Tag Archives: Eastern Ospreys

Late Thursday in Bird World – horrific storm hits Bald Eagle nest at Berry College

It could be early Friday, Old Eve Night, if you are in Australia.

Our beloved birds never cease to amaze me. For so long I have worried about Bazza, the oldest juvenile on the Port Lincoln barge. Bazza just never seemed to have that drive that he needs to take and protect his fish in the wild that he needs to survive. Well, this morning Bazza surprised everyone. And I do mean everyone – including Dad, Falky, and Ervie. I wonder if Mum was watching?

Ervie and Falky are waiting for the first fish delivery of the day on the nest. As Dad flies in with it, Bazza appears out of no where flying in behind and stealing the fish. His older brothers surely wondered what happened! It took less than 30 seconds. Have a look:

As much of a kerfuffle as that was, we don’t need to worry about Bazza anymore. What is that old folktale about the tortoise and the hare? That surely is what is happening here on this nest.

Last night there was a horrific storm at the Bald Eagle nest at Berry College. It was all caught on camera. There is no editing (so you see the entire 30 minutes) but I guarantee that you have probably never seen an eagle nest twisted around live like this one. Missey is incubating 2 eggs when the rain begins. The rain changes to hail and the worst of the wind and hail begins around 10:27. Cameras have gone out. I did see Missey’s wing raised once. All cameras are off today and with it being a holiday we might not find out the fate of Missey and her eggs for awhile. If you hear anything, please let me know. Send this nest your most positive energy.

There is no news coming out of Cal Falcons about the love triangle with Grinnell, Annie, and the interloper. Looks like we will have to wait a little while longer for that to sort itself out. There is, however, fantastic news of one of Annie and Grinnell’s fledglings, Sequoia. Every sighting of a fledgling is a reason to celebrate. They survived!!!!!!!!! They are not part of the 60%. Well done, Sequoia.

There are the two little stinkers melting everyone’s hearts! Looks like we are waiting for a prey delivery at SWFlorida.

E19 and 20 are definitely the cutest with those little wings and fat pink legs and talons. They will keep Harriet and M15 very busy! And thank goodness. They are healthy and strong.

Adorable.

That is just a short catch up on some of the nests. There is some really good news and – well, what can I say? That tree at Berry College is strong and seeing that wing flap from Missey gives me hope that all is well. Fingers crossed.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots and video clips: Port Lincoln Osprey Project and SW Florida Bald Eagle Nest and the D Pritchett Family. Thanks also to Cal Falcons for the information and images of Sequoia on their FB Page.

Thursday in Bird World

It is still super cold on the Canadian Prairies. You don’t even have to look at the temperature on the phone when you hear a super loud crunch when you walk on the snow. It is so dry, the snow, that you cannot even pack it into a snowball or a snowwo/man. The European Starlings were waiting for the first food drop, all lined up on the tips of the Lilac Bush branches. Surprisingly, the Sparrows beat them out. Four sparrows to one Starling. They will all eat but, most of the time, the Sparrows get shut out. The other day Little Woodpecker was here. He just stays away from all of them. Which reminds me – I need to go and fix his suet!

Looking back on the history of the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge, I realize that we probably have another month with the three lads. Last year DEW was last seen on 17:01 25 January. He was never sighted again after that time. Solly departed and flew West on 2 February. We know from her tracker that Solly thrived until that tragic day this fall when, after catching a fish, she landed on a power pole and died. I know that Port Lincoln has lobbied hard to get those poles covered and I understand that the power company is cooperating. For those who wrote letters to the Minister, thank you. Public pressure can help.

Ervie had advanced from flying to the fishing ramps to hanging around the commercial shipping yards over at the Marina!

That is Ervie on his perch. You can see that is crop is full.

Ervie and Falky on the nest hoping to get a fish from Dad.

The nest of White-tail Eagle, Milda, at Durbe has been covered with snow. Still, nest visits have taken place. Just look at the forest and the view. So beautiful. This nest will not become active until spring when I will be reporting daily on the happenings. Looking the White-tail Eagles raising chicks and the return of the Black storks.

Kindness’s nest is all covered in snow up at Glacier Gardens in Juneau, Alaska.

If you are wondering what Kindness might be doing, please have a look at this 2 minute video. It is a bit dated in the sound but the information is correct to the present time. The images of the eagles flying and eating are gorgeous. The video ends abruptly. I would have loved to hear about the two clans but, another time! There are so many Eagles in Alaska. They sometimes take over small trucks delivering fish to the canneries.

The Roe Deer feeder is in Latvia. Yesterday, for the first time, they caught a female deer cow and her calf coming to eat. You can see them arriving on the right to try and get some food. The males are the ones with the antlers and from my reading it can be dangerous. The mother and her baby will wait after being escorted by the leader of the bucks and return.

You can see the little one eating here. There is a hierarchy in all of the groups. This is, of course, why our birds try so hard to be dominant and why Ervie, once he established himself, expected to get the first fish of the morning. E19 and E20 are going through this process currently.

Andy and Lena were both alert and alerting at the Captiva Osprey Nest this morning.

Of course their eyes are so good. All I could hear were people below. I wonder if that is the issue? They sure have a beautiful site for a nest! Hopefully it will be a successful season for this lovely pair who continue to try and continually have the Crows steal their eggs.

You can watch Andy and Lena here:

Harriet and M15 are being kept busy by E19 and 20. You can hear the little ones chirping away to Mum and Dad.

The pair got started on all the beaking as soon as Harriet got up to feed them. Oh, my.

There are over 4000 people watching these two at any one time and a myriad of videos coming up on YouTube. You won’t be able to miss them!

Everything is just fine in Bird World. The eggs at Taiaroa Head have been candled and OGK and YRK’s egg is developing normally. We are a month away from hatch. Gabby and Samson are taking turns up at NEFlorida and you will see me getting pretty excited in a couple of weeks. Thankfully, Daisy has not yet returned to the WBSE nest that I am aware. The latest news was awhile ago on WBSE27 who is currently in rehabilitation. The two chicks at Hilton Head are doing great. My copy of The Season of the Osprey arrived in the post this morning. That is on the agenda for today. It is far too cold to be outside for very long.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Stay warm, stay safe and take care until I see you again.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Glacier Gardens, Roe Deer Feeder in Latvia, SWFlorida Eagles and D Pritchett Family, Port Lincoln Osprey, Captiva Osprey Cam, and the Latvian Fund for Nature.

E20 is a pistol

Social media is filled with pictures of Harriet and M15’s two little eaglets. Those eaglets are adorable.

The meaning of the word ‘pistol’ describing someone is a compliment. It means that they are full of surprises. And, so it was today, that E20 showed him or herself to be a ‘pistol’ when it provoked the first round of beaking on the nest at the 07:04 feeding, its first! It happened again at 09:04 and Lady Hawk caught it in a video for us.

Those eaglets are sure cute even when they have fish juice running all over them.

No problem opening wide. The eaglets are eating some nice fresh fish flakes today and loving it.

Look at the size of that bite. I think that is E19 up at Harriet’s beak.

Harriet always makes sure that each of the babies are fed. She is a very experienced and excellent Bald Eagle Mum. She also knows when to put her foot down on the nonsense – she just casually goes over and gets on top of both of them. Sometimes they will miss a meal if she decides they need too. Often M15 will step in and they will tandem feed the youngsters. That is the best!

Wonderful dad, M15 on guard.

Another example of fishing line! This hawk was really lucky. Around a river or lake and you see fishing line – help clean it up! We owe it to them. — In order to help we need to be ready. It helps to have a very sharp pair of scissors, a box, some garbage bags, and gloves in the trunk. Of course, you can add to that. A fishing net is great along with old towels to help the birds not get so stressed.

I am so proud of the three juveniles at the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge. I just went to check on them and Falky tries fishing. I recorded it for you. He will dive from the right ropes into the water and he will do several flybys before landing pack on the ropes. Oh, they are sure trying.

I want to close with a beautiful video of Xavier and Diamond bonding in the scrape box. Nothing more precious than seeing a pair of raptors confirming their togetherness. It was a hard season for them with the loss of Yurruga and the other two eggs not being viable. We wish them the best for next year.

It seems like today is a day of videos instead of images. I hope that you enjoyed them.

Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me today. Enjoy little E19 and 20. We will be at the clown feet stage before we know it.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen and video captures: SWFlorida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett and the Port Lincoln Osprey Project.

Does Bald Eagle spell adorable?

It is bright and sunny on the Canadian Prairies —— and it is cold, -32 degrees C or -25.6 F. When you walk on the snow it crunches beneath your boots.

The garden birds and animals get double feedings when it is like this. Those little legs. How do they manage? The Sparrows are so puffed up they are the size of softballs.

E19 and E20 are still getting us to ‘coo’. Harriet and M15 are adorable parents, both wanting to be in the nest with the new babies! The images begin last evening and continue through this morning.

Feedings are going well.

These two are seriously too cute.

Just look at that little crop, those tiny wings and that happy face.

Welcome E19 and E20. Be good to one another.

Just a few minutes ago! Adorable.

Many of you will know that the Great Horned Owl (GHOW) has been getting particularly aggressive towards Harriet and M15’s nest. The GHOW knocked M15 off the branch again last night. Harriet was really fed up and flew off the babies to escort that owl out of their territory.

A GHOW couple fought for and were successful in taking the nest from a young Bald Eagle couple in Kansas at Farmer Derek’s last year and right now there is a GHOW couple making plans on the Savannah Osprey nest! Did I say that there are too few big old trees for nests?

None of the lads at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge are any worse for wear after the dust ups between Falky and Ervie yesterday. The sun setting changes the look of the barge while creating diamonds on the water.

I am so used to Bazza being on the nest but it is Ervie eating a fish!

Ervie is still on the nest when the family settles down to sleep. I never imagined that the boys would still be with us at the end of the year. This is wonderful. I am so excited for all five members of this family. They did it this year – they fledged three healthy boys.

There are eagles on nests and nests waiting for eagles!

Gabby is thermoregulating at the Bald Eagle nest near Jacksonville. Looking for hatch the middle of January!

Anna is incubating a single egg down in Louisiana at the Kisatchie Bald Eagle nest. It is hot and humid there today. Some sprinkles for later.

What a beautiful view of the area around the Bald Eagle nest at Duke Farms in New Jersey.

Jackie and Shadow have snow in Big Bear, California.

All is well as we creep closer to the end of the year. That is a good thing! I hope that you are busy watching the little ones at SW Florida today. They grow so quickly! Here is the link to the camera if you don’t have it:

Today will be a quiet day for me. They say the booster can knock your socks off – I think it has. So today is a day of hot Christmas tea, good books, and a warm duvet.

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

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: SWFlorida Bald Eagles and the D Pritchett Family, Friends of Big Bear, Duke Farms, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, and NEFlorida Bald Eagle Cam and the AEF.

E20 has arrived and a dustup between Ervie and Falky

Thank you for all your well wishes. One thing our City is reasonably good at is getting the main roads cleared from snow! We got home in time for a great visit with our daughter and to watch E20 join the world. It is always special when a little one comes into the world. The Pritchett Family says it was 17:54:44.

This is a short clip of E20 pushing on that shell.

I hope E19 is as proud and happy tomorrow when E20 is dry and rearing to go, too.

Oh, adorable!

Let us all hope that both of these beautiful little eaglets, E19 and E20, remain healthy, friendly, and grow into beautiful juveniles just like their big siblings from last season, E17 and 18.

For all my parrot lovers – of which I am one – ABC News is reporting that the once critically endangered Orange Bellied Parrot is increasing in population and has moved away from the brink of extinction.

“African Orange-bellied Parrot Poicephalus r. rufiventris” by nik.borrow is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-27/orange-bellied-parrot-numbers-increasing/100715366?utm_medium=social&utm_content=sf252424483&utm_campaign=fb_abc_news&utm_source=m.facebook.com&sf252424483=1&fbclid=IwAR1RfLVncFusZ8L2eKi8ujX3pASijI-gsizv3_yyssQhnZhMcD_qfqP9634

Most Orange-Bellied Parrots live in Australia and Tasmania. They got their name from that bright orange patch on their belly! They are small birds who nest in Eucalyptus Trees. Their numbers have been threatened by habitat destruction, cats and foxes that hunt and kill them, collisions with buildings, cars, windows, etc. Australia has conducted a captive breeding programme that hopes to increase the numbers in the wild of these beautiful birds.

Oh, it is rough and tumble down at the Port Lincoln osprey Nest. Bazza appears to have received the first little fish but – then it happens that at one time all three were fighting and being kicked off the nest to try and get it.

Falky and Bazza.

A little later Ervie has joined them on the nest! It won’t be long til Falky and Ervie are catching most of their food. Let us hope that Bazza joins in. But for now, they are all just fine. Egos bruised at times but healthy juvenile ospreys. Puts a smile on your face.

Right before 08:39 Falky is on the perch and Ervie is on the nest. Falky flies down to the nest. Ervie has the sat pak and is to the right. Falky is to the left. Both think that a fish is coming in to the nest.

Ervie gets right mad at Falky and shoves him off the nest a few minutes later. There is no question ———– our little third hatch, Ervie, who won the sat pak because it turned out he was the biggest – is going to survive in the wild. It is awful to see them go after one another but it is necessary for their survival. And we all want each of them to survive. It was a real dustup!

Wow. A new eaglet. What a great day. It should be interesting watching E19’s reaction to having a sibling tomorrow. I wonder if it will be like Ervie and Falky today?

Thanks so much for joining me. Take care everyone!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my video clips and screen captures: SWFlorida Bald Eagle Cam and D Pritchett and the Port Lincoln Osprey Project.

Snow for Birds on the Canadian Prairies – and no eaglets in Fort Myers, yet

We are in the middle of a snowstorm here on the Canadian Prairies. The European Starling are using those really long and sharp beaks of theirs to try and forage food under the feeders. The sparrows are flitting around from branch to branch as the wind blows the snow in tiny little tornado-like gusts. For a long time we have wondered what to do for the birds when the weather is like this. A carport for birds and feeders????

The camera does not catch the snow blowing – and I don’t have a slow enough shutter speed on my phone. You can see the snow on the domes of the feeders and the little pine tree is almost completely covered.

All those white dots are snow blowing around. So hard to capture it so that you can really see the amounts. The depth is about 34 cm or over a foot. I do so feel for the birds – and other animals living in the wild – on days like this.

The eaglets, E19 and E20, in the eggs under Harriet are still working their way out. You can see what appears to be a large crack in one of them below. Or is this a piece of grass stuck to the egg?

The view of the eggs changes each time Harriet rolls them. Last evening a large piece of the moss stuck to one of the eggs making it appar that there was a crack going all the way around.

It is currently 24 degrees C in Fort Myers. It will rise to 27 degrees mid afternoon for Harriet and M15 today.

Poor Harriet. She is already panting to regulate her temperature.

Harriet is certainly restless this morning. I don’t blame her. Those pips came about 14 hours ago. She has been so careful moving around the eggs.

The camera has been down at Port Lincoln for a couple of days. I can see what I believe are the three lads. If they are in their usual spots it is Bazza on the nest, Ervie on the perch, and Falky on the ropes in his favourite diving spot. It is 03:00 on the barge.

The temperatures in Jacksonville, Florida are currently 18 degrees C rising to 23 during the middle of the afternoon for Gabby and Samson.

I found a new bird feeder cam that I really like for the variety of birds that arrive to eat. This feeder will not allow me to embed the link for you so go to youTube and search for LIVE Feeder Cam Gettysburg PA. They aren’t raptors but they sure are fun to watch when waiting for eagles to hatch!

The Starlings can be bullies but I still love them!

And for those looking for a new board game, look no further than ‘Wingspan’. Don’t be fooled – there are two parts. First is the book, Celebrating Birds and then there is the actual board and playing disks. I wish they were sold together. The book and game were developed with the Cornell Lab, Natalie Hargrave, and a couple of creative women, Natalie Rojas and Ana Maria Martinez. The images are beautiful – each is a watercolour. It is a great way to learn about the birds of the world but, you need to do your homework and check prices. I found that they can vary by as much as 40% for the actual board game and pieces. The book is quite reasonable and there are various extensions including the birds of Oceania.

I hope all of you are well. Thank you so much for joining me this morning as we anxiously await for the arrival of E19 and 20. Take care and stay safe. I hope to see you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: SWFlorida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, NEFlorida Eagle Cam and the AEF, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, and the Live Bird Feeder Cam Gettysburg PA.

Christmas Day in Bird World

It is a gorgeous Christmas morning over Big Bear Lake in San Bernadino County, California. This is the home of Bald Eagle couple, Jackie and Shadow. What a beautiful view as the sun rises to wake up the forest and the animals that live around the lake.

A little later the camera operator gives us a treat by panning around the area where Jackie and Shadow live.

Jackie and Shadow have been delivering some nice (some large) twigs to the nest. This wonderful couple live in the hope of hatching eaglets and we send them positive energy as we hope with them.

Harriet and M15 might be wishing for a little bit of the cooler northern Californian weather in Fort Myers. The couple began ‘listening’ to their eggs last evening. It is pip watch!

About four days before hatching, the eaglets will grow their egg tooth. Imagine it as a sharp spike facing outward towards the shell on the tip of the beak. The little ones will chip away at the shell. They will take their first breath and continue picking away until they have broken through and hatched. This whole process can take up to four days.

Last year Harriet and M15, fledged E17 and E18 – the twins that won all of our hearts from their first bobblehead days, to going into care for conjunctivitis, to their return. Beautiful fledglings. Best friends.

I am so glad that Samson and Gabby did not lay their eggs at the same time as Harriet and M15. This way we will get to enjoy having two nests of bobble heads independent of one another! Last year, Gabby and Samson had one hatch, Legacy. S/he turned out to be a beautiful and formidable juvenile.

Gabby is on incubation duties.

Anna and Louis are also incubating two eggs and have a wait similar to that of Samson and Gabby. Their nest is in the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana. This is the couple’s second breeding attempt. Last year they fledged Kisatchie, the first eaglet hatched and fledged on this nest in central Louisiana since 2013. Wow. Cody and Steve have installed sound at the nest this year.

It was fun watching Anna and Louis last year figure out what to do as new parents. Louis is a fabulous provider. When he is not loading the nest down with fish, he is aiming to give Anna the softest Spanish Moss he can find for the egg cup! Just look at it.

Clive and Connie are incubating two eggs over at Captiva. They have had some terrible weather there lately and this image is from yesterday. The camera appears to be down this morning.

Clive is a new mate for Connie. Last year, Connie and Joe hatched two eaglets, Peace and Hope, who died on the nest from rodenticide poisoning.

One of the ospreys over wintering at Urdaibai in the Basque Country of Spain waking up to Christmas morning.

While many of the Ospreys are opting to stay on the Iberian Peninsula instead of making the long journey down to The Gambia or Senegal, there are still celebrations as the December count along the Senegal coast was 1100 birds this year. Jean-Marie Dupart did an amazing job going out and counting all of the beautiful fish eagles. Thank you!

German Osprey along the coast of Senegal.

Closer to home, Jack and Diane have been working on their nest. Some really nice strips of bark have been brought in. Last year, the pair fledged three for the first time: Sibling 1, Sibling 2, and the miracle bird who survived against all the odds and became dominant, Tiny Tot Tumbles.

Cilla Kinross is celebrating the third camera at Charles Sturt Falcon Project. There is a ledge and box camera and now one that shows the falcons flying around the outside of the water tower. Congratulations, Cilla.

Here is the link if you wish to check out the new tower cam:

Big Red and Arthur have been spotted out hunting so all is well with the Red-tail Hawks on the Cornell Campus. Hope to have images I can post for you shortly.

The countdown is on for all the hawk and osprey fans…three months til Big Red is incubating eggs and three months til the first arrivals of the Western Ospreys back in the UK. Oh, and the beautiful storks of Latvia and Estonia. May they all stay safe until then.

Wishing all of the birds who bring us such joy, extra prey items, good weather, and safe flying.

Thank you for joining me today. No matter what holiday you celebrate, I hope that you have a peaceful, joyful day, with something a little special. For those birds not with us today, we thank them for the happiness they gave to us – and as one of my readers ‘B’ so eloquently said, ‘and all they taught us.’ So true. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Friends of Big Bear, NEFlorida Eagle Cam and the AEF, SWFlorida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett Family, KNF Eagle Cam, Captiva Eagle Cam, Urdaibai Biosphere Osprey Cam, Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, and the Achieva Osprey Cam.

Note: Port Lincoln Osprey Cam is down or we would all get a look at those lads!

Thursday Happenings in Bird World

It has been a very difficult time for all of us since the Ravens destroyed Daisy’s nest. Things had gone so smoothly that most of us began to believe that those eggs would hatch. Sadly, it was not to be. I so wished that the male Pacific Black ducks had the instinct to go to the nest and relieve their mates! Daisy was quite distraught, understandably. A friend that is around the Discovery Centre has offered to take a photo for me of Daisy paddling around the canal after the holidays. There are not that many ducks there so she is confident she will recognize her again this year. Before I move on to other bird news, I am reminded that Daisy rushed to the big WBSE nest to lay an egg. She did not prepare the nest and it is possible that she had a nest elsewhere and something destroyed those eggs and, as a last resort, she came to the WBSE nest. There might well not be a safe place for our Daisy and that could account for so few ducks in the water there. If a duck hatches a normal clutch, it is normally 47 days before the pair mate again and this will only happen twice a year. If the eggs are broken, it can be as few as 10 days, a reliable source tells me. I hope that we do not see Daisy again – as much as I would like to see her and know she is safe! The WBSE are often at the nest in January and it would be wonderful if later Daisy was seen with little ones in the canal. We wait.

I needed ‘something lighter’ and that turned out to be the boys at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. It seems that Bazza picked off the first two fish deliveries. At some time Ervie got mad at him and kicked him off the nest. Falky continues to perfect his diving skills hoping to catch that elusive fish one day. They are so lucky that they have parents that continue to provide these big strapping lads with food!

Here is Falky diving off the ropes and coming out of the water in sequence:

No fish but, Falky tried! If you look at the time stamps you will see how quick that dive was. This family is just doing great. That is a wonderful thing! Falky is really trying.

Ervie’s satellite tracker indicates that he has been visiting the local boat ramps. The owner of PLO is wondering if Ervie has discovered places where he can get fed! Here is Ervie’s latest tracking:

Port Lincoln Osprey FB Page posted some great shots of Ervie and Falky. They were taken by Bazz Hockaday. I hope they don’t mind my sharing them with you. You can see how stunningly handsome and – well, these are just great Osprey fledges. A success story this year that gives us a lot of hope. I understand that Falky followed Ervie to the beach. Bazza stayed on the nest and cleaned up on all the fish. I am certain that Bazza will never leave home!

Ervie
Falky
Falky
Ervie

Port Lincoln also posted a picture of the barge from the other side. It really helps us visualize where the nest is.

This is dad delivering a fish dinner to the nest. What an amazing shot! Thank you Port Lincoln!

The hatching and fledging of the three males at this beautiful barge with its Osprey nest made history for this mated pair. For years they have had issues relating to siblicide and they have never fledged three. Everyone was cautiously optimistic and it happened. It is one of those great moments of 2021 that no one will forget!

I urge you to check in on this nest and also the Port Lincoln Osprey FB Page. You don’t have to be a member of anything to find out what the lads are doing. And this is such a happy site – we need it, we truly do.

There are lots of mothers incubating eggs. Two of my favourites are Harriet and Gabby.

Harriet and M15 have been taking turns at the SWFlorida Eagle Nest. It has not been easy for the male, M15. He has continual strikes by the Great Horned Owl whose nest is 900 metres away. M15 had an injury the other day. The GHOW also strike Harriet on the nest and will do the same to the hatchlings. Sad.

Samson and Gabby have been taking turns incubating their two eggs in the NE Florida Bald Eagle nest near Jacksonville. They have had a sub-adult intruder but nothing like the issues with the owls that Harriet and M15 have endured. As nests and trees become more precious – with growing numbers of eagles and owls – these fights for territory could come more often and many times the owls usurp the eagles from the nest. I continually remind everyone that they might be cute – the owls – but they are a formidable Apex predator.

Gabby – you can always tell the ‘shag look’.
Samson with his slick backed head.

Hatch watch for Harriet! Bobble heads coming real soon. I can’t wait.

I want to leave each of you with something that is just full of joy! Perhaps you have discovered this wonderful girl that loves squirrels. If you haven’t, then you are in for a real treat. Please enjoy -.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you for all the letters and comments about Daisy. It was a very difficult time for the community of people from all over the world that loved her. I hope that we get a picture soon of her paddling away and that if she should lay more eggs, we don’t see them but they hatch and we get news of Daisy on the canal being a Mum. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for the streaming cams and their FB pages where I took my screen shots: Port Lincoln Osprey, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett Family, and NE Florida Bald Eagle Cam and the AEF. I also want to thank Bazz Hockaday for those amazing images of Ervie and Falky.

Winter Solstice in Bird World

As all of you know, Daisy the Duck has occupied my mind for some 20 days now without much of a break. She has just arrived home to the nest – it is the Summer Solstice 22 December in Australia – and I am going to take some time to check in on the other nests that are normally watched.

It has been a horrible day for Gabby who is incubating two eggs on the Northeast Florida Bald Eagle nest called The Hamlet. It is just outside Jacksonville.

Bald Eagles generally have 35 days of incubation. Gabby and Samson were really wise. They did not start hard incubation until the second egg was laid meaning that the two eaglets will be born close together with no older sibling advantage. They will just bop each other taking turns! This means that the hatch date is 19 January. Mark your calendars.

For me, this is great timing. Harriet and M15s eaglets are set to hatch in 3-4 days. We won’t be watching two bobble head nests at once. Oh, those high winds are really hitting Fort Myers. You can see Harriet’s feathers blowing.

It is a beautiful day over in Decorah, Iowa with the Decorah Bald Eagles. No eggs – it is winter! But the Eagles are around. The nest is at a trout hatchery – lucky raptors. Smiling. Everyone should have a source of fish for their Ospreys and their Raptors. Takes about 350-400 a season. Not bad for giving life to these beautiful birds and their family.

The Bald Eagles in Iowa generally lay their eggs in mid-February.

The Decorah Eagles are not to be confused with the Decorah North Eagles!!!!! It is home to Mr and Mrs North.

The camera is live at Duke Farms in New Jersey. No eggs yet. In fact, it should be about a month until we see eggs on this nest. I hope this Mum has better weather this year! She was encased in ice and snow most of incubation in early 2021.

Diamond is starting the day in the scrape box at Charles Sturt University in Orange. Both her and Xavier have been examining the new gravel that Cilla Kinross provided awhile ago. They have also had bad weather with torrential rains but it looks like they will have a nice day today. Fingers crossed.

Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear Bald Eagle Nest in Big Bear, California are doing nestorations. It looks like they are going to have a white Christmas.

Last year Bonnie and Clyde, the Great Horned Owls, took over a young Bald Eagles couple’s nest on Farmer Derek’s property. They raised two owlets. The nest is currently unoccupied but one of the Bald Eagles did a fly by at 07:19 this morning. Will there be a battle over this nest?

The eagle is right at the horizon line with the blue sky. You should be able to see it.

Anna has taken over incubation duties of the two eggs on the Kisatchie National Forest Bald Eagle nest. This is her and Louis’s second breeding attempt. They fledged Kisatchie last season.

Clive is on incubation duty at the Captiva Bald Eagle nest. Another storm is really starting to churn in that area. It will effect the eagles as well as the ospreys – and, of course, it is the same storm that is hitting Harriet and M15 in Fort Myers.

It is a beautiful winter’s day – perfect for the Winter Solstice – at Glacier Gardens. I wonder what Kindness is doing? She was such a special juvie.

Alaska is a perfect place for Bald Eagles, too. When Dave Hancock put the satellite trackers on the 7 or 8 fledglings in British Columbia that survived that horrific heat wave, all of them flew north to Alaska.

Lena is waiting for Andy to bring her some fish at the Captiva Osprey Nest. This couple was really hit hard – along with Connie and Clive at the Captiva Bald Eagle nest – from the storms the other day. It is good to see that all had no problems. There is another storm brewing today.

Ervie got the morning fish and Bazza is not happy. Apparently, Ervie woke up in the middle of the night and kicked Bazza off the nest. I can understand why he is grumpy.

Ervie is doing a great mantling job. Third hatch turned out to be the ‘King Pin’. Wonder if Bazza remembers how he tried to treat Ervie? Do raptors have a memory like elephants?

Daisy is fine. Wishing for a quiet day for her.

This is a wee bit of a catch up with some of our other favourite nests. Cal Falcons raised $3500 through the sale of t-shirts to support Lindsay Wildlife for treating Grinnell. That is fantastic! There is no news of who Annie will pair with for the 2022 breeding season. Watching birds is all about patience. Sometimes I don’t have any!!!!!!

Thank you so much for stopping in to check on the nests. The birds will weather the current storms in Florida. They are used to them but, still, we worry. Wishing all of you a very happy Winter solstice. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: NEFlorida Bald Eagle and the AEF, SWFlorida and the Pritchett Family, Captiva Osprey, Captiva Bald Eagle, KNF Bald Eagles, Glacier Gardens, Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Farmer Derek, Friends of Big Bear Eagles, Duke Farms, the Raptor Research Project at Explore.org, and the Port Lincoln Ospreys.

The Daisy Chronicles, Day 19 morning

Daisy flew off the nest at 05:07:04. Then the camera went offline. Thankfully Dasha moved the Twitch streaming cam so that we could see Daisy instead of a wide view of the nest tree. It is unclear when Daisy returned precisely but she was on the nest and dry at 07:29.

The cam operator (I think it was Dasha – thank you) gave us some beautiful close ups of our favourite duck. Daisy is just so beautiful.

This first image with the wee bit of sunlight falling really shows off Daisy’s plumage and that amazing down.

That blue bill really differentiates the Pacific Black Ducks from the ones in North America.

There is that beautiful distinctive creamy tan line from the bill above the eye and then the wider one below.

Oh those bits look like twinkle stars. I never knew Duck down was so beautiful — just warm!

Sometimes you can hardly see Daisy on the nest.

It has been a very quiet morning for Daisy as it nears noon. I can hear the Noisy Miners in the forest but, there appear to be no Sea Eagles over on the River Roost.

What a blessing! I do not believe the Sea Eagles will harm Daisy and I don’t even think that they will mess with the down because Lady doesn’t like it. But Daisy would leave quickly and she would not be able to cover her eggs leaving them in view of predators.

Of course, Daisy being a very intelligent duck would wait in a nearby tree for the WBSE to leave and then she would fly over quickly, right?

Daisy doesn’t often stay in the same position for a long time. She is twisting and moving about, turning the eggs, tucking in down.

You can see the shadows moving over the nest at noon. It will be a hot day for our girl and those eggs. Hopefully she will not leave the nest too early this evening.

Daisy has moved a little. It is noon and all is well.

It is a little after noon. Daisy is rolling eggs and reaching out to find leaves underneath the branches and twigs. I really hope she is not thinking of a break. Oh, please, Daisy. Just stay put for six and a half more hours, please.

I will continue to monitor Daisy til she leaves for her evening foraging and then will check on her periodically. I am hopeful that nothing untoward will happen. Fingers crossed.

In other nest news, OGK has flown in and replaced YRK on the Royal Albatross Cam in New Zealand. Also a 2017 hatch, Royal cam chick, Tumanko, landed on Taiaroa Head. This is amazing. He is four years old and has survived. As a chick he was not always well so this gives us all hope for all the birds. Over at the Port Lincoln Osprey Nest, Falky has been trying his hand at fishing. He made two dives off the barge this morning. The first was at 07:04:41 and the second at 07:20:07. In the image below, you can see the nice form Falky has. It will not be long until he catches his own fish. Mum looks on proudly while Bazza is on the nest waiting for his fish. Is it really Bazza Baby??? Ervie is off flying!

Here are a couple of lovely morning views of Diamond, the Peregrine Falcon female at Orange. She is adorable.

It has been a good day in Bird World. M15’s injury from the GHOW is improving and we wait for Gabby’s second egg — oh, and it is getting close to hatch watch at SWFlorida with M15 and Harriet. Oh, I am in dire need of some bobble head action! And if you are missing the Ospreys, her is a great image of Aran, the male at the Glaslyn Nest who was injured during the storm that hit Wales at the end of May. The community was so generous. They brought out a fish table for him and Mrs G – allowing them to grieve the loss of their three osplets and heal. Oh, Aran is a handsome one – and he is also a good fisher. Three and a half more months – Osprey action in the UK!

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Sea Eagles @ Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross.