Tag Archives: Florida Ospreys

How do you say ‘cute’ in Falconese

One of the last feedings for the little eyas at the scrape box in Orange, Australia was around 18:19:00 yesterday.

This little one is eight days old. It has sure grown!

I took three video clips to cover the entire time Diamond was feeding the chick. Watching the movements and the interactions instead of seeing a still image can give you a more in-depth look at the size of the bites and the sheer cuteness of the moment.

The total number of fish delivered to the Port Lincoln Osprey nest was 7 yesterday. They were delivered at 7:11:22, 8:23:54,12:47:30, 13:52:18, 14:54:09, 16:37:00, and 18:08:37. This is a capture of Dad delivering the fish at 7:11 and Mum coming to the nest from the perch as well as a capture from the 14:54 feeding:

There appeared to be an adult on the Achieva Osprey Nest in St Petersburg, Florida yesterday. The marks on the crown of the bird seem to be that of the male, Jack. Today, another adult showed up at the same nest at 11:16:09.

Jack appears to be alarming.

This is the image of the adult from yesterday (right) and an image of Jack bringing Tiny Tot Tumbles a fish on the left. It seems likely that the adult visiting the nest is Jack. There is a lot of prep work to be done before Diane returns.

The White Bellied Sea Eagles 27 and 28 entered hatch watch the other day! That date range for fledging is 75-80 days from hatch. WBSE 28 was 77 days old on 16 October (yesterday) when it branched! Watch closely to see what 28 uses to make the leap.

Fledging is getting closer for these two. No doubt they will have contests to see who can get higher up on the tree!

Today is starting off as a fantastic day in Bird World. While there are little ones to feed or fledge in Australia, staff at many of the nature centres in the UK are refurbishing Osprey nests. A new pole and platform has been installed at Lyn Brenig and today the work was completed on Pont Cresor, the nest of Aeron, Z2 and Blue 014.

Thank you for joining me today. It is beautiful and sunny. All of the garden animals are having their lunch and the world is simply right with itself. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my video clips and screen captures: the Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam at Orange and Cilla Kinross, and Achieva Credit Union Osprey Nest in St. Petersburg.

A quick look at Osprey chicks in care — and is it really goodbye, Tiny?

You may have heard that osprey chicks do not do well if they are taken from the nest and placed into care. But is this true? Last year, anyone watching the Port Lincoln Osprey Nest knew that Little Tapps was not going to survive. Solly was too big and too aggressive and when the middle chick, DEW, began to turn on the little one and keep it from eating it was not ‘if’ but ‘when’ would Tapps die. It was emotionally devastating. How many wanted to toss a cloth cover over the camera and at least try and rescue that baby?

In less than a week, news of two interventions came to my desk and thanks to my friend, “T”, two others last evening. Wonder how many more there were? There was at least one Osprey chick taken into care due to the extreme heat in the British Columbia interior. It had fallen out of its nest and bystanders notified SORCO, the only raptor rehabilitation centre in the area at Oliver. They retrieved the three week old chick immediately hydrating it. The staff said that Ospreys can become stressed when in care but, this one is so young they anticipate that it will adapt.

On 3 July an Osprey nest caught on fire when the transformer next to the nest blew. The parents were able to escape, one chick perished, and the other chick was taken into care. The chick was suffering from severe smoke inhalation and some burns from the fire. That precious little one is on oxygen and pain relief therapy. It was initially given high levels of oxygen using a mask but now it is an oxygen incubator. The chick is resting comfortably at the Raptor Tales Rescue in Wareham, MA. Its condition is ‘guarded’.

Sweet little baby. That had to be extremely scary with all the smoke, fire, and noise.

Many other Osprey chicks have been orphaned and placed in nests with foster parents. It is surprising how often this occurs with no ill effects. We saw this recently in Finland and near St Petersburg when another Osprey nest fell down on 29 April. The parents left and all of the chicks died but one. Baby Foster was placed in a nest where there was only one other baby. The parents accepted the new chick immediately. Baby Foster fledged on 13 June. The events with Baby Foster and his new family were caught on video by one of St Petersburg’s local photographers, Kathleen Finnerty.

It is midnight in St Petersburg, Florida. All eyes are on the nest of Tiny Tot and right now, it is calm but Tiny Tot is not there. She came in during the early morning of 5 July. Was she scared by fireworks?

It has been 100 years since a major storm hit the Tampa area. If you look carefully, you will see that St Petersburg is right at the entrance to Tampa Bay.

Tiny Tot has not been on the nest since 9am on the 5th of July. She has not come for a fish and to my knowledge, Jack has not brought any fish to the nest for her since 4 July when there were at least two fish brought in during the early evening. Jack knows where Tiny is or he would be on the nest checking for her. Did the fireworks scare her on her way? did she get tired of chasing off intruders? or did her instincts kick in and tell her it was time to leave the nest?

Here are some images of Tiny over the last few months. They are in no particular order and I have left all the lines and date stamps for you. I will, one day this week, put together a comprehensive album of this miraculous little one – a third hatch that was tough, that survived, and who will do well. What a privilege it was to watch this clever little one become a big strong juvenile.

Tiny, thank you for staying around as long as you did! Stay safe out there. Enjoy the fishing. Have an extraordinary life. You deserve it.

Thank you for joining me today. Here is the model of the storm that is set to hit the Tampa area today. We will be watching and sending warm thoughts to all the nests in that area. Be safe little ones! The recent revised forecast is for Elsa to be a cat 1 hurricane hitting the Tampa area around 11pm tonight. Prayers for all the birds.

Thank you to the Achieva Credit Union for the streaming cam where I took my screen shots of Tiny Tot and her family. Many thanks also to Raptor Tales Rescue for the images on their FB page that I used to show osprey chicks in care.

Bird World News: Rescues, a fledge, and a Hurricane?

I want to give a shout out to Fortis BC for helping the South Okanagan’s only birds of prey rescue centre, SORCO, retrieve two baby Ospreys from a nest in Penticton. People saw the babies hanging over the sides of the nest panting and looking very dehydrated. The parents were unable to feed them because of the extreme heat driving the fish to the bottom of the rivers and lakes.

The Osprey platforms are out in the open – in the direct sun – and the chicks took a real hit by the heat when temperatures in the area rose into the high 40s on Wednesday.

@ CastaNet News Kelowna
@CastaNet News Kelowna

The babies are being fed and rehydrated. SORCO says they are doing well. They will be kept in care for approximately six weeks. SORCO says they have rescued 23 raptors during the extreme heat wave.

Elsa is now a hurricane and is expected to impact Florida and the region of the Osprey nests in St Petersburg early next week. The National Hurricane Centre is advising everyone to keep an eye on the hurricane as it now develops and what happens after it passes over the Antilles. You can follow the news here:

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at5.shtml?start#contents

All of our eyes will be on that system now that it has strengthened from a Tropical Storm to a hurricane because of our beloved Tiny Tot at the Achieva Osprey Nest in St Petersburg. The hurricane is currently located over Barbados (the white circle in the purple area).

Electra did not spend the night perched on the Cowlitz PUD Osprey nest but she has returned sometime this morning before 7am nest time.

The female chick, Blue 095, at Rutland Manton Bay has fledged today, 2 July, one day after her brother, Blue 096. Here is that flight:

It is definitely getting harder, at first glance, to tell who is who on the Foulshaw Moss Nest in Cumbria where Tiny Little Tot lives on the nest of White YW and Blue 35. Indeed, Blue 35 is testing the kids self-feeding skills today!

The male claimed the fish that arrived and didn’t do a bad job with the self-feeding. Tiny Little was right there hoping he would share! or feed him!! I do hope Blue 35 feeds Tiny Little today and doesn’t just let the bigger ones grab all of the fish.

The last time I saw Tiny Tot on the Achieva Credit Union nest she was waiting for a fish delivery. K1 and K3 had been fed and were over together on the Rice Building. So all is well in Ithaca.

Take care everyone. That is our early morning nest round up for Friday, 2 July.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I get my screen shots: Cumbrian Wildlife Trust and the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Cam and the Cowlitz PUD.

Featured image is FortisBC and SORCO going up to rescue osprey chicks in Penticton.