It is a gorgeous hot day in Manitoba- ‘sultry’ my mother would have called it. The walk at the nature centre felt like running a marathon inside a steam bath.
Chipmunk waiting to see if anyone had a peanut.
The only birds that were out were the American Goldfinches, the Redwing Blackbirds, the Black-capped Chickadees, and the Yellow Warblers.
American Goldfinch (m) and Black-capped Chickadee at the Nyger Seed Cylinder.Yellow Warbler. Male. Adult.
As I was leaving I spotted the goslings. Oh, they are getting their long necks. The adults had them on a grassy knoll eating. Four adults caring for 4 goslings – it looks like two of the goslings are missing. You can one gosling near the centre with its long neck.
Crows. I learned something today that I want to pass on. If you see a Crow on the ground and it cannot fly, before you rush it off to the wildlife rehab centre, look at its eyes. What colour are they? If they are blue, the one on the ground is a fledgling. The adults have dark black eyes and they will be around watching their little one working its way on the grass. In a couple of weeks it will fly again. Of course, there are predators lurking about, too — feral cats, dogs, etc. Normally the parents will be in a place where they can dive bomb attempts at predation.
Fledgling Crow with Blue Eyes @Liz Henry
I want to give a big shout out to the NZ DOC. Once again they have come to the aid of Royal Cam chick QT with a supplementary feeding to bring her weight up. They are also feeding another chick 6 days a week – its parents have failed to return. Without the supplementary feedings, QT chick would not survive. A single parent simply cannot bring in enough food for these growing offspring. NZ takes really good care of its wildlife. Oh, for other birds to be so lucky. There are serious threats to the Albatross – the most significant are the long line fishing boats. The birds are literally decapitated. Yes, it is horrible. They go after the food on the fishing lines.
Of course, the solutions are very simple and do not cost much, if anything. 1. Instead of baiting the hooks during the day, do it at night! 2. Put sparkly streamer lines on the hook and bait. 3. Put the lines over the side of the vessel instead of at the rear. 4. Put weights on the lines to hold them down so the fish bait and the hooks do not dance on the surface of water. 5. Dye the bait blue and the albatross will never want it.
It is seriously that simple and we would not have to worry. As it stands, one Wandering Albatross is decapitated every five minutes. That species is now vulnerable to extinction.
How can you help? By insisting that the fish you purchase is ethically produced.
Much better images of this adorable chick getting a feeding from her lovely Mum, YRK yesterday.
If you are a fan of the Royal Albatross they will be ringing QT chick on the 29th of July. Remember – that is Australia, a day ahead of North America. She will be ready to fledge in September. I do not have a time for the ringing. When I find out I will let you know.
Llyn Brenig are looking for the names for the two osplets. The local school children have come up with ideas for 2 names for the female and 2 ideas for names for the male. Now it is time to vote. You can only vote by going to the Brenig Osprey Project FB page. You do not have to be a member. Here is the information and just look at those chicks. The camera does not do them justice – not at all. Just look at those white chins and beards and all that peach. Seriously, I wish the adults were this beautiful!
My friend ‘T’ sent me this video link for an event that took place 2 days ago. Thanks ‘T’. I cracked up and couldn’t help but share it with you. It is #3 nest at Saaksilvie in Finland. The back story is that the Mum loves her fish and sometimes eats first before she feeds the chicks and sometimes eats it all and doesn’t bring fish to the chicks (or that was her behaviour last year). You can create your own story about what is going on but be sure to watch the expression on Mum’s face!
Thank you so much for joining me today. Have a lovely evening. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for the streaming cams where I took my screen captures: NZ DOC and Cornell Bird Lab and Brenig Osprey Project.
Good Morning everyone. The sun is trying to shine in southern Manitoba and the sky is light blue grey. Everyone is preparing for the onslaught of more rain headed our way — will it really be 50mm? That is close to 2 inches.
Mother Goose waiting for the all clear to leap from the Decorah nest. 28 April 2022
First up. I have received a number of letters about the 5th gosling of Mother Goose at the Decorah, Iowa nest. As many of you know, three goslings were with Mother and Father Goose after they jumped out of the nest and two were not. Boots on the ground found 4 and got it with Mum and Dad. Volunteers of the Raptor Resource Project and Mother and Father Goose continued to look and call for the 5th. Sadly, it was found dead. According to the following official release, it was not the youngest that died.
This is the statement released by the Raptor Research Project on their FB page:
“The goslings jumped today! We’ll have video tomorrow, but for now, we know that: Four of five goslings survived and were last seen swimming happily in Trout Creek, foraging along the bank, and following their parents up and down the small pool below the nest. One of the four went the wrong way after jumping! We managed to reunite it with its family after some mad scrambling through the brush, a low crawl across the river bank, and a little rock jumping. This gosling seemed determined to stay with new Papa. David Kester: it took two tries to get it back where it belonged! One gosling died. We initially thought it might have been the last to jump, since it was younger and smaller than its siblings and took a while to follow them out of the nest. But the gosling we reunited with its family was smaller than the one we found dead. We suspect (but don’t know for sure), that the reunited gosling was the last gosling, and the gosling that died was gosling number two. One, three, and four joined their parents quickly, but we don’t think we saw two after it jumped.”
The ‘sad’ part of all of this is that Mother Goose is still looking for her 5th gosling. She was at the nest this morning.
The Cape Wildlife Centre taught us much last season about Canada Geese – if we did not already know. When Arnold had his digit bitten off by a snapping turtle in their pond, Amelia looked and looked for him. She waited on the porch knowing he was inside the clinic (their pond is on the grounds of the clinic). The staff helped them to be together, for her to watch Arnold’s recovery, for them to share meals, and then finally to be outside. The take away from that is that Canada Geese are intelligent and sentinel. Was the dead gosling shown to the parents? And in asking that question I am not criticizing what was done yesterday at Mother Goose’s nest. Just asking a question. If not, perhaps in the future this should be done and also, when one goose is taken into care, that the other one go along, too! They really are bonded!!!!!!
L4 at the Cornell Red0-tail Hawk nest did survive what felt like a 72 hour pip and hatch. It completed its hatch at 23:08 on the 28th of April. Here is the video of Big Red and Arthur and their four Ls! Congratulations Big Red and Arthur!!!!!! This is going to be fun. Big Red will be in her glory – 4. It is, as far as is known, a first for her.
L4 will be substantially smaller than L1 which is a week older. But, see all that prey on the nest. There is plenty of food and there is no reason not to believe that L4 will not thrive. The beaking only occurs in falcons and hawks because 1) their eyes have to become clear and focused and 2) every black beak with pink inside is potentially food. Normally subsides after a week. As far as my understanding goes, siblicide is extremely rare in hawks and falcons unlike eagles and ospreys.
Yes, Arthur, there really are four of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just look at the prey pantry in this nest. Arthur is so excited it will be filled to the brim with all sorts of critters. No one will go hungry. In the image below, Big Red is checking each beak to make sure none of the Ls want any more squirrel before she quits feeding. She is a pro at taking care of chicks and Big Red loves being a Mum.
There are a couple of Bald Eagle nests that I continue to check. One of those is the National Arboretum nest in Washington, DC. Mr President and Lotus have a gorgeous eaglet who is just losing the last of the dandelions on the top of its head. However, this eaglet has been fed duck and I worry a little when waterfowl are consumed because of H5N1.
The remaining two Osplets at the UFlorida-Gainesville nest on the light stand are doing fine.
Both of the eaglets at the MN-DNR nest are doing fine this morning also. They have had some waterfowl so I continually check on them like the NADC-AEF nest.
The two eaglets on the Dale Hollow nest continue to thrive also. They are gorgeous birds and today they are (counting hatch day) 61 days old. Soon!
I know that almost everyone is a fan of Harriet and M15 at Fort Myers. It appears that E19 might have left the territory yesterday. Lady Hawk made a video of those final interactions and moments.
There is good news. Janika returned safely to her nest with Jan yesterday at 16:15. There had been a fight with an intruder and Mum is now home safely after some worry. Jan and Janika have 6 eggs in their nest in Jogeva County, Estonia. They were laid on April 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, and 25. The last time I checked on this nest – shame on me – we were waiting for Janika to return from migration! Hopefully no more intruders!
If you watch this nest – and storks are absolutely lovely with all their rituals – you must be prepared for the parents to ‘sort’ the chicks. A clutch of six is surely too many to feed – but we will find out.
The celebration is still going on in Poole Harbour. Ospreys CJ7 and Blue 022 are making history. CJ7 laid her third egg at 08:57 on the 29th of April. Will she stop at three? Oh, I hope so. Remember, these are the first osprey eggs laid for 200 years and then – the first fledges in 200 years. I can hear the ‘happiness’ for all those involved in the Osprey restoration/relocation project to Poole.
It was the tail movement that gave it all away. CJ7 should begin hard incubation now.
Want to watch history being made? Here is the link to the streaming cam at Poole Harbour.
In Latvia, at the nest of Anna and Andris in a Spruce tree in the Zemgale region, Andris brought a very small snack to his mate. So far, the Lesser Spotted Eagles have only one egg which was laid on the 26th of April. Perhaps it will hold at one!
Karl II and Kaia now have three eggs in their Black Stork nest. That nest is in Karula National Park in the very south of Estonia. Kaia is Karl’s new mate as of 2020. Their first clutch was not successful. In 2021, they fledged three! This year, Karl II returned from migration on 8 April with Kaia arriving on the 12th. I am very fond of this nest and this couple! Third season.
There is Karl II with his band and his tracker. You can follow him all the way back to the Sudan and Chad when he migrates in the fall.
Here is the link to Karl II and Kaia’s streaming cam in Estonia:
As we wait anxiously for the Peregrine Falcon nests to begin hatching – and I am really anxious for Annie and Alden – there are four eyases in the scrape in Utrecht. Each is doing very well.
Here is a video of the snack feeding a few hours ago:
Here is the link to the falcon cam in Utrecht with those four gorgeous little ones.
Here is a link to a peregrine falcon scrape cam in Belgium where there are also four little falcons.
This nest in Belgium also has a great entrance cam!
For those of us wanting an international ban on sticky glue traps, England has now banned their use. Excellent news. Here is the announcement that came yesterday, “The Glue Traps (Offences) Act, introduced by Jane Stevenson MP, bans the use of inhumane glue traps which are a widely available method of rodent control but can cause immense suffering. Animals can remain alive for 24 hours or more, eventually dying of stress, exhaustion, dehydration or self-inflicted injuries”.
With the exception of the one gosling not surviving the jump at Decorah, everything seems to be fine in Bird World on Friday morning the 29th of April. Thank you so much for joining me. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cam and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: The Latvian Fund for Nature, The Eagle Club of Estonia, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Explore.org, NADC-AEF, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Oudenaarde Falcon Cam, Raptor Research Project, DHEC, MN-DNR, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, and LFC Utrecht.
How many weekends have I mentioned that southern Manitoba would be having a weather event? Well, this has to be the 3rd or 4th. Keeping track of them might make me miserable. But yes, we will have another 50mm of precipitation starting late Friday evening and into Saturday. Is it possible we will go straight from winter to summer? Spring and fall seem to be getting eliminated.
Well, let us start with the sad and end with something nicer.
Mother Goose got her 5 babies down from the eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa on the second try. The 6th egg was non-viable and the 5th gosling had only hatched the night before. It was not yet 24 hours old as I understand it.
Three of the goslings were with the parents and a volunteer with the Raptor Research Project found the fourth immediately. Mother and Father Goose called and looked for the 5th baby as did boots on the ground. Sadly, it was found deceased. The remaining four are very healthy and let us wish them a good life.
My friend ‘R’ in Pennsylvania sent me a copy of a poster. Thank you, ‘R’. The more we know, the better equipped we are to deal with situations. This is particularly geared to backyard poultry. As all of you are aware, the H5N1 strain of the Avian Flu is taking its toll on waterfowl and raptors that eat bird. Many have ‘free range’ flocks that sell eggs from chickens and ducks that are allowed to roam free. You might know of someone who could benefit from this information from the PA State Department of Agriculture.
Intruders. The birds in the SF Bay area have been having a lot of intruders – many of them lethal. Richmond and Rosie can hardly take a breath without someone, many times another Osprey, coming to their nest where they are incubating three eggs!
Oh, the female eaglet of Thunder and Akecheta has the most beautiful name. Kana’kini. My possibly poor translation is kana – powerful, and kini is beautiful and gorgeous. If that is correct it fits well with this very stunning powerful female eaglet.
Kana’kini certainly has big powerful legs. Get out the worry beads. She is jumping and flapping on the nest! But I want you to look at the small male to the right. Look at that crop! Apparently it is crab that Thunder brought to the nest. Just look at that!
Big Red is another gorgeous powerful female. I cannot explain it but the last time I checked L4 was still working away at hatching. The time of the first pip had to not so accurate???? Even if L4 does not hatch, just look at our Red-tail Hawk Mama gazing lovingly down at one of the Ls.
It was such a relief yesterday for Lori Covert to confirm that both of the fledglings of the Captiva Osprey nest are alive, flying with their parents, and obviously being fed. Little or MiniO is getting food off camera and well, ‘Lena’s boy’ Middle or LittleO loves to eat at the nest.
TH1 is in the Two Harbours nest tonight! Do you always check, too? Those railings that Dr Sharpe and his volunteers brought and fixed continue to keep the wee one end. It will not be long until Dr Sharpe is back up to the nest banding Chase and Cholyn’s only baby.
It looks like Harry and Nancy at the MN-DNR eagle nest are doing some branching demonstrations for the two big eaglets.
Lady Hawk did a great video of Harriet and M15’s E19 and E20 playing down at the pond yesterday. Oh, they are beautiful strong eaglets.
Port Lincoln has been cleaning up the barge with the Osprey’s nest getting it ready for the 2022 season for Mum and Dad. There is also a new sign for all those people who feel entitled to distress the raptors.
So far, so good with all the nests. Be sure to make a note that 5-6 of May (that is next week) is hatch watch for Annie, Alden, and Grinnell at the CalFalcons scrape. Tomorrow I hope to check on some of the European Osprey and eagle nests.
Take care everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Explore.org, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife, and MN-DNR.
It is Thursday but, for some reason, it feels like Saturday. I could not possibly tell you why. Does this ever happen to you? It has also been quite a number of hours waiting. Waiting for the goslings Mum to take the leap and them to follow at Decorah and waiting for L4 at Big Red and Arthur’s nest on the Cornell Campus.
It is nearing 08:30 Saturday morning in Decorah, Iowa. The precipitation that was falling earlier appears to have stopped. One little gosling was thirsty and drank the drops on Mother Goose’s feathers – and so did Mother Goose. How long has she been on the nest without getting off? 48 hours? She must be hungry and very thirsty since she has not been able to leave since the wee ones began hatching. It is quite windy. Will that impact the timing for leaving the nest?
They are certainly squiggly and – well, curious little ones. Adorable.
Mother Goose’s body and system of wings and tail opening and lowering reminds me of one of those big cargo planes where they raise the tail up and lower a ramp. Did they look at a goose for the design?
Watching and listening for her Mate.
It is 10:46 in Decorah. Mother Goose continues to look and listen for the ‘Go’ sign. I wonder how much those wind gusts impact the decision? There are five, BTW, goslings. It appears the sixth egg has not hatched.
There are 1878 people watching and waiting the Decorah Mother Goose nest. Splendid. It is a joyful change. Those fuzzy little yellow goslings with the black legs and webbed feet, black bill, and black dot on their head and back are darlings. They are also precocial. They hatch with down, can walk and swim, and can feed themselves. They will stay to learn from Mum and Dad and for safety.
The first time it didn’t work. Mother Goose jumped down at 12:02 CDT but the goslings did not follow. Mother and Father Goose called and called. It was windy. So, Mum returned, gathered up the kids and got them warm and waited for a bit. Then she tried it again! This time everything went perfectly. She hesitated at the spot where she was jumping so the goslings would see and follow her from there.
This time they seem to be paying more attention to what Mum is doing.
Gosh they are cute.
At first, we held our breath. Only three???
The parents were calling and looking for the other two.
Four of the goslings are with the parents. One is missing in the tall grass. There are volunteers from Raptor Resource Project on the ground helping to find the baby. There is lots of grass for it to eat and water. It is just a matter of time til all are together. It was a beautiful nest to watch.
Thank you to the person who did the video of the goslings getting down. Notice that the Sparrow and the Starling come in to get some of that nice fluffy down for their nests.
There are the four. The parents are hanging around. With them and the boots on the ground, I am really hopeful that the youngest gosling will be reunited with its family shortly. It hatched last night and is 24 hours younger than the other siblings.
One woman said that this is more nerve-wrecking than watching an eaglet fledge. Yes, it truly is! Especially when you think they will get caught in the twigs on the nest trying to get down.
We are waiting for L4. There may have been a pip on the 25th of April at 0655 but this is still only a possibility. The little one is still hammering away. Because so many people watch the eagle and osprey nests, it is worrying when you realize that there will be a week’s difference between L1 and L4. Falcon and hawk nestlings are not like eagle and ospreys. Yes, they appear to be ‘beaking’ but it is because their eyesight has not cleared and every black beak with pink inside – just like Big Red – is a potential food source. The experts have said there should not be any worries as long as there is lots of food. That said, this is the first time Big Red has had 4 eggs. So we wait. Hopefully that hatch will occur today.
Big Red likes to keep her kids full to the brim and Arthur is an excellent hunter. There is a pile of prey on the nest already and apparently there are lots of squirrels and chipmunks, voles, etc in the Finger Lakes area this year.
Progress. I sure hope that L4 doesn’t tire itself out getting out. It happens.
The first osplet has hatched at the Dahlgren Osprey Nest for Jack and Harriet at 22:06:43 on the 27th of April (yesterday). Their nest is located at the mouth of the Machodoc Creek in King George, Virginia. Thankfully many of the toys that Jack brings in have found themselves either blown off the nest or moved to the edges so that they do not harm the wee babies.
Jack brought in a nice fish. Harriet would much rather have a fish than have a toy! It is hard to see but the chick is in that deep egg cup. The first feeding of the wee one happened around 10:00 Thursday the 28th.
If you are looking for more Osprey nests to watch or want to check out a new one, here is a good resource with a description of each nest and a link:
Ospreys come to Canada near the end of April or early May for breeding. One of our national news casters covered the arrival of the couple at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia named Oscar and Ethel.
I am looking forward to the flood waters subsiding and travelling on some of the rural roads to check on the Osprey nests in Manitoba.
At the Osprey nest in Lyn Brenig, Wales, LM6 and LD2 have their second egg of the season. Oh, bless their hearts that they returned. The community worked so hard to get a new platform up where their old nest had been when it was chainsawed down last year. There was no promise that they would return but, now – wow. Two eggs with the promise of a third probably.
This is the link to the Lyn Brenig streaming cam:
We are about a week away from the hatch at The Campanile. Alden has been a terrific mate. Him and Rosie seem to be working – as my mother would have said, ‘like a well oiled clock’. Here they are changing incubation duties.
Life seems to be good in Bird World. I did a quick check on all the nests and even the ones that have eaten duck seem to be alright. What an exciting day with those goslings finally getting off the eagle’s nest and down into the water. They are so adorable. I will now turn my attention to Big Red and L4 while I continue reading that amazing book, The Eagle Man about the life of Charles Broly. It is excellent. What is surprising, so far, is that many of the concerns that the Broly’s had in the early 1950s still seem to be prevalent today. One day I hope to get around to writing a review for all of you. If you see a copy, grab it. I would not have thought a book about eagles and eagle banding would be a page turner but it is.
Thank you so much for joining me today. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for the streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Explore.org, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Dahlgren Osprey Cam, Lyn Brenig Osprey Cam, and Cal Falcons.
Yesterday Dr Sharpe rescued Chase and Cholyn’s only eaglet from the side of the cliff face.
Today, Lori Covert, the owner of the property which is home to the Captiva Osprey and Bald Eagles nests saw the entire family flying in the mangroves. Yes! The entire family: Andy, Lena, Middle (or LittleO) and Little (or MiniO). What a relief to know that Little MiniO is fine and well and being cared for and with the parents!
Middle of LittleO flew up to the nest for some fish and this finding means that Andy is finding fish for Little or MiniO and feeding her off nest. Fantastic news.
More good news comes from Wales. Last year someone with a chain saw cut down the platform that LJ2 and LM6 were using for their nest. It was traumatic that they did not have chicks last year. A new platform has been erected and the pair have laid their first egg this morning at 08:24. And, yes, there is heightened security at the site this year.
‘B’ sent me a video that is a recap of the season so far at the Cal Falcon nest. You might want to have a look. Even though it is hard, it is wonderful to be able to see and remember Grinnell.
The two eyases at the Anacapa Peregrine cliff scrape are doing fantastic, too.
Here is a link to that cam:
There are at least four goslings, perhaps five, now at the Decorah Mother Goose nest. Everyone is anxious for Mum to fly down and the goslings to join her. There is at least one more egg to hatch and she may wait to see if it will hatch. There are also wind gusts at the site.
She is very patient with that little one.
Each one of the triplets is accounted for on the West End nest. They have been wingersizing in the afternoon and I just checked and they are all home. Relief.
There was a shift change at the Cornell Red tail hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur.
That gave us a chance to see the three Ls and to check on the hatch of L4. You can clearly see the egg tooth working away. And it was moving so the chick is alive. I understand that part of the shell as fallen in on itself. Big Red may do her famous rolling trick to help it once it gets closer to hatch.
The pantry is well stocked. Arthur has been very busy.
Everyone go awwwwwwah. Arthur is so cute and he does just fine brooding the babies. He loves to look after them!
The eaglets at the MN-DNR are alive and the leaves and tree are swaying in the wind. The camera had frozen this morning.
The two eagles at the Dale Hollow nest are also doing just fine. They are sure interested in the world beyond the nest!
That is a quick rap of the good news on the nests today. Thank you so much for joining me. Remember to head over to the Decorah Eagle nest to see the fun with the Canada Goose and her goslings! Take care. See you soon.
Thanks to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Explore.org, Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife, Cornell RTH, DHEC, and MN-DNR.
A pair of Greater White Fronted Geese made their nest on a White Stork Platform at Schloss Benkhausen in the Minden-Lubbecke District of Germany. The platform had been built in 2019 as part of the ‘Save the White Stork’ Committees efforts to bring the White Storks back into the area. The goos laid twelve eggs. Ten of the twelve eggs hatched and this morning, 16 June 2021, those ten fuzzy little goslings took a 23.4 metre leap of faith (80 feet).
It was the first time that I had seen the two parents on the nest at the same time.
They spent a lot of time checking the surrounding landscape to make certain that there were no predators around. No doubt a fox could have heard all of the cheeping of the goslings under their mother.
The mother eases away and begins to let the little ones out from under her.
You can see one of them.
Then there are two. The parents are still checking to see if it is safe.
Both parents checked the two eggs that had not hatched with all the others and determined that they were not viable eggs. Then an adult jumped to the ground. Once they had determined that it was safe, the other goose made sure that the little goslings were standing along the rim like they had been when both parents were up on the high nest.
Then that parent jumped!
And then the ten little goslings all took a leap of faith and jumped down to join their parents.
Congratulations! What a glorious way to start a sunny summer morning.
Thank you to the streaming cam of the Schloss Benkhausen. That is where I took my video clip and screen captures.
Daisy has been on the nest quietly but alertly brooding her eggs. She took a very early morning break from 4:13:44 to 5:16:34. Possibly a bathroom break for a duck or a chance to grab a quick breakfast and cool off in the water before one of the hottest days on the nest. It is 14:06:40 and our cute little duck is panting quickly in order to regulate her temperature despite the fact that there is now shade on the nest.
There is finally shade on the nest but it is still very very hot for our favourite duck.
Someone asked me about the ducklings. Is it safe for them to hatch and jump from a nest in a tree 75 feet high? Yes, it is perfectly safe. The ducklings are not harmed because the down on their body absorbs the impact. In fact, I am told that they actually bounce. It is hard to imagine! Last year a pair of Canada Geese laid their eggs in an Osprey nest in Minnesota. The goslings were recorded leaping down to the ground to everyone’s amazement. Some geese are known to build their nests on cliffs 150 feet high to be away from predators. No harm has come to the goslings when they have left from those nests.
Here is a video of a Wood Duck whose nest was in a very high tree. It is only 1.33 minutes long. Have a look. This is what Daisy’s ducklings will do. She will leap down to the forest floor and they will jump! Enjoy.
Wood Ducks Leaping from a very high nest in a tree.
Of course, there are many fears for Daisy. Remember, she is effectively a single mother in an environment that is unusual. Her ducklings will hatch and immediately start peeping. This will draw attention to the nest. It is only twenty-four hours after hatch that they take their ‘leap of faith’ jumping off of the big nest on the Ironbark Tree. But first, before they can do that, they have to survive any predators and somehow make their way through all those twigs to the rim without getting their little paddles caught up in them. And then there are the predators on the ground. I have often wondered why WBSE Dad has not damaged any more eggs. Is he just dropping by to check, waiting for them to hatch? Him and Lady are well known for bringing in the Silver Gull chicks to the nest for their eaglets. And then there is Mr. Raven and all the Pied Currawongs and last, but never least, the foxes. I am told that they have been removed from the park. I hope so. That would be one less thing for Daisy to worry about. But for now, we will just simply rejoice in every hassle free day that Daisy has. We are now half way in the incubation period to hatch watch: February 6-10.
It is now late afternoon in the forest. The sun is back shining on Daisy’s head and the nest cup. It is so hot that there are no sounds of any birds. Everyone is trying to keep cool.
Daisy begins to tuck the down in around her nest along with pulling leaves closer to her nest. Then she sees a shadow of a bird cross the nest and she stops! She waits and listens. Five minutes later she resumes her preparations for concealing her nest and heading to the water to eat and cool off. She flies off the nest to the left, to the closest water source, at 15:11:10.
Daisy moves her quickly to tuck in the down and pull leaves towards the nest.Daisy finding some last plant material to conceal her eggs before leaving.
It was so hot yesterday and it is even hotter today. If Daisy follows her pattern of late, she will return to the nest between 19:45:00 and 20:00. And if the Sea Eagles are being typical, if they are coming in to check it will be around 17:00 and Daisy will be gone!
