Thank you to everyone for sending in news items. It is much appreciated and it is all too easy for me to miss something which is important. So, we are going to put the news items in my inbox up front today.
‘J’ let me know that the much loved Latvian Golden Eagle Spilve, mother of the late Klints, has laid an egg. In 2020, Spilve laid her first egg on 29 March. It is believed that she has not been breeding since then – at least not at this nest. https://youtu.be/DOj7tYjk1j0?
“EJ’ sent me a wonderful news article. Imagine gold fish ponds everywhere ——–imagine ponds and large holding tanks, no deeper than 3 feet – full of koi. That sure would put an end to hunger on some of those osprey nests! I remember marveling at the adults at Collins Marsh one year. The normal fish were small and one day the adults found a koi pond. I wondered if it was a garden centre or a home. Their babies ate well then.
Port of Ridgefield, WA: ‘BHA’ writes: “Sorry the photo isn’t very good – this is on my t.v. New camera is great, complete with date and time this year (which doesn’t show in this picture). As you can see it’s a beautiful day here in the Pacific Northwest. 🌞”. The couple laid three eggs last year with only one chick reaching fledge (2 DNH).
I think that image is very good and we so appreciate your sharing it with us. What a nice day for this couple to be home!
‘PB’ sent us the 2025 US State of the Bird Report and it shows numbers os birds are dropping significantly.
Patuxent River Park osprey nest (MD) – 3/26 the cam went live for the season, and I was delighted to see the same ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ at the nest. It’s good to see they both made it back.
Seaside osprey nest (OR) – Bruce returned on 3/24, and Naha arrived on 3/26. It’s always wonderful when a beloved pair are reunited after a long migration.
Crooked Lake osprey nest (IN) – An osprey pair is at the nest. The chat is referring to the male as Noble, and is referring to the female as ‘Mom’ (rather than Whitley), but I think it is the same female.
Moorings Park osprey nest (FL) – The chatters were fond of calling Sally and Harry’s only osplet ‘Solo’. But, on 3/26 the community bird club officially named the 17-day-old youngster “Ozzie.”
Other Osprey news:
Bassenthwaite/Blackgate Farm Ospreys: J Kear reports that both ospreys have returned to their nest.
Llyn Brenig: Blue 372 is eating a lot of fish and restoring her strength and health in time for breeding season.
Dyfi Osprey Project: Perhaps Idris is trying out for the Olympic pole vaulting team! Idris worked hard on that nest and now he can celebrate with his mate Telyn who returned today.
Birds of Poole Harbour: CJ7 got down to business and got rid of Maya’s 2022 daughter, Blue 1H1, and has been getting nicely reacquainted with her mate, Blue 022. These two raised four osplets to fledge – the little one won everyone’s heart for its tenacity!
Loch of the Lowes: Blue NC0 is some great fisher. She is going to be incredible shape.
Colonial Beach Ospreys: A mystery female appeared on the nest on Wednesday.
Sun Coast Ospreys: Sara and Sota have their second hatch.
Lake Murray: At least two attacks on the nest by other ospreys yesterday. Hoping resident ospreys, Kenny and Lucy, are safe.
Blithfield Reserve, UK: Male has returned to the nest.
It is possible that one of Bella and Scout’s eaglets is injured. Deb Stecyk reports that it could be puncture wounds. Please send good wishes. https://youtu.be/8KsYYqn5qOU?
Decorah North: Mr and Mrs DNF have a failed season. Their first eaglet tried for five days to free itself of a crushed shell before dying. The second egg is 41 days old today and deemed unviable.
Duke Farms: The triplets still doing very, very well.
Sauces Canyon Eagles: Betty Lou is growing and growing!
West End: The blood from the encounter off camera to save territory is drying on Haku as she stands proudly by Maiko.
Sutton Centre Eagles: They have their second hatch of the season.
Glacier Gardens: The male died last year. Mum was seen ‘eyeing’ a potential new mate in late December. Mum was at the nest on Wednesday.
Kistachie National Forest E3: E03 had at least one prey delivery today. I rewinded late in the day, but the eaglet did appear to have a crop earlier, too. 03 appears to have branched, slightly.
The nest appearance was an empty taloned adult.
Birds and their eggs were rescued from the California wild fires – what a nice ending for today!
Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to those who sent news, for comments, videos, articles, images, posts, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘BHA, EJ, Geemeff, H, JK, LDF Golden Eagle Cam, Fox5Vegas, Port of Ridgefield, Birds & Blooms, OspreyInfoUK, Dyfi Osprey Project, Birds of Poole Harbour, Woodland Trust (LOTL), Colonial Beach Ospreys, Moorings Park Ospreys, Sun Coast Ospreys, NCTC, Deb Stecyk, FOBBV, SK Hideaways, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Duke Farms, IWS/Explore, Hilton Head Island Trust, Sutton Centre, Bartlesville, OK, Patuxent River Park, The Guardian, Crooked Lake, Seaside, Patuxent River Park, Lake Murray ospreys, Kielder Forest
The heat is still around. It was 29 degrees, which is cool compared to many places. I saw an idea that popped up on one of the FB pages. It was to freeze water in containers, then remove the solid ice and put it in your bird bath to keep the water cool. I am going to do this tonight!
Today was busy despite the heat. First was a walk at the zoo. The Polar Bears were ‘hot’. They were off in a corner where there was a bit of a breeze and shade, then a swim.
At home, we are making certain that there is always water and food. The birds and animals are coming out mostly in the early morning and later in the afternoon and evening until about 2100.
Mr Crow and all the family have been busy eating apple pieces along with his cheesy dogs and peanuts.
Washing peanuts in the water.
The baby squirrels, three of them, are in and out of the garden with their parents. They love those nut cylinders.
On Wednesdays, we have our local farmer’s market. It is now well-attended. Lots of local honey, veggies, ice cream, some great food, flowers, music, and neighbours. We have several ice cream companies. Fete is one of them. Delicious on a 29 C day.
The Girls have been busy chasing a fly that managed, sadly, to get itself in the house. They stalked, ran, jumped, and nearly broke their necks trying to catch it.
Hope thought she could stare it down.
Missey did, too!
Hugo Yugo (poor thing needs her eye cleaned) flew everywhere. She just about knocked everything off of anything it could be on. But the fly got away!
Calico thought they were all idiots running all over the place for a fly!
This morning the baby Cowbird landed on the sill of the conservatory and they all went nuts – including Calico. Good thing this lot will never be outside by the feeders.
Thank you to everyone that sent me a joke or a photograph to make me smile in the midst of all the tragedy lately. I really do appreciate it. I don’t know what I would have done this year withot these beautiful girls and all your friendship. So far there has not been a death on Wednesday that I am aware. Sadly there could be some today. We will see.
A smile before we move on. The magic of watching birds fledge!
Heat is on everyone’s mind and how it is impacting people of the world – as well as our dear wildlife
I wonder why more of the females do not do this? Swamp Cooling.
Finn delivers.
Cornell Lab posted a video showing Iris keeping her chicks cool.
‘H’ sends us reports: 7/10 Osoyoos osprey nest: It was predicted to be a very hot and sunny day. Olsen was at work bright and early, and delivered his first fish at 0448. Little was beaked, but still managed to eat 32 bites of fish during this 13-minute meal. Olsen brought a medium sized fish at 0522. There was not a lot of aggression, but Little never found a good spot to be able to access Mom’s beak, so s/he did not eat at this 15-minute meal. The next fish at 0940 was very small, and it only took Soo about 4 minutes to feed. Little and Middle ate on opposite sides of Mom, until Big beaked Little. Little ate 13 bites of fish. More than 8 hours passed before the next fish arrived at the nest, and up to this point, Little had only eaten about 45 bites of fish. My weather source indicated the Osoyoos temperature at 1500 was 104F/40C. At 1800 Olsen delivered a very large whole fish. I watched for nine minutes, and our view of the feeding was partially blocked, but there did not appear to be any beaking. Little was behind the pack however, as the real estate near Soo’s beak was very limited. Due to the size of the fish, I wasn’t too worried, knowing that Little would eventually get its chance to eat after Big was sated. My time zone is three hours later, and I was tired, so I went to bed knowing that I could resume viewing the feeding early in the morning. Well, I was wrong. When I went to watch that meal, I found that the live stream had gone offline again. Ahh…but fortunately, ‘A-M’ had posted in the Facebook group: “Sleep well tonight little ones, all have full crops after nearly an hour long feeding. Mum got lots too, kudos to Dad for being a great provider in the sweltering heat.” Appreciate the update, ‘A-M’. Weather for 7/11: Sunny with slightly cooler temperatures, high 98F/37C, winds 15-22.
7/10 Patuxent River Park osprey nest: We were thrilled to see the newest fledgling, when Chick #1 returned to the nest at 0759 after fledging yesterday morning. Dad brought a few massive fish to the nest and everyone ate very well. It was a good day!
7/10 Forsythe osprey nest: At 50 days of age, Larry performed his highest hovers to date. Larry is looking good to fledge in a day or so.
7/10 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest: The 24, 26, and 28-day-old osplets are doing quite well, and they are getting big!
Thanks, ‘H’.
I will be running through the Osprey nests again to check how our families are doing in the heat:
Clark PUD: At least several fish have come to the nest but the position of the camera doesn’t always catch their size. Hoping that enough food and hydration are coming in the hot days.
Charlo Montana: Another really hot day for Lola and the trio. Charlie has been bringing in fish. Thank you, Charlie!
McEuan Park: Hot and hotter. There are two chicks surviving. This nest really needs a lot of fish and a lot of positive wishes.
Mum left the nest and came in with a fish. Big ate. Middle is very submissive and needs to eat. Almost falling off the nest to get away from Big despite being ravenous.
Is the male at this nest missing? Are you watching this nest and can you let us know. Thank you.
Two moved up. Is there any fish left? Fish taken off nest by parent.
No fish for Two. Crop totally shrunken, head drooping. So sad. This was an original nest of four chicks. I just wonder if the deaths have been mitigated by no male, the heat and then, of course, no fish???
No sign of the male again. Mum off nest probably trying to fish. Poor babies.
Seaside: Bruce is delivering some big headless fish to Naha and the two osplets.
Pitkin County: The nest looks good. Weather is much different than in the Pacific NW.
More fish. Such beautiful babies on this nest at Pitkin County.
Boulder: Hot. Mum trying to keep Only Bob cool. Notice the difference in heat in Boulder than in Pitkin County.
Sandpoint: Keke doing a great job keeping River cool while Keo continues to bring in the fish. Mum and baby have a nice crop.
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum: Dad is bringing in the fish and everything seems to be alright.
Bridge Golf Course: Cooler there and very windy. Mum and Only Surviving Osplet appear to be fine.
Snow Lane, Newfoundland. I have tears in my eyes for this nest. Beaumont has been hauling in the fish, and Hope has fed her chicks this year. The oldest is getting into the Reptilian phase, and if you look carefully, so is the youngest. I want the weather and fishing to stay good for Dad. If Hope continues, we could have two chicks fledge from this nest. I am afraid to get hopeful.
Steelscape: Oldest is self feeding. Hope Mum steps in so all get some fish. The heat is much less later in the day!
Cowlitz: ‘PB’ reports that Little is continually attacked on the nest by the older sibling. So far it has had about 66 bites of fish on Wednesday. This nest is in a very hot area and this baby needs more fish to survive during this long heat dome.
Cowlitz PUD posted a video of one of the feedings on Wednesday. They really care about their ospreys. They put up the metal fish grates to protect them and they know that there is competition to steal their fish from the local eagles.
‘PB’ reports that Little had no fish this morning.
Geemeff reports for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Wednesday 10th July 2024
Today was quite a contrast to yesterday with all its action going between the two nests. Instead we had Louis making just the one early appearance on Nest Two, and no sighting of Dorcha, Garry LV0, Affric or the dark female, just a banditry of Coal Tits making a couple of brief visits to Nest One. We did however get the news that our two chicks travelled safely over to Spain today, precious cargo entrusted to Heathrow Animal Control and then on to their new home. It’s very reassuring to hear that in just nine days, they’ve gained half their body weight again, going from 1.1kg on the 1st to 1.5 kg today, 10th. We wish them good luck and look forward to hearing more news in due course. Weather was reasonably settled, and the forecast is a dry night tonight with light cloud and light winds, and more of the same tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.35.23 (03.49.41); Nest Two 23.39.33 (03.55.36)
It is a nest full of four apparently healthy osplets at Poole Harbour. Blue 022 and CJ7 will be one of only a couple of nests on streaming cams to successfully fledge four this year. What a feat!
The information on the Foulshaw Moss ringing of the chicks for 2024.
In readying for the 2024-25 Osprey season in South Australia, Port Lincoln has set up a camera at Tumby Island for Marrum and Partner. Fingers crossed!
It is so wonderful when all of us, no matter what we do, consider the wildlife. Well done Hungarian farmers? Living in a farming province of Canada, this would be very helpful.
Mum delivered a Raccoon Dog pup to the surviving Golden Eaglet at the Estonian nest #2.
‘TU’ reports that the two Eastern Imperial Eaglets in RU were ringed today.
Two healthy osplets on the osprey nest in Latvia.
It looks like there are still only two little Dorsett Hobbys. I could be wrong.
Congratulations to the Roy Dennis Foundation and the Poole Harbour Ospreys. It is the 7th anniversary of the translocation project and just look – a nest of four osplets doing very well. Everyone has to be delighted.
Here are Louis and Dorcha’s two osplets in their new nest in Scotland. I am glad they were taken for the project. As you will undoubtedly know by reading all of Geemeff’s reports and seeing their videos, Louis continues to ‘not be himself’. No one is certain what is wrong but please send him good wishes along with all of our raptors under the heat dome and these two precious little ones.
More information: “The two young ospreys are settling in well to their new surroundings in Spain. They have been given Spanish rings which are yellow in colour. The dominant bird is 1JW. The submissive one is 1JR. The aviary contains nests made from woven sticks and foliage which the birds sit in together just as they did at Loch Arkaig. They can see the surrounding area and when the time comes to fledge the sides of the aviary will be opened up to let them come and go as they please. Food will continue to be provided in the aviary nest until they migrate which will likely be in August or early September. We hope to have some images to share today at some point. These will be posted on Woodland Trust Scotland’s twitter and facebook accounts. We will alert you here once they are up.”
Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care of yourself. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, announcements, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, PB, TU’, The Guardian, Montana Osprey Cams, Cornell Bird Lab, Clark PUD, Charlo Montana, Weather Network, McEuan Park, Seaside Ospreys, Pitkin County, Boulder County, Sandpoint, MN Landscape Arboretum, Bridge Golf Course, Newfoundland Power, Steelscape, Cowlitz PUD, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, BoPH, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Friends of Osprey Sth Aus, David Attenborough Fans, Eagle Club of Estonia, Imperial Eagles RU Cam, LDF, Osoyoos, Patuxent River Park, Forsythe Ospreys, Fortis Exshaw, Dorsett Hobby Cam, and The Woodland Trust.
I apologise for being late with the Monday posting.
At Lake Murray, Mum came down from her perch to sleep with her only surviving chick. Did she hear the GHO. Oh, if this chick can only put on some good weight and if the beams from the strobes were the same as they were Saturday night, Middle might stand a chance. (Note: Little was taken the first night and it appears that Big was taken Sunday night.)
Baby was safe this morning. Oh, please, let this nest keep one!
As we recover from the second GHO predation at Lake Murray, we must – where possible – advise the osprey and eagle nests of the success of the Cowlitz PUD experiment with the metal fish grids. I keep talking about the economical cost. Two fish grids with a welded rod attached to opposite sides of an Osprey platform. That is all you need! It works. A baffle at the base of the pole for raccoons would always sweeten the deal. If you know of a nest that suffers predation from other raptors, please advise them. You can feel free to copy this. They can contact Cowlitz PUD and they will happily tell them how they did it. We need to be proactive. No sense osprey parents working hard to fledge chicks only to fatten them up for owls and eagles who can find other meals.
‘B’ wrote with a very good question. I want to go through my files and put my ‘thinking cap’ on with ‘H’. It is not a topic that we have put into our data forms which are related to ’causes of death in ospreys’ and, specifically, siblicide, but it is worthy of some good notes and someone might be working on this research and I am unaware.
I wonder if there is a statistical difference in predation from osprey nests on platforms that humans have installed specifically for them, as opposed to predation from nests on natural sites that the ospreys have selected? (That is, are the ospreys somehow better able to select a site from their own choices among natural sites than when they receive implicit encouragement to use a site selected by humans? Have the ospreys built up some sort of knowledge from experience and historical patterns?)
I have not seen a difference. In fact, if I think of overall predation by other raptors for the past three years, it ‘seems’ higher on natural nests in the UK and Finland than on platoforms in the US – the deaths there were mostly caused by weather related events or eggs that DNH. The major predator in the UK and Europe appears to be the goshawk that lives in the nearby forests. These nests are not in urban areas as a rule like many are in North America.
A goshawk came and took one of the osprey chicks at Llyn Clywedog right when Seren was feeding them in 2023!
This is a comment by John Williams who cares for these ospreys: ‘This blog was never going to be easy to write, but yesterday at just before 16:30 a goshawk attacked the nest and took one of our young ospreys. It was blue 8B1, the attack was very quick and out of the blue. Both juveniles and Seren 5F was on the nest eating the fish when it happened. All distracted by the food their guard was down. You could see Seren 5F looking down to the ground as if she could see him down there.’ (I have placed a file at the end of this, the entire sad report by John Williams. I was glad to see him refer to the birds as ‘family’ because that is, of course, how ‘H’ and I feel about those we monitor).
A young goshawk took a female chick that had just been ringed at Kielder Forest in 2023 from the nest of Mr and Mrs UV. The couple are raising chicks again this season on that very nest.
Goshawks also attack ospreys in Latvia and in one nest in particular the male has failed to attract a new mate because of this. The rumour, this great sadness of chicks taken, must have spread. It was the nest of Theo and Vita.
The new fledgling, Sacha, named after Sacha Dench and The Flight of the Osprey, was attacked by a goshawk at Tweed Valley. To my knowledge, the ospreys are still breeding there.
CJ7 and Blue 022 are still using their nest in Poole Harbour despite the goshawk taking their fledgling H52 on 5 August 2022.
In the US, people will remember Steve and Rachel and the attacks on their nest. Rachel did not return from migration and Steve and his new mate, Callie, refuse to use the on-camera Hog Island nest despite restoring it and mating and having fish gifts. “Last year, the rangers posted a photo of a very remote nest on Hog Island that they believe was used by Steve and Callie (H)”. ‘H’ also adds, “Dory and Skiff had Skipper that was predated by an owl in July 2023, but they did not change nest sites. The primary nest that I know of is Hog Island.”
There was a spate of killings in Finland and I do wonder if some of the nests without families this year are those. I would have to do some more research and check for certain.
Della and Warren have their first hatch of the 2024 season at Mispillion Harbour.
There is the first hatch at Clark PUD.
Olive and Oscar’s little chick at The Port of Ridgefield is peeking up – look under Mum’s fluffies -. So cute. This nest will be getting lots of predator protection for the 2025 nesting season.
Cutie Pie baby at Boulder County.
And another one at Cowlitz. Let us hope those fish grates hold this year against predating raptors in the area like they did last year.
There is a hatch at Moraine State Park on Monday.
Idris and Telyn are celebrating the hatch of their third chick. It is the 15th year for Ospreys at Dyfi in Wales.
There are now three for CJ7 and Blue 022. CJ7 is making valiant efforts to get that little one some fish.
Beautiful Dorcha is feeding her three chicks. Louis keeps that pantry full despite in climate weather.
Louis delivered six fish on Monday. SIX large fish!!
And there is the first hatch for Elen and Aran!
The three osplets at Smallwood State Park in Maryland are doing very well. Like Manton Bay they are right on the water and I hope it is full of fish!
The three at Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home are getting a little rowdy, especially the two older ones. Arthur needs to being in many more large fish – if they are even available, maybe not. Or lots and lots of fish deliveries very close together! Fingers crossed for this little one.
Patchogue Nest is so full of garbage you can hardly see the chicks.
Radford University has two babies. Here is the link to their camera in Virginia.
There are four osplets at Field Farm.
At the Loch of the Lowes, Blue NCO lost her chance for a family when Laddie was killed/died. She had two suitors – a Pale Male and a Dark Male. Now Mrs G’s (Glaslyn matriarch did not return in 2023 from migration) granddaughter 7C1 has been battling with Blue NCO for the nest and she was on the nest with the Dark Male on Monday. It is not going to be nice this nest attempted take over.
Archie is working over time to keep his four babies fed!
The trio from the Denton Homes nest are doing very well at SOAR. As well as can be expected when they are being raised in care. Safe, well fed, nice vet care.
Across Europe firefighters work tirelessly to save the lives of storks – whether it is fishing line or floods or just abandonment.
Other ordinary individuals adopt storks and feed them. Makes my heart warm up!
Bety and Bukacek had only one hatch out of two eggs at Mlade Buky this season.
Iris and Finnegan hoping for a family.
The fledglings still visit the nest at the Venice Golf course in Florida while that nest that was loaded with fish at Fisherman’s Creek appears to have no more visitors.
It is very difficult to tell how much food Smallie is getting at Amersfoort. ‘PB’ reports that Smallie was very clever and jumped out of the box to get fed and then back inside. Yeap for Smallie.
Larry’s eyases are getting pretty independent and not sure they want Mum telling them what to do!
Pip/Hatch watch at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum coming up in 3-4 days.
‘H’ reports on the nests she is monitoring:
“5/17 Patuxent osprey nest – There were six fish brought to the nest by Dad. After two days with very little to eat, chick 3 “Little” finally had a couple good meals on Monday. At 0715 Dad brought a medium size whole fish, and Little was not allowed to eat. It’s not just ‘Big’ that is aggressive toward Little, but also ‘Middle’ at times. Dad quickly brought another fish at 0805, while the two older chicks were still full, and Little was able to eat 52 bites of fish. Little was shut out of the third feeding. At 1336 Dad brought a very large headless fish, for a feeding that lasted nearly an hour. Little ate 70 bites of fish at that meal, and had a nice crop. There were two more fish deliveries from Dad of small fish, and Little was not able to get any bites of those fish.”
“5/27 The Mispillion Harbor Delaware osprey nest of Della and Warren has their first baby of the season. One egg remains.”
“5/27 Captiva ospreys: They had a better fishing day with 8 fish brought to the nest, including a partial catfish from Edie. Darling (CO8) was only completely shut out of one short meal, and s/he managed a couple nice crops.”
Could this Golden Eagle nest be the exception to the rule of ‘Cainism’? There are two healthy eaglets at the Golden Eagle nest in Estonia. The first chick always eats first but there is enough food for all and second chick eats well, too along with Mum. Fingers Crossed.
The camera has been on and off with ‘Highlights’ at the West End. I have been told that Koa has branched. I did not see it! They are so big!
It was yesterday but we can celebrate today. One of my heroes.
Thank you so much for being with me today. This was a quick check on all those hatches and some coming up. It is a busy week and there are still eggs to hatch – lots of them! Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, questions, posts, videos, articles and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, J, H, SP, PB’, Heidi McGrue, Clark PUD, Port of Ridgefield, Boulder County, Cowlitz PUD, Moraine St Park, Dyfi Osprey Project, BofPH, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Smallwood State Park, Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home, PSEG, Radford University Ospreys, Field Farm, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), SK Hideways, SOAR, CS, Mlade Buky Stork Cam, Montana Osprey Project, VGCCO, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Amersfoort Falcons, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Patuxent River Park, Mispillion Harbour, Window to Wildlife, Eagle Club of Estonia, IWS/Explore, and USFWS History Archives.
As citizens of Manitoba, we are really learning about what it means to live on the floor of what was once Lake Agassiz —- in other words, a flood plain. Two more Colorado Lows are set to dump more water on a province that is flooded south of Winnipeg and north of Winnipeg. One big lake save for those communities who spent funds on creating their own dams. The loss is enormous but looking at it from a wildlife perspective, one has to wonder where all the deer, the nests, and the animals have gone. I have seen one image of deer walking along a railroad track that runs from Winnipeg to the US border trying to find dry land and food. That border is now closed as are many highways and even some bridges in my City. Years ago one of our Premiers decided to build what was teasingly called ‘Duff’s Ditch’. Well, everyone should be grateful to Duff Roblin for having that kind of insight. The City is mostly dry and safe.
There are few birds in the garden as the raindrops begin to fall on a grey day.
I am as nervous as Blue 33 (11) is as he comes in and off the nest at Manton Bay checking on Maya and the eggs. There are three. At one point you could only see two, has there been a hatch? So, we wait for confirmation one way or the other! I cannot see any egg shells so I suspect that pesky egg is hiding!
It is certainly time to begin checking on the Black Stork nests in Estonia and Latvia. There is something curious that I noticed which I suspect my friends in Estonia have known all along. Jan and Jaanika laid their eggs a whole month earlier this year than last. In 2020, the eggs were laid on 12 May, 14 May, 16 May, and the 18th of May. Hatch from 14-17 June. This year the eggs were laid on 15, 17, 19, 21 April, 23 and the sixth and final egg on 25 April! This is excellent – the timing. Last year the couple was so very late that Janika started her migration before the chicks had fledged. It was a very difficult time and the food for the chicks was supplemented by fish being brought to the nest by the wildlife specialist, J Kuze.
The Black Stork in Estonia is so rare that every effort is made to help them that is possible.
I am not a stork expert. It would seem, however, that the parents cannot support six storklings very easily and they will probably select the three strongest. But, we wait to see.
Here is the link to Jan and Jaanika’s streaming cam in Jogeva County, Estonia:
I also checked on the nest of Karl II and Kaia in the Karula National Forest in the south of Estonia. The eggs for this year were laid on almost the identical dates as last year. Those days were 24, 26, 29 April and 1 May. Hatch began in 2021 on 28 May.
This is the link to Karl II and Kaia’s nest in the forest.
Sadly, it appears that Grafs and Grafiene did not return to their nest this year in the Sigulda Region of Latvia. Did they not survive migration? or did they decide to locate their nest elsewhere? I do know the answer to this but I will try to find out.
There is only one osprey nest in Latvia. This year only the male returned, Theo. He tried to attract many females to his beautiful nest. It is hoped that a young female, tagged UV and an Estonian female, will stay with them. Mating was attempted this morning but UV was not receptive. Sadly, this nest is a bit haunted. None of the former chicks have survived due to goshawk predation.
Here is the link to the Kurzeme camera of Theo:
In comparison, the Osprey nest of Ivo an Iiris in Tarta County, Estonia has done well. All of the couple’s chicks fledged last year!
Pip watch will begin on the 21st of May. That is only 12 days from now. Here is a link to Ivo and Iiris’s streaming camera:
Gosh, Big Red is gorgeous. It is so hard to believe she is 19 years old. She is in such good shape this year. What a beautiful golden glow on her and the four eyases as a new morning wakes up on the Cornell Campus.
This is a great nest to watch! There is plenty of time to watch these eyases develop, fledge, and then learn to be a ‘hawk’. Arthur will teach them flying and hunting with Big Red joining in. There is nothing better than seeing the parents teach the chicks how to hunt a squirrel in a tree!!!!!!
The two eyases at the Red-tail Hawk at the Presidio Trust Building in San Francisco are doing fine. These two are really growing. Look at the size of that wing. Wow.
Peregrine Falcon chicks are doing well this morning, too. The chicks at the scrape in the tower of Chichester Cathedral just had their afternoon tea.
All five eyases were fed and happy this morning at the Manchester, New Hampshire scrape.
Sleeping babies at Utica, New York scrape. Will the other eggs hatch? We will see.
Henry and Poppy do a great job taking care of their two chicks at the Cromer scrape. If you are interested in their day to day activities, there is a great blog with this nest that has images and comments of everything that happens on the nest. I will post it after the image of the chicks!
If you are wondering about the third egg at the U-Cal Berkeley scrape of Annie and Alden, don’t. It is non-viable. If it were going to hatch it would have happened on Saturday. What will they do with it? Incubate it, roll it around, or break it – or maybe Sean or Lynne will collect it for the museum when they clean the scrape.
Two healthy chicks are good. They are incredibly adorable.
All three eaglets are accounted for on the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta.
TH1 at the nest of Chase and Cholyn is getting its blood feathers. There are a few lingering dandelions on the top of the head. It will not be long until this wee one looks like its cousins at the West End.
I checked on two nests in the East – PIttsburgh Hayes with its triplets and the National Arboretum nest. They are all awake and looking good this morning.
The three are beginning to fill up the nest!
Breakfast time for DC9. Looking good. There was a little concern earlier for DC9 because a bird had been brought on the nest as a prey item. Everything seems to be alright.
I want to leave you with a smile. A Canada Goose has chosen a planter on the deck of a Calgary, Alberta couple to lay its eggs three years in a row!
Lots happening today. Some exciting. Some sad. The youngest golden eaglet has been killed at the Estonian nest. It had been beaked by its eldest sibling earlier and prey became scarce and the oldest killed the youngest today. That was the Golden Eagle nest in the Soomaa National Park in Southwestern Estonia. As I mention often, the rate of siblicide is much higher in nests other than falcons and hawks.
Thank you for joining me on this rainy grey day in Manitoba. Take care everyone. See you soon – hopefully with a news of the first Osprey hatch in the UK!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: LRWT, Eagle Club of Estonia, Latvian Fund for Nature, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Presidio Trust, Chichester Cathedral, Peregrine Networks, Utica Falcons, Cromer Peregrines, Explore.org, Pix Cams, and the NADC-AEF.
Our second stop, highly recommended by my old friend, Hazel, was the McManus Museum yesterday. For those thinking about going, entrance is free. This is a great place to take a family, lots of things for children to do and photography is allowed in all of the galleries unless it is a special exhibition. For those who cannot climb stairs, there is a lift and a cafe with a gift shop. The McManus is right in the centre of Dundee. A lovely place to visit with lots of shops about.
The building was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, and it has been the heart of the city’s culture since it opened in 1869. Scott was a leading architect of the Gothic Revival style. He was born in 1811 in Buckinghamshire. At the age of sixteen, in 1827, he moved to London where he trained as an architect under James Edmeston. Scott became enamoured with medieval Gothic and began travelling across Europe to see the buildings firsthand in the 1840s. Gothic Revival as it was in the 19th century drew its inspiration from the architecture of medieval Europe with its pointed arches, trefoils, and naturalistic foliage decoration. Scott was knighted in 1872 for his contributions to British architecture. The following year he became the President of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Scott dies five years later; he is buried in Westminster Abbey.
The McManus Museum was initially known as the Albert Institute. It was designed by Scott with building commencing in 1865. The structure was finished three years later in 1868. Initially, it had a library on the ground floor and a public hall on the second. Additions were added by David Mackenzie II (1832-1875) in 1872-74, and William Alexander (1841-1904) in 1887.
The first floor has several galleries including Dundee and the World, The Victorian Gallery, The Long Gallery, the 20th century Gallery, a revolving exhibition entitled ‘Here and Now’ and the Creative Learning Centre.
Dundee and the World showcase the international and maritime collections centred on world trade. Dundee was known for its business in jute and its whale hunting. Today along the coast of the North Sea corporations drill for ‘black gold’ or oil. The tour guides tell you that long before people had any need for this oil, they used oil from plants. Around 1700 someone discovered that oil from whales would soften jute and leather, could be burned as a fuel and could be made into soap. The boats carried crews of between 40 and 70 men who chased the whales in the North Sea and harpooned them. They would be tethered to the side of the ship where strips of blubber would be cut off and rendered to extract the oil. That was stored in barrels and sent back to Dundee. It is believed that the very first whaling ship to leave Dundee was in 1753. The early whalers travelled as far as the North Atlantic and the Arctic. Overhunting meant that by the 19th century almost all of the northern whales were dead. But the demand for oil did not stop, and Dundee whalers would travel to the South Atlantic to hunt. In 1872 Dundee was the most crucial whaling centre in Britain with catches of about 200 whales per year. The community prospered. Sails had to be made, ropes were needed, men to load and unload and to work on the ships. In fact, ships had to be made. Whaling stopped in 1912 as the number of whales had significantly declined and made it uneconomical. Whale oil was also being replaced by new oils including paraffin that was extracted from shale.
In its heyday, whale bones were used for lamp oil, cutlery handles, and lubricants while the baleen was used to stiffen corsets, for parasol ribs. The spermaceti from the head of the sperm whale provided the wax used in candles, cosmetics and medicines. The blubber or whale oil was processed for softening the jute in Dundee.
Other traditional Dundee industries included wool. The fibres were sent to the Netherlands to be dyed. Leather processing including processing the hides from Scottish cattle to make belts, shoes, gloves, hats, saddles, and harness. Shipbuilding was, of course, a big industry.
One startling exhibition was of two ‘Branks’. Branks were used from the 1600s onwards. They were also known as ‘Scould’s Bridles’ and were iron contraptions put on the heads of women accused of slander or sweating to prevent them from speaking. They were then led through the town! They were said to have originated in Germany and the Netherlands.
There is a lovely model of the city. Notice the church and all of the cramped quarters. When the jute mills were working you could not see the city from across the Tay, all of the fibres mixing about. And then there was also the pollution from the coal fires.
The children seemed to love the area that might be classified natural history as much as I did. There were hawks, Golden Eagles, rabbits of all sorts.
The Victoria Gallery was staggering. It is precisely what you imagine the annual exhibition at the Royal Academy would look like with pictures stacked one on top of the other. It was a bit overwhelming.
Restaurant recommendation for the day: The Bellrock in Arbroath. The fish (cod and haddock) are fresh every day, and if you think you have had great fish and chips, you need to try this place. It will cost you a tenner (twice as expensive as in Canada but twice as good). And because of the amount you get could be easily shared! On Sunday there is a buffet but the best fish is ordered off the menu.
