It is a great morning – feedings at Dale Hollow, Ervie at the barge, and the romance continues at The Campanile.
The morning started out with real positive energy in terms of an intervention to get the monofilament line off of DH 15 Little Middle and remove any other line off the Dale Hollow Nest. Approval has come down from the top permit officer so we wait to see if the local officer will assist. Jessica Halls and her team from the AEF are prepared to leave and help the eaglet. We do not know what the tree is like – that is the one very unknown in all of this. But however this turns out, it was a real ray of sunshine to connect with the people who love eagles and move into action when there is a problem.
If you missed the earlier posting with the letters from Ron MacGill who helped get me in touch with the USFWS head permit provider, they are here:
The adults at the Dale Hollow nest have not fed Little Middle since 2 April. Big continues to intimidate – more than twice this morning at 10:17:29 (just got up close and LM went into submission) and wings out at 12:04:20 and again at 12:05:44. There is plenty of fish on the nest – 2 have been delivered.
This morning, very hungry, Little Middle self-fed and in the second video stands on the fish and pulls and tugs developing good neck muscles. This eaglet is a survivor. I sure hope it gets the chance out in the wild.
Really proud of how well Little Middle is feeding itself. At one point the crop was full but, because he had not eaten for so long, he dropped that food rather quickly.
River has not fed Little Middle any of the fish this morning. Big is always threatening.
Big is full. At 12:23:53 Little Middle begins to move over to the piece of fish left to self feed.
As I write this, Little Middle is self-feeding. Hunger and the will to survive are driving this wonderful little eaglet. These are great skills for the wild.
An adult returned to the nest and Little Middle moved and then began to go around the rim to be fed.
Little Middle was being fed and then…Big noticed.
At 12:33, the adult is feeding Big. There is plenty of fish. Stay up there Little til Big leaves. That is all you have to do!
Big’s crop is big enough to pop.
In another golden moment, the adult got between the two eaglets and is turned and feeding Little Middle. If the adult will stay there, Little Middle will really be able to have a good feed. There is plenty of fish.
An adult brought in more fish at 12:48:54. There has been lots of fish on the nest. I wonder if the weekend leisure boat traffic, etc. in any way impacts the fishing for the eagles?
I cannot promise you that the rescue and intervention will happen. What I can say is that the removal of the fishing line is in the hands of the USFWS and the AEF. If it is possible, I believe we will have a good resolution. It clearly depends on many factors including the tree the nest is in. I have not been able to get a proper height for it other than very, very, very tall.
There is also good news coming out of The Campanile and the Cal Falcons. Annie’s ‘new man’ – please give him a great name Cal Falcons – brought her a large prey item which she accepted last night. Despite his lame foot, this fellow is a good hunter and provider. Annie how lucky!
The two changed incubation duties just a few minutes ago! Courting ritual in scrape. Seriously, can there be a better written romance?
And in the midst of everything, Ervie was at the Port Lincoln Barge begging Mum for a fish! I want to thank ‘A’ from Japan for alerting me to his presence. The Port Lincoln Osprey folks did a close up of Ervie’s foot so that they can see how that talon is growing. It is growing in slow.
You might be able to rewind to the times above and get to see Ervie! Here is the link, Ervie is still on the barge!
As I mentioned yesterday, Dale Hollow can be mentally exhausting. The intervention and removal of the line is in the hands of those who have the opportunity to help. I am going out for a long walk in the forest because waiting and watching is agonizing.
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 and video clips: Dale Hollow Eagle Cam, Cal Falcons, and Port Lincoln Ospreys.
It was actually the morning of 1 April in Port Lincoln, Australia. Our favourite Osprey, Ervie, arrived at the barge at 09:04:55. Mum and Dad had been down in the shed for quite some time and they had spent the night on the nest.
Here comes darling Ervie.
Ervie stayed on the nest until 09:07:47 when he flew down to the shed and joined his Mum.
I am sorry Ervie missed Dad. I am imagining him telling Mum all of his adventures with the Puffer fish and where he spends his time.
He flew off at 09:40:27.
Ervie seems to have his roost in a Norfolk Pine that he was photographed in awhile ago. That tree is located between Bligh Street and the Axel Stenross Museum. According to Port Lincoln Ospreys FB, people are constantly talking about seeing Ervie. He is certainly a Port Lincoln icon!
Here is Ervie’s latest tracking:
It has not been a good day in Bird World. Grinnell was found dead in downtown SF and Annie will eventually leave their eggs not ever knowing for sure what happened to her mate of six years. Little Middle now has the monofilament and nesting material around his right toe/s. And neither River or Obey brought Big or Middle Little any food since leftover fish in the early morning.
So, Ervie you gave us some sunshine and a smile. It is wonderful to see you in such good shape. It is so reassuring. Thank you for your visit today – we all needed it! Take care of yourself.
Thank you for joining me this evening. I am still stunned by the announcement of Grinnell’s death. Take care of yourselves. If you are a fan of Ervie, go to YouTube and see him. Check the time stamps above. See you soon.
Thank you to the Port Lincoln Ospreys for their streaming cam and FB page where I took my screen captures.
Jack brings in yet more toys for the kids as Harriet lays the third and, hopefully, final egg today at the Dahlgren Osprey Nest on the King George V River.
Not to be out done by the Cornell Red tail hawks with their four eggs, the female at the Syracuse Red tail Hawk nest has now laid four eggs! Goodness. While we might want to think that this is a prey rich summer, I had a conversation about Avian Flu with someone who is involved in that research. They said that Avian Flu H5N1, the highly pathogenic strain, is spreading like wild fire. Could the extra egg be part of a natural reaction to this? The general consensus is that 1 out of 3 fledglings survive. Are the hawks laying 4 eggs with the hope now that 1 in 4 survives this year with the spread of the flu? It reminded me of a quote on the Looduskalender Forum byIrene Ripperberg: “Clearly animals know more than we think and think more than we know.”
I had hoped that the afternoon would be a good one for Middle Little. While Little Middle did eat, those feedings did not come without enduring the wrath of Big. At 12:06:54 a parents flies in with a piece of fish. Big immediately goes after Little Middle who will get nothing of that prey drop. At 14:19:13 there is a large fish and a small piece left from earlier on the nest. Little Middle moves and Big goes on the attack. LM watches as Big is fed. By 14:26:47, Little Middle is at the rim of the nest moving cautiously. Little Middle gets a bite at 14:29:00 and a few more bites. Big gets up and Little Middle goes into submission. Big ate the rest of the fish and the tail. Little Middle did have a crop, part of which was left from the morning. Obey flew in with another fish at 15:28:58. Middle was where he landed. He gave Little Middle some bites which LM snatched and grabbed til Obey flew off at 15:32:39. At 17:52:47 River moves the large fish Obey brought in earlier and begins to feed Big. Little Middle moves over by Dad who has arrived at 17:54:24 hoping he has some more food. He doesn’t. Little Middle moves over to the rim and cautiously up to River who gives him some bites.
Big appears to be sleeping. At 18:15:27 – only three minutes later- Big goes into an attack. Oh, how I wish that Big would have just slept. There is hardly any food left – it ate an entire fish!
She tries to get Little Middle’s head to inflict the most damage which despite a large crop she does. Little Middle appears to be quite frightened. Big moves up to eat again. Middle Little must move – Big goes on the attack again at 18:16:11 in spite of having a big crop. Big positions herself so that she can grab Little Middle’s head and she twists it.
I had hoped that the beaking was going to slow down. It certainly does not appear to have anything to do with whether Big is full of not. One of our readers ‘BG’ observed that Big has a much more difficult time attacking Little Middle if she has a big crop which she does in the image below. It is hard for her to go over the top of the back anymore. That said, she was surely determined today and shifted to the side so that she could grab Middle’s head and neck which she shook.
While Little Middle is getting bigger and Big is often so full she can’t do anything, Little Middle must be cautious. And we have to hope that much more food comes on this nest. As it happens what is being brought in is enough for Big but barely enough for Little to have lots which it needs now. Both eaglets are 27 days old today – 28 if you count hatch day.
In the image below, Big is trying to go down to the head on the side at a slightly different angle than the image above. She has strong legs and, in fact, could, if she got wild enough, push Little Middle out of the nest. Despite being full, she simply could not sand that River would feed Middle Little a few bites of scrap fish.
Big is huge compared to Little middle. Look at her legs!
River feeds Big as he pushes Little Middle from the back. Little Middle raises its head and Bit goes at it again at 18:16:25.
Little Middle tries to get away by moving up close to River. River feeds Big. Nothing for Little Middle.
I am putting the image below in as a comparison of the size of the two. There remain many ways that Big can harm Little Middle but let us look at the positive. Despite not getting lots of food and cheeping wanting more, Little Middle did eat and did have a crop. He also had a really good PS this afternoon.
I am continually checking on Karl II and his movements curious as to if he can ‘smell’ or ‘sense’ war and not go to his normal watering hole in the Ukraine.
One of the British that travel to The Gambia to monitor Ospreys, Chris Wood, notes that many of the Ospreys arrive and go right to the same tree that they have done in many years previous. Will this also be the case for Karl II that he will, nonetheless, go to his normal spots despite the war?
Karl II is through Bulgaria, almost. Will he continue through Poland up to Latvia? We wait for the transmissions.
The people of Mlady Buky, The Czech Republic, are awaiting the arrival of their two White Storks. This community is the one who saved the father and the three storklets (originally four but Dad selected) by providing food for them last year.
Are you fond of Goshawks? The Goshawk nest at Riga, Latvia has its first egg today.
For any of the Latvian nests, I urge you to subscribe to The Latvian Fund for Nature’s streaming cams. There is no charge. You can do a search on YouTube and then select the nests you wish to watch. You will get a notice if something happens! There you will also find all of the videos of Milda the White-tailed Eagle at Durbe, her trials and joys.
There is a lovely little video of the adults at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest doing a tandem feeding. Oh, I just love this when the parents work together to make sure their chicks survive – if at all possible.
I love Red tail hawks and A Place Called Hope posted this today. I wanted to share it with you. If I were a raptor and needed rehab, I would really like to find myself at APCH.
The second egg for Mr President and Lotus at the National Arboretum Nest in DC is 35 days old. I so hope that this one hatches and the chick survives to fledge. It would be wonderful for this new pair. This is 18:13 this evening. Lotus is being very careful when she rolls that egg!
The following was posted a few hours ago. It looks like there is an internal pip happening. Please send your warmest wishes to Mr President and Lotus for a successful hatch for DC9.
R2 was returned to the nest by Ron Magill at the Miami Zoo. The remaining monofilament was removed successfully from its foot. These images were posted on Ron Magill’s FB page:
How wonderful! So happy for R2. He is sleeping on the rim of the nest tonight.
Everything is fine on the Captiva Osprey Nest of Andy and Lena in Florida. The beautiful juvenile plumage is coming in on both Middle and Little. They are growing so fast! Still no news on what killed Big.
Today, Grinnell protected the egg at the Peregrine Falcon scrape in The Campanile while Annie chased off the intruder. Here is a short video clip of that action.
Cal Falcons just posted another. The couple have been busy with intruders.
And before I close, a quick look at the West End Bald eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta where the trio of eaglets continues to thrive and grow without a second of discord. Remarkable parenting at this nest!
Look at how big they are. This just brings tears to my eyes. Two parents working together got this fantastic result for Thunder and Akecheta.
It looks like Ervie went out to the water. I hope he caught a nice fish! His tracker continues to work and he remains around Port Lincoln. Joy. Now if we only had news of Falky and Bazza.
Life is good at the nests!
Thank you so much for joining me. My blog may not be out til late on Monday. Hopefully the news will be good at Dale Hollow. Take care all. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB or Forum: Looduskalender, Latvian Fund for Nature, Mlady Buky Stork cam, Captiva Osprey Cam, Ron Magill, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, Cal Falcons, Dahlgren Osprey Nest, Pix Cams, Port Lincoln Ospreys, A Place Called Hope, and WRDC Bald Eagles.
Viewers of the Decorah North Bald Eagle nest of Mr North and Mrs DNF were frightened today when 47 mph gusts hit the nest. Those winds will continue until tomorrow. Hatching is never planned and that little one is making keen progress from its pip this afternoon at 12:46. It is being rocked and kept warm.
In 2018 this nest collapsed. It was rebuilt and re-enforced so despite the winds, everything should be fine. Hope.
And then it snowed at Decorah North! The baby is hatching. Dad has come in to take over so Mum can have a break.
It is still unclear what is happening at the Sauces Bald Eagle nest on Santa Cruz in the Channel Islands. This is the nest of Jak and Audacity.
View of the egg this morning. It is getting more possible that the egg is non-viable. Too bad they couldn’t have one of of the 4 and one out of several triplet nests that have hatched.
If you missed it, the big news today is the discovery that there are four eaglets on the nest at the PA Farm Bald Eagles. This is extremely rare. I knew about 1000 Islands in Wisconsin last year. Someone wrote that Norfolk had four eaglets in 2011.
Congratulations to to Mr President and Lotus and the National Arboretum Bald Eagle nest. First hatch after 3 bare seasons. Here is the announcement.
Congratulations Mr President and Lotus. Meet the newly hatched DC8!
Thunder has been bringing in crib railing to the West End nest and wow, it is working in one area of the nest. Thunder watches to see if these three lively eaglets will remain contained!
Sometimes but not when Dad Akecheta wants to feed them the Cormorant that Mum brought in today. Sweet babies. Seriously sweet babies.
We are all going to have to get our worry beads out. These kids of Thunder and Akecheta’s do not sit still!
Sorry for all the videos. The wind doesn’t really show in the stills and it is nice to see the four eaglets bobble. In this last one for the day, put out by Cal Falcons, Annie and Grinnell get down to business. Eggs tomorrow? Sunday? Gosh, I hope the romance drama has settled out on The Campanile.
Since the last feeding right after 12 noon when Little Middle had a huge crop, a fish head was brought in at 12:59:56. River fed Big until 13:08:18 and stopped. Little Middle did not bother to go up. It was more than full and why set off Big? River moves up to the fish head at 15:01:11.
River steps on Little Middle’s head and he pulls back, frightened.
Little Middle looks up at the feeding at 15:16.
Little Middle isn’t quite sure what to do. He has looked eyes with Big. (Often never a good idea as it sets the larger sibling off).
At 15:16:48, River pulls the fish head between the two eaglets. It is now closer so she can feed Little Middle.
A bite to Big and then a bite to Little Middle.
Same again, one for Big and one for Little Middle.
Then several more bites for Little Middle. More for Big and then the feeding stops by 15:30. It was slow. Not much fish on the head. But slow is good. Big gets full faster!
At 16:50;56 River flies in with a teaser fish?? Like a 3 or 4 bite fish??
She offers the first bite to Little Middle who was the closest at 16:51:31. I am watching this live and have no idea how well that gesture is going to play out with Big.
At 16:53:59 Little Middle moves cautiously and with head down away from the feeding. Big has done nothing that I can see – other than her sheer presence – to frighten the little one. I cannot imagine what it is like being that so frightened.
River obviously likes this species of fish. She is taking big bites and eating them herself. I wonder what it is?
Big gets full at 16:55:59 and River begins feeding Little Middle off the fish head.
Little is still being fed at 17:10. Life is good. River returns to clean up scraps around 18:00. Feeds Big a few bites. Little Middle doesn’t bother.
I checked on Estonian Black Stork Karl II’s progress and note that he has flown west. I wish that he would fly a little more west and head to his home in the Karula National Forest through Romania.
On the 23rd of March, Karl was feeding at the north end of the Beysehir Lake in Turkey. I so wanted him to turn west and not go straight north to the nature reserves around Odessa in the Ukraine. He left that feeding area and flew NW! 285 km
Today, he flew 308 km. He is west of Istanbul, west of the Black Sea.
Here is another map. Will Karl II turn to feed along the shores of the Black Sea or will he continue to fly north away from the war in the Ukraine? If he continues to fly west away from the conflict this is quite wonderful. How did he know?
The sun is setting on another good day at the Captiva Osprey nest in Florida. Lena and Andy have done well. Both Middle and Little are getting beautiful juvenile feathering. So happy for them. There continues to be no word from the second lab on what suddenly killed Big on the 15th of March in the morning. You can clearly rule out some physical cause such as choking on a pellet. I believe you can rule out Avian Flu, too as the UGA Vet School would have been able to test for that.
Mum and Dad at the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge have been making more and more frequent appearances there. Both were on the barge today and on the 23rd I did get a shot of Mum eating a fish. Would love to see our Ervie again. He is staying close to home. Here is Ervie’s latest tracking.
It is a good day in Bird World (except for Sauces, sadly). Little Middle is going to sleep full even if nothing else appears on the nest. Big settled during the afternoon but Little Middle remains scared. That is probably for the best. He recovers faster than last week and has eaten almost all day.
Thank you for joining me. Take care everyone. I look forward to seeing you soon.
Thanks to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Explore.org, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Looduskalender, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, Cal Falcons, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife Studiews, AEF NADC, and the PA Game Commission.
Each of us has turned to watching and caring for the birds and other wildlife for as many reasons as there are humans. One of the most commonly cited is ‘The birds bring me joy’. Unlike scientists who try to be arm’s length, most of us have our favourite bird families that we watch. We even have our favourite chicks in the clutch. Certainly I admit to that – Ervie at Port Lincoln was always my guy out of the three. I like the third hatches that survive. They are spunky and creative and, I hope, have facilities for survival in the wild that maybe the eldest who often ate first and the most doesn’t have. It is particularly difficult when we see our bird families struggling. We worry. We cry. My fingernails get shorter.
It is easy to miss what is happening on the Dale River nest. If you look the rewind is only an hour. I wanted to find out what was happening on this nest. Did something happen to a parent? No, both came on the nest around 19:00. So I went to the link in the information under the streaming cam to find out about Wednesday’s feedings.
The Dale Hollow group were able to tell me the chicks had eaten well – all of them once and there was a second feeding in the morning. It was not videotaped so no one was sure if all ate. I also learned something else from Keisha Howell who has been making the videos of the nest and posting them on YouTube. In the early days, DH16 who I have been calling Little Bit, was fed so much for a tiny little chick that it actually balked at feedings. Apparently it still has trouble eating too much food at once. That is good to know. I included the video of the early morning feed in an earlier posting. If you missed that video, here it is:
I would encourage anyone interested in this nest to join the discussion group and ask as many questions as you like. There are very knowledgable people who will be happy to help you. This is how we all learn – by asking questions. And no question is a stupid question! Ever. The link to the group is:
There is concern as the Black Storks and Ospreys move from Africa up to Latvia, Estonia, and Finland that the wildlife will get caught in the war in the Ukraine. There is someone called Ann that is diligently creating maps and posting information on Looduskalender from information provided by the satellite tracker on Karl II. I have cut and pasted the most recent information from this discussion group below. If you would like to check this yourself, here is the link to Looduskalender:
On his fall journey to Africa, Karl II stopped in the Ukraine. There are many nature reserve areas along the shore of the Black Sea around Odessa. You can see from the simple map below the countries that he will fly over to reach a resting spot on the Black Sea. We worry for him, for his mate and for all the others who are making their way home to the Baltic Region.
California loves their Bald Eagle families. I often wondered why some nests were more popular in terms of viewers than others and as one reader, ‘B’ explained to me last week, the eagles are all over the news in California. Californians love their Bald Eagle families – they are celebrities. ‘B’ was referring to Jackie and Shadow at the time. Now it is Thunder and Akecheta’s turn!
I am going to bore you with baby pictures. These are Thunder and Akecheta’s threesome being fed by Dad, Akecheta, this afternoon at 14:43. There are slight movements in each frame. In some you can see their sweet tails and in others you can glimpse their faces. Talk about adorable! I haven’t been able to take my eyes off these three little cuddles since they hatched.
Cheta is taking parenting very seriously this year. He rarely leaves sight of the nestlings.
I believe we have, from left to right: Little Bob, Middle Bob, and Big Bob. Big Bob is longer and ‘lanky’ than Middle Bob who is more round. Being so much younger, Little is just little – but not that little. Gosh, they are cute. The age difference is the same between Little and Big as it is at Dale Hollow. That is interesting.
Oops!
Everyone ate well.
Thunder and Akecheta have been widening the nest cup so that all three can line up to eat. It is far too difficult if it is deep and narrow. Most often the little ones have trouble getting to the front or get trampled in the process. Not here!
The three had a nice fish breakfast Thursday morning. They seemed so sleepy when Thunder got them up for a feed.
There are some really outstanding Bald Eagle parents out there. Cheta has matured since he first had chicks at the age of 4 two years ago. Having lost two seasons he broods, has learned to feed quite well actually, and does security. I am impressed.
Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear are another super couple who also suffered for two seasons and who have just the sweetest little eaglet this year. How many feedings a day? There were eleven. It goes without saying that I wish River and Obey at Dale Hollow Lake would feed their eaglets more. The wee nestlings need less food more often.
Jackie and Shadow’s baby is 13 days old today. Eleven feedings. Look at all the fish on the nest. A Gold Star family.
One of those other Gold Star Bald eagle families is Harriet and M15 at the SWFlorida Bald Eagle nest. Their two this season, E19 and E20 are taking turns going higher and higher in the nest tree as they prepare for fledging. We will miss these two and their antics. They are super healthy and well prepared for living in the wild. Do you remember how excited you were as Christmas approached and hatch at this nest? Now just look at them! They were the first eaglets of the season (on streaming cam) to hatch if I remember correctly.
Both E19 and E20 were enjoying the breeze up on the branches this morning. They look healthy! That is great.
Jasper and Rocket at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest of Gabby and Samson are flapping their wings. It is not going to be long until they branch. Two really beautiful eagles – stunningly gorgeous.
It’s a foggy late morning at the NEFlorida nest in Jacksonville. Look at how big these two are. They are waiting for a fish delivery!
Beautiful Mum Gabby keeps watch over the nest with her two 2022 hatches.
Both Middle and Little (or Little and Mini) ate well at the Captiva nest Thursday morning. Andy brought in a fish at 10:29:30. Both were hungry. I continue to say that this is a good sign. Lena even had some nice fish left for her. At the both were full and wanted to watch the people on the fishing boat below.
It is hot in Florida today and all the news in the state is about Avian Flu. I sure hope these four miss that. We should know today or tomorrow the results on Big from the UGA Vet School.
Both chicks are hungry but luck closely at Middle. He wants all the little innards and Lena doesn’t want him to eat it particularly. He has his mouth open wide.
Both of the chicks are well behaved and Lena feeds Middle some first and then goes to Little. Neither are submissive to the other. The nest is very calm.
Middle is full and has gone to the side to see the boats and to get some air. Look he is so hot. Yes. My phone says it is 27 C. One of the hottest days so far.
There is fish left for Lena. She will enjoy the tail of the Sheepshead. You can see Little under her left wing. His feathers re coming in good now.
So cute. The pair of them together washing the boats. Best buddies.
Middle and Little were having some more fish around 12:30 Thursday. Lena is a great Mom keeping them hydrated and shading her ever growing babies.
B15 a the Berry College is up on the perch this morning. Making more and more progress. What a gorgeous bird!
Right on time. Big Red and Arthur now have their second egg of the 2022 season. It was laid at 11:05 Thursday morning.
The egg is wet and soft and Big Red will let it cool and harden before attempting to lay on it or it would break.
The only thing about Big Red that looks 19 years old are her feet.
How gorgeous. If you have never watched a Red-tail Hawk nest then you should join in with Big Red and Arthur. There is a moderated chat with experts that is open a few hours a day. It is amazing what you can learn and the fabulous Laura Culley, a long time falconer, will be on board.
Here is the link to one of Cornell’s cameras on the nest. As far as I am aware, there are only 2 RTH nests on streaming cam in the world. Egg 3 will be expected on the 19th!
There is great news coming out of the Loch of the Lowes nest. Laddie, LM12 arrived first in the UK on the 13th. He was joined by his mate Blue NC0 today. How grand. Both made it home for another fantastic Scottish Osprey breeding season!
Rutland Water’s Manton Bay is being worked on by the female, Maya. She arrived back in the UK on 15 March. Normally her and her mate arrive within half an hour of one another. No sign of Blue 33 yet. It is early days in the Osprey migration from Africa.
Port Lincoln Osprey posted this along with their news on their FB of other Osprey nests and platforms. Everyone noticed that Ervie was missing a claw when he was last on the barge eating his puffer. The posting was on 13 March. I found tracking information for Desy and the Phantom but could not find Ervie’s. He is fine and staying around Port Lincoln.
Have a super day everyone. It is so nice to have you with me. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Scottish Wildlife Trust and Loch of the Lowes, Google Maps, Looduskalender, West End Bald Eagles, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, SWFlorida and D Pritchett, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Berry College, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Rutland Water Manton Bay, and Friends of Big Bear Valley.
I was really concerned about fish arriving today with the weather system moving through Florida potentially causing Little to not get any fish on Saturday. Little (aka Mini on the chat) has lost a lot of his ‘get up and get in there to eat’ energy due to Big’s beaking. Almost three days without much food and Little, Middle, and Mum, Lena, were looking pretty bad Friday morning. It has been hot and humid and they were clearly getting dehydrated. Andy saved the day – or should I say that something gave way so that Andy had good fishing on Friday. He brought four good sized fish in to the nest and one snack. I only counted two fish coming in on Saturday but I could well be wrong. Little got a real good feed at the end of the day.
This fish, the last one for the day, was delivered at 16:24:52. Andy has just dropped if off and is flying back out to the Gulf. You can see that Big still has a crop from the earlier feed.
There is Little up at the table. He has now completely lost his baby down and has his beautiful dark grey thermal down. The copper red feathers run from the tip of the back of his neck down his shoulders. if you look at the two older siblings you will see their blood feathers coming in – the flight feathers and there contour feathers are also just starting.
I was just so thrilled to see Little eating that well, joy isn’t the right word. Joyful relief? He was so thin Friday morning.
The other two moved up as they got their second wind. Little didn’t move.
Little just kept eating and one of the older siblings turned to face the other way. Good for Little!
It has been raining on and off but everyone looks dry now. Lena is trying to gather up the chicks so she can brood them and keep them warm. Sweet.
It is just 12:19 at the Captiva nest on Sunday and already there have been seven fish deliveries!!!!!!!! Yes, you read that right. 6. The fish were delivered at 07:53:03, 08:16:44, 08:31:37, 08:42:08, 09:12:52; 10:06:24, and 12:19. It has been difficult to see the chicks but I understand that there has been no beaking from Big Bob. This is fantastic news. The bad weather coupled with few deliveries during the last storm clearly caused Big to behave badly. Hopefully the civility will last.
The first six fish that Andy has brought in were Needlefish. They are not that big but Andy must have found a stash of them!
The 11:37 fish was a catfish. It is big! Here it comes. Look at the top left. And then look at the chicks looking up as that whopper arrives.
He shows it to Lena, takes it and eats the head and returns the partial catfish at 12:19.
Thunder is brooding and incubating and the third chick is really making progress on hatching as I write this. Thunder is a great Mum. I love how she feeds the chicks. Here is a bite for you and here is one for you. Back and forth so they have time to swallow but in a nice rhythm so that both are very civilized.
The third chick hatched sometime right before 22:15 or thereabouts. Thunder was taking out the eggshell halves. It is going to be busy busy in the morning at the West End nest!
Then there were three in the morning. Akecheta dug the egg cup so deep that it is really difficult to see all three of the chicks.
Akecheta stayed by Thunder during the night guarding his family – now a family of five instead of two for this first time dad. The Ravens that have plagued this nest will be bothersome and can predate the chicks until they are approximately 5 weeks old. So both Thunder and Akecheta will need to be vigilant.
Golden glow on Thunder as the sun rises on Catalina Island.
Akecheta has been working on the egg cup. I hope he is making it a little wider! You can see the three. Squint for the wee fur ball.
The babies at Dale Hollow are all being fed for the night. River wants them to stay in the dry straw and not be crawling all over the place like they do ordinarily. She has been good, then, to bring the fish to them! All have eaten and somewhere on the Internet is a video of the three of them crop dropping at the same time. Must find it.
It was a cuddle puddle at the Dale Hollow nest this morning. The snow is melting. One of the parents will be nearby serving as security while the other is out hunting for food. The chicks are doing well.
There has been a possible fledge at the Osceola Bald Eagle nest in Florida. This was one of three nests that only had one chick – the other two being Kistachie National Forest and Berry College.
It was a real fledge. OC9 has flown out of the nest and has returned also. This morning she was eating at the nest with the parent when they came in, flying back and forth from the branch to the nest and is now off to explore the world. This is excellent news. This fledgling OC9 needs to return to the nest for about a month. She will perfect her flying and continue to be fed by the parents until she can hunt on her own. Perfect. When they dart out and never return, there is always cause for concern. So well done OC9.
Speaking of fledges, E19 and E20 have both branched and, like the juvenile on the Osceola nest, could fledge any day.
E20 did some great hovering on Saturday. Have a peek.
It will not be long til Kincaid at the Kisatchie National Forest (KNF) nest is branching. He is really working his wings lately.
I have not checked on the Redding Eagles for some time. Liberty is 23 years old and she is incubating two eggs at the nest high up in the Cottonwood Tree on the Sacramento River. Her third mate is Guardian who is 8 years old. We are about one week away from pip watch at this nest!
You may already know the Two Harbours Bald eagle nest high on the cliffs above the town of Two Harbours on Catalina Island. It is a new nest to me. I am including it for a very good reason today. Two Harbours is the home of Chase K81 and Cholyn K82 proud grandparents to their 2009 fledgling Thunder’s trio.
Chase hatched at the San Francisco zoo in 1998. He was fostered at the West End nest which is now home to Thunder and Akecheta. In 2003 he bonded with Cholyn. Cholyn hatched from an egg taken from the West End nest to the SF Zoo – hence the sequence of their wing tags. She was fostered at Pinnacle Rock. Cholyn and Chase are 23 years old and they are incubating one egg so far at the Two Harbours nest this year!
There is snow on the nest of Big Red and Arthur from the storm that went through and the Port Lincoln Osprey Project’s camera on the barge is still off line. However, we do have news of Ervie. Here is his most recent tracking. He is staying right where he has been along the North Shore. Wonder if he has found his forever territory?
I hope that PLO do not mind but Rob Watson sent them an image of Ervie sitting in the top of a Norfolk Island Pine up from his house yesterday. Wonder where that tree is on that tracking chart?
Ervie is certainly intent on watching something. Ervie, you are lookin’ good.
Thank you for joining me this morning. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thanks to the following for their streaming cams and/or their FB pages where I took my screen captures: Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Dale Hollow Eagles, Explore.org and Institute for Wildlife Studies, KNF Bald Eagles, SWFlorida Eagles and D Pritchett, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Redding Bald Eagles, and Osceola Eagles.
There is not much that would bother me today. It was so wonderful to see Ervie last evening. It was just such a relief. It is one thing to see his tracking and know he is alive but it is entirely another thing to see him alive, well, and eating a fish – even if it is a puffer.
Ervie is obviously catching his own food and doing well. How he lost an entire talon and got his green tag scraped up in places will always remain a mystery. It had to have been really painful. Perhaps he got his foot caught in something? If so, I am thrilled he was able to get out! He also looks very healthy and that is a good thing.
Congratulations to Thunder and Akecheta (West End Eagles on Catalina) on the hatch of ‘his’ first chick and the first time in two seasons that they had success. In the previous two years, the Ravens took the eggs when they were left alone by Cheta. He has matured and understood what happened and – wow. Here is a video of that hatch!
It looks hot already in the San Bernardino Mountains at the nest of Jackie and Samson. Mum has been panting. Shadow has filled the pantry and the little one will be 5 days old today at 16:00 nest time. All is well.
Jackie and Shadow chatting first thing. I think Shadow thought he would get a turn looking after the wee one.
Look how much this baby has grown! Wow. So cute. If you are watching life, check out the front sides of the parents, it has been peeking out. So sweet.
The little eaglet was alive in the middle of the night and this morning, barely, at Duke Farm. It is so much younger and so much smaller and has now not eaten for at least 36 hours. My heart aches for it. It has gotten up to eat and not been fed.
It raised its little head up in the middle of the night when the parents changed duties. Oh, how I wish the Dad would give it a good feed.
Sweet little thing has no idea what is going on when it raises up to eat and the food is on the other side. The development was so off on this nest to the disadvantage of the wee one. There is enough food. Mum could walk around and feed it. She won’t. We all know the story…sadly.
It has not been a good morning for the third hatch at Dale Hollow Bald Eagles either. River has moved to several parts of the nest to feed the chicks but Little seems not up there and going after the food like in previous days. The nest looks wet and damp to me. I hope that it will dry out. Not a good environment for wee ones.
I did not expect to wake up and worry about this nest of River and Obey’s. Oh, let us hope that it dries up soon. It looks like the water of the lake is really rising with all the rain that they have had in the past few days.
There has not been a fish delivery at the Captiva Osprey nest yet today. As I write this it is nearing noon nest time. Big Bob will certainly be in rare form when it arrives.
Lena roosts on the edge of the platform nest at night now. The babies are not babies anymore and do not fit under her even though she might want to try.
Lena is hungry this morning and is looking around for Andy but to no avail. Wonder where he is?
Ospreys choose platforms and the tops of dead trees so that they can see all around them. No surprises for them. At the same time it leaves them open to the heat of the sun.
Big is definitely getting its coppery feathers today!
As it approaches noon and gets hotter, the chicks try to get in the shade of Lena. Little has been partially successful.
The chicks have lined up to eat but no Andy. I hope he brings in several fish in a row. Lena really needs to eat and Little could use a lot of fish today.
Lena seems to have given up on Andy and might have gone out fishing herself for the babes. Nope. She did return. No fish. Wish for fish!
Arthur was working on the nest for Big Red this morning. He flew in around 08:39 and now it has started snowing. I wonder if they will return to work on the nest later?
The female juvenile Peregrine Falcon that has been wanting to get friendly with Grinnell at The Campanile flew up to the ledge with a Mourning Dove this morning. She proceeded to pluck it and eat it and had a massive crop at the end. Grinnell has been aggressive to her but we wait to see how all of this plays out.
Grinnell took on a defensive posture towards this female yesterday. Cal Falcons caught it on video for us:
Things are a little more certain at the Manchester, New Hampshire scrape where the resident falcons were seen mating today.
This is the link to the cam that faces outward in the scrape box:
This is the link so you can see all the action inside the scrape box in New Hampshire:
Harriet has been working on the Dahlgren Osprey platform. They were given a brand new one. There are still a lot of sticks to go before any eggs can be stable in this nest. I now wonder, after seeing the Papadan chair nest at the WRDC Bald Eagle nest in the Miami Zoo, why some mesh is not installed for the Ospreys?????
Poor Richmond and Rosie. Richmond is being attentive and brings Rosie a fish giving us a glimpse of their nest for this season. Boy do these two have a lot of work!
Rosie and Richmond got a great start and look what the Ravens did!
Thank you so much for joining me this morning. Send warm wishes off to the wee ones that are struggling and wish for lots of fish for Captiva! Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagles, Duke Farms, Peregrine Falcon Network, Dahlgren Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Captiva Osprey Project and Window on Wildlife, and Cal Falcons.
It could not have come at a better time. I sat staring at my notes about Little at the Duke Farms Bald Eagle nest. Sadly, I wrote down that I thought the wee one would not be with us tomorrow. At one time Big was tramping over Little and even though Little stood up and wanted food, it was not fed. My heart felt like someone had torn it apart. Then, ‘B’ sent me a note. “Ervie is on the nest”. Tears. How many times has that Port Lincoln Osprey brought sunshine to my life? and to yours?
Ervie flew in with another puffer at 13:25:05.
Here comes Ervie! I continue to wonder if Ervie prefers puffers? if they are so easy to catch and he knows where there are a stash of them? or if Ervie only comes to the nest to eat the puffers? perhaps he has developed a taste for them?
If you don’t look too close, you might think that this is just a normal fish.
Ervie worked that fish – which seemed to be mostly tough parts and skin – for at least an hour and fifteen minutes. In the process, several of us noted what had been posted on the Port Lincoln FB page – news about one of the talons on his right foot being missing. It appears that it is growing back in.
One of the chatters was curious about when Ervie lost this talon. Does anyone know how long it takes to grow a whole new talon? They are keratin, just like our nails. Clearly, Ervie’s feet looked a little worse for wear. They must be one of the most important parts of an Osprey’s body – that fine tuned machine where every aspect helps to hunt and retrieve fish. It was reassuring to see it growing back in.
I took some video clips to share with you. I hope you enjoy these. It was such a delight to see Ervie on the barge. I missed him the other day. These moments are so precious. I hope he comes back soon!
Ervie, you are much loved!
Thank you to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures and video clips.
Any worries about the bopping that Big Bob seems to want to inflict on Little Bob as of late should be cast aside. Little Bob is a survivor and he won’t let anything Big does keep him from his favourite fish! At the feeding around 15:00, all three Bobs had enormous crops. Little Bob was the last one to leave the table.
Each of the trio looked like they would just about pop.
Everyone is hot at the Captiva Osprey nest. The chicks are panting to help thermoregulate.
Lena decided to go for a dip in herr own private area of the Gulf of Mexico to cool down. Lena has a pretty enormous crop, too. She went for her dip right after feeding the chicks. One thing Lena seems to really dislike is fish oil on her feathers. She has returned and is trying her best to keep the babies shaded, too.
It’s Monday and the fishing is good.
Meanwhile in Big Bear Valley, Jackie has fed the wee babe again at 13:01. I sat and giggled at the size of the pieces she was offering the eaglet.
Would you like some fish tail, darling?
Or, perhaps this is a better size????
It was quite humorous. I had a feeling, at one point, that Jackie was trying to demonstrate horking to the nearly four day old chick. Horking meaning to eat very quickly a large piece that would otherwise be eaten in smaller bites.
Jackie then settled into feeding the wee one smaller bites til it had a nice crop and was ready for another nap and some more growth.
Adorable.
NE 27 continues to do the snatch and grab rather well. He stole an entire fish from Samson today. 27 was already full, almost to the brim. Perhaps Jasper will get some time to practice his self-feeding if and when 27 gives up on the fish. Meanwhile, this is a short clip (don’t blink) of NE27 walking and doing some wing exercises.
B15 at the Berry College nest of Pa Berry and Missy is the sweetest little eaglet. It still has that adorable face it had when it was wee and a great big curiosity about the world around it. Pa Berry has been bringing in all manner of prey items. A squirrel landed on the nest for breakfast.
It scares the wits out of me when the eaglets look over the rim of the nest like B15 is doing below!
I missed him! Did you? This is the most recent tracking report on Ervie.
Awwww. Would have given anything to see Ervie. Bet I was watching Big Bear at the time.
There was a report of 130 Mallards and 1 American Black Duck at an open piece of water in one of the two big rivers that flows through our City. This one was the Red River. And, yes, they were there. Hard to see as I was scandalously far away and didn’t have my 2x adaptor.
Just before I took off to find the ducks and that small open piece of water, Little Red had been waiting, warming himself in the sunshine, while another Red squirrel had their eyes on his penthouse. Little Red wanted some of the peanuts I put out before Dyson got them but he decided to protect his territory instead.
Dyson, on the other hand, was being a right little trouble maker today. I put out a new square hanging feeder full of a mixture of Butter Bark, peanuts, and Black Oil seed. So what does Dyson do? He creeps through the Lilac bushes and takes a flying leap at it! About 2 litres of seed fell on the ground. What a mess!!!! Dysonnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!
Dyson saw me watching. Whether or not he was concerned is another story as he sat and stuffed his cheeks for more than ten minutes. Then when I moved to another window, he decided that sitting inside the lilacs and eating his prize seeds was best. He was still going in and out for quite a long time.
As it warms up the squirrels seem to be coming out more. There are rabbit tracks all around the garden so we know that Hedwig is around and the Little Woodpeckers – both Mr and Mrs Downy – have been around most days at the suet feeder. Sharpie even flew through at least once yesterday causing everyone to flee hither and yon. Thankfully the European Starlings have dropped considerably in numbers at the feeders. There are now only about 7 or 8. It gives the other birds a chance to flit in and out including the Black Capped chickadee who visits daily.
I hope that this quick and short newsletter finds you well. Again, most of the bird nests are doing fine. There seem to still be intruders about at some nests and the wee one at Duke Farms still has trouble getting to the table. I am going to hold my breath and check on it and Dale Hollow in a couple of days.
Thank you so much for joining me. Take care.
Thank you to the following streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Friends of Big Bear, Berry College Eagles, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, and Friends of Big Bear Valley.
There was a lovely soft glow from the sun rising over Big Bear Lake when hick at 05:53.
Shadow does a fabulous job feeding his baby. You would think that he would have fed dozens of chicks by the ease that he takes care of this little one. So delicate.
Everyone was anxious to get a glimpse of the egg as Dad fed the 3+ day old chick. That egg is 40 days old today and that is late for a second egg to hatch. It might not happen and, in the long run, one really healthy chick, able to get under Mum and Dad during bad weather is fine with me! There has been some speculation that the chick you see in the images is actually the chick from egg 2, hatched at 37 days making the remaining egg 44 days old. No one will ever know for sure. What matters most is that Jackie and Shadow have one gorgeous healthy baby!
Jackie had a nice break and returned to feed the chick its second breakfast at 07:16.
Turn around little one!
That wee one had its third feeding around 08:27. The bites are getting a little bigger and the feedings are now a little longer. The baby is growing. It will be four days old this afternoon.
Big Bear has posted a short video of Shadow feeding the baby yesterday:
While the weather looks promising in Big Bear Valley, it is soaking wet on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee at the Dale Hollow Nest. River is having to be a huge umbrella trying to keep those very active chicks dry and warm.
It is also wet but, not soaking, in Ithaca at the nest of Big Red and Arthur. Yesterday Big Red and Arthur worked on the nest. Arthur even brought in a prey item for Big Red which she happily accepted at the nest quickly flying off to enjoy it.
We have not seen Ervie at the Port Lincoln barge. His tracker is due an update but for now we have the one for the 4th of March which shows him still staying along the North shore.
The White-tailed Eagles up in Latvia and Estonia are mating and defending their nests. These eagles do not migrate. I am particularly excited about Milda who lost her long time mate, Raimis. She has had several potential suitors. I hope that this year she raises a successful clutch. Her and what appears to be her new mate, Mr S, were mating early this morning at the nest near Durbe, Latvia. Indeed, these two have been mating on or near the nest for at least a week now.
This is the link to the streaming cam of Milda’s nest near Durbe:
It isn’t noon yet on the nest of Ospreys Andy and Lena at Captiva and already the three osplets have had three feedings this morning. Big Bob has been at Little Bob once in awhile but all three have eaten well. Little Bob isn’t going to let Big Bob dampen its day!
The fish that Andy has been bringing in this morning are Mullets, a common fish for the Ospreys in the UK, too.
Look at how big these three are getting! Wow.
Lena is doing the best she can to keep her growing Bobs in the shade away from the hot sun on the Florida coast this morning.
There is so much going on now with the birds and their nests. Eggs are being incubated by Bald Eagles throughout the US. The eagles in Europe that do not migrate are working on nests and mating. The European Ospreys who winter in the Iberian Peninsula and Africa are beginning to migrate home. Who will land first in the UK is the common question on everyone’s mind. Of the streaming cams, my vote is on Maya and Blue 33 at Rutland Manton Bay. Richmond and Rosie continue to try to build their nest amidst the ever growing thievery of twigs by the Corvids. It is a very busy time. Annie and Grinnell are bonding. I am not happy with Big Bob’s recent hostility to Little Bob at Captiva and the same is happening at Duke Farms albeit the chick is younger and fighting to get some fish. Little Bob will be fine. Send positive wishes to Duke Farms!
Thank you for joining me this morning. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: the Latvian Fund for Nature, the Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Duke Hollow Lake Eagles, and Port Lincoln Osprey Project FB Page.
