Tag Archives: Golden Gate Audubon Ospreys

Sadness at Captiva … and other Bird World News

15 March 2022

There are so many things happening in Bird World that it is impossible to keep up with the nests. There are also so many nests that have not even been mentioned in my blog. I will try to cover a few different ones, once in awhile. Hopefully you will discover something different and interesting. But I have to start with some sadness that could potentially grow to the entire nest.

This morning it was discovered that one of the three chicks on the Captiva Osprey nest has died. It is not clear which one it is yet as I write. Lori has asked permission to go to the nest and have the body removed so that it can be tested.

All of the chicks were alive at 07:43.

A fish came in and Little who had been up moving sticks was eating.

From what I can tell, it is the Middle chick that I have been calling Middle Bob that has passed. He did not come up to eat as quickly as the others but did try to feed at 08:33.

Andy came in with sea grass to cover the body of his baby.

How sad this is for these two lovely Osprey parents. They will not know what happened to what appeared to be a fully healthy chick. These two have tried so hard and lost chicks to Ravens but to have one die mysteriously is so tragic. My thoughts go out to Andy and Lena. I hope that this is not the avian flu and that Big and Little will be fine and fledge.

However, if this happens to be H5N1 the highly pathogenic avian flu all of these beautiful osplets could perish. We wait to see.

CROW has been given permission to remove the body and is on high alert over Avian Flu. Permission still needs to come from the USFW service. This is such a sad day. Condolences go out to everyone at Captiva who worked so hard towards a successful nest for Andy and Lena this year.

I will admit to not being happy when the Great-Horned Owls took over the Savannah Skidaway Island Osprey Nest. Not happy. The female hatched one chick that is affectionately known as ‘Little Grey’. I have to admit that wee one is cute and is always so happy when the Mum appears on the nest. It will go running for a cuddle. Here is a video of the Mum bringing a Barred Owl to the nest for lunch. Watch Little Grey when it sees its Mum and runs to her. Enjoy!

Some of you will remember that I wrote about Isabella Tree’s book Rewilding and the move at Knepp Farm in Surrey to turn away from modern agriculture practices and return their farm into a place where nature thrives on its own accord. They have set up the only streaming cam for White Storks in the UK. The birds are not always on the nest so be patient. I am hoping to see some eggs soon! You can find this new streaming cam here:

https://www.whitestorkproject.org/live?fbclid=IwAR38_Hoj5djOymLqdGX8cCltvtfkrkMYCf1nFplBFLC6bK-aoH6izrZyquA

Are you a fan of the Dulles Greenway Eagles in Virginia? The nest is located in a wetland area. The first egg was laid on 1 February with the second on 4 February. Egg 1 hatched on 13 March at 08:18.

Oh, this little one is a real cutie pie.

Rosa is feeding the wee one some duck. What a beautiful nest.

There is no history of this couple at the nest. They arrive in 2021 and the information on the streaming cam suggests that Rosa is a first time mother this year. Whatever, congratulations Rosa and Martin on hatch 1! Hatch 2 should be happening soon.

Here is the link to their cam:

Normally Maya and Blue 33 are the first Ospreys back in the UK. To go along with that they usually arrive within half an hour of one another. The first this year was Laddie LM12 at Loch of the Lowes but, the second was Maya! She arrived officially on 15 March, today.

She is in remarkably good shape and begins immediately to work on her nest!

There is another female working with some fairly large sticks, too, and that is Rosie of Rosie and Richmond Osprey nest at the SF Bay Whirley Crane. The Ravens removed all of the twigs from their nest over the winter so there is a log of work today in California. Maya is a little luckier.

I started this blog last evening and to find one of the chicks at Captiva is dead is quite overwhelming. They were so healthy. It is not good to speculate what happened. There could be a number of causes. We normally think of birds having to come in contact with a sick bird or its feces. The chicks have only eaten fish. But, still, everyone is on high alert as this is a very contagious disease. Sadly, Andy or Lena might dispose of the body before it can be retrieved for testing. In the UK, studies have show that they take the body about 300 metres from the nest – if they do not leave it in the chick in the nest to become part of its history.

It is now after noon and Lena has stood over her chicks shading them from the sun including Middle. My heart just breaks for these parents.

On this very sad note I am going to end my blog this morning and watch the other two chicks and their behaviour.

Thank you for joining me. I am so sorry to bring you this sad news this morning. This was not the nest I was worried about! Dale Hollow is. I will check on it, too, later. Take care everyone.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: LWRT Ospreys, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Golden Gate Audubon and SF Bay Ospreys, Dulles Greenway Bald Eagles, and Cornell Bird Lab.

Late Monday 19 July in Bird World

When every fledgling is hungry and Mum brings in a fish:

This is currently the state at the Foulshaw Moss Osprey nest where the three fledglings are waiting on the nest for a fish drop and each one of them is food begging. Tiny Little has lost out today so let us hope that Blue 35 shows up and feeds him. The birds do not need to eat every day – a lesson that they will have to learn.

I have watched and watched but was away for a couple of hours. It is unclear if Tiny Little had any fish today. At 22:00 one of the big siblings was on the nest eating. At first Tiny Little food called to Mum but then he laid down like his cute duckling self and didn’t continue. The big sibling ate the entire fish, flew off, and then Blue 35 left also.

Nite Nite Tiny Little. Have some sweet fishy dreams – and if you are hungry tomorrow, let everyone know it.

The film, Brave New Wilderness, is only showing in New Zealand on Vimeo right now. It is about the recovery efforts going on for the Kakapo and the Takahe. Watch for when it will be released worldwide on Vimeo. Here is that trailer:

There are now only 202 Kakapo in the world. Kakapo parrots that cannot fly. They are loners. They rarely interact with one another. The only time that they come out of their ‘own space’ is during the summer and fall breeding season or you might find 2 to 4 gathered at a food dispenser on the island. Kakapo will only breed if there is lots of food and that food must be Rimu fruit. It is sometimes called Bush Tucker and is a group of Indigenous foods that grow wild.

“Ripe rimu fruit” by Department of Conservation is licensed under CC BY 2.0

This is Sinbad and he has been fitted with a very special transmitter by the Kakapo Recovery. This transmitter will not only will give Sinbad’s GPS but will also tell the researchers and staff of the recovery if Sinbad has mated.

Because of their solitary nature the Kakapo have to be fitted with transmitters so that they can get their health checks. It has made a huge difference in the population as any ill birds can be sent out for wildlife veterinary assistance.

Some people thought it was funny but right now it is such an effort to feed four people that Laddie, LM 12, losing a fish over the side of the nest on a delivery at 17:05 feels rather tragic. I know that Tiny Little would have liked to have been under that nest to catch that fish!

The storkling that fledged is back up on the nest with her other siblings. So everything is fine in Mlade Buky with the White Storks. Good news. So happy when the fledglings don’t get themselves into a spot of mischief.

It’s 5:54 at the Patuxent Osprey Nest 2 and Mom has a fish and there are three hungry chicks. The chick that fell into the water is doing fine. What a relief to have that little one back on the nest! One of the rescuers told my reader ‘L’ that they were fortunate because it was still low tide when they went to find the baby. Everyone is still so grateful!

I have to admit to almost having a mini-meltdown. One of the chicks was so well hidden behind mum that it looked like this nest had lost another one overboard. Thank goodness it was just the angle of the camera!

That is a short round up today. All of the UK Osprey nests are doing great. The fledglings are all flying and getting stronger save for our little one, Tiny Little. Her confidence is growing and no doubt by this time next week we will be wishing she was back being a duckling on the nest.

Thank you so much for joining me. So happy that you enjoy the birds! It is lovely to have you with us.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I get my screen shots: Mlade Buky White Stork Cam, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Friends of Loch of the Lowes, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest, and the Patuxent Park Osprey Nest 2 as well as the Kakapo Recovery FB Page and SF Bay Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon for their video.