Tag Archives: environmental responsibility

Little Bit with sibs in the forest and other brief news in Bird World

24 July 2022

What promised to be a lovely day at the nature centre doing the 4.5 km walk and checking on some little Coots turned out to be a run flat tire shredded by the time I got to a place where I could get a new one! Can you hear me growling??? As I waited for my new tire, I noticed something and it made me mad. In Winnipeg, glue traps were outlawed as of 1 July 2022. So why am I seeing stacks of these horrible killers on the shelves??? Letters have already gone out to the company and to several municipal offices. The products should be removed and destroyed responsibly. This is a plea by a raptor group that shows what glue traps do to birds – and other animals that get on them. It is horrible. Please do not use these.

The public attitude towards wildlife – including our fearless raptors – has changed over the decades. Perhaps it has not been as fast as some of us would want but, there is a growing awareness that we live in a world that is ‘connected’. The balance that we need to exist means that all living things have rights and are to be respected. It is no longer acceptable to shoot raptors and it is definitely no longer acceptable, as it was in the 1950s and mid-1960s, to shoot Bald Eagles for the $2 bounty. Cut their legs off, tie them up, you get $2! That would outrage us if we saw buckets of our beloved eagle’s legs on a dock! It is also no longer acceptable to tear down nests to build parking lots for stores. The more we learn and study and watch our beautiful feathered friends the more we understand that they are not so different as us as families. What is different is that their lives have been compromised by humans. In 2022, we know that we need to fix that but…we need everyone to understand and care for wildlife, to demand that utility companies and businesses who make huge profits undertake to be responsible stewards of our planet. That is why I am always happy to see a news story about the birds!

It is always good when stories about our beloved raptors make it into the news. California really is the gold star for keeping wildlife and their stories in the public.

One of the most loved nests is that of Louis – Lonesome Louis he was called before Aila came to Loch Arkaig. Now he is with Dorcha for their second year and the two surviving osplets were named by their fans – Willow and Sarafina. That made the news!

https://news.stv.tv/highlands-islands/loch-arkaig-osprey-chicks-named-willow-and-sarafina-after-thousands-respond-to-online-poll?fbclid=IwAR0Hj816uXXGaIuKAGMCrpgiMB4Am-lquafaz7UZVyyS4dbcroN7h2BJCow

Continuing on with birds in the news and birds in the news who are making history is the story of the first fledge out of Dorset and Poole Harbour in over 200 years! Once again our hats are taken off in great respect to the team that worked on this translocation project. It worked thanks to CJ7 waiting for a mate and Blue 022 falling in love with her and returning this year to start a family!

Harbour Update – posted 23/07/22

To put a smile on everyone’s face, Kennth Kujawski filmed the 3 juveniles at the Notre-Dame nest. Here it is and it feels wonderful to see them all! Little Bit 17 is identified first – but all three are there. ND17 must be eating — and that puts tears on my cheeks.

There have been three fish deliveries so far to the Osoyoos Osprey nest today in British Columbia. Soo is trying to keep the babies cool.

Lady and SE29 and 30 are just waking up in the forest of the Sydney Olympic Park. Dad has lots of fish on the nest and the two are just cute little fluffy snow people with wings!

I am continually checking on the two osplets in Finland at the Janakkalan Nest. They are either sleeping or eating – good things to do as they prepare to fledge and fatten up for migration. Dad is doing a great job. I have not caught the intruder on the nest, have you?

These two look great!

Ever want a list of the names and images of all the eaglets at the nests in the Channel Islands but were afraid to ask? Here you go.

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/chil_eaglecam/meet-the-class-of-2022-t13084.html?fbclid=IwAR2a6B-K1vNfkgcu51Bu10nJYonvMwP0pdppzoiMFAPu2BdSoT6ox51e5cQ

Last but never least, Annie and Alden whose scrape is in UC-Berkeley’s Campanile, finally got some quiet time to bond in the scrape!

Continue to send warm wishes to the Osoyoos Nest. We want Soo to have so much fish that she cannot believe her eyes! OK. Maybe I am not being realistic. How about one large headless fish?

I will write more about BC Hydro but if you want to send a letter about how outraged you are that they do not take their responsibilities to the wildlife seriously, you can e-mail them at: connectwithus@bchydro.com

Chris O’Riley is the CEO! What we want is an immediate start to using poles with a clearance of a little more than 7′ on all new poles between the wires. They can retrofit the existing poles. They are a public company that needs to be mindful of their powerful and thus responsible position as a public utility funded by the taxpayers ——-who demand that they take seriously their role and protect wildlife that are injured by their poles.

Thank you for joining me today. All the nests seem fine as do the Crows, the Blue Jays, Dyson, and the rabbits in the garden right now. It is the flurry of eating before bedtime for all of them. Take care of yourself. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their FB posts and their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: The Raptor Trust, Osoyoos Ospreys, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Channel Islands Eagle Lovers, Cal Falcons, and Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park.

Late Monday and early Tuesday in Bird World

Oh, goodness. Bazza spent the night on the nest in the same spot as Ervie did. Bazza has been there all day waiting for a fish delivery. No one thinks this is unusual – it is Bazza! But, when Ervie did the same thing, we worried. It was out of character for him.

It is windy and the water is choppy today, too. Falky and Ervie are no where in sight. It is Mum and Bazza on the barge. Maybe Ervie and Falky are out trying their luck fishing with Dad.

Ervie will eat that fish tail that he left last night when he wakes up.

Bazza is certainly a handsome Osprey.

Sometimes Bazza hunkers down duckling style on the nest when it is windy or he is tired of standing up. You can just see Mum on the ropes at the right near the bottom of the image.

No fish deliveries so far despite Bazza’s fish calling.

In the video clip below, Xavier calls Diamond up to their scrape box on the water tower at Charles Sturt University at Orange today. Their bonding ritual with its bowing and eh-chupping is fascinating. It took place a few minutes ago. What a beautiful couple they are!

Right now OGK, the male Royal Cam Albatross parent, is incubating his egg for a straight 13 days, 14 tomorrow. His mate YRK has not returned. There are two possibilities: she has had to travel so far to find enough food to eat to sustain her on incubation duties or she has been caught and killed by the long lines on the fishing trawlers. As we are aware, the oceans are warming. At the same time there are countries who have huge trawlers scooping up the fish 24/7. Each are causing havoc for our sea birds and it will get worse. Let us all hope that YRK is alright. The NZ DOC rangers have already removed the fertile egg from under OGK and put it in the incubator. OGK is incubating a dummy egg in case he has to leave to save his life before YRK returns, if she does. The rangers are also prepared to give OGK supplementary feedings. In terms of their birds, NZ is enlightened. They recognize what climate change and humans have done to destroy the environment for the animals and the birds and they are doing something positive for them. I hope that YRK shows up while I am writing this. It would be the best thing!

I have been trying to find live bird cams in Japan for one of my readers, ‘A’. I found this one that has three different cameras for three different wildlife or bird boxes. The boxes are located at the base of Mount Lizuna which is northwest of Tokyo. One is for Mandarin Ducks, another is for Ural Owls, and another is a wild bird feeding station. Please enjoy and if you know of other streaming cams in Japan, please let me know so I can spread the news!

It is the beginning of a new year for all of us and what could be a better time than now to reflect on the beauty, the inspiration, and the sheer joy that our feathered friends brought to us over the past year. They taught us so much. How many times would we be able to see a Peregrine falcon couple bonding? or a Bald Eagle tenderly feeding its chick? or a third hatch be clever and courageous? We are so blessed. I am starting to make a short list of resolutions for this year and they include writing to everyone I know to try and end the harm that longline fishing is doing. I also want to work towards a ban on the manufacture of rodenticide, which causes secondary poisoning to birds, and lead in hunting and fishing equipment. All of those require persistent e-mail mails. Protective covers for power poles need to be put in place and there needs to be awareness of the dangers of monofilament line and a clean up of the shores of lakes and rivers. That is a start! I am certain that you can think of many more ways to make the lives of our birds better. Maybe you have made some resolutions, too. I would love to hear about them!

Thank you so much for joining me. It is always a pleasure to have you with me. Take care everyone!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures and video clips: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, the Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, and Cornell Bird Lab and the NZ DOC.

Victor Hurley answers your questions

If you missed the Q & A with Dr Victor Hurley, the researcher for the Victoria Peregrine Falcon Project, was live last week but if you missed it, here it is on YouTube. It is only audio- great presentation. There are some very good questions and answers that apply to the general population of peregrines.

My interest is in a small part of this discussion whereby corporations would be bound by a simple change in the wording of the law to protect the birds. Listen carefully. Check out your local situation if you can. See if you can help amend laws so that our lovely birds are protected.

There are some lovely books on Peregrine Falcons. Several in paperback. I highly recommend these:

  • The Peregrine by JA Baker
  • Falcon by Helen MacDonald
  • On the Wing. To the Edge of the Earth with the Peregrine Falcon by A Tennant
  • Peregrine Falcon by Patrick Stirling-Aird
  • The Peregrine’s Journey. A Story of Migration by Madeline Dunphy.

There are many others. Some better than others. The top three are my favourites.

For those of you that might have missed it, our darling Osprey, Ervie – the Little Bob who became the Big Bob – continues to be the ‘biggest’ and the leader. Ervie fledged yesterday at 13:17:38. Here it is:

What an amazing bird you are, Ervie.

I am outside for the rest of the day trying to make the garden inhabitable for the birds. The woodboxes have more than 45 cm of snow on top of them and so does the deck and the lawn. I will be checking on our bird families much later.

I hope that your Sunday is a good one. I do urge you to listen to Victor Hurley. It is a great discussion. You can turn it on and cook your dinner or have your tea and listen. Take care everyone! Thank you so much for being here.