Apologies to Ron and Rita and everyone for any confusion. In my excitement for R3s hatch, I said the Bald Eagle couple were at Hilton Head. Absolutely not. They are at the Wildlife Rescue Cam in Dade County, Florida!
I also wanted to show you some pictures of later this morning where R1 and R2 are moving outside of the nest cup. This is great. They are actually looking at the world around them. Ron and Rita are experienced Bald Eagle parents and we are all wishing them and R3 the best of luck. They would have fledged two chicks last year if their nest had not collapsed in a storm so send them all your best wishes.
Notice that R2 is being fed outside the nest cup while R1 has gone to sleep by the edge. R3 is resting from that tiring hatch!
Rita looks down at her new baby.
R1 is looking out at the world beyond the nest.
This is so fantastic. I love this artificial nest created for these parents and wow, Rita and Ron will have lots of places to feed the chicks.
Take care all. Sorry for the confusion over the nest identity!
Thanks to the WRDC Bald Eagle cam where I took my screen captures.
Thank you for all your well wishes. One thing our City is reasonably good at is getting the main roads cleared from snow! We got home in time for a great visit with our daughter and to watch E20 join the world. It is always special when a little one comes into the world. The Pritchett Family says it was 17:54:44.
This is a short clip of E20 pushing on that shell.
I hope E19 is as proud and happy tomorrow when E20 is dry and rearing to go, too.
Oh, adorable!
Let us all hope that both of these beautiful little eaglets, E19 and E20, remain healthy, friendly, and grow into beautiful juveniles just like their big siblings from last season, E17 and 18.
For all my parrot lovers – of which I am one – ABC News is reporting that the once critically endangered Orange Bellied Parrot is increasing in population and has moved away from the brink of extinction.
Most Orange-Bellied Parrots live in Australia and Tasmania. They got their name from that bright orange patch on their belly! They are small birds who nest in Eucalyptus Trees. Their numbers have been threatened by habitat destruction, cats and foxes that hunt and kill them, collisions with buildings, cars, windows, etc. Australia has conducted a captive breeding programme that hopes to increase the numbers in the wild of these beautiful birds.
Oh, it is rough and tumble down at the Port Lincoln osprey Nest. Bazza appears to have received the first little fish but – then it happens that at one time all three were fighting and being kicked off the nest to try and get it.
Falky and Bazza.
A little later Ervie has joined them on the nest! It won’t be long til Falky and Ervie are catching most of their food. Let us hope that Bazza joins in. But for now, they are all just fine. Egos bruised at times but healthy juvenile ospreys. Puts a smile on your face.
Right before 08:39 Falky is on the perch and Ervie is on the nest. Falky flies down to the nest. Ervie has the sat pak and is to the right. Falky is to the left. Both think that a fish is coming in to the nest.
Ervie gets right mad at Falky and shoves him off the nest a few minutes later. There is no question ———– our little third hatch, Ervie, who won the sat pak because it turned out he was the biggest – is going to survive in the wild. It is awful to see them go after one another but it is necessary for their survival. And we all want each of them to survive. It was a real dustup!
Wow. A new eaglet. What a great day. It should be interesting watching E19’s reaction to having a sibling tomorrow. I wonder if it will be like Ervie and Falky today?
Thanks so much for joining me. Take care everyone!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my video clips and screen captures: SWFlorida Bald Eagle Cam and D Pritchett and the Port Lincoln Osprey Project.
For those of you excited about the release of California Condor #1031 Iniko, you can watch her and all the other condors up by the sanctuary live! Remember that Iniko and those released with her wear an Orange tag with black numbers!
The camera moves around the sanctuary. Here are a couple of screen captures of the site for you.
For those who love the Royal Albatross, OGK arrived home at 18:40:19 to relieve YRK so she could go and feed. There was a lot of allopreening (preening of another not yourself), sky calling, and cuddling. YRK let OGK on to incubate but stayed close to the nest for awhile. What a lovely couple.
Ranger Sharyn checks OGK’s egg and gives the thumbs up.OGK admiring his egg and talking to it. So sweet!OGK allopreening YRK on arrival.
Sharon Dunne posted a video of the exchange. Enjoy!
Last year was a very sad year for many bird nests. I recall the great sadness when both Peace and Hope died on the Captiva Island Bald Eagle nest. Those were two very unnecessary deaths. Someone near Lori’s property where the nest is located used rodenticide! Just crazy. The two beautiful chicks died. The parents, Joe and Connie, were overcome with grief. Indeed, it was that grief that Joe suffered that – well, caused him to leave or not defend his area well. It reminds me so much of Samson’s father Romeo’s grief. Connie is now with another male, Clive. Connie laid her first egg sat 05:55:37 this morning. We wish them well – and I certainly wish that people would remember and recommend RATS: Raptors are the Solution!
Good luck this year, Captiva!
Here is the link so that you can watch Connie and Clive. There is also a side camera. I just prefer the overhead to see all the action.
It has been a really busy day. Daisy did, as she has done the past two days. She stayed with her three eggs now until the newly laid one was dry and hard. She stretched to try and find leaves. This seems to be an issue – fewer leaves on the nest this year. One of my friends told me that there is also something different this year than last – a pair of Ring-tailed Possums has a nest in that same tree. That could be the reason that Daisy has not pulled out any down yet. Lady and Dad, the White-Bellied Sea Eagles that are unwittingly leasing their nest to Daisy were at Goat Island. It is hoped that they will remain there for the full month! My friend also noticed that the egg cup is very small this year. She hopes Daisy does not lay very many eggs so they can be covered properly allowing us the hope and Daisy that we will see ducklings jump. Anyone have any ideas on how to dump several huge baskets of leaves on that nest? The Port Lincoln lads continue to do well.
Thank you for joining me today. Take care all. See you tomorrow for Day 4 of the Daisy Chronicles.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Sea Eagles @ Birdlife Australia Discovery Center, Captiva Bald Eagles, Ventana Wildlife and Explore.org, Cornell Bird Lab and the NZ DOC.
Harriet and M15 are the resident Bald Eagles on the D Pritchett Farm in Fort Myers, Florida. The couple are blessed with a gorgeous nest tree, a pond to fish and bathe if they wish – or play -and a family dedicated to their well-being. Last year, we worried over the eye infection of E17 and E18 who went into care at CROW. The little ones returned well and happy. No one will ever forget them being fed with their little towel donuts or E17 getting ‘time out’ for being too aggressive.
Harriet and M15 are very experienced parents. They shared the feeding duties often to make sure that each of those eaglets was fed. In the end, E17 and E18 were the best of pals. Many dreamed that they would fly off together finding a territory where they could remain close. That is, of course, some whimsical thinking but, it would have been lovely.
Of course, w would all like to know how their destiny played out and it is sad that the two are not banded. I am so very curious about the dispersal area from this nest!
Harriet and M15 with the two wee eaglets. 28 January 2021E17 and E18 at CROW for care for eye infection.The two became best buddies. Look at these two gorgeous fledglings!
Around 17:10 Harriet was on the nest. Her tail was going up and down in the characteristic movements of laying an egg.
It has been confirmed that the second egg came at 17:10. It was seen on the 360 degree camera. The average number of days from laying to hatch is 35. That could mean that the first egg could hatch on 25 December followed by the second on 28 December. I actually hope they are closer than that! But, hey, healthy eaglets are what we want.
There are still no eggs at Northeast Florida with Samson and Gabby, no eggs for Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear, and no eggs yet at Captiva. There are other nests that already have two and that includes Hilton Head in SC.
Congratulations to M15 and Harriet, to the D Pritchett Family and all those who love this wonderful Bald Eagle family. You can join the fun by watching one of three streaming cams. Here is the link to one of those:
Thank you so much for joining me on this update. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam and the D Pritchett family for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots and to the SW Florida FB page where I obtained the images of E17 and E18 in care at CROW.
Gabrielle or Gabby flew into the NE Florida Bald Eagle nest near Jacksonville today, 12 September. She might well have been on the branches or around earlier but I have her at 19:33:12. What a wonderful sight – to have this fabulous couple back safe and sound on their nest. Samson doesn’t migrate and he was seen several times during the summer and, in particular, when the camera maintenance was taking place. Both eagles got busy inspecting the nest. They were digging around and I wondered if they were looking for ‘Eggie’ that Samson had buried last year after Legacy spent so much time taking care of it, incubating and rolling. Oh, Legacy, what an amazing character you turned out to be!
They seem to have a discussion. Samson is on the left in his Levi Black Stretch ‘Slim Fit’ jeans and Gabby is on the right.
I wonder why they are so preoccupied with this one spot. Is this really where ‘Eggie’ could be buried?
More discussions!
All is right in The Hamlet. How comforting seeing them both roosting on their branches of the nest tree. In 2020, Gabby returned on 12 September, too.
This is their third season. In 2019 they fledged Jules and Romey named after Samson’s parents, Romeo and Juliette. This was their nest – indeed, it is the nest where Samson hatched. Last year, they fledged Legacy. What a sweetheart. She sure stole a few hearts!
After all the excitement in NE Florida, I decided just to check on the other nests. No hatch, yet, at the Port Lincoln Osprey Nest. For those of you watching the Royal Cam chick, it has been confirmed that her neighbour chick, SSTrig, fledged late afternoon 12 August nest time. SSTrig is the first chick to hatch and fledge of adults, Green Lime Green and Red Lime Black. Tiaki and SSTrig did not always get along very well. You might remember their little altercations.
At the White Bellied Sea Eagle nest in Sydney, Australia, a bird arrived around 13:35 13 August. WBSE 28 was more or less in a submissive pose during the entire feeding. WBSE 27 ate 98% of the gull. I wondered what had happened earlier but the camera feed would not let me rewind that far back – which seemed odd since you can always go back at least 8-12 hours. But, not today.
The adults at the 367 Collins Street Osprey Nest in Melbourne continue to make their well rehearsed handover of incubation duties. These two are really quite incredible.
I know that some of you have been wondering why dad isn’t bringing mom food at the nest. Prey will not be brought until the eyases hatch. There is a place up above the nest where the male leaves prey for the female so she can eat.
Here is cute little dad.
And beautiful mom. A couple more weeks. These two better rest as much now as they can! Four eyases. Oh, my goodness. I cannot wait.
Xavier has come in to see if he can have a turn to incubate their eggs. Diamond doesn’t get off and hand over the duties as easily as the mom at Collins Street. Poor Xavier. Xavier will often bring prey to the ledge and Diamond will take it and fly out of the scrape to eat it.
Why do the two falcon couples do this? keep prey out of the scrape when there are eggs? For cleanliness and not to bring in any parasites or insects. That is also the reason that falcons do not use twig nests.
It is now the wee hours of the morning on the Canadian Prairies. I didn’t intend to write another blog but, oh how I wanted to let you know about Gabby. This is wonderful news. Harriet and M15 are back at the SW Florida Bald Eagle nest. And that reminds me that I need to check and see what is happening at Captiva.
Thank you for joining me for this quick alert. Have a great Monday everyone.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screenshots: The Falcon Cam at Charles Sturt University in Orange and Cilla Kinross, The 367 Collins Street Falcons by Mirvac, NE Florida Eagle Cam and the AEF, and Sea Eagles Cam@ Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre.
