Tag Archives: intervention

Late Friday in Bird World

21 October 2022

The day turned out to be a lovely 14 degrees C. I am not feeling 100% but I do not have Covid. I am thankful but, I did call off the small celebration for my BFF’s birthday just in case. I know that some of you have symptoms of long Covid and my heart goes out to you every single day. My problem seems to be a response to the flu vaccine. Nothing serious and it will go away. Please do not worry. The chair I am sitting on is perfect and there is nothing more healing that watching the birds flit from one feeder to another and the squirrels run along the top of the fence. As a friend -who is healing from surgery reminded me this morning – watching the birds outside in the feeders is joyful and healing.

Awhile ago I posted some recent research that found that hospital rooms that had windows looking out to trees had patients who were happier, required less pain medication, and went home sooner!!!!! So look outside and smile!!!!

Making News:

The news on SE30 is coming in slowly. This is the latest from our friends down in Sydney.

Last year was tragic for Nancy and Harry at the MN-DNR Bald Eagle nest. First, the dashing young Harry went missing leaving Nancy to have to not only provide security, at a time when intruders were about, but, also provide food for the two eaglets on the nest, E1 and E2. The weather was miserable. Nancy was unable to provide food for both and E1 threw E2 off the nest. E2 was euthanized. E1 went on to fledge. Nancy was, however, left alone with a beautiful nest but no mate. Well, that seems to be over.

I was thrilled to read that Bonnie Johnson consulted with Pat Burke for the name of the new male. Pat Burke has an encyclopedic memory of the Sydney Sea Eagles as well as many of the Bald Eagle nests. As a wealth of knowledge, she has graciously answered any and all eagle questions that I threw at her. She is a treasure.

Honestly I cannot think of anything scarier climbing up an Osprey nest. Can you?

The Mispillion Harbour Osprey nest on the coast of Delaware is one of the busiest nests off season. ‘H’ has made videos of the Bald Eagles coming and going, occasionally taking sticks. Today, the nest was visited by what appears to be a immature Norther Harrier. As a reminder, don’t think your favourite nest is idle, check it often!

It is often the fringe that gives the Harrier’s ID away. Their face actually looks like an owl at times and the fringe gives them the same ability to hear that an Owl has. Gorgeous birds.

It is time how to turn our attention to the Australian nests to see how they are doing for breakfast.

Dad arrived on the very wet ledge of the 367 Collins Street scrape with a pigeon at 065144. Mum flew in immediately after he landed to feed the Melbourne Four. So, despite the rain, prey is being brought up in good time – either freshly caught or from the pantry. It doesn’t matter as long as the erases get fed, right?!

Mum perched near the Melbourne Four during the night. The erases are too large to brood now and they will remain dry in the rain that Melbourne is experiencing at this end of the ledge.

I suspect something similar is happening at the scrape box of Diamond and Xavier. Dad will fly in with the breakfast and Mum will come and feed Indigo and Rubus. What do you think?

You can see some blue sky and some clouds. It appears as if it will also be a rainy day in Orange. Xavier should be bringing in prey shortly. We all worry about them when the bad weather and heavy rains come. Take care Xavier.

Every time I think of Port Lincoln, I hold my breath before I start looking at the streaming cam. Big has been in such an attack mode lately that – well, since the loss of Little, it can make one overly anxious for Middle. There is, however, no reason to believe that Middle will not fledge. If Middle is a male he might to decide to get off that nest much faster than the lads last year so that he can get away from Big!

A fish arrived early. That could be a good omen but, not always. It does get the nest off to a good start. The times was 063456. It was a nice big fish. Of course, Big had to eat first. Middle was very nervous but by 065018, Middle was trying to figure out a way to get some breakfast. In the end, he decided to just move up next to Big and eat. Middle has become very good at snatch and grab and as long as Big doesn’t tear into him – and she does sometimes when she thinks Middle is getting more food than her – Middle should’ve be able to have a reasonable feed. There is fish left.

Middle is going to be fine. Big has moved away and Mum is finding all the scrap pieces of fish she can for Middle. Now…Mum needs food! Middle has a nice crop. Smiling.

If Big could just turn her attention more to nesting, Middle might be able to enjoy a carefree life til fledge. Remember the chicks will get names and will be banded on 12-14 November.

Everyone has had food but Orange. I am certain that Xavier will come into the scrape, possibly drenched, with prey before long. Indigo is really exploring the boundaries of the scrape and looking out to the world. Rubus has now moved to exploring the corner and sleeping there – Little Brother copying Big Sister!

Thank you for being with me today. Wish for fish and prey. Take care of yourselves. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their posts and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Stuart Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, ‘H’ and Mispillion Harbour Osprey Cam, Friends of the Non-Game MN-DNR Bald Eagle Nest, Cornell Bird Lab, Nature Heaven Group, and Sea Eagle Cam.

Big shuts Middle out of fish…and other breakfast news from Australia

20 October 2022

Yesterday was a good day. All four of the Blue Jays were seen along with all four of the Crow family. The two Chickadees came flitting through. Four grey squirrels and one red one. Loads of Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos. I know I have mentioned all of them recently but there is something so reassuring to see them – alive. Urban environments present particular challenges for our feathered friends and, it is like knowing that your whole family is fed, warm, and tucked in for the night. It feels good just like watching the little falcons eat. Something very rewarding.

Making News:

SE 30 was seen in a residential area around the Discovery Centre. What a beautiful sea eagle.

Jackie and Shadow have been working on the nest in the Big Bear Valley. Shadow has a new hair style to show off for this breeding season!

It is that time of year that lead begins to make news – and never in a good way. Read the post by one of my favourite Wildlife Rehab Clinics in the US, A Place Called Hope. It takes one lead pellet or one lead sinker to damage or kill an eagle. When there are alternatives, this is unacceptable. If lead paint is outlawed because it can harm humans, then lead hunting and fishing equipment that causes death to our raptors needs to be outlawed as well.

I wish that I could tell you that all is well at Port Lincoln. A whole fish arrived at 090824. Middle did get some bites but Big ate the majority of that fish making Middle have to do the snatch and grab. At 124709 another fish arrived on the nest. Big is going to eat all of it. She has beaked Middle so that he is afraid to come up to the table. Middle was tucked in tight. Listening and watching. At 13:10:58 Middle slithers up to Mum. Is there any fish left? No. Mum just ate the fish tail.

There will, of course, be other fish. But there is still a problem. We had high hopes that Big would calm down and everything would be civil on the Port Lincoln Nest on Monday. Big did get most of the fish but she was not chasing Middle away from the table.

Both eating on Monday.

By Wednesday everything had changed significantly. If Big continues to eat the way she is, Mum is not getting enough food and Middle will continue to be intimidated and afraid to go and eat.

Big will stop eating to intimidate Middle.

Middle really needs to have a good meal.

There were other fish but beyond the 0909, Big did not allow Middle much. Those fish came in at 1247, 1651, 1931, and 1952.

If Middle moves a speck, Big raises its head. This is not a good situation. Middle neeeds to eat today, Thursday in Australia.

At Melbourne, the problem was the heat. The eyases were very hot. Some made it to the other end of the ledge to enjoy the shade. Mum and Dad had turns acting as umbrellas to block the sun.

Both parents dug in their talons and tried to help the Melbourne Four.

Thankfully the shade came! What a difference a couple of hours makes.

Lots of prey came for the Melbourne Four. It looks like Mum took charge of all the 5 feedings. Thanks to ‘H’ and ‘A’ for the time stamps and information. At the 0552 feeding, the eyases ate for 9 minutes; at 0749 it was 21 minutes, at 1627 for 32-33 minutes, at 1734 for 12 minutes, and a bedtime snack came in at 1859 and the kids ate for 5 minutes.

Indigo and Rubus had five feeds yesterday, too. Those came at 072721, 100848, 105425, 144754, and the last one before light’s out was at 181056. The prey thought to be a Red Waddle bird at 100848 was positively identified as a Noisy Miner later.

Have a close look at little Rubus. He is starting to get pin feathers.

Diamond is making sure that Indigo uses her neck muscles, too!

Diamond is fascinated by the camera!

Migration News:

The news coming for Karl II and his family of Black Storks from the Estonian Karula National Forest appears to be all good. Little Waba flew 298 km and is now in Turkey. S/he did that in one day!

This is an image from where Waba’s tracker indicated s/he is feeding. Just lovely.

There was no new transmission from Kaia. She continues to be in Chad in a dry area it is believed.

Bonus is still in Romania feeding in the ditches east of Latinu.

Karl II really got to flying. he covered 373 km in one day and is now feeding along on the eastern side of the Nile River near Asswan.

Great News.

Two things I try to avoid when bringing you news about our feathered family are politics and religion. Sometimes, politics cannot be avoided because our wildlife are wrapped up in particular views and policies that belong to the different parties in the various governments around the world.

There is a quiet movement behind the scenes to see what can be done to change the intervention laws in South Australia in the memory of Little Bob. What we have learned is that David Speirs -often seen with the ospreys, Janet Forster (Port Lincoln Osprey founder), and who is now President of Friends of Ospreys- was the Minister of the Environment for the State of South Australia and, as you can tell, extremely supportive of the Ospreys. The Liberals lost the last election and the Labour Party is in power. David Speirs (Ervie is named after the village in Scotland where Speirs was born) is now the leader of the Opposition.

Every day something new is discovered. Current regulations and policies are being examined to see how to move forward. The last thing anyone wants to do is to damage the fine work that Port Lincoln and Friends of Osprey have already done. It takes time for change but, no one is forgetting Little Bob least of all Port Lincoln who support intervention but cannot within the current policies and guidelines or they would lose their licenses and everything they have gained in terms of being able to provide for the Ospreys. All of this is good. Little Bob is not forgotten.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. See you later today with the breakfast news. Send positive wishes to Port Lincoln, please.

Thank you to the following for their posts, videos, and their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Sydney Sea Eagle Cam FB, Friends of Big Bear Valley, A Place Called Hope, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, and Looduskalender.

Victor is Released!

19 September 2022

Fraser Point eaglet, Victor, who had suffered from acute zinc toxicity and had been in care at the Ojai Raptor Centre in Ojai, California has been released today!

Absolute tears. Thank you to Dr Sharpe, his team and the great folks at the Ojai Raptor Centre for returning this amazing eaglet to the wild.

A special thank you to ‘B’ who sent me the wonderful news!!!!!!

Thank you to the Ojai Raptor Centre for their posting and video on their FB page where I took my screen captures.

Victor flies in the aviary…and other news on Friday

2 September 2022

Friday is going to be a much nicer day in terms of weather. It has been sweltering on the Canadian prairies. The high will be 21 and not 32! It is hard to imagine it being 32 degrees at the beginning of September in Winnipeg. The sun is bright and the sky is blue without a cloud in sight. It will be a good day to go to the nature centre for that long walk and to see how those little ducklings have grown this week. The egrets were still in Winnipeg last night. They attracted a few of us to gasp at their beauty as they flew into their roosting tree at sunset.

No matter what is happening today in your life, take the time to marvel at the work of the wildlife rehabbers who are giving our darling raptors a second chance to live out their lives soaring in the skies. Smile. Victor is flying!!!!!!!!!!!!

Making News:

The Ojai Raptor Centre has done an amazing job getting Victor to flying in the large aviary from the patient that arrived with severe zinc toxicity. They posted a Victor of our dear Victor flying so well. So thankful for Dr Sharpe and everyone who gave Victor his second chance! What a wonderful sight to see ——-Victor flying and not having to do physio being supported by a human lifting a towel. Tears.

Whenever you think about intervention and someone says ‘nature will take care of it’ ——think of our dear Victor and tell them about him. Maybe you can gently change their mind. Or you could tell them about Little Bit ND17 – or both!!!!!!

You might remember that one of the two eaglets on the US Steel Bald eagle nest fludged and, in the process, tore many of its feathers. It was taken into care. Here is the most recent news on this lucky eaglet who is getting its second chance!

Rosie’s broken feather on the right.

The new feathers being inserted. They will fall out when Rosie has her first moult. Oh, what a very lucky eaglet! Just like Victor and Little Bit.

Migration counts at Hawk Mountain:

https://www.hawkmountain.org/conservation-science/hawk-count

As hurricane season is with us, researchers are looking at how our warming earth and hurricanes are impacting our feathered friends.

https://www.audubon.org/news/how-bird-researchers-are-tracking-impacts-intensifying-hurricane-seasons

If you are living where Baltimore Orioles will or are passing through, heading to their winter homes, remember to put out the oranges and the jelly (they love other flavours than grape, too) for them to help build their energy.

The RSPB gives us all some ideas about how we can better ‘green’ our lives.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/community-and-advice/green-living/

I was extremely interested in their article on how to create a garden that is beneficial for wildlife. It is always good to look for new and better ways to take care of those garden friends that come to us for food, shade, and shelter.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/creating-a-wildlife-friendly-garden/

Nest News:

Who could have predicted that the Hellgate Canyon nest would have a visit from both dear Iris and Louis on Thursday? What a pleasure it is to see her. Like so many of you, I have growled at Louis but, in the end, Iris seems much happier when he is about so…I am going to stop moaning when I see Louis. I wonder if this is the pair together, Iris saying goodbye to all of us until next spring?

Beautiful Iris. If this is the last time we see you this year, travel safe, always have a full crop, enjoy your winter but return in the spring. You give us hope and inspiration.

And she is off, the oldest osprey in the world living in the wild.

Feeding time for the Sea Eagles. Notice how much progress they are making in terms of plumage but also, in standing.

There was another prey delivery at 1200 and SE30 did some impressive mantling on its arrival.

Xavier brought Diamond a nicely dressed pigeon for breakfast. She was thrilled and Dad got to spend some time incubating those three eggs in the scrape at Orange.

At the 367 Collins Street scrape in Melbourne, the little Dad loves taking care of the eggies just as much as Xavier does. Here is an early morning hand over.

The Collins Street Mum just found ‘us’!

Mum and Dad have such a good routine at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. Mum knows that Dad is coming with a partial fish for her. She would have seen him eating his portion on the ropes before arriving at the nest and transferring the rest of the fish to her. Typically, the males eat the heads of the fish. Then Dad gets a chance to incubate the eggs, too. Great system. Gives Mum a nice quiet time to have her lunch. It sure won’t be quiet in a couple of weeks!!!!!!

Dad brings in some more decorations for the nest later.

The check on Karl II and his family as they migrate shows us that Karl II is following his normal flight path. Everyone hopes that he will be changing his trajectory as this normal path will have him flying directly into Kherson an area that is quite unsafe. Looduskalender posted the different colours for his flight this year and Karl II’s last two years.

Karl flew fast and quick to get into Belarus. Let us all hope that the winds carry him to his favourite tree -safely and quickly- in the very centre of Africa.

Bonus appears to be in Belarus near Makarychy in the Gomel Oblatst. He must be finding a good food source in the Pripyat River marshes.

Kaia’s tracker came on and showed she had traveled 28.8 km. She remains in Ukraine.*

Waba – no data since 30 August.

Thank you so much for joining me this morning. Wishing our Black Stork family from the Karula National Forest in Estonia safe, safe travels. It will be interesting to see what Karl II does as he approaches Ukraine. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following whose posts, videos, and streaming cams made up my news for the day: Ojai Raptor Centre, Hawk Mountain, Audubon, RSPB, Montana Ospreys, Tamarack Wildlife Centre, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Port Lincoln Ospreys, and Looduskalender.

  • I have inadvertently been using the term ‘the Ukraine’. Having lived in the 2nd largest area of Ukrainians many decades prior to the country’s independence, it became a habit to say ‘the’. Now it is not appropriate. Ukraine is, of course, its own independent country. Apologies to anyone who might have been offended by my oversight.

Little Bit 17 makes the news!

21 August 2022

I thought everyone would be excited to see that our dear Little Bit 17 made the news paper as the ‘Little Eagle that Could’! We knew he was very special from the moment he hatched. It is nice that everyone else sees that, too!

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/valparaiso/little-eagle-that-could-back-in-the-wild-after-rehab/article_c27b9254-c69f-568d-aec2-1c93cfdd0a03.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Times_of_Northwest_Indiana&fbclid=IwAR2uuibYopU0ViU182KMLFCmfaeVivkH1nPnk2EUipYsvBOMae8QgMWVIZ8

Kim Weiniger posted some images on the Notre Dame Eagles page. I am attaching one in the hope that she will not mind since it was on FB. 17 is looking so well.

Thank you so much for joining me. See you soon.

Thank you to the Notre Dame Eagles FB page for their continuing coverage of the eagles and, in particular, Little Bit 17.

Late Friday in Bird World

12 August 2022

The most wonderful aspect of the trip to Hecla Island was not what I went for – to do a survey of the Bald Eagle nests for David Hancock – but, the two sightings of the Osprey at the Gimli Marina. Last night was simply a blessing. Those quiet wings helping the male to hover about 5 or 6 metres (or less) than 20 feet above my head. It was nice to see the pelicans and the cormorants and the swans. It is not the lack of any Bald Eagle sighting but the REASON there was not a single sighting that is worrisome.

Hecla Island is known as one of the Bald Eagle hotspots in our province. Every tourist brochure inevitably mentions the Bald Eagles. My brother-in-Law’s cabin would normally have a dozen eagles flying up and down catching fish within eye distance any day of the week from May-September.

So what happened this spring? One of those unexpected ‘Black Swan Events’ known in economics as an outlier (thanks CE for educating me on this phrase). It was the consistent heavy rain and flooding. There is still water standing and some cottages around Lake Winnipeg still have basements and yards full of water. As I noted in my blog last evening, despite there being an abundance of trees, the Bald Eagles have, according to the park rangers, historically made their nests around the edge of the lake along Black Wolf Trail which is on the causeway leading into the park. It is still flooded there. They are ‘afraid of what they will find’ when they are able to clear the area. So I was left with many questions:

  • Did the eagles abandon the traditional nests and lay a second clutch in a newly made tree nest?
  • Did the eagles abandon the area heading further north? Did they then lay a second clutch?
  • What was the real number of eagles arriving at Hecla this year?
  • Did Avian Flu play any part in any of this?

A single adult bald eagle has been recorded and a juvenile the end of June. I could not locate any tree nests other than a single old long abandoned/falling apart one. I was told the eagles had been nesting there for some 35 years. I think it is a sad situation but there should be some clarity as the birds begin their fall migration and counts are started. So while not seeing the Bald Eagles is a bit of pickle, the worrisome aspect is that those eagles – and many others – lost their opportunity to raise young this year just like other water fowl that breed in our province in the summer. That includes Pelicans, Cormorants, Geese, and ducks.

Thanks, ‘M’ for reminding me about the unringed visitor to the Dyfi Osprey nest in Wales. This is a fledgling about the same age as the three ‘Ps’ of Idris and Telyn. Where did she come from? The theories are quite interesting.

This bird is a beauty!

It is always stories like this that prompt a conversation between me and Tiger Mozone and they tend to waiver back and forth about the history of Welsh nests leading to more questions. She is unringed. So where did she come from? What you also have to realize is that Aran on the Glaslyn nest and Idris on the Dyfi nest are also unringed. This leads to the very heart of the issue. Idris and Aran are males. So was Dai Dot. Tiger believes that there is at least one other nest, a very significant nest connected with the early Ospreys – the Welsh pool- that is producing these males. He asks, ‘Otherwise where did these males come from?’

Here is the link to that story:

https://www.dyfiospreyproject.com/blog/emyr-mwt/extremely-rare-visitor-unringed-fledgling

The story coming out of Wales that I am really keen on is Tegid’s children. Tegid is Z1, 2016 son of Glesni and Monty at the Dyfi Nest. He was the third egg. Egg 1 hatched that year, Ceri. Egg 2 did not hatch. Tegid was egg 3. Tiger did not believe that Tegid would ever return. Well, he did and he took over the ON4 nest, the first osprey platform erected in Wales by the group, Friends of the Osprey. His two chicks of 2020 (his first ever clutch) have returned. They are Z5, daughter, and KC8, a male. There is really good DNA floating around those two – they are the grandchildren of Monty and Glesni.

https://www.dyfiospreyproject.com/blog/emyr-mwt/blue-z5-another-dyfi-grandchild-returns-wales?fbclid=IwAR1VVJ3WvtSmfSNM-gHrlR7VnUjglkFuhOYIgOVuho_UJSDWodDvEFTB7jE

Looking at the Dyfi Family Tree and adding these two birds to my return list, gives me the following data for my third hatch survivors/returnees for the Dyfi nest:

  • 34 chicks hatched from 2011-22
  • 29 out of the 34 chicks lived to fledge
  • 14 male chicks to 15 females fledged
  • 9 chicks have returned out of 28 eligible
  • 5 first hatches and 4 third hatches have returned. Big Note: Not a single instance of a second chick returning has been recorded.
  • Of the 9 returning, 7 were male and 2 were female.
  • Return survival rate is 32.14%

I wish that every other osprey nest kept such good records as Emyr Evans at the Dyfi Osprey Project in Wales. Rutland did until 2015. This kind of information is really enlightening. For example, the likelhood of a second hatch female fledgling returning using these stats is nil. Despite the low sample size, how accurate for the broader population of Western Ospreys is that 32% survival rate? This would mean that 68% of all ospreys will perish during their first or second year. Something to think about as we move into our discussion on migration Monday.

This is a beautiful little video of Cholyn, the matriarch of the Two Harbours Eagle Nest in the Channel Islands. Mum to Lancer this year and to Thunder who is the mate of Akecheta at the West End, Cholyn is 23 years old.

It was nice to come home and see that the little sea eaglets are as spunky as ever! and being fed like crazy. Just look at the crops on those two! Remember there are now less frequent feedings but they will eat much, much more at a single meal.

Those feathers are really coming in and the chicks are itchy – and they are preening. Lady or Dad are not far away but you will find, as has been the practice for a bit, that Lady is leaving them in the nest alone more and more.

They are also wandering out of the nest cup. Development is spot on.

We have egg 2 at the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge. Well done Mum and Dad. Right on time.

All of the Black storklets at the nest of Karl II and Kaia have fledged. They are now often off the nest flying in when an adult arrives with fish. Today it was Karl II delivering lots of fish. I wonder if Kaia has started her migration? Must check!

Karl II waited for the chicks to arrive at each of the two deliveries below.

Karl II arrives with no one on the nest…they will rush in!

‘H’ writes to say that at least one of the osplets on the Boathouse nest has fledged. The only way to observe the nest is from a distance using a different streaming cam. What a disappointment after watching Dory and Skiff raise those three this year.

I have had no confirmation that Titi has returned to the Janakkalan nest in Finland after fledging.

Victor and 16 were spotted today on the branches of the trees at the St Joseph River in South Bend.

It is always reassuring to see the fledglings and especially Little Bit 17.

I have not seen any recent updates on L3 and L4, the Red-tail fledglings of Big Red and Arthur at Cornell.

Thank you so much for joining me this evening. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams and/or posts where I took my screen captures: Notre Dame Eagles FB, Eagle Club of Estonia and Looduskalender, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Forest, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, and Dyfi Osprey Project.

L4 has been taken into care!

1 August 2022

Big Red and Arthur’s fourth hatch of the 2022 breeding season was found on the ground unable to fly last evening. He has been taken into care. Here is the announcement:

Red-tailed Hawk “L4” Delivered To Wildlife Hospital

Send the most positive wishes!

Of the four juveniles L1 was killed by window strike on the Cornell Campus, l3 is in care due to an injury, and now L4. The only fledgling that is flying free at the moment is L2.

Ervie, Victor, and Little Bit ND17

30 July 2022

I was not going to do another posting today but, in case you did not see the update on Victor or the posting of Ervie, I wanted to share them with you.

First, yesterday Dad had a terrible day. It is not clear what happened to him on the nest but he flipped over, his eyes looked terrified, and Mum thought it best to beak him to get him to come out of it. I was worried. Dad, we need you! Dad was later caught fishing with Ervie and he looks good.

Christine Georgiou took these great shots of the pair of them and posted them on the Port Lincoln FB. Ervie on top and Dad below sans transmitter. Look at that nice fish Ervie has! I do not know if anyone has realized what a treat it is to watch Ervie mature and how lucky ‘we’ were that he lost his talon and stayed home. He has had a good start on life…Dad certainly taught him where to fish and served as a great example.

If you look closely I believe you can see Ervie’s missing talon on ‘the right foot’. Ervie has learned to carry the fish with only three talons and the fish is backwards!

If you did not see the most up to date posting about Victor, here it is again. The good news he is getting better. Notice that he is standing quite well. Victor is such a young eaglet – where in the world would he have gotten so much zinc?

Several have written to ask about Little Bit NC17. The biggest question is: has anyone seen him eat? Little Bit was released at St Patrick’s Park near the nest and treed area by the nest on 20 July. That was ten days ago. This image was 25 July and it is the three fledglings from the Notre-Dame nest flying together over the nest and the trees. There are lots of people who love Little Bit and who are making a point to go and check on the eagle family. Little Bit has pulled that tenacious resourcefulness out and he has had to have eaten ——–he could not live for ten days without food! Little Bit ate everything that came to the nest. Fledglings normally exist on carrion – dead animals – their first year. We know he can eat fur pelts!!!!! The fledglings have been seen down by the river with the adults. I am extremely hopeful that he is doing well.

Send good wishes to Victor as he continues to go through all the therapies. Let us hope that just has he has been able to stand he will be able to eat by himself soon. Send good wishes for Little Bit to have a nice fish supper – and for Ervie and Dad to be safe.

Take care everyone. Enjoy your Saturday evening. Thank you for being with me this evening.

Thanks to the Ojai Raptor Centre, the Notre-Dame Eagles FB and Port Lincoln Osprey Project FB where I took my screen captures.

Brief Bird World check-in

27 July 2022

The presentation about Eagles Dying of Electrocution: What Can be Done? was quite informative. A number of topics were covered including why it is important for utility companies to not have wildlife incidents. Because they boost of having reliable electricity they cannot afford to have too many power outages due to wildlife electrocutions (squirrels, raptors, etc). So while wildlife is not their primary concern, if an eagle gets electrocuted it does impact their goal of ‘reliable’ transmission of power and it is actually in their best interests that their poles are safe. It is also good for their public image.

A PDF of a very large study done in 2006 was mentioned several times. It studied different birds in different countries with various configurations of hydro poles and how electrocution might be mitigated. Christian stated that the solutions are still solid examples. Here is a copy of that large study:

Click to access ML12243A391.pdf

One interesting note in the mitigation is that you simply cannot install insulators or insulated cables. You must also deal with the transmitters.

A question or statement by one of the chatters for the presentation had to do with the lack of responsibility in this situation. If the first electrocution for an eaglet from the Gabriola Nest was accidental, isn’t the second one intentional? Many power companies will immediately move to fix the poles if they know there has been an incident. Florida has so many big raptors and it was mentioned that the power companies are pro-active in protecting the large birds.

An example from Belgium was shown. That is a perch for the eagle that is higher than the pole. The perch is not dangerous to the eagle. To mitigate further, the pointed triangle on the left has been installed making it impossible to create a connection also. Fantastic.

An example of good spacing and bad spacing in terms of wildlife.

Here is the presentation link in case you missed it or would like to listen again. It is about 50 minutes long.

Yvonne Roll Peterson posted the following image on the Notre Dame Eagles page. She carefully took the time to mark out who was where. You can’t see ND16, she is on the nest (of course). ND15 is on one branch and our Little Bit 17 is on another branch behind some leaves. Smile.

My eyes are on the Osoyoos Osprey nest where temperatures are climbing getting hotter and hotter. Olsen brought in a nice sized fish but it has been more than four hours ago. Hopefully they will get another. Soo is doing the best she can to try and keep her panting chicks shaded.

After the presentation on the Eagles and electrocution, I spent some time observing SE29 and SE30. SE30 did two ‘ps’ – one at 0634 and the other at 0713. Both were good. I did manage to capture one. Look carefully below.

Dad brought in what appeared to be a bird – possibly a Silver Gull chick? for the next feeding. Neither chick was that enthusiastic about eating at either feeding.

SE29 did hover but, there were no violent attacks at either the 0634 feeding or the later one right after 0715 ish. After SE30 did his ‘ps’ he did eat some bites.

Lady may have lots of prey items under the leaves. It is hard to tell but I did not see the piles of fish like I did when these two first hatched. So two good ‘ps’ to indicate that SE30 has been eating and its plumbing is working fine. Dad comes down to the nest and flies off – to go fishing from Lady and 29 & 30. Good luck!

At 0745 Dad returns with a large fish. SE29 did take exception when it appeared that 30 was going to get the first bites. In situations where the eldest sibling is trying to establish dominance, most of you will have seen them eating first and once they are full the second eats if there is prey left. It would appear that 29 is asserting that dominance.

It should be sorted out in a few days. Look for good ‘ps’ from 30. Lady continues to feed them almost every hour. All those little bites add up. In a week or a week and a bit, the feedings will show down because the eaglets will be eating more at each feeding.

Things remain really stable and good at the Boathouse Osprey nest in Maine. Dory is feeding the three chicks another good sized fish.

Every once in awhile you can catch one of the Ospreys at Mispillion Harbour on the perch today.

Duke has been bringing some really nice fish to the Barnegat Light Osprey nest in New Jersey. Daisy feeds the kids and winds up with a big crop herself. Oh, I would love to send that fish to Osoyoos! Wouldn’t you?

I have seen no news on the cause of Tom and Audrey’s chick suddenly dying at the Chesapeake Conservancy nest. Will continue to monitor. The adults have been on and off the nest.

Aran and Mrs G have been doing a lot of posing on the perches – sometimes with but today without the fledglings.

Notice the difference in size. Mrs G is at least one-third larger than Aran. Check out the difference in size in wings. — It is always good to remember, when watching a raptor nest, that the females require more food in order to grow to the larger size and to also grow all those additional feathers. Often the females are not the first to fledge either even if they hatched first.

The difference in size – where the females are larger than the males – is called reverse sex-size dimorphism.

I hope if you did not get to attend Christian Sasse’s presentation that you will take the chance to listen to it later. Some very good information with a lot of common sense when approaching utility companies. To all who wrote in, thank you.

Thank you for being with me this evening on this quick check. I am just watching two nests – Osoyoos and the Sea Eagles for stability. One for weather and the other for sibling rivalry. Fledge should be happening anytime at the Janakkalan Nest in Finland (or it has – have not checked today so if you know – send me a comment). Take care all. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their videos, FB postings, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Christian Sasse, ND-LEEF, Osoyoos Ospreys, Sydney Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park, Mispillion Harbour Ospreys and the DDNR, Barnegat Light Ospreys, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, and Audubon Explore.

Late Saturday in Bird World

23 July 2022

Oh, it turned out to be a cracker of a day in Winnipeg. Everyone woke to a forecast of rain and then the skies cleared. The paths at the nature centre were packed with smiling faces and everyone saying ‘hello’ or talking about the teenage goslings. It was fantastic.

Sleepy babies.

Teenagers – long necks and legs. Paying close attention to the adult’s instructions!

One lone America White Pelican in the middle of the lake — image cropped a great deal!

It continues to be quiet in Bird World. Seriously this is such a good thing.

Good news has come from the Pitkin County Open Space and Trails Ospreys. You will remember that the two gorgeous and almost fully feathered osplets on the nest were pulled off when Mum got her talon caught in monofilament line and nesting material. One died when it hit the ground but the other was saved by a passerby who knew what to do – and got immediate help! That chick was in very guarded condition at the time. This is today’s update and it is a little better.

5H1 made history today as the first fledgling Osprey in Poole Harbour, UK,, for 200 years. CJ7 and Blue 022’s chick really does love to fly. Here is a video of her landing on a subsequent flight….gosh, she is pretty steady on those legs.

The names of Louis and Dorcha’s two surviving osplets for the 2022 season have been released by the Woodland Trust. There were 2674 votes cast. The winning names are Willow for LW5 with 22.7% and Sarafina for LW6 with 20.5%. That was an amazing voting turnout. Thank you to everyone that took part.

That is Willow standing up. My goodness she is going to be dark like Dorcha. Stunning plumage.

Olsen had delivered several twiddler size fish and one nice one by 10:48 at the Osoyoos Osprey platform. He brought in another fish at 12:49. Thanks Olsen! Olsen appears to have a wee crop so he is eating. Remember it is like the directions for the oxygen masks in planes – put yours own and then help your child. Olsen and Soo have to eat in order to care for the chicks and keep their health up as good as they can in the circumstances of extreme heat. Soo immediately started feeding the two chicks. The rest of the day she has kept them covered when the sun was at its hottest.

Just a quick check on a couple of other nests. The juveniles have not been seen at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta but, there was a fly by this morning in the distance. Those nests sure do get lonely if you have been watching intently for months and then — everyone fledges, returns to the nest for prey drops after flying, and then…poof. Gone. Turn that love into making their world better! So instead of wondering if they survived, we can say with certainty that we have made improvements and a greater percentage lives to see their first birthday.

At the Two Harbours nest, you could hear Lancer squeeeeing at 14:47 as she flew onto the nest. She was so right. The adult flew in with a fish and got out of there really quick without getting its talons trapped. So nice to see you, Lancer.

I have been following the social media posts about the electrocution of Junior on Gabriola Island just off the coast of Vancouver Island in my country, Canada. The world watched the graciousness and the love that flourished on the Bald Eagle nest and their adoption of Malala, the Red-tail Hawk as a member of their family not as lunch. It touched the hearts of hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

The tragic death of Junior, the fledgling eaglet, Malala’s friend and nest companion, shattered us.

I have noticed that some FB groups are no longer going to post any news about Junior. Of course, that is their choice but, please understand that this issue is not small and isolated. British Columbia has the largest population of Bald Eagles in the world. We are not talking about just ‘fixing’ one pole on Gabriola Island, what we want is an undertaking by BC Hydro to amend the way they construct the hydro poles immediately so that the space between the wires is wider than 7′, the length of a Bald Eagle’s wing. No bird would ever die again.

Make BC Hydro live up to what they say – words mean nothing without action behind them.

Of course, retrofitting those on Gabriola Island is paramount. More about this tomorrow but, please don’t let the story of Junior and Malala pass when something else comes in the news. We have a chance to make progress and — let’s do it. Do not let this opportunity slip through our fingers.

I am trying to find out the time of Christian Sasse’s talk on the electrocution of birds. It is possible that it will be on Wednesday afternoon at 1300 or 1330 Pacific time but, I am not certain. If we want to help the eagles we need to arm ourselves with an understanding of the problem and the solution! Thank you, Christian, for educating us!

Here is the contact information for BC Hydro:

Images on the Notre-Dame FB page show 3 juveniles flying around the nest and landing on a tree near to the nest tree. It has been really stormy there and some branches have broken. It is shocking that anything is left of that old Eagle nest!

Thank you so very much for being with us today. Please take care of yourself. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their FB postings and streaming cameras where I took my screen captures: Pitkin County Open Space and Trails, Bald Eagles 101, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Osoyoos Ospreys, Explore.org and IWS, GROWLS, and ND-LEEF.