Everyone has been waiting, holding their breath, for Ervie to catch a fish off the barge like Falky. That didn’t happen today but, Ervie did catch a puffer fish today and he brought it back to the nest on the Port Lincoln Osprey barge where he enjoyed every morsel.
Here is my video clip of Ervie, so proud, arriving with his catch of the day. You can watch him fly in from the top right. It is very quick, don’t blink!
Port Lincoln responded to the chatters request to zoom in the camera so everyone could see Ervie eating the puffer.
Ervie loves his fish and he had no difficulty opening (or bursting) the fish and eating it.
Does anyone remember when the lads were younger and a puffer fish was delivered to the nest? None of the three knew what to do with it then.
Despite many believing Ervie might not enjoy the Puffer, he really seemed to enjoy every morsel.
It is the first time that Ervie has brought a catch to the nest so this was a really big deal for his fans watching and chatting.
The feathers on Ervie’s head were still wet from getting the puffer but none of the feathers from the rest of his body, save for maybe his legs, appear wet.
Did he catch it standing in shallow water – like at the beach? So he just had to stick his head in the water and not do a full-fledged dive? I wonder. Maybe Port Lincoln can solve the mystery by looking at Ervie’s tracker!
Ervie has been flying on and off the barge today, becoming more of his old adventurous self.
Just look at how handsome Ervie is. My goodness.
Thank you for joining me. This was an exciting event for everyone watching. I hope you enjoyed it, too.
Thank you to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project’s streaming cam from where I took my screen captures and my video clip.
The snow and rain persisted in the North East longer after bringing bitter cold, rain, tornado warnings, and ice in the SE. Last night those white flakes piled up on Big Red and Arthur’s nest at Cornell University. This afternoon rain is falling in Ithaca.
There is still about 9 weeks before Big Red thinks about laying eggs. Suzanne Arnold Horning caught Big Red preening in the snow this morning. Big Red is always beautiful, no matter the weather.
The sun has come out on the WRDC nest of Ron and Rita. Hopefully this will make R1 nicer. Even Rita tried to stop his nonsense with R2 yesterday.
The behaviour of R1, more aggressive than normal during the day of the storm, was mirrored in E19 who was entirely unpleasant to E20 on Harriet and M15’s nest in Fort Myers. These two have been called the ‘the most sweet’ and ‘the most caring’ of all of Harriet and M15’s eaglets and yet, yesterday brought out the aggression.
The cameras at SWFlorida are having problems this morning. The IR remains on and they are all on different times. The camera should, at this moment, be reading 12:30. Those eaglets are fine. Hopefully today will calm E19 down.
The one nest that I have been concerned with is that at Berry College. Missy did real well during the storm yesterday. It appears that the chick attempting to hatch in the second egg has failed. As one of the chatters said this morning, ‘we are thankful for one feisty chick’. Agreed. Let Missy get some experience with this one! Fingers crossed that this little one, B15, will grow and thrive.
I checked on Missy late last night and was thrilled to see the precipitation had stopped.
What I would like to see is a pile of fish on that nest! Pa Berry, let’s go fishing.
No egg at Duke Farm but the nest continues to be restored by the pair of Bald Eagles that gave us those two magnificent fledges last year.
It is breezy and sunny at Hilton Head Island Trust Eagles Nest, home to Harriet and Mitch and their two eaglets. It certainly isn’t hot there and the forecast indicates that the temperatures will plunge on Thursday. Right now the babies are full of fish and sleeping.
Lori Covert at Captiva Bald Eagles has announced that the two eggs of Connie and Clive are either unfertilized or non-viable. No eaglets for Connie and her new mate this year, sadly.
There was a late fish delivery to Ervie on the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. I am not quite certain of the delivery time but Ervie was working on it after 20:00. At one point, Mum came over to see if she could get that fish off Ervie and he promptly booted her off the nest. Ervie!
Ervie did not finish that fish. He seems to have saved some of it for breakfast. He is sleeping on it!
Before signing off – I am late in feeding the garden birds and animals – a quick check on Anna and the little one. Louis has the pantry full – typical Louis -and this baby continues to delight. It is so strong. The Kisatchie National Forest nest is quickly rising like cream to the top in terms of my favourite Bald Eagle nests.
I know that there has been a lot of chatter about Louis being able to feed lots more chicks. Yes, he could. He could supply Berry College easily and keep Anna and babies full. That said, my preference will always be for one very healthy chick at each nest – always. Anna is a young Mum. This is only her second breeding season. Ease her into larger clutches gently! If ever.
This eaglet is the cutest! Seriously.
Thank you so much for joining me this morning. They all seemed to have survived the storms well. Such a relief. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Berry College, WRDC, SWFlorida, Hilton Head Island Trust, Port Lincoln Ospreys, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, Duke Farms, Cornell Bird Lab, and Suzanne Arnold Horning for the image of Big Red today.
As this big weather system moves through the United States Midwest over to the East coast, a multitude of raptor nests are in its wake ranging from those at Decorah, Iowa to Berry College and Duke Farms.
There is snow on the Decorah North Bald Eagle Nest in Iowa. Not expecting egg watch for about six weeks – sure glad the eagles are missing all the snow! — Yes, I know they can handle it but it is difficult feeding just borns in the cold and wet. Better dry!
There is snowing covering the Denton Homes Bald Eagle nest in Iowa also.
The Pittsburg-Hays Bald Eagle Nest looks like it could get some of this nasty weather. Right now the adults are roosting on a tree above the nest. Not looking for eggs here for a bit. Last year this couple raised three to fledge! Amazing.
Right now at Berry College, this is the weather forecast:
B15 is doing great and B16 is trying to hatch. As you know, I am often rather out spoken. B15 is Missy’s first to survive little one and her and it are doing nicely. If B16 doesn’t hatch, it might be for the best. Let this young mom find her way.
There remains no signs of rodenticide poisoning with Ron and Rita’s two, R1 and R2. R1 is a real stinker to R2 lately and, in part, this is why I say let Missy raise one strong eaglet. The experienced Mums have ways of sorting out the rivalry issues such as gentle taps on the beaks or getting the assistance of their mate. Even so, it is not easy even for them. I want to see some success on this Berry College nest this year and right now, things look good with B15.
Duke Farms is in Hillsborough, New Jersey and it is set to really get hit by this storm as it gets to the eastern sea board. They are on egg laying watch there. Oh, I hope that egg can wait! Many of you have set through night upon night worrying about the Mum on this nest who was incubating eggs covered in snow for weeks. She is quite amazing. She is not on the nest tonight,.
The high wind warnings continue for the Kisatchie National Forest area. Anna fed the baby some Coot and hopefully the little one will sleep through the wind!
As night settled on the forest, the winds picked up. It is now 34 degrees F at the nest of Anna and Louis.
It is a little breezy at the Osprey nest of Lena and Andy on Sanibel Island, Florida. Lena is sleeping blissfully incubating those three eggs of hers.
The only hope left for the Captiva Bald Eagles, Connie and Clive is if the second egg is fertile. Egg #1 is 42 days old today.
Today is Ervie’s birthday. He is precisely 4 months old. How incredible. As many of us know, we held our breath when he hatched hoping beyond hope that #1 sibling would please leave the little one alone. What we didn’t know at that precise moment of hatch was the robust character that #3 was going to turn out to be. Today Ervie has been flying around the barge and might have even been up on the wheel house. Of course he is screaming his head off to be fed —— if he wasn’t, we would think something was wrong with the Erv. What a magnificent bird you have turned out to be #3.
Let’s hope that Ervie gets some extra fish today for his birthday. So happy with this Osprey. Send out positive wishes to all the people and the birds – not just our beloved raptors – in the path of this storm. Keep them in your thoughts as the wind and the snow and ice plow through the Eastern side of the US. I hope that Big Red and Arthur are hunkered down.
Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me on this quick report.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Decorah North and Explore.org, Captiva Osprey Nest, Port Lincoln Ospreys, KNF Bald Eagles, Berry College, WRDC Bald Eagles, Pittsburgh Hays Bald Eagles and Pix Cam, Duke Farms, and Denton Homes Eagles.
Last season, a rat was brought on as prey to the Bald Eagle nest at Captiva on Sanibel Island. It was fed to Peace and Hope. Both died of rodenticide poisoning. There have been far too many deaths due to rodenticide. The list is too long for me to type but every wildlife rehabber will tell you that everyone of those deaths was preventable!
Today a rat was brought to the WRDC nest of Ron and Rita and the eaglets, R1 and R2, ate it. The following was posted on a FB group that I belong to. Rodenticide is meat for rats and mice but it often causes the secondary poisoning of raptors as well as domestic cats or dogs. Everyone is working very hard to get this designer poison banned.
The rats are so easy to catch once they have eaten the poison. They become sluggish and are easy to catch.
Please send your positive wishes to this nest and help the raptors by not using rodenticide and telling everyone you know to not use it and why. I have first hand experience with our lovely cat, Duncan, dying from this. It is a horrific death. Agonizing.
Ervie had two fish deliveries so far. One was at 10:24 and the other was at 12:47:44. Ervie has also been off the nest exploring the area which is wonderful news.
Port Lincoln also zoomed in the camera on Ervie eating his fish. The result was some beautiful portraits of my favourite Osprey fledgling. Told you I was biased!
In the image below, Ervie is giving the ‘snake eye’ look that many Ospreys, like Iris at the Hell Gate Canyon Nest in Montana is so famous for.
Ervie loves to eat! He is really doing a great job eating this nice fish!
The hatch at Berry College is progressing. The extra shell was over the smaller end of the egg. One small victory! B15 is doing very well, too. Let us all hope that B15 is very nice to its sibling once it has hatched.
By 16:00, the little one at the KNF nest was chattering away wanting more fish. Anna waited a couple of minutes and got up and gave that sweetie a really nice feeding. I was surprised that it could hold any more fish after the previous meal but, there was room for a few nice size bites. At that time, 5 fish or parts of fish could be seen on the camera. The one that Anna is feeding yet-to-be-named eaglet had just been brought in by Louis. This baby will never have to worry about there not being enough fish! Last year Louis brought in a turtle but, as far as I know there are no worries about rats coming on to this nest as prey. Lake Kincaid is right out the front door!
I went back to check the WBSE nest and Daisy has not returned since she was there in the morning. There is still much time left in the day, however.
I am so sorry to worry anyone about the eaglets on the WRDC nest. It is reassuring that they are being monitored and I hope at the first sign of a problem they will be removed from the nest and taken into care — with positive results! Three things that would really improve the lives of the raptors ——- ban rodenticides along with lead in hunting and fishing equipment.
Thank you so much for stopping by to check on the latest comings and goings. This is brief because I wanted to alert you to the issue at hand. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: WRDC Bald Eagle Nest, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Berry College Bald Eagle Cam, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, and Bald Eagles Rodenticide and Lead FB page.
LOL. It looks like Ervie roosted on the perch last night. The angle of the camera only allowed you to see the nails of the talons if you looked really close. He is back on the nest waiting for his breakfast fish!
They were moving the camera when I caught a glimpse of Ervie on the perch.
No one else appears to be on the barge. Ervie will be hoping that Dad or Mum will hear his calls for breakfast.
Andy and Lena of the Captiva Osprey Nest on Sanibel Island now have three eggs.
Despite the fact that I am always checking on on E19 and E20 at the SWFlorida Bald Eagle Nest, I often don’t comment. That is a shame. These are two of the best behaved Bald Eagles I have seen. It feels like the year for that. The Port Lincoln lads lined up and ate and really didn’t have much rivalry at all until they had fledged. E19 and E20 had a bit but that went away quickly. They are marvellous. I hope that Lena and Andy hatch three well behaved Ospreys, too. We will not know, however, as the owner has decided that once the eggs hatch the camera will go offline until the ospreys are too big for the Crows to take.
Meanwhile E19 and E20 are being ‘filled up’. Look at that crop.
The little one at the KNF nest could be heard chirping loud and clear wanting to be fed. Louis was brooding and, well, Louis is a great fisher but he isn’t such a good feeder – at least not yet. Give him time.
That little eaglet is very strong. It can clamour up the egg cup after food besides being able to sit upright for a bit.
Louis has brought more fish and Anna is brooding the eaglet now. It will get a nice feed. The microphones Cody installed are fantastic. You can hear the eaglet clamouring for a feeding under Anna!
Anna got up right away and gave the baby some nice big bites of Pike.
This little eaglet is so patient and Anna is a splendid Mum.
The baby will have a nice big crop when Anna finishes feeding but they aren’t going to show us. Look at how chubby it is already! This is one of the strongest little bobbleheads I have ever seen. A great family to watch. No worries about sibling rivalry or hunger here! The chat moderator, Tonya, has just confirmed that when Kisatchie, their eaglet last year, was 13 days old, Louis brought in 8 fish and Anna brought in 2 for a total of 10 fish on the nest in case the chick got hungry!!!! (or Mum or Dad). Wow. I recall that big stack of fish in the corner.
Remember to send in your name suggestions to nameknfeagle@gmail.com by 30 Jan. Let’s give this great eaglet a super name! Everyone can join in. They will select some names for a final voting.
Here is the link to this great Eagle family in case you lost it.
If you are looking for something to do on a Friday evening, if you haven’t seen it, I highly suggest the movie about Pale Male, the Red-tail Hawk that lives in New York City’s Central Park. He is 32 years old this year. Him and Octavia still live in the park. It is free. Scroll down for the white rectangle that says ‘Watch It’. It is an inspirational story of how the people of the City came together to save the nest of this amazing hawk.
It looks like there could be a pip or a large crack in the second egg at Berry College. Will continue to monitor.
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 captures: Berry College Bald Eagles, SWFlorida Bald Eagles and D Pritchett, KNF Bald Eagles, Captiva Ospreys, and Port Lincoln Osprey Project.
Just about the time I begin to think, and then say, that it looks like the parents at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge are slowing down with fish deliveries, they bring two nice sized fish to Ervie. There was a huge chunk at 07:34 and another nice fish arrived at 15:20. Ervie didn’t actually start eating it until 16:25. Ervie was the only lad about. Bazza was last seen on Sunday the 9th and Falky was last seen on the ropes with Mum and Dad at 19:40 on the 12th. Will Ervie stay or go?
Ervie is still full from the morning fish when the afternoon delivery arrives.
Ervie is still eating at 17:34! My goodness those were nice fish brought to the nest. Ervie finished off his fish and flew off the left side of the nest.
Will that be our last sighting of Ervie on the nest? No one slept on the barge last night. We wait.
Missy has been feeding the little one on the Berry College Eagle Nest. It appears to be doing fine. Everyone is watching for the second egg. Sadly that broken shell has really attached itself to that egg.
I believe this is Missy’s first eaglet to survive. She is figuring feedings out!
B15 is getting stronger. You can see the issue with the second egg clearly here. I cannot tell if the extra piece of shell is over the narrow or wide part of the egg. The eaglets pip on the wider end. Pip watch coming for that second egg.
The nest is empty this morning at Big Bear, California but everyone is on egg watch for Shadow and Jackie.
Anna let Louis brood the chick this morning! Last year she waited a long time and Lous is delighted to be involved with his chick. Both Anna and Louis have been on the KNF nest this morning and the eaglet is eating well. Lots of nice fish for everyone on that nest!
There seem to be two words used for Harriet and M15’s E19 and E20. They are ‘nice’ and ‘cute’. Look at the feathers coming on E19 and E20 and then look at Anna’s baby above. They change so quickly!
This is a great little film about the Kakapo. Since it is breeding season and we are looking at eggs, it seems like a good time to refresh what we know about this very endangered non-flying parrot and how they are cared for. The update on the numbers is that there are now 202 Kakapo down from 208 the beginning of last year.
Daisy the Duck has not returned to the White-Bellied Sea Eagle Nest to lay eggs since she visited with her mate on 1 January. That was two-weeks ago. Fingers crossed she has found another spot and is successful. One of the women who visits the centre was to send us images of Daisy paddling but nothing so far. Maybe Daisy is away from the area of water around the Discovery Centre and the Duck Pond.
Great Horned Owls have been mating on the Savannah Osprey Nest and the GHOWs have been mating on the nest that was stolen from a young Bald Eagle couple in Newton, Kansas last year. The couple who became known as Bonnie and Clyde raised two of the cutest little owlets on this nest. When the eggs are laid, I will definitely let you know.
For the most part the Owls and the Eagles live cooperatively but I really don’t like the owls when they try to knock the eagles off or hurt their eyes and heads as at the WBSE Nest by the small BooBook Owls and at SWFlorida when it is a GHOW hitting M15 and knocking him off the branch into the nest, sometimes.
One thing I did not know is that there are no Great Horned Owls near the WRDC Bald Eagle Nest in Miami-Dade County. The Coot delivered yesterday, the second one to arrive as prey on the nest, is gone! They seem to love the taste of that waterfowl. My eagle expert tells me that the WRDC are thinking about putting up more nests like this one for the eagles. Fantastic. It seems to be a really good design and they can work out any kinks watching this nest.
R1 ate well and now Dad is making sure that R2 is full to the brim. Ron, you are a great Dad! You can see R1 passed out in a food coma and Ron has even moved across the nest to feed the youngest sibling. Fantastic.
Today is Day 40 for the eggs at Captiva Bald Eagle Nest on Sanibel, Island. It is the home of Connie and her new mate, Clive. There is some chatter that the eggs might not be fertile. Let’s wait and see.
I haven’t seen any of Ervie’s tracking uploaded since 26 December. I will be checking on the PLO nest during the rest of the day to see if anyone returns to the barge at Port Lincoln. That wing of his could be our last sighting of the Erv until people along the coast send in images of him. There appears to be a huge interest ‘and caring’ for the Osprey in the region. That really helps!
Take care everyone. Have a great end to your week. Thank you for joining me. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, SWFlorida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Berry College Eagle Cam, KNF Bald Eagles, Friends of Big Bear, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Forest, Captiva Bald Eagles, Farmer Derek Owl Cam, and the WRDC Bald Eagle Nest.
I genuinely hope that the Bird World community does not have a fright like it did this morning when Gabby had not returned to relieve Samson of incubation duties for nearly 24 hours. Samson seemed nonplused by it all and maybe he knew where Gabby was. She has been known to disappear for a bit in the past but it seems unusual rip before pip. At any rate, all is well at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest outside of Jacksonville, Florida.
A video has been posted of an intruder chase at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest around the time that Gabby returned to the nest at 11:53. It would, thus, appear, as I thought, that her absence was based on a territorial issue rather than one of her ‘disappearing’.
B15 hatched this morning at 07:57 at Berry College. Everyone thought Missy might not ‘know to feed it’. She was up eating and looked over several times to see if its head was up and beak open. She knows what to do! Like the KNF eaglet, this little one is pooped from hatching.
B15 is a real little cutie! It looks very strong.
I sure wish Missey had gotten rid of those egg shells when B15 hatched. You will note that one has slipped over the end of the second egg. Hopefully this will not cause B16 trouble when hatching!
B15 looks so tiny compared to Harriet and Mitch’s eaglets at the Hilton Head Island Trust Bald Eagle Nest. Their feathers are starting to come in. Poor things. They are always preening and we think that they must be itchy.
I think this is a new take on ‘Sleeping with the Fishes’. Ron has been keeping the nest full of fish for Rita and the babies. He can often be seen feeding the little ones himself. They are doing nicely and this human-made nest seems to be working out well. Perhaps this design will be needed in areas that lose trees in big storms or fires.
The two of them are adorable. They scoot around all over the nest.
Bingo! Anna and the baby finally got feeding worked out. The little eaglet is going to have a nice crop. Louis is already beginning to fill the nest up with big fish.
I love seeing Louis and Anna on the nest. Look at that nice Pike that Louis brought in for lunch! And there is the little one with its crop holding its head up pretty good. It was so full it just fell over into food coma.
Louis has brought in more fish! No shortage of things for the family to eat. Louis is one of the most enthusiastic fisher-dads I have ever seen.
Anna and the yet to be named baby eaglet have figured all of this out! Just look there is a little tail!
This eaglet is seriously cute. The Rangers are looking for a name. Anyone can send in a suggestion. It should be gender neutral. Send name in an e-mail to: nameknfeagle@gmail.com Send it by 30 January.
You can see the tail and the strong wings below. Oh, adorable. This eaglet is going to be like Kisatchie – there were days you would think s/he was going to pop they had been fed so much. Anna is the kind of Mum that wants you to ‘take just one more bite, pleaseeeee’.
Just doing a quick check on the Port Lincoln Lads. Ervie was, of course, on the nest last night and Mum brought him a fish before bedtime. There are fewer and fewer fish deliveries indicating that the parents want all the boys to be out fishing themselves.
At 07:33:57, someone did, however, deliver Ervie a nice big chunk of fish!
Ervie has the fish.
That fish is under his talents but he is still mantling and flapping and prey calling. Just eat and enjoy it, Ervie.
An hour later Ervie is still eating his fish. His ‘gas tank’ is full!
I have been thinking about Ervie a lot. I have to tell a story to make my point. Years ago we had a black and white cat called Melvin. It was a time when cats could be outside where I live. Melvin loved nothing more than to roll in the dirt! He was always dusty. One day, when he was 2 years old, he disappeared. We looked and called but, nothing. Four days later Melvin was at the door crying to get in. We noticed some strange marks on his paws. It looked like thin wire had worn the fur off and there were a couple of holes. Had he gotten caught in a barbed wire fence? The result of his misadventure was real trauma. Melvin hid in the bedroom and walk-in closet. He rarely came out into the other areas of the house. When we had our cat sitter, Heather, she would take a flashlight to check he was OK under the bed and put his food there. Over the decade she helped us, she never actually saw Melvin, not once, just his eyes. Melvin lived 15 years in hiding, more or less. He would come out with us but no one else. While we will never know what happened to him, that event changed his life. This brings me to Ervie. If you remember, Ervie was the one going everywhere and being independent. It was Bazza on the nest. Then Ervie was away flying south of Port Lincoln. He has not left the nest since except to chase Falky. His behaviour has changed dramatically. Did he try to catch a fish and couldn’t get out of the water easily? We will never know what he experienced. I hope to goodness I am wrong about something traumatic happening to Ervie. He is clearly the dominant bird but why isn’t he out exploring?
The Audubon Society has announced today that the Migratory Bird Act has been brought back and will be strengthened in the US. Here is that information.
And, last but never least, the Kakapo Recovery. Today’s report on the breeding attempts and eggs. This is great news coming out of New Zealand.
It’s an exciting time full of ups and downs. We are on pip watch for Captiva and NEFlorida and with two recent hatches at Berry and KNF – well, it is difficult to keep track of all of them! I am really pleased at Anna and the eaglet getting the feedings worked out. It is all good down in Louisiana. I look forward to tomorrow. Think about a name for this cute eaglet and send it off!
Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me today. Take care.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: KNF Bald Eagle Nest, Berry College, Kakapo Recovery, Port Lincoln Ospreys, WRDC Bald Eagle Nest, and Hilton Head Island Trust.
The hatching at the Kisatchie National Forest Bald Eagle nest is progressing nicely. These are the latest images of the egg at 12:58 CDT.
As you are probably aware, the adults do not help the chick hatch. It is too dangerous for the fragile baby. There are also thoughts that the chick must survive the hatch to be able to survive in the wild.
The chick has a nice hole but it needs to get through that membrane.
It is unclear if this is egg 1 or egg 2. Anna had a bad landing and broke one of the eggs. Egg 1 would be 38 days old today and egg 2 would be 35 days old. It is a bit of a toss up. There were some marks on egg 1 and many watchers believe the egg that survived is egg 1. At the end of the day, it only matters for the data which egg it is. I simply want a healthy chick to get out of that egg. You can hear the sweet little thing cheeping sometimes. Anna must be excited.
Louis has returned to the nest. Is he wanting Anna to give him a turn? or is he there protecting the nest? Eagles that hatch with the membranes like this usually take a little longer than the clear break of the egg. Everything will be fine though! It just could be a little while.
Oh, thank you. You can see the chick’s beak with the egg tooth breaking that hole big. All around the shell is crushed.
Hi there…just a little longer. What an adorable little chirp. The eaglet has now broken through that membrane and can breathe air! It is doing so well.
That little one is really chirping. You can actually see it push outwards from inside the shell. Adorable. Anna watches her little one try to break into the world. This will be the second successful hatch for this young couple.
Anna is being so careful.
There are still no signs of a pip at Berry College. Both adults were on the nest when I checked in. Eggs were being rolled.
As far as I know, there are no pips at NEFlorida with Gabby and Samson yet.
If we are lucky, they will all pip and hatch on different days. It would be very difficult to watch all the eagle nests! Possible. But much better one at a time! With Harriet and M15’s E19 and E20 moving into the stage of getting feather growth, it is really exciting to have some new bobble heads coming our way.
I wonder what is going on at Captiva? Clive got off of the eggs and there is no real close up. Pip? Unknown.
So what is up with the PLO Lads? Sometimes when I check, it is only Ervie on the camera. Are there other family members on the barge? It is hard to say. Some could be sitting up on the wheel house. Mum and Dad could be over on the old barge so they have some peace and quiet!
Late in the evening, around 20:44, Ervie took off from the perch. At this time it appears that no one else is on the barge. He flies around the barge. He is seen on camera several times.
Gone.
Flying back.
Ervie does this interesting touch take off on the nest.
I wanted to make sure it was Ervie. You can see his sat-pak between the wings clearly in the image below.
Ervie returns at 20:45:23 to the nest with a very small fish it appears. Now this is the question. We can see no other members of the family on camera. But it is also impossible to tell if Ervie is wet. The camera is blurry for some reason. If he were wet, then he would have caught the fish. I actually suspect one of the adults delivered Ervie the small fish off camera. That is always something to remember- just because we cannot see what is happening does not mean it isn’t happening. Adult Osprey deliver fish at various locations for their fledglings.
In the middle of the night there are at least two other family members on the barge with Ervie on the nest — ‘his’ nest.
Morning has come and everyone appears to be off the barge leaving Ervie on the nest.
Ron has been doing a great job feeding R1 and R2 on the WRDC Bald Eagle nest. Those little ones are doing really, really well. Always a variety of food!
It has warmed up on the Canadian Prairies. It is now a balmy -14 C. Seriously after -32 it almost feels like spring. Most of the birds in the garden are the European Starlings. I think they are gorgeous birds.
Today is also bread making day and it is time to take those loaves out of the oven and find some nice butter.
Thank you for joining me. It is so exciting. There will be a fluff ball down at the KNF nest soon! Take care everyone. Please stay safe.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: the KNF Bald Eagle Nest, Berry College Eagle Nest, NE Florida Bald Eagle Nest and the AEF, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, and the Captiva Bald Eagle Cam.
How many times have I said that watching the Port Lincoln Osprey lads are better than anything streaming on the telly? From hatch to today, they have not disappointed.
To recap. Bazza, the eldest, has not been seen since 9 January – 2 days ago. It could mean many things. Bazza could be off camera on the nest barge. He could be over on the old barge with Mum. He could be somewhere near to the nest barge OR Bazza could have left to find his own territory. It is interesting to note that Mum has not been seen since yesterday morning and Bazza could be with her. I did often call him ‘Mama’s Boy’. Yesterday, Falky, the middle hatch, caught what I believe is the only fish by a juvenile on camera at the nest. That was just fabulous. He was brilliant. As one of the watchers noted ‘JL’, to celebrate Falky flew a victory lap around the barge! I suspect Falky was so proud of that fish he caught he wanted everyone to see including Mum and Dad!
Ervie was ‘prime time Erv’ today. He might have been on the nest for several days and not moving too much but, there is nothing wrong with his flying and his attitude. Twice this morning Ervie engaged with Falky in what can only be described as ‘aerial dog fights’ just like you might have seen in movies or airshows about World War II. It was Ace Pilot Ervie at his best.
There are two main events with an intermission.
As you can see I cut out some of the time in between. In those minutes, you could see the shadows of the two going over the barge but, you could not see them. When they landed, before Ervie took after Falky again, they had both arrived wet so somewhere the pair of them went into the water. Good gracious. Is this really boys playing? or is this dominant Ervie deciding he wants the nest and barge all to himself?
That attitude of the third hatch wanting to take over the nest completely as the dominant bird has been seen elsewhere. Tiny Tot Tumbles at the Achieva Nest returned and even fought off adult interlopers. I clearly think that Ervie would do the same if that same instance happened.
I wonder. Will Ervie return to this barge and want it for his nest in a few years time? Only time will tell. So glad that he has a tracker on.
Ervie is not behaving like Falky is on the barge. When he sees someone he fish calls but he doesn’t appear to be willing to give up that nest to go out fishing independently – yet – since his return from his long flight a few days ago.
Here is the link to the Port Lincoln streaming cam.
I was going to bring you a report on the lack of streaming cams for raptors in Japan today but this will be delayed by a few days. I have not had time, sadly, today, to put all the strings together.
I have also not seen any news of any pips although Anna at the Kisatchie National Forest Nest looks like she is expecting something. She has been rolling the eggs and try as we might it is difficult. There is a mark on the egg but I think it is vegetation and not a pip. Perhaps later this evening.
The first egg at Berry College Eagle nest of Pa Berry and Missey is 35 days old today.
Gabby and Samson have been listening to the egg and rolling. They are getting really close to a pip watch.
R2 and R3 continue to do really well over at the WRDC Bald Eagle Nest in Miami-Dade country. Rita removed the Coot that had been on the nest and had a big meal herself. You can ‘sort of’ see the nice crop she has. The kids are well fed, no worries!
It is a wrap for today. We will wait together for those pips at Captiva, KNF, Berry College, and NEFlorida Bald Eagle nests!!!!!! Waiting is hard.
Thank you for joining me. I am delighted to have you here with me. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures and my video clips: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, Berry College Bald Eagle Cam, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, and the WRDC Eagle Cam.
Anyone watching the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge has felt that all three of the lads have been out fishing elsewhere. To date, as far as I know, none of the brothers – Bazza, Falky, or Ervie – have caught their own fish on camera.
Bazza has not been seen on camera today. Ervie picked up the 06:28 fish and the 10:41 fish. Falky flew over and tried to take that one from Ervie but he failed.
Falky takes off from the ropes when Dad delivers the fish to Ervie on the nest.
You can see Falky on the upper left above the nest.
Dad had better get out of the way. Falky is hungry!
Ervie secures the fish by moving it over to the rim of the nest in his beak.
At 11:30:00 Falky is watching the water closely. Have a look at what happens!
Oh, Falky was hungry and he was really enjoying that fish he caught.
I have never seen a juvenile fledgling catch their fish, not this young. This is a rare glimpse into their lives as they adjust to becoming independent. Each of them might have caught a fish off camera but this was quite incredible today.
I am hoping that Falky and Ervie will set up a fishing competition! At this very moment, Falky is on the perch looking for another fish.
That was just marvellous. Earlier in the morning a dolphin jumped close to the barge.
Another fish was delivered at 14:15:46. Here comes Dad with it to the nest. Falky sees it. Ervie wants it.
Here comes Falky!
Too late. Ervie gets it!
It has simply been a super morning on the Port Lincoln Osprey barge in Australia. There is more news in Bird World but it can all wait til tomorrow. This is to be relished. It is rare to see a juvenile catch a fish. Enjoy it – and it alone.
Thank you for joining me. Take care. Stay safe. See you soon.
Thank you to Port Lincoln Osprey Project for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots and my video clips.
