17 September 2026
Good Evening Everyone!
What a gorgeous fall day. It was 11 C when Toby and I went for our first walk. The sky was blue and there was a gentle breeze. The leaves were dancing down from the trees at the little park at the end of our street. If we go around 1000, Toby gets to see his friend, 17 month-old, Adelina. She claps her little hands when she sees him coming and he begins to go at a much quicker pace. It delights me!
My news will be short today – sorry. I continue to declutter, clean, and modify parts of the house in anticipation of Don returning home – at some point. Toby and I also spent three hours at the hospital. Prior to his admission, Don was mobile; he could feed and toilet himself – like everyone else. Today, he is, more or less, an invalid. The cause of the extreme change mystifies me.
Very sad news coming out of Syracuse University:
Well, the osprey news is rather thin.
At Hellgate Canyon, Wensi and Clarke were last seen about the same time, on the 6th of September. The latest Iris stayed was the 11th of September. This year, however, she has stayed longer. She was photographed eating a fish on the light stand at the baseball park where Louis and Starr have their nest. I understand this is south of Iris’s nest and could indicate the beginning of her migration.
Lin Lawson posted that image. I find it one of the most striking images of Iris – just her profile, eating a fish.
Well, she was still around on the 17th eating another fish on the light stand!!!!!!!!!!
The 18th will be exactly one week after our Queen has stayed. Each of us noticed Iris looking a little ‘worn out’ after raising Wensi. I am glad she is taking her time, getting fit, and putting some fat on. Female ospreys are known to lose at least 30% of their body weight laying eggs, incubating, and raising their chicks. They have to put that back on, plus some, to be truly ready for their long journeys to their winter homes.
It appears that C22 has finally left Montana and headed south. Charlie was seen enjoying eating his own fish without a screaming young one!
Cowlitz seems to be the only Pacific NW nest with an adult and chick still there.
In Canada, we still have a few ospreys.
Virginia Osprey Foundation’s latest newsletter:
Please note that this is included in the newsletter: “Public comments are being accepted through October 9, 2026. We strongly encourage everyone who cares about Ospreys, the Chesapeake Bay, and the health of our entire Bay ecosystem to participate. Please see the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Public Comment schedule here. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has provided a link so that you can sign onto their document which will be submitted to ASMFC.” Go to https://cbf.quorum.us/campaign/addendum2/?utm_source=action-alert&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=menhaden&utm_content=microsite
You do not have to live in the region. Please, please go to the document and sign it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
More on the issue of Menhaden and the rapid decline of the osprey population.
Another post – long so I have cut and pasted:
Justin Hawkins
STATE OF REALIZATION
“At some point, the menhaden debate has to become about more than how many fish we can legally remove.
It has to become about whether we should.
Menhaden are not just another commodity. They are forage. They move energy through the ecosystem, feeding redfish, striped bass, birds, sharks, dolphins, and countless other predators.
A school of menhaden entering an estuary isn’t an empty resource waiting to be extracted. It’s already doing something.
It’s feeding the ecosystem.
That’s what gets lost when we talk only about harvest limits.
And here’s the question I keep coming back to:
If we can develop alternatives to wild-caught forage fish, why wouldn’t we use them?
Algae, alternative feed ingredients, invasive species, and other technologies are already being investigated as substitutes for some of the products traditionally made from wild fish.
So why continue putting additional pressure on a foundational forage species when other options are becoming available?
This isn’t anti-fishing.
It isn’t anti-commercial fishing.
It’s a question of priorities.
In the Chesapeake, managers are even considering significant reductions to the menhaden reduction fishery cap. That alone should tell us this conversation deserves more than a simple argument over whether the coast-wide stock is technically “overfished.”
A coast-wide assessment doesn’t automatically tell us what is happening in every bay, marsh, and estuary.
Growing up around the Gulf Coast teaches you something quickly.
Nothing in the water exists by itself.
Take away enough pieces, and eventually you change the system.
We don’t have to wait until something is broken before deciding it’s worth protecting.
You’re allowed to want abundant marshes.
You’re allowed to want healthy redfish and trout populations.
You’re allowed to want osprey over the Chesapeake and bait moving through Gulf marshes.
And you’re allowed to ask whether turning a foundational forage fish into an industrial product is really the highest and best use of that resource.
Maybe the real question isn’t how much menhaden can we take?
Maybe it’s:
How much should we leave in the water?
Because sometimes the most valuable fish is the one that never reaches the processing plant.”
Do people need fish to survive? No, we do not. Do ospreys rely on fish as their only food? Yes. What about the others, like albatross?? Climate change, global oceans warming, rivers drying up – all of this spells disaster, and it is impacting wildlife that depend on fish. I am too tired tonight, but this is a very serious issue. Humans can do without supplements and give up eating chicken or salmon (Menhaden are used to make feed for chicken and salmon farms as well as supplements). We would not die. Indeed, eating a more plant-based diet benefits us and the planet. As one Michelin-star chef remarked the other day, eating beans is very healthy, a good choice for the planet, and, in times of escalating food costs, a great way to lower food costs!!
Aran has departed from the Friends’ nest in Anglesey.
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Thursday 17th September 2026
Another wet and windy day, with night cam switching over shortly after 8pm. The only activity was a Raven perching on Nest One and kronking loudly at others flying nearby
Today’s video:
Bonus guide – Woodland Trust’s guide to the first signs of autumn:
Blast from the past, this day in previous years:
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam
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‘R’ sent me a recent article, How to Stop a Murdering Cat, about felines and their devastating impact on songbirds. The number of birds killed by well-fed, or ‘fat cats, ‘ is astonishing. Please spread the word for people to keep their pets inside. We might have 1 billion more birds singing in the trees – or more.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/12/accessories-for-your-murderous-pet/419601
‘J’ sent me some good news articles; I will start a section on my blog tomorrow and include them. You can join in, too. Please do send me amazing stories and their links to share with others.
SK Hideaways caught Kaydee snuggling up with Shadow and wanting ‘his’ fish. https://youtu.be/bvJyHjfo0VA?si=8lNaw2WloXqK1I66
Thank you, everyone, for being with us today. I hope to post some good news stories later tomorrow, so please send me more than I have so we have a diverse mix. If I do not post my blog tomorrow, they will appear late Saturday. Now take care everyone and get outside and enjoy the autumn nip in the air.
Thank you, as always, to Geemeff and SK Hideaways. Thank you to everyone who posted information on FB – I am so grateful. These days, I don’t always have time to go back and rewind all the videos when I get home from the hospital. To everyone fighting to stop the industrial fishing of Menhaden to save the osprey and an ecosystem- bravo. The people who want this to cease are growing each day. We have a real chance of winning, and winning we must do.
