As we wait for Dr Sharpe to reach Santa Cruz and the Fraser Point nest of Andor and Mrs Cruz, I want to also celebrate the on-going success of the Black Stork rescue and adoption in Estonia. This is a video of Kaia finding the fish basket that Urmas left for her and Karl II to help with the food needed for four storklets when he placed Bonus on their nest. Bonus is one of two surviving storklets from Jan and Janika’s nest. The other storklet, Extra, is in the nest of Eedi who also has a fish basket.
It is thrilling to see this project working. With the rising temperatures, warming waters, fish dying, and streams drying up, we should begin to think of how we can provide fish for all the birds that require them to survive. This includes diverting water, raising and stocking streams, etc. I am certain you can think of many more ways but also big tanks – like those used to raise fish for people – could be provided for the birds. Yes, this is a big endeavour but, it is not too big that it cannot be funded with monies spent on human entertainment, like fireworks. One City. 19 million dollars. That buys lots of fish! Add up every city and town. (I will definitely not be invited to any Canada Day celebrations next year, for sure!)
We already know that the tanks for raising fish are enjoyed by the Ospreys because our fish hawks take the fish and make the fish farmers very angry! We also know approximately how many fish are needed by an Osprey family during breeding season. I believe this data would also be available for the rare Black Storks in Latvia and Estonia.
Intervention as a necessity at its best.
At 15:14 the first Welsh osplet of the 2022 breeding season fledged! It was 554 from the Llyn Clywedog nest of Dylan and Seren. Congratulations everyone.
Seren watches.
554 made a good controlled return. All is well. Congratulations everyone!
Mama Thunder got fed up with the intruder that has been harassing the kids and fighting with her and them. She gave that intruder the boot today!
Lillibet has come to keep Victor company while nearly 500 people wait and watch for the rescue team. Victor has been in the brush for 24 hours now – as Dr Sharpe makes his way by car and boat to save him. There seems to be a very special bond between this pair similar to that I saw in E17 and 18 at the Southwest Florida Eagle nest.
Everyone is urging Victor to hold only just a little longer.
Lillibet stayed with Victor until he left. Rescue time was 13:30:37. Dr Sharpe and his assistant wasted no time but they did show everyone that Victor was alive. He will now go to the Ojai Raptor Centre in Ojai, California. Thinking of donations – think about them as well.
Victor is protesting. That is good.
And he is off!
Wow. Terribly sad to see the two siblings separated but so happy that Victor was alive and protesting at the time of his rescue. Another great intervention, a very necessary one.
Thank you for all your good wishes for him today. This is wonderful. Dr Sharpe seemed to be very happy and relieved. Take care everyone. It has been such an intense day…I will see you tomorrow.
Thank you to Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies streaming cam at Fraser Point where I took my screen captures, to Lady Hawk for her video of Mama Thunder, CarnyXWild, and the Eagle Club of Estonia.
Good Morning Everyone. I hope that your day is bright with sunshine. A decade or kore ago, the summer temperatures in Winnipeg averaged 17-19 degrees C. Then for 4 or 5 years – perhaps a little more – they crept up to the high 20s with some days being 38 degrees. Today it is 19 C. A fantastic day for a walk and a check on the goslings later.
Yesterday I reported on one of the fledglings at the West End nest being in a dust up with another. I could not see any bands but made the assumption that it was one of the other siblings – forgetting that the 2-3 year old juveniles are returning to the Channel Islands. Lady Hawk cleared that up with a video noting it was an intruder that attacked Sky. A shout out to ‘B’ for letting me know!
Here is Lady Hawk’s video of that event:
I wondered how long it would be before more names were added to ‘the list’. That news arrived late last evening when ‘A’ wrote to me about the sadness at the Finnish Osprey nest of Miina and Marko. The feathers were found under the nest and it is believed that the nest was attacked, as others have been, by a henhawk. So sad. This nest site with its close proximity to the forest seems to be an unlucky one. Thank you, ‘A’ for letting me know.
Here is the information from Looduskalender:
"The nest equipped with a webcam in the Võrumaa osprey (Kalakotkas 1), where female Miina and male Marko nested with two eaglets, was soon taken down due to damage caused by lightning.
Today the nest was empty, the nest tree was all broken, the osprey, the young bird, was killed. The burglary could have happened a few days ago."
Happily, the osplets on the nest in Finland are healthy and safe – so far no attacks that I am aware. This is a natural Osprey nest – not a human made platform – 160 miles south of the Arctic Circle. It is in the area known as Lapland and they have sunshine almost 24/7 this time of year.
Here is the link to this nest if you do not know it:
The osplets at nest #4 are simply gorgeous and it will not be long until they are ready to fledge. Oh, let us hope that the hawks do not come around!
If you would like to watch all of the Osprey nests in Finland at one time, here is that link: saaksilive.fi/live/kaikkikamerat
Dory is busy shading the three osplets at the Boathouse Osprey nest on Hog Island today. Gosh, isn’t she just a great first time Mum?!
We will never know if the hour long fireworks did any damage to the Bald Eagles hearing at the National Arboretum. Takoda, however, continues to be fed by Mr President on the nest – and this is a good thing because we get to see this gorgeous fledgling. Takoda was eating breakfast at 0628.
All around the world people continue to celebrate the little Red-tail Hawk, Malala, that survived from being the Bald Eagle’s dinner on Gabriola Island. It was always difficult to see Malala clearly on the streaming cam. Sharon Palmer-Hunt posted two photographs of Malala on the GROWLS FB page and, in case you didn’t see it, here she is:
Adorable. Like the fledgling Blue Jays, the Red-tail hawks have light blue or light blue-gray-green eyes. As they age, the eyes will turn a deep espresso brown.
Check out the tail below. How many dark bands does Malala have? Laura Culley suggests that they need at least 5 but better 6 to fledge. Malala has been flying for a little over a week (?) and she now has 8 or 9.
Our other favourite Red-tail hawk fledglings were caught hunting and playing around the Cornell Campus last evening by Suzanne Arnold Horning. Oh, they are adorable. She got all three! Thank you, ‘S’. All of us appreciate your efforts chasing these quick hawks around the campus so we can see them.
As the North American birds fledge, we will be moving our attention to Australia. One of the most adorable Peregrine Falcon couples is Xavier and Diamond at the scrape on the grounds of Charles Sturt University in Orange. They are not a young couple – considered middle age at 9 years old.
Xavier gets prey and stashes it in the corner of the scrape for Diamond. Diamond is very particular. She does not like European Starling!!!!!! It looks a nice pigeon for lunch today.
If you do not know this couple, here is the link to their camera. We will be expecting eggs in late August/early September.
Beautiful Diamond.
If you do not know this couple, here is the link to their streaming cam:
There is wonderful news coming from Estonia. We knew from the photograph that the trail camera took that Kaia had found the fish basket Urmas has provided this family so that it can feed the foster chick, Bonus. Now Urmas has posted a photograph showing Karl II finding the fish basket! The adults will require so much more food as the storklets grow bigger and bigger.
The wonderful experiment to save as many of Jan and Janika’s Black Stork fish appears to be working with the dedication of Urmas and his team. I want to find the donation button and post it again as the cost of the fish for the two – Karl II and Eedie families – is high. If you wanted to help and haven’t yet, there is still plenty of time.
I often have disagreements over intervention with some of my raptor associates. In the case of the Black Storks, they are extremely rare. It is possible that all of the fledglings from last year in Latvia and Estonia did not survive. (We await word on Udu). It is not, however, just the Black Storks. So many of the first year birds are lost in their first year. To put accurate data on the % is very difficult as the following academic article explains. Depending on the species it can be as much as 60% in the first year.
That is why the intervention that we are seeing when adults die or birds in the nest get injured or knocked off is so important.
I was particularly moved by a statement ‘A’ made: “Now when I see an adult bird of any species, I am amazed that it made it to adulthood safely.”
‘H’ reports that there are now two chicks fledged from the Osprey nest in Carthage, Tennessee. Congratulations!
Thank you so much for joining me this morning. Have a wonderful day – or evening – wherever you are. Take care of yourselves. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, personal images, and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, Finnish Osprey Foundation, NADC-AEF, GROWLS, Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam, Looduskalender, Suzanne Arnold Horning, and Explore.org and Audubon.
UPDATE: The smallest, the 5th hatch storklet, at the Mlade Buky nest of Betty and Bukacek was eliminated on Sunday. I had missed this.
It looks like it could be another rainy day on the Canadian Prairies. We are certainly making up with moisture this spring for 4-5 years of drought. Everything is green and beautiful.
Well, the weather is taking its toll on other nests in Scotland and Wales on Sunday. Those long, cold rainy days with a dip in fish deliveries are making some of the Bobs cranky – and aggressive. Big Bob on the Loch of the Lowes almost pushed both Middle and Little Bobs off the nest. Little Bob has also missed out on some meals. I sure hope this weather changes and these chicks settle down.
At tea time on Monday, Telyn went out of her way – finally – to make sure that Little Bob had fish. I was terribly happy to see this as the biggest Bob is working hard to exclude Little.
Idris and Telyn at the Dyfi nest made sure that all three of the Bobs were fed well before bedtime on Sunday. It has been a stinker of weather over in Wales, too.
Monday’s tea at Dyfi was a Sea Bass followed by the delivery of a mullet by Idris to Telyn and the kids. The weather had considerably improved.
My goodness. Aran caught one of his whoppers! He cleaned off the head before delivering it to Mrs G and the kids.
Mrs G fed herself and the kids. Big Bob is in food coma and Little and Middle are up at the table.
There was lots of fish left over when Mrs G finished so Aran decided to have a really good meal before he got on the perch. All appears to be good.
The wind is still blowing a bit on the Glaslyn nest at tea time. All of the chicks are wide awake. Look at how good Little Bob is doing. He is standing at the back.
We have learned that a good nest can change in the blink of an eye – or weather, intruders, lack of prey. So far the osplets on the nest of Blue 33 (11) and Maya are doing fantastic. They are now all at least five weeks old and they will be ringed soon. Ringing normally takes place between 35-43 days in the UK. Any later and the osplets could bolt and any earlier and the leg would still be growing.
The weather has improved at Loch Arkaig – thankfully. Louis has brought fish in and has covered up Little Bob with some sticks brought in and from the nest. The surviving two Bobs appear to be fine this morning. They benefited from being under Dorcha during the cold rain and winds.
The rain appears to have stopped at the Llyn Clywedog nest of Dylan and Seren. Dylan is on the nest and in the early afternoon there was a male intruder with a blue Darvic ring that was flying around the nest. He was quickly sent off.
The three storklets continue to thrive in the care of the Veterinary School. Forest sounds have been added to their environment.
A very good article has been translated and placed on Looduskalender with the Forum for the Black Stork nest of Karl II and Kaia. The information could be applied universally to nests that depend on fish for their main food item. The specific nest that they are talking about is, however, that of Karl II and Kaia in the Karula National Forest.
“Black Stork – Ciconia nigra
The older chicks hatched on 28 May and turned two weeks old today. The third chick is considerably smaller but hatched three days later than the older two. Mother Kaia and father Karl are managing to feed their chicks well, despite the youngest being significantly smaller than the others. We know and have observed that Black Storks sometimes carry out infanticide, i.e. the parent birds remove the weakest chick from the nest. The main reason for this is a lack of food. Chicks must be very well fed because they will embark on a long and dangerous migration in August on their own, but this is how black storks do it. Less than a third of this year’s chicks will be alive in a year. What are we not seeing on the webcam? In Karula National Park, where this black storks nest is located, Kotkaklubi has been organising clean-up campaigns for many years to clear the banks of the brooks of the Koiva river basin of undergrowth so that the birds can access them. Small natural streams quickly become overgrown with vegetation, but black storks are happy to feed in such remote places. Adult birds will also look for food in ditches where fish can be found during the breeding season. Still, these ditches may dry up during both spring and summer droughts, threatening breeding success. Therefore the birds need to be able to visit different feeding areas. Adult BS also forage in meadows, catching frogs and occasionally rodents. We can see on the webcam that fish is their primary food. In addition, Urmas Sellis has installed a fish basket with live fish in a stream about ten kilometres away from the nest, and a trail camera has recorded the visits of black storks there.
Today, 13 June, the chicks are respectively 16, 16 and 13 days old.
The three storklets of Karl II and Kaia are waking up to a whole new day!
PLEASE NOTE THAT ON SUNDAY, BETTY ELIMINATED THE 5TH STORKLET. It looks like another rainy mucky day for Bukacek and Betty and their five little white storklets in Mlade Buky. I cannot look at the adult standing there without thinking about the plastic decoy with the storklets of Jan and Janika. Looks just like that decoy!
The storklets are getting their juvenile feathers.
A prey item has been brought to the ND-LEEF nest at 08:36:54. ND 15 stole it from ND16 and at 08:57:49 Little Bit 17 steals it, eats some, and then 16 gets it. They are all hungry but Little Bit is right in there!
Little Bit 17 is still ‘the king of the snatch and grab’. Fingers crossed for a lot more prey today!
It is extremely sad to see the Cape Henlopen nest with the three dead osplets of the long bonded pair on an empty nest. It remains unclear what happened to the 20 year old Dad and Mum from the nest after the intruders took over late Friday. An entire family lost because of intruders? So sad.
Will the intruders return? We wait.
Both fledglings were on the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest this morning. Middle had control of the fish delivery. The parents have been excellent at bringing the two lots of fish during the day. They look to be in great health and their flying skills – and landing – are improving every day.
At 08:41 all four of Big Red and Arthur’s hawklets were on the nest. L2 fledged first followed by L1. L3 spent Sunday up on a higher level of the tower but it has yet to fledge along with the youngest L4.
L3 is 49 days old today and L4 is 46. The average of fledge at Big Red’s nest is 46.5 days. We could be looking at another two flying today or tomorrow.
Takoda is 69 days old today. On Sunday he had branched up to the height where Mr President normally perches. Early this morning he made it up to the cam which made for some lovely closeups just for us! Fledging is close at hand.
All eyes are on Star at the Redding Eagle nest. She is branching farther up and this early morning seems to have put out the sound on the streaming cam. As far as I know, there has been no sighting of Sentry since he fledged.
Could this be your day to fly Star?
Spirit is so beautiful. She is 3 months and 9 days old today. She hatched on 3 March and fledged on 31 May. She came down to visit the nest before taking off into the Big Bear Valley at 06:13. She might have been looking for breakfast!
There is one more fledge to go at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagles nest and that is H18. Both H16 and H17 fledged on the 10th of June within an hour and a half of one another (06:20 and 07:50). That third fledge could happen any time.
Both eaglets at the US Steel nest are considering branching! What a gorgeous view.
Ahote and Kana’kini were on the move this morning. What a beautiful camera view of both of them. Sky is still on the natal nest. The time is o7:03.
An early morning view of the San Jose City Hall Peregrine falcons.
At 03:58 Annie was sleeping in the scrape with Lindsay and Grinnell Jr. Precious moments. Fledge will come before we know it. Goodness. Wasn’t it just yesterday that Alden came into our lives???? It sure seems like it. Annie and Alden have been super parents and I am thrilled that these two chicks got a chance to make their own way in the world. It could have been dramatically different without Alden.
Fledge watch begins for Lindsay and Grinnell Jr tomorrow – 14 June!!!!!!
It is early morning on the Canadian Prairies. We have had so much rain that the landscape could be the green of Ireland! It is impossible to see the birds and squirrels and even the small bunny in the jungle that has grown. Birds can be seen flying in and out and the feeders are empty by noon so they are in there – just covered by all the branches and leaves.
There may be several fledges today. There are eyes on many, many nests!
I hope that your Monday is a good start to the week. Thank you for joining me. Take care!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or websites where I took my screen captures: Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Woodland Trust, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, LRWT, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery and Scottish Wildlife Trust, CarnyXWild, Eagle Club of Estonia, LizM, Mlade Buky, ND-LEEF, Cape Henlopen State Park Ospreys Cam, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, NADE-AEF, Friends of Redding Eagles, Pix Cams, FOBBV, Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, San Jose City Falcons, and Cal Falcons.
UPDATE: THE DEATHS OF THE THREE OSPLETS AT THE CAPE HENLOPEN STATE PARK NEST IN DELAWARE WAS CAUSED BY INTRUDERS TAKING OVER THE NEST. THE FEMALE WAS LAST SEEN ON THE NEST ON THE 10TH. ALL CHICKS WERE FINE. BOTH PARENTS ARE MISSING AND THE BIRD ON THE PLATFORM NEST IS NOT EITHER PARENT.
Oh, Saturday was just such a beautiful day. We all must treasure them and get outside and listen to the birds singing and smell the freshly mowed grass and the flowers. Our summers are so short in Canada that it is such a pleasure just sitting and listening, sometimes. Today the wee rabbit found itself underneath the square feeder by the lilacs. It was certainly enjoying those Black oil seeds and millet that had fallen to the ground. Mr and Mrs Grackle have fledglings and they are very noisy if you go anywhere near the lilac bushes – and then there is Mr Crow who arrives demanding bread, cheese, and sausages. It was quite the afternoon. I will try and take my phone out and get some photos another day for all of you. My big camera doesn’t quite understand that when it is set to CQ mode it is supposed to be ‘quiet’ and instead the noise frightens everyone within ear shot.
Saturday was not, however, a great day for Little Bit 17 at the ND-LEEF Bald Eagle nest. But it was not all bad, either. In fact, there was so little food brought to the nest that for Little Bit to have a crop was a blessing. He spent various times through day working on a raccoon that had been brought into the nest. He started working on it once at 14:39 and was still eating on it at 14:58. It looks like he ate the entire head which would have had lots of meat and fat. There were two other times that he worked on it. A fish was brought in but the older siblings seem to have been fed all of it. At one time, 16 tried to hurt Little Bit 17. It is over and Little Bit is fine. Let us all hope that there is more prey tomorrow. The nest is really relying on road kill it seems. Perhaps the river is still too high with all of the rains and too murky for the eagles to fish. Last Sunday saw a lot of fish brought to the nest – will the same thing happen tomorrow?
16 (I think it was 16 because of their actions towards Little Bit) came up wanting some of the remaining raccoon.
Mum flew in and fed the two older siblings. Little Bit stood by the side rails hoping there would be a little left but, alas, no.
All spread out and sleeping with the turtle shells. Someone said that there are at least 50 of them somewhere in the nest. You can see Little Bit’s primaries growing and his tail. I wish his head feathers would grow back. Poor thing. Any sore spots seem to have healed, thankfully.
Wish for fish everyone!
And the fish came Sunday morning. Mom brought in a Walleye at 08:28:21. At 08:40:11 Little bit 17 steals that walleye from one of the older siblings! He takes it to the porch to eat it.
You can see Little Bit pulling that fish to the porch. There is no head and he is going to heat for several minutes (7 or 8) and then 16 is going to steal it back.
At 09:59:47 Dad brought in a Blue Gill. Little Bit 17 stole the whole fish. He took it to the porch and ate the entire thing!!!!!!!!!! All by himself. Can you believe this kid? Bravo Little Bit.
Little Bit ate all of the fish and returned to look out at the world while the older siblings are up on the branches. He flapped his wings – they are growing – and stopped. You can only get a sense of how big his crop is over by the edge but he is one happy full little eaglet this morning and I have tears rolling down my eyes. He has been super brave pulling that last fish right out from under the older sibling!!!!!!
Both fledglings at the UFlorida-Gainesville have been on and off the nest eating or hoping for a delivery. At one point it started raining (or was it hail?). Middle was trying to hover off the nest and was having difficulty – of course Middle you can’t fly in pouring down rain!!!!!!! Just look at those beautiful, beautiful wings! These osplets are simply gorgeous. The feathers are absolutely perfect. Oh, I wish Little Bit was as healthy as the two fledgling ospreys.
It is rainy and windy in Gainesville Sunday morning and Middle is on the nest thinking it is a good day to stay home.
Ferris Akel has wonderful Saturday bird tours around Montezuma, Sapsucker Woods and Ithaca. At the end of the tour today, everyone lucked out as the Ls and Big Red were quickly located. I cannot tell you which chick is which from these images – so just enjoy a basket of cute little hawks.
Big Red was over on the other light stand. An adult is always around close watching the hawklets. Arthur was not spotted. He was probably off hunting!
All of the storklets still remain on the nest of Bukacek and Betty in Mlade Buky. They are growing and growing. While there is a significant difference in the size between the oldest (front right) with the youngest (back left), each is holding their own and as I have mentioned several times, there appears to be no effort to do any brood reduction by the adults. Fish must be plentiful – wonderful news!!!!!
It was a feeding fest Sunday morning in Mlade Buky. Watch how the two little ones get in there to get those fish.
Karl II and Kaia’s storklets are also growing and are being very well fed. There appears to be plenty of fish at their source in the Karula National Park in Estonia.
Kaia has fish and is getting ready to regurgitate them on the moss so the storklets can eat.
They are grabbing them with their little beaks.
Just look at the little fish in their bills. So sweet. The moss nest keeps these babies so nice and white compared to the red iron soil of Mlade Buky. The eaglets are always looking a little dirty there.
Bywyd Bwyllt Glaslyn posted some information on the osplets of Aran and Mrs G today on their FB feed. Little Bob is certainly smaller than Big Bob at the front!
There is much sadness at the Henlopen State Park Osprey Nest. One of the osplets appears to have died. I did not see it move at all today. The other osplets are weak and very hungry. Mum came in with a tiny fish. I thought she would feed the other two and they did too but, she didn’t. I fear that all will die.
It is a tiny fish. In raptors, it seems that their first priority is the protection of their territory, then to keep themselves fed and alive, and lastly the offspring. Mum has to be strong enough to fish. I do not know what if any was delivered after the 8th in terms of fish til this morning. It was not enough to keep the osplets alive and the two surviving have very concave chests.
On Sunday all three of the osplets have died. What a tragedy. The poor Mum – she lost her mate and all her lovely once healthy chicks in a few days. Incredibly sad.
There appears to be no attempt by anyone to provide a fish table for this family. Just sayin’. Most of the issues related to getting fish or other prey to the nest including those at the ND-LEEF nest can be attributed to human interference in some way or another. Changing weather patterns causing torrential rains, floods, and mudslides is impacting the rivers so that the Bald Eagles and Ospreys cannot ‘see’ to fish. Most of you are very much aware of the impact that we have had whether it is habitat destruction, rising sea temperatures due to a heating planet, etc. There isn’t much that we haven’t caused so I will not accept the answer that it is ‘just nature’ not to help out these lovely raptors.
In contrast, we have the surviving three Black Storklets in Estonia. They are being well fed and taken care of and every aspect of their future well being has been considered. Please note that they do not see ‘human animals’ very often – just the decoy mother, the step-father who feeds, and themselves. This is so they will not imprint on others.
The smallest chick even had a private feeding to ensure that it gets enough to eat with the two much larger siblings. Just like at the size of its crop when it is returned!
Everyone has been talking about the Bald Eagles raising the hawklet in their nest on Gabriola Island. Here is a delightful discussion of another Bald Eagle adopting a Red-tail hawklet a couple of years ago. Here is the complete story from beginning to successful end. Please listen. This is such an informative discussion with live footage in the nest showing the eagles and the hawklet.
The Dyfi Osprey Project posted an excellent bit of information on their FB site this morning about Osprey growth.
These are the osplets that Dyfi is referring to – the three of Idris and Telyn. We should know their names soon! Over 200 suggestions – wow.
I often wonder if the change of the plumage and the itching makes the osplets crankier during the Reptile phase that then causes them to start pecking one another????
It has been very windy up in Alaska at the nest of Liberty and Freedom. The two little eaglets don’t seem to even notice! They are having a nice meal.
The winds are raging at Loch of the Lowes too. The wee chicks are calling for food as Blue NC0 waits to see if Laddie will have some luck fishing Sunday afternoon.
Dylan brought in a perch at 16:04 at Llyn Clywedog and Seren is happily feeding all of the Bobs. The weather does not look as windy – thank goodness. This nest in the Cambrian area of Wales has been wet for several days now.
The third hatch, Little Bob, at Glaslyn is really starting to catch up. Aran is bringing in lots of fish. No one is hungry. There is even a fish sitting on the nest waiting for the next feeding. That is Little Bob by the side of Mrs G.
Poor Dorcha. The Loch Arkaig nest seems to be getting all of the bad weather. It is rainy and windy. Louis, thankfully, prevails in getting fish on this nest in the most dire of times. He is literally amazing.
I want to leave you with something beautiful. Andris has come to the nest and he is feeding the small eaglet! Mostly the males do not do this so it is very special. Oh, such a sweet little fluff ball. Andris and Anna have their Lesser Spotted Eagle’s nest in Zemgale, Latvia.
Anna is feeding the wee eaglet later. Oh, how precious.
Grinnell Jr and Lindsay are sure keeping Annie and Alden busy at the UCalifornia-Berkeley scrape. They are running all over the place chasing any adult food begging – even if they are full – and are beginning to self feed. Adorable. Being the pests they are meant to be!
Grinnell Jr has a blue band and Lindsay has a gold one.
Last but the falcons are never least, the wee little peregrine at the Manchester New Hampshire nest, Colby, woke up watching everyone fly around. At 06:52:49, Colby fludged just like Clem. I am certain the volunteers will be out to make sure he is OK and perhaps he will be returned to the nest with Clem tomorrow!
The weather certainly changed on the Canadian Prairies. We had thunderstorms all during the night and much more rain. My garden is beginning to look like a thick forest – which is what I have wanted for years – a forest in the city! The sadness at Henlopen weighs heavy today.
Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me today. See you tomorrow!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, FB posts and video clips: ND-LEEF, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Ferris Akel Tours, Mlade Buky, Eagle Club of Estonia, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Henlopen State Park Ospreys, Christian Sasse, Dyfi Osprey Projects, Glacier Gardens Bald Eagles, Loch of the Lowes and the Woodland Trust, CarnyXWild, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery and Scottish Wildlife Trust, Cal Falcons, Peregrine Network, and the Latvian Fund for Nature.
One of the nicest things about living on the Canadian Prairies this time of year are the lilacs and the flowering fruit trees. The scent of the lilacs fills the entire garden. There are two other really good things. The second is that the mosquitoes have yet to arrive. Third is – a new bunny is in the garden. It is ever so tiny and sweet. He would fit in your pocket. He is loving those creepers that are just coming up. Nice and tender! They are just slightly different poses. It is so nice to see a new bunny coming to eat the plants!
At 08:40:03, the first hatch, Kana’kini, of Thunder and Akecheta fledged off the West End nest in the Channel Islands. She landed near the transmitter just like Ahote, her youngest brother did. Congratulations!!!!!!!
There she goes!!!!!!!! Ahote and Sky watch as their big sister takes flight. What a wonderful sight.
There is an update on the Black storklets of Jan and Janika’s. It is nothing short of excellent news and is simply brilliant. Urmas and Dr Leivits at the Veterinary School have set up a Black stork decoy that stays with the storklets all the time – like a Mum. Then a ‘step-father’ called Toru comes in at regular times to feed the storklets. You will notice both of these in the images below. The storklets are eating much larger fish now. They are also preening. Just tears! This is the first time that Black storklets have been removed and raised off the nest. I wish Urmas and Dr Leivits all the best – it is wonderful to see these three little ones getting a chance to survive.
Just look at the size of the crops on those chicks!!!!! Every one of them, including the wee baby is doing so well.
The Golden Eaglet, Margit, is adorable. Nothing sort of a real cutie-pie. Margit is the chick of Kalju and Helju. Margit hatched on the 25th of April and today she is 46 days old. The adults have brought in pine boughs and Margit has been playing with them – life on a nest needs some enrichment and some pest control. The pine offers both!
Notice the ear behind the eye and that beautiful black beak with the yellow cere and legs. Take in that deep rich yellow. This is a very healthy eaglet. The down is gone from the head and the juvenile feathers are coming in around the neck and will by next week, I think, be appearing more on the head. Such a beautiful eaglet.
Kaia has just finished feeding the three Black Storklets at the Karula National Park nest she shares with her mate, Karl II. Look at the little one – such a nice crop. They are all doing well. Once in awhile Kaia rolls the fourth egg but nothing more.
Karl II has brought lunch in and the little one did a cute tog-o-war.
I am so grateful to ‘EJ’ for sending me the video link to Dad Kestrels eyases – the last – fledging. This has been a beautiful success story – a collaboration between a human and a raptor – to make sure that the hatched eyases thrived to fledge. Congratulations to Mr Kes and to Robert Fuller.
There are times when you really do wonder if those crops will not pop! Richmond and Rosie are keeping both of these osplets full and fuller at their nest on that WWII crane in the Richmond Shipping Yards.
Iris was on the nest for a few minutes on Thursday. It is always nice to see her! Always.
Last year I discovered that there are ten osprey nests in Finland. The image of the first nest is known as #3. It is located in the West of Finland and in area known as Satakunta. The nests is man-made. It was rebuilt in 2016. The male is Ahti. Him and his former mate, Helmi, fledged two chicks in 2020. Helmi sadly did not return from migration in 2021. Ahti has a new mate named Nuppu. She is four years old having hatched in 2018. The couple have three eggs in their nest for this season.
This is the link to their Ahti and Nuppu’s streaming cam
The SF Ospreys would like you to vote on the final combinations of names for Richmond and Rosie’s two osplets for 2022. Here is the information. It is free. You can only vote once. Why not join in? You will need to cute and paste the URL if it does not work by just clicking.
Port Lincoln Osprey Project put up a beautiful nesting platform on Turnby Island. Ospreys have been breeding there for a long, long time but they have had to make their nests on the ground. This has meant that there has been predation by foxes that go over from the mainland when the tide is low. This new high rise platform is meant to halt the ability of the foxes to eat the eggs! Here are some more images of that magnificent effort by PLO. And it only took the resident ospreys, Marrum and Partney, who have already made some decorating additions and have mated! Sounds like a huge success!
The platform is lowered into position by the helicopter.
The old nest – as much as was possible – was taken onto the new platform for the Ospreys.
Nest accepted by Marrum and Partney!!!!!!
Middle was waiting on the light stand calling loudly. A beautiful fished arrived at the UFlorida-Gainesville nest at 11:21. Just lovely. Both of the fledglings are returning to be fed by the parents while they get much better at flying and landing.
So far there has been no prey deliveries at the ND-LEEF Bald Eagle nest but sadly, something did happen. ND15 – Little Bit’s friend on the nest – branched early this morning. 15 has since returned to the nest and I caught s/he allopreening Little Bit 17. Wish for fish!!!!!!!
What a beautiful site – all five of the White Storklets on the nest beside their Mum, Betty! Bukacek and Betty are doing a heroic job of keeping these five fed and —— I continue to say – with no brood reduction. The wee one is growing well. Fingers crossed.
The wind is blowing up a storm in Wales this morning. Telyn is keeping all of the chicks on the nest and has managed to give them all a good feed! Well done Idris for fishing in that strong wind!!!
The bad winds were also up in Scotland accompanied by rain. No one thought Laddie would be able to get a fish in but he did. Bless his heart.
These male ospreys really impress me. Aran has been out fishing in the strong Welsh winds and has a meal on the nest for Mrs G and the three.
Hats off to Dylan up at Llyn Clywedog! He has been bringing in the fish for Seren and the three. It is rainy and wet and miserable there, too. Check out the crops on Little Bob!!!!!!! This is so nice to see. It appears that the earlier aggression on this nest has calmed down.
It is really bright at Rutland Water. Maya has fed the three Bobs and – look at how much of the nest they are taking up now. There are those beautiful juvenile feathers coming in. 5 weeks old. Gorgeous.
The three eaglets of Marko and Miina are still scuffling and the oldest and middle Bob go at it once in awhile. The nest is in Southern Estonia and there is a fish farm and a river near by. There have been intruders but the couple seem to keep them at bay.
Little Bob may be anxious but he has learned to wait his turn – and then all is well!
Little Bob’s turn!!!!!!!! Being in the back means you don’t get beaked. Smart.
The second peregrine falcon at the Manchester, NH scrape fledged. Congratulations Colum! The time was 05:49:49. In other news, the first fledge, Clem, was picked up by Maria Colby. Clem is said to have just eaten a quail all to himself. Colby is expecting to put Clem back in the nest box on Monday so he can get a proper fledge when it is time.
There is Colum at the end of the perch.
Flapping his wings!
So much happening this morning! The activity on the nests just seems to be amping it up the last few days.
Thank you so much for joining me this morning. Take care all – and have a wonderful day. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and their FB pages where I took my screen captures: Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, Mlade Buky Storks, ND-LEEF, Montana Ospreys, SF Ospreys, Saaksilve 3, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Peregrine Networks, UFlorida-Gainesville, Rutland Water, LRWT, Friends of Loch Arkaig and Woodland Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Ospreys, CarnyXWild, Robert Fuller Wildlife, and Dr Leivites.
Oh, what a day it has been. Pretty exciting stuff happening on the nests. I was just told by my friend ‘G’ that a hatch is happening at Cape May Osprey nest. If you follow that nest, check it out!
First news first. Ahote returned to the natal nest of the West End Eagles, Thunder and Akecheta at 06:54:08 this morning. Whew! He spent 4 days over on Transmission Hill. It is sure nice to see the Three Amigos back together.
Thunder and Akecheta have not delivered food. One of the eaglets has flown off the main nest. It is not clear which male it was. Kana’kini is on the branch on the ocean side. It is thought to be Ahote but no confirmation.
Ahote is back on the nest. So controlled. Oh, I hope those parents get some food on this nest. He needs a big reward for all that effort.
As many of you are aware, Urmas Sellis undertook the rescue of Jan and Janika’s storklets. He originally placed a fish basket for Janika in the hopes that she would find it and be able to feed herself and the four storklets. He also put a pail of small fishes on the nest. Janika did not find the fish table. Two days later, Urmas returned to take the storklets after cold nights without warmth, etc. Sadly, the fourth one died right before the rescue. The three surviving chicks are in incubators. There is a fundraiser. Here is the information if you feel so inclined to contribute.
Fledges are going to overlap one another once they start. At the Red-tail Hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur, the average age to fledge is 46.5 days. Today L1 is 46 days, L2 is 43, L3 is 42 and L4 is 39 days old. It is believed that to fly well, the hawklets need to have at least 5 dark bands showing. L1 has her 6th band peeking out. L2 has the 5th band peeking out while L3 has 4 dark bands and L4 has 3.
Big Red brought in some unidentified prey and some wanted to eat while others wanted to run and flap. It was rather chaotic!!!!!
The hawklets are pretty sedentary on the nest – even with all the flapping. After fledging, during the first 3 weeks, their activity level is believed to double. After 6-7 weeks, they will begin to catch small vertebrae. The parents will continue to feed them (more at first) and teach them hunting tricks until they leave the territory.
To my knowledge, Little Bit 17 at the ND-LEEF has not had prey yet today.
At the UFlorida-Gainesville nest, Middle almost fledged today. He would have if a storm had not quickly rolled in with high winds, rain, and some hail. Have a look at a couple of clips of Middle’s hovering. He is impressive!
At least twice today, Middle got the fish and Big did not! His confidence level is growing and growing.
Even soaking wet, Middle just doesn’t want to give up. Expect a fledge anytime!!!!!!! Nothing is going to stop him.
Middle is full of vinegar. Is this osplet going to fledge soaking wet?
How lovely it is going to be when Middle flies off with confidence. There was a time when it was not clear if we would get to this day. Middle has grown into a fantastic, getting more confident, healthy bird. Am I saying it twice? how nice the feathers are on these two? Mum and Dad can be proud. We lost Little Bit but will have two super fledglings when Middle takes off. I hope he finds his way back to the nest as easily as Big. OGK and YRK have been a bonded pair since 2006 – 16 years.
If you watch the Royal Albatross cam, today marks the 21st day that OGK has been away. Let us hope he returns to QT chick soon. Mum YRK is doing double duty at the nest and the NZ DOC rangers on Taiaroa Head are providing supplementary feedings for several chicks.
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Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures and video clips: Institute for Wildlife Studies and Explore.org, the Eagle Club of Estonia, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Cornell Bird Lab and NZ DOC, and UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys.
Liz has posted a video of Urmas and his team removing the Black Storklets from Janika’s nest in Jegova County, Estonia on 5 June. I reported earlier that a glove like a Black Stork shape had been used to place the storklets in the basket. That information is incorrect and my apologies. Bare hands were used. One storklet, sadly, died in the nest over night before the intervention. They need temperatures of 22-28 degrees C. They cannot thermoregulate their temperatures yet. In addition, it rained and well – I hope the remaining chicks survive and thrive. It will be a first for the Veterinary College to raise Black Storklets to fledging. Good luck to Urmas and his team!
Here is the video that Liz posted:
The White Storks Bukachek and Betty still have five storklets in their nest in Mlade Buky, The Czech Republic. You can see the difference in size from the oldest to the youngest known as ‘Little Finger’ by the chatters.
Bukachek (male) is making sure that the wee storklet gets food in the image below.
It has been raining on and off. The rich Red Iron in the clay makes all of the Storks look dirty. Maybe when it is not so rainy more straw will be brought to the nest! That would help.
Awhile ago I mentioned the Lesser Spotted Eagles. Andris and Anna, at their nest in Zemgale, Latvia. The camera was down for awhile but it is now back and running. In the meantime, a beautiful little Lesser Spotted eaglet has hatched!
It is so cute and fluffy! There was only one egg so this is the only chick. Had there been two eggs, the first hatch most always predates the second. So having only one is a good thing! The parents can focus on bringing food to this cutie pie.
Voldis came to the White-tailed Eagle nest that he shares with Milda near Durbe, Latvia. He arrived at 05:30 and stayed for well over an hour.
Milda has had a terrible time since her long time mate, Raimis disappeared two years ago. I hope that Milda and her mate if it is to be Voldis have a very successful next breeding season. This year the eggs were predated.
Margit hatched on 25 April and is growing by leaps and bounds with the tender care of the parents, Kalju and Helju. This Golden Eaglet’s nest is in Soomaa National Park in the southwest of Estonia.
Oh, such a beautiful eaglet. Margit is waking up. The black dot behind the eye is the ear. It will be covered over with feathers before the eaglet fledges.
Helju just brought breakfast for Margit. Liz caught it in a video:
This is the streaming cam for this nest:
What is happening with Ahote? Ahote, the youngest of the three eaglets at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta, fledged on June 2. He has spent the time since then on Transmission Rock and is getting hungry unless food was delivered. Working his way back to the nest, he got some wind on his wings and got to the nest but was blown off course. No doubt he will get there! Very determined.
In the image below you can see him directly below and slightly to the right of Kana’kini and Sky.
Checking on Osprey nests in the UK, the third chick hatched at Llyn Brenig but did not survive.
Aeron Z2 and Blue 014 have had their first hatch at the Pont Cresor nest in the Glaslyn Valley.
Laddie LM12 delivered nine – yes, 9 – to the nest for Blue NC0 to feed their three Bobs at the Loch of the Lowes.
All three Bobs seem to be doing fine at the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G. Just look at how dark Mrs G’s plumage is and that necklace.
Aran has been busy delivering fish. Little Bob is not always in the most perfect position!
I do have to admit that Idris and Telyn are my favourite Ospreys in the UK along with Blue 33 and Maya.
Telyn is feeding the two older Bobs while Bobbie Bach is asleep.
Food coma!
Oh, could that be comfortable?
There is Bobbi Bach ready for his meal while the others sleep. Poor Telyn. They are surely keeping her busy.
It looks like it is starting to dry out for Dylan and Seren at the Llyn Clywedog nest. Gosh, Seren was just so wet and hunkered down keeping the three Bobs warm and dry. Let us hope the sun comes out, too, to warm them up.
Both of the Ospreys were on the UFlorida-Gainesville nest sleeping during the night.
Both are back on the nest waiting for a breakfast delivery!
Good Morning Little Bit 17! Everyone is waiting for prey deliveries at the ND-LEEF nest. I hope that the adults will feed Little Bit like they did yesterday. That would be grand.
The scrape box at Manchester NH is getting to be quite the mess! A good wind will help clear it out. It is hard to believe but this scrape will be on fledge watch beginning on the 10th or 11th of June – this coming weekend!
Nancy is on the nest at 08:40 feeding E1. It looks like they will have a beautiful day at that Bald Eagle nest in Minnesota. Wonder when E1 is going to take to the skies? Nancy has done wonders taking care of E1 and fending off intruders.
Fledge watch is on for the three at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest. It looks like only two but 17 is up higher in the tree.
There are still two eaglets – Sentry and Star – on the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. We are on fledge watch for these two also! It could be a very busy week!!!!!!
We are definitely on fledge watch for the eyases on the nest of Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell campus. The chicks are restless and L1 is definitely ready!
Oh, the excitement of a nest of four hawks – each itching to fly including the youngest, L4. Wonder if L1 will be the first of the oldest to go? Stay tuned.
Thank you so much for joining me this morning. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: the Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlade Buky White Storks, Latvian Fund for Nature, IWS and Explore.org, Friends of LOTL and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyXWild, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, ND-LEEF, Peregrine Networks, MN-DNR, Pix Cams, Friends of Redding Eagles, and Cornell Bird Lab RTH.
The two Peregrine Falcon chicks at the University of California-Berkeley Campanile scrape box have been named. What fabulous names that were selected. Here is the announcement:
It also seems that Annie has decided that Alden’s moth hunting is a good idea!
I have posted this video earlier but the kindness and heart warm wishes flowing to this nest and for the efforts of the Estonians so huge. It is the nest of Jan and Janika in Estonia in the Sooma National Park. Jan has been missing for more than 40 hours. There were 6 storklets. The smallest was eliminated immediately leaving 5. Sadly, one of those died from no food after the male vanished. (Thank you ‘R’ for reminding me to explain the numbers!).
Janika has been feeding the chicks. She is doing her best. The nest is being monitored by Urmas. If it is required the storklets will be rescued but right now it looks as if everything is going well. Things can change in a minute. One of the problems is other wildlife that could come to the nest to predate the storklets if Janika is away. .
Black Storks are extremely rare in Estonia and they are treasured. The Ornithologist has worked wonders in the past. His name is Urmas. Today, he brought out a decoy that had been used at a pond last season.
The plastic stork decoy acts out the behaviour that a female would use when feeding her storklets. Then Urmas pours a bucket of small fish on the nest for the storklets! They all eat and have huge crops. It is a wonderful day!
The rest of the world can learn much from the kindness that Europe bestows on its Storks!
Janika has also found the fish provided and come to the nest earlier to feed the storklets. So happy. They will survive!
Other great news is that a big fish arrived on the UFlorida-Osprey nest at 13:50:51. It did not take Big long to get on that nest to eat some fish! Fledging is hard work.
Big crash lands on the back of Mum.
Just look at Middle.
What a mess of wings. Clearly Big needs some landing lessons.
Whew. After a bit the wings are sorted out, no one goes over the edge, and Big gets to eat that prize of fish because she flew back to the nest. This is the best place for the parents to feed both chicks. They can hone their flying skills and come to the nest for food provided by the parents.
When Big is finished, Mum feeds Middle. Big is looking out. Will she go for some more flights or rest?!
It appears that one of the big siblings might have branched at the ND-LEEF nest. Time is 06:02:51. There is the tail up in the top right corner.
17 is sitting up on the edge of the nest. The trio had a salmon this morning so they ate well – all of them, no fighting. Little Bit 17 pulled his share – the tail with a lot of nice fish left from the older sibling at 08:35:52 (shown in an earlier blog today). They still need more fish!
You may recall that the Llyn Brenig Osprey platform in Wales was cut down last year when the couple had laid their first egg. A new platform was put up for the pair this year with a high security camera. The male is LM6 and the female is LJ2. Today, there are two osplets that have hatched at that nest. Well done!
Louis hauled in this monster fish for Dorcha and the chicks at the Loch Arkaig nest. Wow. They are all going to be more than full.
Yesterday it was reported that Sky was the first to fledge. The eaglet that fledged has now been identified as Ahote, the smallest of the three eaglets! Apologies for any confusion. The Institute of Wildlife Studies clarifies the first to go. Below, Sky and Kana’kini remain on the nest.
Here is the video of Ahote’s fledge:
It is much easier to see the only surviving osplet out of three on the Dahlgren Osprey nest in King George County, Virginia. Beautiful plumage! and toys! Jack will make sure of the toys and Harriet will try to place them so they do not interfere with the nest!
The names for the eyases at Cal Falcons seem perfect – Lindsay and Grinnell. The nests seem to be doing fine for the moment. I checked in on some of the Welsh nests and right now the weather is not so bad.
Thank you so much for joining me. Take care all! See you soon.
Thanks to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages: Cal Falcons, Eagle Club of Estonia, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, ND-LEEF, Llyn Brenig, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery and the Scottish Woodland Trust, Institute for Wildlife Studies and Explore.org, and Dahlgren Ospreys.
The people who live in Lithuania and Estonia treasure their Black Storks. When something happens the Ornithologists and persons in charge of the nests do their best to intervene in a positive way.
Urmas set up a fish basket that he is stocking to feed the storklets. He has taken the decoy up to the nest with a basket of fish.
No one knew if it would work – and tears, tears rolling down people’s faces and jumping up and down ———. They are stuffed.
Things were getting very dire on the nest as the Mum was so hungry also. Now we can celebrate. While it is a tragedy that Janika has lost her mate, Urmas and his helpers are providing fish to keep her and the chicks alive. It is fantastic. This is a very positive intervention!
Thank you for being with me on such a positive occasion. Take care!
Thank you to Looduskalender and Liz for this postings and for the video of Janika feeding the storklets.
Oh, it is absolutely perfect at the Big Valley nest of Jackie and Shadow. Spirit fledged early Tuesday morning and she is back home being fed by Shadow at 16:46 the same day. You could hear Spirit squeeeeeeeeing on the nest cam. Dad flew in with a big fish and ate a bit and in flies Spirit. This is excellent. She will return to the nest – she knows where it is – and the parents will continue to feed her for a period of time until she is catching her own fish. She will perfect her flying and she will be a success.
Shadow arrives on the nest with a nice big fish.
Spirit arrives not long after. Oh, it is so sweet that Spirit wants to be fed ——-and fantastic of Shadow to want to feed his Spirit!
When dinner was over, Dad and his little girl sat and looked out at their world together.
Spirit remains at the nest. I hope she stays all night. It is so wonderful seeing her back on the nest, eating, and in good shape. She knows where ‘home’ is!
Spirit spent the night on the nest branch. This is just fantastic. Hopefully she will fly and get her wings strong and come home to eat and spend the night in the nest tree so we can see she is alright!
Gosh, it is hard waiting for parents to bring in food to a nest that really needs it. The lull at the ND-LEEF nest gave me an opportunity to ‘look at’ Little Bit 17 a little closer.
The Middle sibling ND16 has been the one ‘plucking’ Little Bit’s feathers from his head. When she gets aggressive about the food or lack of food, she goes for the head. It appears to me that she has pulled out more feathers today than on Sunday or Saturday. It looks like a red spot on the back but no big infected areas. To my knowledge, the eldest sibling 15 has not attacked Little Bit 17, only 16. So she is getting agitated when food is not coming on the nest.
Besides the missing head feathers, you will notice that Little Bit’s flight feathers are growing and showing.
This is a horrific viscous attack by an older sibling.
The image below was taken two days ago on the 29th. It offers some comparison with the loss of feathers on the head.
This is May 28 – three days ago. From this image I have to conclude that 16 is getting more and more aggressive towards Little Bit 17.
So is this a big problem? Yes and yes and no. The feathers on the head do not impact Little Bit 17’s ability to fly. That is the good point. Are they going to grow back quickly? No. It looks like the older sibling has pulled out the hair follicle completely. When bird’s molt (typically once a year), the loss of that feather stimulates the growth of the new feather. If Little Bit 17 found itself in a rehab centre they would probably be applying antiseptic ointment to its head. The other issue is that growing feathers is known as being ‘nutritionally intensive’. It takes a lot of calories along with vitamins and minerals to get feather regrowth. Some of you may have birds and know this. You can purchase products from your vet to help with regrowth. Some nervous birds can pluck out their own feathers. Sadly, we cannot get a vet up to the nest with these supplements nor can we fly in fish — and believe me, I wish I could put three big beauties on that nest!
Some people on the chat thought that Little Bit 17 had a bit of a crop.
It looks like it from this image below. Did he go into his stash on the porch and find some food? It is unknown.
At 20:31:21 an adult landed on the nest with a prey item. It was taken immediately by an older sibling.
Little Bit 17 stayed out of the way.
It is unclear what happened on the morning of 1 June on the ND-LEEF nest. I cannot see any prey delivered before a squirrel arrives around noon. 16 got it, then 15 stole it, and 17 is lurking hoping that 15 will leave it something. All are, of course, hungry.
17 is getting closer to 15. I am certain 17 would eat the tail if that was all that was left.
Hard to tell what will happen. 16 has moved over between 17 and 15 and is more concerned about 17 than anything. I really hope he does not pluck any more of 17’s head feathers. That is just crazy.
There is still squirrel left. You can see it when 15 pulls hard. He almost goes backwards out of the nest with that squirrel. Oh, I hope 17 gets a chance and 16 is not going to grab the prey.
16 wants to steal it. 17 is staying out of the way of 16. We need a huge fish to arrive right now. Leave 16 with the squirrel and 15 and 17 get fed by Mum!
Well, the San Francisco nest of Richmond and Rosie could offer to send some of their spare fish to ND! Today Rosie went fishing and brought in a nice whopper for the two osplets. Shortly after Richmond arrives with an equally large fish! And the kids already had big crops. Of course, there seem to be always intruders about wanting to steal the fish Richmond and/or Rosie bring to the nest on the Whirley Crane. Location, location, location! Some nests have great territory and prey and others don’t. Richmond and Rosie have a gold one – along with Arthur and Big Red at Cornell.
What lucky little osplets these two are – hatched at this nest with these two incredibly hard working parents. You will notice that Rosie is fishing, too, and delivering food. Her babies are just entering the Reptilian Phase. Some of the females pull more than their weight to ensure the success of their brood.
No one is going to be hungry today!
It is 0440 Wednesday morning at the Dyfi nest of Telyn and Idris and the three Bobs. They are having a nice breakfast of last night’s Mullet. Super chicks.
Little Bob got a nice piece of fish. Most of the time everything is fine at Dyfi. Big Bob does like to be a bit of a bully but that will pass. There is regular food on this nest.
The Three Bobs had breakfast at Loch of the Lowes, too. Laddie had a great fish and everyone is eating. Bites all around. The trio are growing and starting to get their dark wooly plumage. Reptiles next!
Louis and Dorcha have been feeding their first hatch regularly. Louis has kept the nest nicely supplied — like he always does! They are going to zoom the camera in so that we can see the chicks better. This will be left for about a week. Thank you Woodland Trust!
History was made again today in Poole Harbour when the first osprey chick hatched! Congratulations CJ7 and Blue 022!!!!!!!!!! The nest and camera are positioned so that we can only see CJ7 bring up the egg shell, removing it from the nest cup. How thrilling. There will be parties in the south of England and in the homes of all who were a part of this great relocation project. It is a success.
There are three at the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G now. All their hatching is now finished. Lots of fish – and some of it is flounder. Mrs G doesn’t like it but hey ——we know a lot of eagles and ospreys that wouldn’t care what species of fish it was! The third chick hatched on 30 May.
I continue to watch and forget to report on the Golden Eagles in Estonia. The parents are Kalju (Dad) and Helju (Mum) and their chick Margit. So cute. There nest is in the Sooma National Park in the southwestern part of Estonia.
Golden Eagles often hunt as a couple. They are known to dive down to their prey (called quarry) at speeds of 150 mph. They have great maneuverability and they can see clearly and in colour for a very long distance. One eagle might dive and drive the prey out for the other. They also hunt alone catching rabbits, squirrels, Pine Martens, foxes, and even deer. They will also eat carrion if fresh prey is low. Unlike the Black Stork, Golden Eagles are fairly common in Estonia.
Margit is a little cutie.
Here is the link to their camera:
Karl II and Kaia’s three Black Storklets in the Karula National Forest in Estonia are also doing very well. There is one egg remaining in the nest which was laid on 1 May. If it is to hatch it will be soon.
Karl II has the transmitter on his leg and he is on the nest now. Both parents are active in fishing and bringing food to the nest for the chicks who have incredible appetites.
The five storklets of Jan and Janika, also in Estonia, are doing really well. The parents have not done any sorting out of the smaller ones. This is incredible. There must be lots of food for everyone this year.
While we wait for the official names of the two chicks, Alden continues to bring in prey items for the eyases who are growing and getting interested in the world outside the scrape. What a quick hand over! Off for more!!!!!!!
Alden is also doing a fantastic job of feeding the two eyases.
The Great Spirit Bluff eyases continue to grow and are changing their plumage just like the chicks at Cal Falcon’s scrape.
There was bad weather in South Australia on the 29th of May. That is the last log in and report on Ervie. Port Lincoln says he managed to stay out of the wind and rain by staying close to the silos. Here is his map of that day. Sure miss seeing him at the barge!
And to put a smile on everyone’s face, a Dove has decided to make her nest on a palm frond at my son’s house in the West Indies. The couple will incubate their eggs for 12-14 days. The chicks will be born with their eyes closed and will be covered with a soft grey down. They will remain in the nest being fed by their parents for about 11 days before fledging.
It looks like a Common Ground Dove. They are very common across the Eastern Caribbean and can grow to 15-18 cm or 6 to 7 inches or about the same size as a large House Sparrow. They lay 1-3 eggs. They eat seeds and insects.
It is sunny today and no rain. I am heading out to enjoy this beautiful day and hopefully see some American White Pelicans and some ducks. Hopefully a few other Waterfowl surprises. Take care everyone. Thank you for being here with me in Bird World. Wish for fish to land on the ND-LEEF nest! Nasty 16 is busy eating the rest of the squirrel so hopefully 17 can have some lunch if something comes in! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: fOBBV, ND-LEEF, SF Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, Dyfi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Wildlife Trust, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Friends of Loch Arkaig, the Woodland Trust and the People’s Post Code Lottery, Eagle Club of Estonia, Cal Falcons, Port Lincoln Osprey Project FB page, and Explore.org
