terrible time since her long time mate, Raimis disappeared two years ago. I hope that Milda and her mate if it is to be Voldis have a very successful next breeding season. This year the eggs were predated.

Margit hatched on 25 April and is growing by leaps and bounds with the tender care of the parents, Kalju and Helju. This Golden Eaglet’s nest is in Soomaa National Park in the southwest of Estonia.

Oh, such a beautiful eaglet. Margit is waking up. The black dot behind the eye is the ear. It will be covered over with feathers before the eaglet fledges.

Helju just brought breakfast for Margit. Liz caught it in a video:

This is the streaming cam for this nest:

What is happening with Ahote? Ahote, the youngest of the three eaglets at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta, fledged on June 2. He has spent the time since then on Transmission Rock and is getting hungry unless food was delivered. Working his way back to the nest, he got some wind on his wings and got to the nest but was blown off course. No doubt he will get there! Very determined.

In the image below you can see him directly below and slightly to the right of Kana’kini and Sky.

Checking on Osprey nests in the UK, the third chick hatched at Llyn Brenig but did not survive.

Aeron Z2 and Blue 014 have had their first hatch at the Pont Cresor nest in the Glaslyn Valley.

Laddie LM12 delivered nine – yes, 9 – to the nest for Blue NC0 to feed their three Bobs at the Loch of the Lowes.

All three Bobs seem to be doing fine at the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G. Just look at how dark Mrs G’s plumage is and that necklace.

Aran has been busy delivering fish. Little Bob is not always in the most perfect position!

I do have to admit that Idris and Telyn are my favourite Ospreys in the UK along with Blue 33 and Maya.

Telyn is feeding the two older Bobs while Bobbie Bach is asleep.

Food coma!

Oh, could that be comfortable?

There is Bobbi Bach ready for his meal while the others sleep. Poor Telyn. They are surely keeping her busy.

It looks like it is starting to dry out for Dylan and Seren at the Llyn Clywedog nest. Gosh, Seren was just so wet and hunkered down keeping the three Bobs warm and dry. Let us hope the sun comes out, too, to warm them up.

Both of the Ospreys were on the UFlorida-Gainesville nest sleeping during the night.

Both are back on the nest waiting for a breakfast delivery!

Good Morning Little Bit 17! Everyone is waiting for prey deliveries at the ND-LEEF nest. I hope that the adults will feed Little Bit like they did yesterday. That would be grand.

The scrape box at Manchester NH is getting to be quite the mess! A good wind will help clear it out. It is hard to believe but this scrape will be on fledge watch beginning on the 10th or 11th of June – this coming weekend!

Nancy is on the nest at 08:40 feeding E1. It looks like they will have a beautiful day at that Bald Eagle nest in Minnesota. Wonder when E1 is going to take to the skies? Nancy has done wonders taking care of E1 and fending off intruders.

Fledge watch is on for the three at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest. It looks like only two but 17 is up higher in the tree.

There are still two eaglets – Sentry and Star – on the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. We are on fledge watch for these two also! It could be a very busy week!!!!!!

We are definitely on fledge watch for the eyases on the nest of Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell campus. The chicks are restless and L1 is definitely ready!

Oh, the excitement of a nest of four hawks – each itching to fly including the youngest, L4. Wonder if L1 will be the first of the oldest to go? Stay tuned.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: the Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlade Buky White Storks, Latvian Fund for Nature, IWS and Explore.org, Friends of LOTL and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyXWild, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, ND-LEEF, Peregrine Networks, MN-DNR, Pix Cams, Friends of Redding Eagles, and Cornell Bird Lab RTH.

Late Friday and early Saturday in Bird World

3 June 2022

If you have been watching the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest you might be wondering why so much fish are coming to the nest today. When I was learning about hawks, the female stuffed the kids all one afternoon. At the time I could not figure out why. I was told by a respected falconer, Laura Culley, that the raptors will feed their chicks full to the brim and more to prevent them from flying when the weather is not good. They know that that the chicks do not have enough skill in their flying to deal with torrential rains and wind. Smart!

‘R’ confirmed that there will lots of rain coming to the area of the nest. Gainsville is just north of the northern most dark green band in the centre of Florida. The nest is not currently in the areas of higher winds. Thankfully. This can change.

Both Big and Middle slept on the nest tonight. Fantastic. If the rains start early, they will both stay on the nest as well. It is the safest place for them to be.

The Tropical Storm tracked more south! The nest did not get the heavy rain predicted.

Mum brought a nice chunk of fish to the nest Saturday morning. It looks like Big got it first. They are so civil these two! Then Middle had some and then Mum is feeding Big.

There is bad weather coming to the Black Stork nests in Estonia tomorrow. Janika left the chicks overnight in the nest in Jegdova County in the southern part of the country. The temperature is 8-10 degrees C – too cool for the chicks who really need to be brooded by their mother. They should be 22-25 C now til they get their other feathers. But Janika had to make a choice. She has no mate. Jan has now been missing for well over 50 hours. She needs to feed herself and her chicks. Does she leave them in the rain and cold tomorrow to hunt? or tonight when it is cooler but not raining? It is very, very challenging for these parents. They make the best decision that they can. She does not know that Urmas will bring fish.

It is 0300 and the birds in the forest are singing. The chicks are sleeping. Janika is not home yet.

The morning is coming to the forest. The chicks are waking up. They must be very, very cold. I hope that they all made it through the night. It is possible that Janika will abandon the nest. Black Storks are entirely different than White Storks. The White Storks in Mlade Buky, The Czech Republic, did not mind the human intervention but Black Storks could be very different.

Saturday morning and Janika has returned and fed her storklets. There was also fish remaining on the nest from Urmas. All four ate. Janika has been aerating the nest and preening the chicks. It is not believed she has found the pond with the fish basket set up by Urmas which is less than 1 km from the nest. I hope she does!

Images of Janika aerating and preening.

This is the fish basket that Urmas has placed in the small pond of water with the decoy trying to lure Janika so she does not have to travel so far for food.

There is also a note in the Forum that Urmas may take the chicks to the Vet Clinic at the University of Life Sciences. They will be watching the nest closely. Fortunately the bad weather predicted did not happen but it was terribly cold for the little ones last night.

If you would like to follow this nest, here is the link.

There has been much sadness at the Latvian and Estonian nests. To my knowledge, Grafs and Grafiene did not return to their nest this year in Latvia. With the problems at the Jegova County nest of Jan and Janika, I hope that Karl II and Kaia have all their chicks to fledge this year.

Karl II was brooding the chicks last night and he often got up to aerate the nest.

Talk about intruders. A Raccoon climbed the whirley crane to get to Rosie and Richmond’s osprey nest with their three osplets!!!!!!!!! Why are these raccoons becoming such a menace to the nests? Ospreys do not eat mammals!!!!!!

There is really good news at the West End Bald Eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta. Ahote who was the youngest and the eaglet that fledged has made it to the top of the rock near to the nest known as the Transmitter Rock. You can see him on the left and his siblings Kana’kini and Sky on the natal nest.

Thunder and Akecheta can lure him to the natal nest with food or deliver prey to him where he is. This is an amazing image and the camera that is providing it was just installed last year by Dr Sharpe.

Takoda at the National Arboretum Bald Eagle nest is enjoying a lovely fish. He began self feeding and then one of the adults (Mr President or Lotus) came in to feed him. Takoda has branched but not fledged (as far as I know). What a beautiful eaglet he is!

We are definitely on fledge watch for the three eaglets at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest! I wonder if they will all go at once! They are all ready and maybe rivalry will step in. That would just be incredible – as long as each of them makes it home for dinner.

It is fledge watch for Liberty and Guardian’s two eaglets at the Redding, California nest, too.

Dylan came with a nice fish at 20:36 for Seren and the three Bobs at the Llyn Clywedog nest – before the rain. He offered her a piece of fish on arrival and then she feed the kids. The Welsh call the smallest chick, the third hatch, ‘Bobby Bach’ – and Bobby Bach certainly holds his own in this nest. No worries!

What a cutie. Right up there and getting a crop – not afraid of the older siblings now decidedly in their reptile phase.

Everyone got to eat well before the rain set in and night fell. That storm is brewing too. Hopefully the winds will not be too bad. Hold on everyone.

Idris also came in with fish for Telyn and the chicks. He even took some time to feed one of them! The winds really began howling during the wee hours of Saturday morning on their Dyfi nest in Wales.

Aran caught a fish and brought it to Mrs G at the Glaslyn Osprey nest. It had already started raining there and everyone was a bit soggy. Bobby Bach got himself up to the front – thank goodness he is so tiny compared to the others – and had some fish before bed.

Louis and Dorcha are a pretty good team. I admit to falling in love with Aila – this was the first nest I watched so many years ago now. But, I like Dorcha. Louis is so special. I wonder if she knows how lucky she was to land on his nest last year? Today he brought in three whoppers. Dorcha is just feeding the chicks the last of the fish before the sun sets on Loch Arkaig.

Blue NC0 was busy with the wee three at the Loch of the Lowes as the sun was setting. These nests are so regular you can know something is right – or wrong – by the feedings and fish deliveries.

Orion, the chick of Martin and Rosa at the Dulles-Greenway Bald Eagle nest fledged Friday. He returned for a nice fish dinner Friday night!

An adult brought in a fish to the ND-LEEF Bald Eagle nest at 08:15:48. One of the older siblings got it. It is unclear how much fish Little Bit 17 had or did not have. It did appear that Little Bit might have had a crop a little later. The issue, of course, is the camera position. We cannot see what happens on the porch.

There is a real nice write up about the little Peregrine Falcons, Grinnell Jr and Lindsay, today. They are soooooo big and healthy. Just look at those legs! and all those beautiful juvenile feathers coming underneath that white down.

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/06/03/uc-berkeley-falcon-chicks-named?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_Berkeleyside&fbclid=IwAR2D4rTGlpKapV-olCBx9PmZ2-b2UxIw2Av0OIEmszDhWFQXw4pRrkyakp8

For all my fellow duckling and gosling lovers, have a look at these lovely babies taking the leap from a nest box in Japan!

Thank you so very much for joining me today. Take care everyone. Have a wonderful Saturday! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages: NOAA, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Eagle Club of Estonia, SF Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, Explore.org and Institute for Wildlife Studies, NADC-AEF, Pix Cams, Friends of Redding Eagles, CarnyXWild, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Woodland Trust, Friends of Loch Arkaig, Cal Falcons, Dulles-Greenway Bald Eagles, the People’s Post Code Lottery, and the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

Big fledges at UFlorida-Gainesville and other brief news from Bird World

2-3 June 2022

It has been a good morning for the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest!

Big has been wanting to fly – itching to get up in the air. Thanks to ‘R’ who sent me the time stamp I was able to rewind and see her go once I woke up this morning, Friday 3 June. It was 09:03:06. Big returned and did a wee bit of a crash landing on Middle at 09:03:25. She took off for her second flight at 09:09:07. Middle is watching. He will not want to miss the fun for long!

There she goes!

She’s up!

Middle is watching!

“Big sister, you need to practice that landing!”

And she’s off for the second flight. Congratulations Big! You are a fledgling. I wonder when Middle is going to join you?

That is the headliner for Friday morning. Fantastic news for the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey group.

——————————————————————————–

Sometimes I am shocked by the passage of City By-laws but today I am applauding my City’s new ban on the use of sticky glue traps and rodenticide! (We have long had a ban on allowing cats outside). If the Province would come in and ban lead in fishing and hunting equipment that would be a giant step to help the birds that migrate here for the summer leaving in the early fall. We do not have the lead issues that the US has because the larger raptors have migrated to the South by the time hunting season comes but it certainly impacts the raptors that remain and that now includes some Bald Eagles.

I don’t like the word ‘outside’ because it implies that you can use the rodenticide and glue traps inside. Must write the City Council!

There is updated news coming out of Australia about White-Bellied Sea Eagle WBSE27.

Talk about a gorgeous bird.

One of the adults came to the ND-LEEF nest with a fish at 21:02:37. 15 got the fish. Little Bit was watching. Then 16 stole it. As Little Bit 17 went to go to the porch, 15 attacked him. Little Bit goes on the porch area where Mum feeds him ‘something’ – can’t see just the motions of feeding from the tail. Mum went to get the fish from 16 to feed Little Bit and 16 snipped at Mum. At one point, 15 stole a piece of fish from 16. Little Bit tried to steal the fish a couple of times from 16 around 21:22. 16 moved with the fish to the rim at the top and horked down the rest. Mum took the old bird away from 15 and horked it. I have a feeling that this entire family is hungry!

The fish has arrived.

It is actually a nice chunk of fish. Little Bit is over in his corner by the tree. Mum has gone to the porch.

Mum is feeding Little Bit 17 something on the porch.

Little Bit is smart. He stayed in the porch area while Mum tried to steal the fish from ND16.

Mum goes back to feeding Little Bit whatever it is on the porch. I am thinking some of the road kill.

Mum goes to see what 15 has and she takes it – the dry remains of the Rye bird from yesterday. Mum is very hungry and she horks it. Meanwhile Little Bit is reading the environment.

Little Bit went to try and snatch the fish tail from 16. He tried twice. He did not succeed but he did show his Mum that he is brave and will try to get food. This is important.

It appears that the adults and two of the chicks are very hungry. 16 has consistently taken the prey. Everyone had something but oh how nice it would be for all of them – the parents, too – if quite a load of fish came in tomorrow. Positive wishes!

Friday morning Little Bit 17 has grabbed a fish off the nest and pulled it over by the tree leading to the porch and ate it. The time was 08:36:02. It must have been 15 looking at the fish because he did not do anything to harm Little Bit.

Little Bit is eating that nice fish!

Little Bit is still working on that fish!

It is a very windy morning at the National Park at Sooma in Estonia. Mum Kalju and the female chick, Margit, are just waking up. Margit is 5 weeks and 1 day old today. She is very, very special. The adults – Helju and Kalju have been together for three breeding seasons. Margit is only the second chick to survive. If you watch you will notice how tender both Helju and Kalju are with their baby.

Just look at Mum Kalju looking at her sleeping eaglet with such loving eyes!

Here is the link to this camera in the beautiful forest area of the park.

Sadly, in one of the Black Stork nests in Estonia with five chicks, the male has been missing since 1 June – two days. It is the nest of Jan and Janika in Jegova County. Here is a picture of Jan feeding the chicks on the 27th of May.

Here is a video of the five storklets being fed on 1 June.

This is such a very bad situation. Urmas loves these Black Storks and has worked hard to find ways to save nests from tragedy in the past. This is the statement that he made today:

“I’m in touch with situation here, but don’t know more as you.
Think in course of evolution there is no solution for disappearing of one adult. But there is working probably the instinct, that other adult will not leave easily chicks alone. Up to a point, of course. Other sides, predators are around and have to use every gift provided.
I have no good solution for case if Jan will not come at all. It is possible to make nice view here and rise up the chicks artificially, but these storks will be not really wild. We do not have experiences and technical sources to make it properly. Theoretically, it is possible to provide fish for Janika and she would feed chicks well, but problematic is how to make those fish quickly findable, discoverable for Janika? We do not know, where she forages usually as territory is huge and no any glue to install a fish-basket…
There was a fish basket for three weeks since beginning of May, in less as one km from this nest, in quite open place on stream. But no storks visited it, so removed the basket and placed in another territory.”

It might be possible for volunteers to do what they did at Mlade Buky which was to supply fish directly onto the nest for the chicks and a fish table for the parents. Malde Buky in The Czech Republic was successful but that nest had easy access – right by the houses in the city.

This has been a year where there have been so many challenges but one of the main ones has been intruders killing off one of the adults at a critical time in the breeding season. Just so many this year. It is so sad.

My friend Wicky sends me book recommendations and links to articles. I was going to spending some time talking about a new book, The Hawk’s Way. Encounters with Fierce Beauty by Sy Montgomery but she has sent me another link and reminded me to post the one for you that I had found! It is so hot in India that birds are falling from the sky dead because of climate change.

ttps://www.vice.com/en/article/qjbyk5/birds-heat-stroke-deadly-heat-wave-india?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20220602&instance_id=62964&nl=the-morning&regi_id=72371317&segment_id=93971&te=1&user_id=2f9327403f41fd48179725a261b46825

Climate change is impacting all of our feathered friends in so many ways – warming of oceans, droughts, the warming of rivers and streams where Montana Ospreys used to get their fish, etc. Another thing going hand in hand with intruders – everyone wants a nest in a good territory – and the ill effects that they have on our bird families.

We are waiting for the first fledge at the nest of Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell campus. L1 is really looking like she wants to flight just like Big at UFlorida! What a beautiful morning sunrise on the four who are busy preening those feathers to keep them in tip top shape. Thursday night was the first night that Big Red did not sleep at the nest. Things are moving forward.

There is a storm brewing in Wales with the temperatures dropping. There is also hail being reported. Hang on everyone.

All of the males are busy getting fish on the nests before it hits. The nests have all done well. It is quite a different start to the breeding season so far – let’s hope that wet cold weather dissipates soon. The first egg for the Pont Cresor nest for Aeron Z2 and Blue 014 is 35 days old. Looking for hatch.

Idris is a great provider for Telyn and the chicks at the Dyfi nest. The Bobs are full and sleepy and Telyn is going to have some lunch after the most recent delivery.

Aran has delivered a whopper to Mrs G and the kids at the Glaslyn Valley nest. Just look at the size of that fish!!!!!!!! By evening that fish will be gone.

Aran looks down at his three kids with love.

The temperatures are also dropping at the Llyn Clywedog Osprey nest of Dylan and Seren. Their chicks are also doing fantastic after the early scare of Dylan missing for more than a day during bad weather.

The textures and colours of the two are interesting.

Laddie is busy being Daddy Door Dash Fish delivery person, too. The three chicks on the Loch of the Lowes nest are doing great!

It has been a really good morning for most of the nests. Hopefully that storm coming straight in to Wales will not do any damage! Those great Mums will be hunkered down over those wee chicks. Congratulations again to UFlorida-Gainesville on their first fledge. No doubt Middle is going to follow quickly. It is lovely to see Little Bit get the most of an entire fish. So happy. Jan has not returned to the Black Stork nest and Urmas is going to try a fish basket but it is possible it is too late. So sad.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Sea Eagles @ Birdlife Discovery Centre, ND-LEEF, Eagle Club of Estonia, Dyfi Osprey Project, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, CarnyXWild, and Cornell Bird Lab RTH.

Thursday Afternoon in Bird World

2 June 2022

I am so impressed with the way that the raptors get great coverage by the radio, television, and daily newspapers. Spirit and her fledge have once again made the news! Why do I like this? Because the more people are aware and the more they appreciate the raptors the less likely they will be to harm them or their habitat. As each of us learns about their journeys and hardships we might change the way we do things to benefit their environment. We might make a donation to a wildlife rehabilitation clinic that has helped them. The possibilities are endless to do good things for the birds just like the joy they bring to our lives.

I admit to loving this image of the three – from left to right, Shadow, Little Spirit, and Jackie. What a beautiful family. Just so very happy for all of them – Spirit could not have had better parents and let us hope that she hangs around for a month honing those flying skills so we still get to see her!

Here is one article today:

https://www.vvdailypress.com/story/news/2022/06/01/spirit-big-bear-eaglet-flies-first-time-jackie-shadow/7475154001/?fbclid=IwAR3wJ1PcWT8t9ksw_4G6lHWHVJOu127Hl9iiUaTVDy8JHyt64mLCFIROT5o

Here is another that appeared on the FOBBV FB page:

‘R’ has been collecting images of Big at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest and they are amazing captures of the height that Big is achieving in her hovering. Thank you, R! I missed these and saw the hovering last evening. Big is so ready to fledge.

It is OK to go ‘Wow’.

These are from today. It continues to look as if Big is the one that is doing all the hovering. There is a bit more chocolate on her head. All that is needed is just the right wind!

Can you tell who is who? I never ever thought I would be in a position at this nest to wonder that!

What is wonderful is that there has been so much fish lately at the UFlorida-Gainesville nest that there are leftovers and tonight Mum even got to eat some by herself after feeding Middle.

Big is looking around and you can just feel her wanting to fly! Is Dad doing flying demonstrations above to try and get her interested? Maybe.

At 16:15 Little Bit 17 stole the fish tail form his big sibling 16 – the one that pulls out his feathers. Wow. Little Bit 17 is hungry and that was a nice piece of fish and the tail but the hunger has made Little Bit 17 brave today. He needs to eat. He spent much of his energy trying to get some food out of that road kill yesterday. Perhaps he expended more energy than what he got in terms of food. But, yes! Go Little Bit!

Little Bit moves in close to the right of 16 and grabs the fish tail. Remember he is the King of the Grab and Snatch.

Little Bit moves over to the side of the nest in a mantling position. He eats the fish by holding it down really tight and pulling up. Little Bit is getting faster! He knows that those big siblings could grab his precious food, too.

Protecting himself and eating fast.

Done. He goes around the nest after to see if there is any other food remnants. So far there has been a Blue Gill, a Small Mouth Bass, a Rye Bird and what looked to be a really bad piece of road kill. Perhaps a possum.

The nest needs much more food. But grateful for what comes. And it came in the form of Mum feeding – sit down – 16 and Little Bit 17 at the same time!!!!!! Seriously. She was mostly on the porch side of the nest but at 17:24:15 Little Bit has a nice crop and passes out in a food coma. It doesn’t get much better than that. Tears.

Sweet Eagle Dreams Little Bit 17. No one can say you are not brave – you are!

Dylan and Seren have plenty of fish up at Lyn Clywedog. Any early worries about the third osplet are all over. Each of the three chicks is doing extremely well.

Dylan is on the perch eating the head of the fish that he is going to take down to Seren and the kids.

One of the chicks is playing peek-a-boo.

They are all getting to be Reptiles!

It is evening at Poole Harbour. Fireworks are going off for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. (Don’t get me started on why fireworks are entirely unnecessary and harm wildlife and domestic pets). CJ7 doesn’t seem to be bothered but she does seem to be listening. Are we ready for the second hatch at Poole Harbour?

It is a bit drizzly up in Scotland at the Loch of the Lowes. Everyone is eating. The three are really growing. We can still tell Little Bob because he is a lovely light grey but he is growing and Blue NC0 has been super to make sure all are fed.

Big Red brought a big grey squirrel to the Ls for their dinner! Looks like a Thursday night feast.

Life looks pretty good on the nests. I will be watching the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest intently. Both birds are ready to go – but, I suspect it is Big with all the flapping and a nice gust will carry her off!!!!! Little Bit 17 is full and that is good.

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

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, ND-LEEF, Cornell RTH, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Woodland Trust, CarnyXWild, and FOBBV.

Late Sunday in Bird World

29 May 2022

The rain stopped but the grey skies remained. I went in search of Wood Ducks. Last year there were Wood Ducks everywhere – not this year with the flooding. Well, they are not at their old hangouts for sure. I found 11 at one park and none at another.

It appears to me that the Wood Ducks are now laying eggs on the island since the water has gone down at one of the parks. I also noticed more Canada Geese nests.

What was even more surprising were the lack of Mallards. Mallards are typically everyone at the pond. One couple swimming about and I found another in the forest where the water was still high.

I had so hoped that the ND-LEEF nest would improve today. Little Bit 17 is in the other area of the nest without the camera so I cannot check. Tiny Tot Tumbles went without food for 72 hours and she had less ‘fat’ than Little Bit. We are heading to 72 hours now. I really hope that 17 had some food earlier but without actually seeing it myself, I cannot say for sure. Sad when things between May 16-26 went so well. I want to make one comment. I have seen lots of tiny thirds – more than I want to think about. Each and every one that survived appeared ‘stunted’ at some time during their development. Each with the help of the adults got big – three last year being the dominant birds on the nest at the end. Right now, I just want 17 to survive. Then we will see. 17 is little like Tiny Tot Tumbles at the Captiva nest – he has missed out on a lot of food. She had a total of twelve 24 hour days without food. She fledged and she was awesome. I don’t want to give up hope but not every nest will have success. It is heart breaking when it doesn’t happen. The parents are virtually absent – fishing might be rough. Prey items might not be available. With a road closed, bad weather, and weekend people on the river – there is less carrion and well, getting food can be hard.

So, let’s jump to a nest with three eaglets that have thrived. It is always good to step back and be thankful for the joy! This nest had two bad years and just look. We almost had a catastrophe when one of the eaglets fell down and Dr Sharpe had to come and rescue it. But here they are this morning – the ‘Three Amigos’. Gosh, they are beautiful. I cannot praise Thunder and Akecheta any more than I have and, I really want to shout out Akecheta who grew up this year and found out what it is like to be a dad. He was loving it! Kana’kini, Ahota, and Sky will fledge and I hope we get to see them return to the nest for awhile as they get those flight wings.

Lancer is one beautiful bird over at the Two Harbours nest! Chase & Cholyn have done a great job with this Only chick this year.

Of course, we cannot forget about Spirit – a perfect name for a very high spirited eaglet.

Jackie and Shadow will be proud of their only chick of the 2022 season – a real wonderful hatch. We were all so happy for both of them after two years without having any success. They will be ready to deliver fish to Spirit once she fledges so that she has a brilliant start in life.

I love Spirit and Jackie hanging out together! Is Mum giving her daughter tips?

Here is a short video by FOBBV. Spirit almost had lift off on the 27th.

There are three healthy Bobs getting a nice meal from Blue NC0 at the Loch of the Lowes Osprey nest in Scotland. Yipppeeee.

There are absolutely no hints from Louis or Dorcha about any pips or cracks. These two can surely keep a straight face. So glad the bad weather seems to have moved from Loch Arkaig!

Dylan and Seren Blue 5F are doing fine with their three Bobs. The little one is up there and ready for food once the others are passed out.

Dylan arrives with some more fish and pauses to see how things are going. He has heard a rumour that one of the Bobs got caught up in house keeping and was pulled out of the nest cup. He has come to make sure there are still three – and there are. That little one rolled back in. Chicks are very resilient.

Seren feeding Little Bob. Life is good!

There is fish on the nest at UFlorida-Gainesville. One of the osplets has a big crop and the other is fine. There is fish available if it is hungry. Doing good!

R2 is still showing up at the WRDC nest in the Miami Zoo and Mum and Dad, Rita and Joe, are still supplying fish! How sweet is that?

Blue brought a whopper of a fish to Maya and the trio for their bedtime feeding! I sure would love to give a piece of that fish to ND Little Bit 17.

Just a beautiful nest of hawks at Cornell. Big Red and Arthur really showed everyone they could handle four eyases without even breaking a sweat! Gosh, will they try for five next year???

It’s a real hard day when a nest and a little one is in trouble. The parents at the ND-LEEF nest have been absent for the entire afternoon. It is an extremely volatile situation.

Thank you for joining me. All of the other nests are doing really well. We may even have a hatch at Poole Harbour. Remember to turn in your name suggests to Cal Falcons for Annie, Grinnell, and Alden’s chicks! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures: UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Explore.org, LRWT, CarnyXWild, WRDC, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Cornell Red Tail Hawks, and FOBBV.

Saturday in Bird World

28 May 2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Looks like Big Bob gets it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday in Bird World

27 May 2022

I have been away most of the afternoon and have not been able to check on all the nests on my return. It was raining on the two osplets on the UFlorida-Gainesville nest and it looks like they have been at the hair salon, too!

It has been terrible weather at the ND-LEEF Bald Eagle nest. As I understand it the last big feed for ND17, Little Bit was last evening at 21:25. Little Bit was quite full. Eagles do not have to eat every day but 17 would benefit from having more regular food. I saw a discussion about the feathers on Little 17s head. Chicks show stress in their feature development if they have not had regular feedings or as much food as they should be having. In addition, siblings can during beaking pull out feathers. For 17 it could be a combination of both. He will be fine when food comes in later – except that the big siblings will also be hungry. Fingers crossed for lots of fish once the storm passes and the waters clear for fishing.

Sean and Lynn have posted the banding and Q & A session for Cal Falcons. There is some really interesting information in there and if you are interested, please do take the time to listen. Make sure to start it back at the beginning.

Mrs G and Aran now have two chicks as of 20:42 at the Glaslyn nest in Wales! This is the 51st chick for Mrs G and the third egg is cracking!!!!!! These three will be very close together. Fantastic. I continue to worry about the third hatches at both Loch of the Lowes and Llyn Clywedog.

Idris and Telyn have two of the cutest little osplets on the planet at their Dyfi nest, also in Wales.

Idris has two fish on the nest for Telyn and the kids. He is eating some of the second fish before departing for security duty.

There are three chicks on the Llyn Clywedog nest of Dylan and Seren. Yesterday, Dylan had been missing and the weather was terrible. A fish finally came to the nest. Everything seems to have been fine since then. Things have dried out. The third chick is quite small. A nice fish was delivered at 20:51.

The chicks at Manton Bay are so big compared to these wee hatchlings. They no longer fit well to be brooded by Maya.

Blue 33 was acting like there were intruders around. He kept looking around with his snake eyes.

I can hardly believe it. The rain and wind are gone. Dorcha has been able to dry out. We should be on hatch watch by the 31st for her and Louis’s chicks.

I am very concerned about the third hatch at Loch of the Lowes. Blue NC0 has a tendency not to feed them if they are not right in her face and beak. The two oldest at Llyn Clywedog are a bit of a handful, too. This was the early morning feeding at Loch of the Lowes. The wee one did not get any food and I haven’t seen it get fed today – I hope I missed it and please tell me if I did.

So the worries are Llyn Clywedog and Loch of the Lowes. A great nest to watch, if you are looking for one with little drama is going to be Idris and Telyn at the Dyfi. They are as steady as you go, just like Blue 33 and Maya at Rutland. Mrs G and Aran are the favourites of many and I personally like Foulshaw Moss with White YW and Blue 35 but I do not like their camera – no rewind!

Take care everyone. It was great to know that Annie was in the scrape with the two eyases – a daughter and a son – five minutes after the banders left! That is fantastic. Thank you so much for being with me today. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages: Cal Falcons, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Dyfi Osprey Project, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the People’s Post Code Lottery, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, and LRWT.

Late Afternoon in Bird World

26 May 2022

The morning started off terrible in Bird World. Dylan was believed to be missing at Llyn Clywedog with three hungry chicks on the nest and Seren calling and calling — and another floppy fish covered the oldest Bob at the Dyfi Nest. Things turned out well and I thought it was a good idea to tell everyone immediately!

The weather is very bed at the site of the Llyn Clywedog Nest. The wind is blowing strong and it is raining. Dylan did manage to get a fish on the nest for Seren and the chicks. Fantastic. The babies were so hungry. You can see one of them at the left.

John Williams says the weather and fishing are set to improve tomorrow. Thank goodness. Most of you will recall the horrific storms, the damp and cold last season.

Telyn got up to eat the Flounder and there was Big Bob. There was also Middle Bob!!!!!!

What a relief.

Just look. Big Bob was so strong when it hatched and so is Middle Bob. Middle Bob is still a little wet from hatching. These two are going to be a handful and we have egg 3 to go.

A look at Aran and Mrs G’s first Bob at the Glaslyn Osprey nest. Cutie Pie. This is chick # 50 for Mrs G.

It seems that the Racoon event at the Fort St Vrain Bald Eagle nest is not a one off revenge attack. EJ searched and found a 2019 incident at a nest in Washington DC involving a Raccoon and an Eagle.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/raccoon-invades-justice-and-libertys-nest-eats-their-eggs/2693/

It doesn’t look like there has been a fish delivery at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest before 1430. These are such gorgeous chicks. That is Middle flapping his wings this afternoon.

Things are still going well at the Loch of the Lowes!

Here is a good look at that eye. Looks perfect to me.

There continue to be six storklets on the nest of Jan and Janika in Lativa. No elimination so far.

At the nest of Bukachek and Betty, there are three storklets and two eggs. So far everyone is doing well.

The eyases at the Manchester NH scrape are going in and out of the scrape to the ledge. If you go to the streaming camera and only see one or two chicks, do not panic!

Oh, Annie, Grinnell, and Alden’s chicks are getting their beautiful feathers too. Look at the eyes beginning to reveal those steel blue-grey feathers. Gorgeous. There is a reminder at the bottom that the banding is at 0800 tomorrow – Friday the 27th. Set your clocks!

Cal Falcons posted a great growth chart of these two chicks on their Twitter and FB feeds. I am certain that they do not mind if I share this with all of you. Everyone is here to learn!

Mum and chicks doing well at the Great Spirit Bluff Peregrine Falcon scrape.

If you do not have it, here is the link to the Spirit Bluff streaming cam:

Life on the Red-tail Hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur at Cornell is changing rapidly. Juvenile feathers are coming in. Indeed, with the sticks in the nest you can see how well camouflaged the eyases are compared to a couple of weeks ago.

Self-feeding is happening! Lots of little chippies on the nest for the Ls.

Gorgeous peach feathering coming in along with the belly bands!

Every time I go to the Big Bear nest, I fear that Spirit will have taken the leap. She spends a lot of time on the balcony and is now able to go back and forth from the front porch to the back. For viewers this means that she could be on the nest tree and just out of view of the camera.

Today is the last day for the Captiva Osprey cam and chat to be operational. If you would like to be notified of any videos posted by Windows for Wildlife be sure to go and subscribe – it is the bell under the streaming cam image on the right.

The streaming cam at the West End Bald Eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta is running again! Fantastic. Many of us were afraid we would miss the trio – Kana’kini, Sky, and Ahota – fledging. Oh, how grand.

We are also able to watch Lancer on the Two Harbours Alternative Nest of Chase & Cholyn.

It feels like we can all go whew but the weather at Loch Arkaig is not good. Poor Dorcha. It is great to have the cameras running at West End and Two Harbours. Remember that the banding for the Cal Falcons is at 8am Pacific Time tomorrow morning. Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: CarnyXWild, Dyfi Osprey Project, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, ND-LEEF, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, FOBBV, Cornell RTH, Mlade Buky, Peregrine Networks, Cal Falcons, and Explore.org