Tag Archives: Emotional Lives of Animals

Wednesday in Bird World

18 March 2026

Hello Everyone,

We are in the midst of an unexpected blizzard, while thousands of miles to our southeast, it is green, and geese are enjoying the grass on a golf course. Thank you, ‘L’, for letting me share this lovely image of spring! We love our geese, but there is no place for them here, and yet, many arrived several weeks ago! The ponds have frozen, but there remains some open water in the two rivers that wind their way through our City. It is supposed to warm up beginning tomorrow, but I will believe it when I see it. We were not expecting this much snow today!

It doesn’t look like much, but the snow is blowing and accumulating so quickly! The lad who shovels or us thought snow was finished – he is going to get a real surprise! It is more than 30 cm deep on the walkway he cleared a few days ago, and is within 45 cm of covering the large bird table feeder. Unbelievable.

Toby loves it. He bounces through the snow if there is even a whiff of a ‘cat’ in the garden. My plan is to have a tall wooden fence built to match the one constructed a few years ago. I had not planned to put a fence on that part of the property, but the theft of dogs in our City has become quite troubling. Of course, ‘the cats’ – distinguished from ‘The Girls’ – come in from that back corner, so it is important to close it in. Toby loves his sisters, ‘The Girls’. He plays with them, but those that make their way into his outdoor territory will be ousted unless they are Brock (who now still spends 99% of his time at the neighbour down the street)!!!!!!!!!

I hope, after all these years, that each of you knows that I love all animals, but there is a special place in my heart for Big Red and Arthur, the late Annie at The Campanile, and ospreys. I have posted this song before, but I want you to get in the mood. Osprey season is starting in the UK – and has already begun in the US. Here are those wonderful school children with the Osprey Song (2011): https://youtu.be/KoOQK6ejuXY?

At the Lake Murray Osprey platform, Lucy has laid her second egg with a new mate. Please, please put up the owl defences for this family Lake Murray!

Company for Brutus. Storms are tearing down eagle and osprey nests around the US including an osprey nest that Penny Albright monitored near Sanibel that lost two chicks when the nest collapsed. These eaglets made it through…

Blue 25 has made another visit to Blue 33 and Maya’s nest at Manton Bay – Blue 33 normally arrives a few days prior to Maya, and Blue 25 enjoys his company! Geemeff caught her time on the nest: https://youtu.be/HU_XGU3NTro?

We have an osprey at the MNSA Osprey nest in Oceanside’s Jay Cool platform.

“WYL greets his chick upon returning to the nest in New Zealand. The adult male arrives from a foraging trip over the Pacific to feed his growing chick at the Plateau nest site. As the chick gets bigger, the parents will take longer foraging trips to collect enough food for both themselves and their chick.” (Cornell Bird Lab)

Peanut defended the Winter Park Florida nest against a RTH! Nestflix Memories (Gracie Shepherd) caught it on video: https://youtu.be/cQksMDubVEc?

Tonight, Wink is taking now chances. She is right in the nest with Peanut if that GHO returns – and, of course, it will – they never give up! Wink is an incredible mother – I am truly amazed and thankful for her diligence.

Gabby with her babies, Kai and Eve, at the NE Florida Bald Eagle nest in Florida. Best keep a close eye on these two – they could fledge before you blink.

At the Johnson City nest of Boone and Jolene in Tennessee, snow arrived. Jolene kept those two babies warm and tried to feed them at the same time. Like Wink, she is an experiened and an exceptional Mum.

Huge crop on JBS 24. Mum and Dad are delivering food and leaving it for self-feeding on occasion.

Harry and Sally are up there in my list of osprey parents. Three babies, three little fat bottoms. Large fish coming in and Harry on guard as it appeared there could have been an intruder around today during a fish delivery. If you haven’t been watching Moorings Park, then check out this osprey family. It is a success story – and believe me when I tell you that there will be few such stories in the NE USA this season unless a miracle happens.

Rutlands Lagoon 4 nest is trying to keep the Egyptian Geese from laying eggs while everyone waits for the ospreys to arrive. This is a second nest with a camera amongst several nests at Rutland Water. AI says: “Based on 2025/2026 sightings, the Lagoon 4 nest at Rutland Water is often occupied by male 359 (a 2021 Rutland-born osprey) and female 3H9 (a 2023 Rutland-born osprey). They have been observed investigating the nest and strengthening bonds. Note: 359 and 3H9 are a distinct pair from the main Manton Bay pair, Maya and 33(11).”

I am getting impatient – and it is a tad early – for Maya and Blue 33 to arrive at Manton Bay.

At the Whitley Crane nest known as the Golden Gate Audubon Osprey nest, Richmond has worked and worked. There is a new female at the nest with him. I do not believe Rosie will make an appearance. Why do I say this? Well, when Aila did not return, Louis moved his nest to another location when he bonded with Dorcha. We often think animals and birds are not intelligent. If I have said it once, I will say it again million times, my teacher about raptor behaviour, the late Laura Culley, taught me that they are smarter and use higher levels of intelligence and communication that humans have lost.

I noticed in one of the chats – it was the Winter Park Florida chat – that someone noted that ‘animals have feelings’. Dr Mark Beckoff and Dr Jane Goodall taught us this. There are several good books out there. I urge you or anyone who is interested in the behaviour of non-humans to read any or all of the following.

Saddness at the Two Harbours as Chase & Cholyn lose their last egg. SK Hideaways has it on video: https://youtu.be/8vmMpnkNsh4?

Big Red and Arthur have snow on their nest at Cornell University.

Suzanne Arnold Horning caught Big Red relaxing on the lights!

Cameras are now live at the Poole Harbour nest of CJ7 and Blue 022.

We have an osprey at Threave. Is it Black 80?

At Achieva the third egg was laid on the 25th of January. Can someone who is watching this nest tell me if Jack is delivering enough fish to his mate? I did not see deliveries today, but I might have missed something.

Dyfi is live! Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/live/tOS_34MKI5E?

In fact, start checking out all your favourite UK and European nests as the cameras are being turned on faster than I can keep a list.

The Pitkin County Osprey nest in Colorado is live.

I have such a soft spot for this White-tail eagle in Durbe County Latvia. Milda. Her current mate is Zorro. There was sorrow and now Zorro has proved to be a good mate and provider.

April 7. Hellgate Canyon. Iris’s favourite day to return to her nest in Missoula, Montana. Count the days – 20. Less than three weeks! The snow has melted.

There is evil in the world. I cannot imagine how anyone could harm an animal and yet, every day I find myself telling people not to give their kittens away to anyone. Russell Mason beat a Goshawk to death – how in the world can someone do this?

Large estates, with no eyes around in Scotland (and elsewhere), allow many horrific things to happen to our beautiful feathered friends. What can be done to stop this?

Scottish gamekeeper Russell Mason pleads guilty to battering a Goshawk to death on shooting estate iDownload

The Cornell Bird Lab gives us hope that people around the world are increasingly engaging with nature and birds. Yes, there are incredibly vicious people anywhere in the world that will harm birds and other animals, but there are more, I hope, that love and help them.

To put a smile on your face:

A total hoot! Beautiful birds – in pictures

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2026/mar/17/a-total-hoot-beautiful-birds-in-pictures-claire-rosen?CMP=share_btn_url

Thank you so much for being with me today and for your patience, as my posting is often irregular. I had hoped to keep to Fridays and Mondays til the UK osprey season began, but every day there is something new and exciting! I will continue to post at the oddest of times, sometimes two or three times a day as news comes in. As you can imagine, my life is anything but routine. We do have a schedule, but it all depends on my husband’s mood, which can vary. I am impatiently waiting for spring to arrive. What I miss most is reading. Yes, we have story time, but it isn’t the same as sitting quietly on a park bench with squirrels dashing around, the wind gently blowing, with a good book in my hand, reading in silence. So, no promises other than there will always be a Monday blog, often coming out late Sunday, until we have osprey chicks on the nests in the UK and Europe.

Thank you to everyone who created videos, wrote informative FB posts, to Raptor Persecution UK for keeping us informed, and to the Cornell Bird Lab for continuing to support education. I remain forever grateful to the owners of the streaming cams that allow us to venture into the challenging lives of our feathered friends. To all my readers who are now long-time friends, I appreciate your support. Your letters and comments mean the world to me.

Grieving? Surviving? A look at Bird World early Monday

17 October 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

The mailbox has been full. So many of you want to help Port Lincoln get permission to intervene should siblicide be apparent in the future, others want to know if raptors grieve, many are concerned about the hot sun on the eyases at Collins Street. What a caring community you are! It warms my heart. The outpouring of love for a small little Osplet still brings tears to my eyes. It is so very difficult to lose one. It takes days to get over it.

It was cold this morning. -5 C. We are being told that there will be a warming period with temperatures up to 13 the end of this week. I hope to go and check on the ducks that day and see how many remain in our City. The past two evenings there have been no Canada Geese flying overhead. It will be interesting to see how many are still at the nature centre.

Today, however, I have appointments this afternoon and I expect that my breakfast updates will be arriving late.

In the Mailbox:

My mailbox has been full of individuals wanting to help Port Lincoln get permission to intervene in the future should the fish deliveries run low. I would love to help Port Lincoln secure those permissions. There have also been other questions – ‘Is Big really a survivor’. My answer is below in Nest News’.

One question that is very important comes from ‘F’ who writes: ‘Will the mother know that the youngest has died because of the eldest?’

The answer to that question is ‘yes’. At times Mum even ‘sat’ on the three when they were younger to stop the beaking. Other osprey and eagle parents have tandem fed so that the youngest gets food. There are many examples of tandem feeding but Harriet and M15 come to mind immediately. I always refer back to the falconer, Laura Culley, who insists that raptors have a higher level of communication than humans – that we have lost that ability. She would answer this question with this answer, ‘And why wouldn’t the Mum know what happened?’

Animals and raptors grieve. A few good examples are when the sweet Moli chick, Ka ha Ki’i died unexpectedly in April 2021. His Mum, Laysan Alobatross, Kauai often visited his grave. When Hope and Peace died on the Captiva Bald Eagle nest due to a rat brought to the nest by their dad, Joe. The rat had eaten rodenticide poisoning. Both parents stood over the body of the second dead eaglet and mourned before it was removed for testing. Humans only believe that we are the only ones with feelings and emotions. This is not true. One of the best books on the subject of the emotional lives of animals which includes grieving is Marc Bekoff’s The Emotional Lives of Animals.

It also needs to be understood that most parents do not get the opportunity to grieve because they have other chicks to care for. In many instances, when the male has felt responsible for the deaths of the babies, such as the case with Joe at Captiva, he is mourning, leaves the area, and never returns. Connie, his mate, has taken several mates since him but has had no eaglets to fledge.

Making News:

The attacks on Chris Packham and calls for his BBC presence to end by Nature’s Alliance are not being supported by the public. Indeed, the mood of the UK population is to support nature, not harm it. Packham has been lobbying to end grouse hunting on the hunting estates. He has had his gate and car burned and has threats on his life.

Public support for Chris Packham overwhelms Countryside Alliance’s latest vindictive attack – Raptor Persecution UK

If you ever travel to Port Lincoln, they have indicated that Ervie often perches in front of the hotel on the Morton Bay Fig Tree.

Nest News:

‘A’ wrote to me about Indigo and the Starlings head wondering if anyone would mention it. Yes, it comes in the form of a video! It was one of those great moments in streaming cam history.

If Academy awards could be given out in Bird World surely the ‘Starling Head Scene’ at the Orange scrape would rate right up there with the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.

Here is the video of that interaction with the Starling head.

If you are trying to watch Orange today, you will not be able to see the chicks from the side camera (the one I use) very well. Indigo made a perfect bull’s eye with a big ps. I wonder if Cilla will climb up the 170 steps to get to the scrape to clean it? I am betting she does.

Victor Hurley has announced that Mirvac is going to install a second camera at the 367 Collins Street scrape in Melbourne next year. He also indicated that the camera will be panned out to show part way down the gutter now that the eyases are becoming more mobile. There are a few of us that are hoping they might put a shade cover and rain protector – like they have at the other end of the ledge on the other scrape box – on this one if the F22 is going to continue leaving her eyases alone in the heat of the day.

‘H’ takes very detailed notes of the Collins nest. She counted 5 feedings yesterday: At 1640 for 15 Minutes; at 0852 for 11 Minutes; at 1343 for 19 Minutes; at 1657 for 27 Minutes; and the last feeding at 1920 for 21 minutes. I was astounded at how fast the Melbourne Four could eat a large pigeon yesterday. Thanks, ‘H’.

At Port Lincoln, Big decided a few times that Middle was getting too much of the fish. The beaking was not awful and you can see Middle has a crop in the image below but, the intimidation remains. I continue to hope that her angst slows. Today Big will be 30 days old.

Let us all be clear about ‘Big Bob’. Big Bob did not have to survive anything. Big Bob ate all the fish including times when Mum needed some nourishment, intimidated its siblings, even killing one of them by starvation and possible injury. Right now Middle is having to survive Big and Middle is ‘clever’. She went under mum’s bottom and between her legs to eat. Middle has -so far – survived Big. Sadly, Little did not. Big has had no hardships to face. As ‘H’ puts it, ‘How would Big do if it went up against some bird bigger than it?’ ‘H’ is right. We would then see if Big was a survivor. The use of the word is misleading – you must survive ‘something’ to be a survivor.

The weather was not good yesterday with choppy water and strong winds. Dad managed to bring in several fish – one whole and the others partially eaten. The fish he brings in must feed four. If he is to provide, he has to eat. So does Mum. Dad has no control over the wind, the waves, and the gulls that attack the Ospreys wanting their fish. We hope that he has much better fishing luck today. The nest could use some large fish to fill everyone up — and I am speaking mostly of Mum since you will notice that both Big and Middle had crops at several feedings.

With the first eggs due to laid in November for the Bald Eagles in the US, ElfRuler has posted links to all of the streaming cams for eagles. Here is the link to their blog to find those cams.

LINKS TO STREAMING CAMS | Bald Eagles (elfruler.com)

Thank you so much for being with me this morning. I hope not to be too late with the breakfast news today. Take care all. See you soon!

Thank you to all those who wrote in with questions or comments, to ‘A’ and ‘H’ who are my eyes in the middle of the night, and to the following for their posts and streaming cams that make up my screen captures: Raptor Persecution UK, ElfRuler Blog, 367 Collins Falcon Watchers, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam.

From Port Lincoln to Kauai to Juneau

Oh, gosh. We really are going to miss these three boys when they finally leave the Port Lincoln barge. Ervie was wet this morning. He has been focusing very hard on finding a fish and catching it. We might never know, sadly, when that moment occurs – unless he brings it up to the ropes like Dad. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?!

Bazza seems to have landed the first fish this morning on the nest. Falky doesn’t seem bothered and Ervie had flown off earlier.

Port Lincoln gave us a nice image of Bazza over on the ropes. These three males are quite handsome.

When Ervie flew back to the barge he was really keen on preening those feathers.

You can really see that sharply hooked beak that helps to tear the fish so they are easier to eat. Unlike Peregrine falcons, Ospreys do not have a tomial tooth. In my images it is a bit difficult to see that valve which seals the Osprey’s nostrils when they dive for their fish but, it is there.

Looking at that beautiful image of Ervie below you will notice that the Ospreys lack that very heavy eyebrow of some of the other raptors. Instead, they have that incredible black line which passes from the eye down to the neck. That black line helps them with the glare.

Ervie missed the the 8:14:14 fish that Dad brought in. Falky claimed in.

Port Lincoln has reported that Ervie has been flying farther. They also note that he has been checking out the coast. Here is the latest map of Ervie’s movements from the barge.

Ervie and his siblings will get their adult plumage at their first moult which is fully completed by the time they are a year old. That change in plumage does not indicate Ervie’s sexual maturity. Osprey do not normally breed until they are three years of age. The 2019 fledgling from Port Lincoln, Calypso, has been spotted sitting on a branch with a male. Might there be chicks next year? That would be marvellous!

When Penny Olsen’s book on the raptors of Australia was published in 1995, the map of Australia indicated that the Eastern Ospreys were located only around the coast. Ironically, that map did not indicate any ospreys in the Eyre Peninsula. This is one of the things that has changed since its publication. We have to look no further than the Port Lincoln Opsrey Barge and Thistle Island. We also know from Solly being the first tracked Osprey that the birds do go inland. Not all that far but further inland than anyone had understood previously. We are fortunate that Solly was able to provide so much information to us in the 14 months that she was alive. Port Lincoln can now compare the dispersal of a female to that of a male with the tracking of Ervie.

There are many threats to Osprey. I imagine that everyone reading my blog can name at least four. I want to add warming seas and the decline in fish numbers as yet another.

As you know, I highly recommend Dr Marc Bekoff’s book, The Emotional Lives of Animals. He also wrote The Ten Truths with Jane Goodall. A very moving story is coming from the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Some of you might recognize the name of Hob Osterlund. She posted a very moving story that can be added to the cornucopia of evidence that Bekoff and Goodall have that support animals having emotions which they express. Once you have read those two reasonably priced books, you will never ever apologize again for anthropomorphizing animals again.

Here is that posting:

Tears.

One of my readers ‘B’ asked me if I had seen the snow at Glacier Gardens. I had not! So I went to check. Oh, my goodness, it is so beautiful. If you close your eyes you can see that beautiful Kindness using that nest and those branches like a trampoline. What a magnificent juvie Kindness was. She is off eating Salmon along the river.

On Taiaroa Head, 122 birds have been seen so far and there are 36 eggs laid. No mention yet on who the Royal cam stars for 2021-22 will be! Soon. And there has been no update on Grinnell. No further updates on WBSE 27 either.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Glacier Gardens Bald Eagle Cam, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, and to Hob Osterlund and her FB page for that moving story. Much appreciated.

Diamond, Xavier, and the eggs

Whew! It was a terrifically busy day yesterday in Bird World and it was all good. To recap Yurruga did a beautiful fledge at 6:03:54 Monday 22 November (camera time). Bazzy officially flew a little over three hours later at 09:25:45. If that was not enough, Cornell’s Red Tail Hawk couple, Big Red and Arthur, were spotted on a branch together at BeeBee Lake. It was all together amazing. Bazza did cause a search party to go out but, in the end, he returned safely to the nest at 10:24:48. Ervie had left quite a large piece of fish and Bazza was very happy to finish it off.

Cilla Kinross posted this news about Yurruga.

Dr Kinross also posted this video of the event.

Everyone has been concerned about Diamond and her eggs. It seemed the closer Yurruga came to fledging, the more broodier Diamond became. We know that one egg was unviable. There is indication that the other egg had a chick that tried to break out of the shell but was just not strong enough as evidenced by the egg-tooth make a hole in the shell and seeing the beak.

Diamond used up a lot of her good health making those three eggs. She would have depleted her calcium and lost about 20-30% of her weight. Now that Yurruga has fledged it is time for Diamond to get herself back into tip top form.

Around 11:47, Dr Kinross removed the two eggs from the scrape box. She is going to check to see if the National Museum would like them for their collection. Diamond was not happy hearing voices inside the tower.

It seemed each time Cilla tried to get one of the eggs, Diamond would come calling loudly. Cilla tried to shooo her away. In the end both eggs were retrieved. Diamond returned to her scrape now devoid of eggs and began ‘scraping’ the area.

It is difficult not to feel sorry for Diamond. Her chick has fledged and she is still feeling the urge to mother.

Even Xavier has returned today to the scrape box to look for the eggs.

It is very sad trying to understand what Xavier and Diamond are feeling. I am busy reading Jane Goodall and Marc Bekoff’s Ten Truths and Bekoff’s The Emotional Lives of Animals. Can the actions of Diamond and Xavier be anything but a sense of confusion – where did the eggs go, they were here? and sadness. They were ‘potential chicks’.

Decades ago there was a guinea hen that arrived at the little acreage in Southern Manitoba. Having not see her in the attic of the barn for some time she was found incubating at least two dozen eggs. She had made a nest cup in the grass. There was no mate; the eggs were infertile. She would have risked her health or life as she was broody. They had to be broken. This past spring we witnessed Milda, the White-tailed Eagle in Durbe County, Latvia try and incubate eggs after her mate, Ramsis, had not returned. For eight days she remained much to the detriment of her health. It is with delight that Milde is back with a new mate Mr L working on her nest.

This is the latest report on Annie and Grinnell. It is from the Instagram Feed for Cal Falcons:

Oh, I so hope that Grinnell will come to the scrape. He might not feel 100% secure in taking on the interloper. Only time will reveal what will happen with this love triangle. I am reminded when I say that of the very happy Bald Eagle Nest on the Mississippi River with Star and the two males, Valor I and II. For several years that nest has benefited from having three parents. I wonder?????

And with that thought I am off. It is a horrible grey white day on the prairies. It is -8 C.

Thank you so much for joining me. I will continue to monitor the news on both of these peregrine falcon nests. Take care everyone. Stay safe. See you soon.

Thank you to Charles Sturt University and Cilla Kinross for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots and the Instagram account for Annie and Grinnell.