Tag Archives: Jack and Harriet

Wednesday in Bird World

5 July 2022

Good Morning Everyone. It is such a blessing to have a beautiful day – almost mosquito free!

There are many times in our lives when we just need a good laugh..one of those rolling on the floor, letting it all out kind of hysterical moments. Just sit back and watch this Osprey couple solve a problem while the little one looks on. It took a day but they did it! Thanks to ‘T’ for the first volume and to ‘R’ for finding the finale – . Enjoy.

Just a note: This is the nest of Ossie and Alma. With the tragedy last year with the goshawk, the nest was abandoned. This is a new couple Eura (male) and Eine (female). May the wings of the goshawk never grace their territory.

You might remember that two osprey chicks were pulled off of the nest when the Mum got her talon caught in monofilament line. One died and the other was transported from the Pitkin Osprey nest to the wildlife rehabber. Thank you to everyone who got to that nest in a hurry and helped that baby. Here is the story and an update on the chick’s status:

Humans come to aid of Emma Osprey chick

Every once in awhile I get the question. This is a popular one at the moment: Do the female Ospreys fish? Yes, absolutely they do. Most will wait til their chicks are older than 35 days. At that age they are less likey to be predated. Some Osprey mothers have to fish to supply the food for the family earlier. Blue NC0 has been fishing for about a week and a bit at Loch of the Lowes. Rosie is a good fisher too and she brought in two very rare and protected fish to the nest today. Don’t tell anyone! The females will be entirely responsible for their food once they begin migration until they return to their nest during breeding season the following spring.

Another extraordinary effort to get a juvenile eagle – like our Little Bit 17 – to a rehabber so that it has a chance on living and flying. I will put a map of BC underneath so you can see where Powell River is!

Oh, wow. Another ringing and this time it is the historic moment that Ospreys return to Poole Harbour.

https://www.dorset.live/news/dorset-news/first-wild-osprey-chicks-england-7294802?fbclid=IwAR3lckBYdTwTjLC670Cd0c5ps_-JJX4AioxsOsAYYdny6D_hKle-asLUQ7g

Do you love the Dahlgren Osprey nest of Jack and Harriet? ‘H’ caught them on the nest today! How wonderful to see all three together. That nest has been empty for days. Thanks ‘H’ – this is a great screen capture.

It is the time of year when people are out fishing in Canada (and elsewhere). Yesterday at the Nature Centre there were dozens of youngsters with poles. Here is another reminder of what can happen to our birds. Let’s all make an effort to help our birds by spreading the word about the dangers of fishing equipment. This is a pickerel rig – line, hooks, lead sinkers – it is all there! I can only imagine what could happen to this beautiful Osprey.

So help spread the word to fishers – not only clean up after yourself but also anywhere you see fishing tackle, old line, make an effort to clear the shores and trees of it. Of course, there are fish that will break the line and take the hook and line with them and these also wind up on the nests of our Ospreys and Eagles. Herons get tangled. Pelicans have hooks in their pouches. It is endless.

I have no idea who took this imagine. I wish I did! It is a good one to share if you hope to make the point about the dangers that fishing tackle can have on wildlife.

Poor Dorcha. After Aila not returning in 2021, Louis did not take his new mate to the nest that he shared with Aila. Instead, Louis chose the alternative nest. The weather is much worse at the new one. It has pitched rain all season – and the winds have been gale force. It was like that last night at Loch Arkaig. Dorcha is still wet and keeping the two big kids protected as much as she can.

Later in the day, everything began to dry.

In contrast, Blue NC0 and Laddie LM12 have had nice weather at the Loch of the Lowes. I am told that Loch Arkaig has its own kind of micro-climate different from the rest of Scotland.

Notice how large the chicks are compared to Mum. Once they fledge, Blue NC0 is going to begin building up her strength and eating so that she is fit for migration. Laddie will remain at the nest and leave last – staying to feed the chicks til they leave. Then he will begin his journey.

Blue NC0 fish calling later in the day.

It is always good to know where places are in relation to one another. Here is a map showing the distance from Loch Arkaig and Loch of the Lowes. I want to draw your attention to Aviemore, too. There are some incredible ospreys that live in that area on private estates. If you ever plan to go to Scotland or the Lake District, print up a map and locate all of the Osprey nests with wildlife centres and hides so you can go and see them. Many are very close together. The same goes for Wales.

The Osoyoos chicks are both on the nest —- thankfully and Mum is feeding them their breakfast. It looks like it could be a morning without rain! The nest and the chicks need to dry out. Love the crop on the big one. Hope that baby gets enough!

The Ospreys in Canmore, Alberta are going to have a nice day! Beautiful sunrise this morning. The high will be 21 C or 69.8 F. Perfect. Last year the chicks were literally jumping off the nests in British Columbia and Alberta due to the heat. (Not at this one). Twenty-three were rescued in lower British Columbia and taken into care so that they would not perish. That was just remarkable. So glad that the weather pattern is different this year for them.

Oh, beautiful Boathouse Osplets on Hog Island in Maine. They are all Reptiles!!!!!!!!! That wonderful charcoal coloured thermal down is in and you can see the wee little dandelions of natal down that will come off. Their heads have lost the ‘soft’ look and appear as if they have been smeared with oil. The coppery red feathers are on the back of the head area, the nape. Little Bit is right in there between the two older siblings.

Aran is preparing a fish for Mrs G and the kids for their tea time meal.

Mrs G is anxiously waiting! Looks like a lovely afternoon at Glaslyn.

It looks like everything is fine with the Osprey nests this morning. If you are watching Carthage, TN, ‘H’ reports that the first fledge happened early this morning. Congratulations! And ‘T’ says that the two Imperial Eaglets in Russia were ringed yesterday. Fantastic. So cute.

Thank you so much for joining me this morning. All nests seem to be doing just fine. Take care. See you soon.

Thanks to the following for the streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Boathouse Ospreys and Audubon, Fortis Exshaw, Osoyoos Ospreys, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Dahlgren Ospreys, Bald Eagles Live Nest cam and News, and Pitkin Outside.

Friday Afternoon in Bird World

3 June 2022

The two Peregrine Falcon chicks at the University of California-Berkeley Campanile scrape box have been named. What fabulous names that were selected. Here is the announcement:

It also seems that Annie has decided that Alden’s moth hunting is a good idea!

I have posted this video earlier but the kindness and heart warm wishes flowing to this nest and for the efforts of the Estonians so huge. It is the nest of Jan and Janika in Estonia in the Sooma National Park. Jan has been missing for more than 40 hours. There were 6 storklets. The smallest was eliminated immediately leaving 5. Sadly, one of those died from no food after the male vanished. (Thank you ‘R’ for reminding me to explain the numbers!).

Janika has been feeding the chicks. She is doing her best. The nest is being monitored by Urmas. If it is required the storklets will be rescued but right now it looks as if everything is going well. Things can change in a minute. One of the problems is other wildlife that could come to the nest to predate the storklets if Janika is away. .

Black Storks are extremely rare in Estonia and they are treasured. The Ornithologist has worked wonders in the past. His name is Urmas. Today, he brought out a decoy that had been used at a pond last season.

The plastic stork decoy acts out the behaviour that a female would use when feeding her storklets. Then Urmas pours a bucket of small fish on the nest for the storklets! They all eat and have huge crops. It is a wonderful day!

The rest of the world can learn much from the kindness that Europe bestows on its Storks!

Janika has also found the fish provided and come to the nest earlier to feed the storklets. So happy. They will survive!

Other great news is that a big fish arrived on the UFlorida-Osprey nest at 13:50:51. It did not take Big long to get on that nest to eat some fish! Fledging is hard work.

Big crash lands on the back of Mum.

Just look at Middle.

What a mess of wings. Clearly Big needs some landing lessons.

Whew. After a bit the wings are sorted out, no one goes over the edge, and Big gets to eat that prize of fish because she flew back to the nest. This is the best place for the parents to feed both chicks. They can hone their flying skills and come to the nest for food provided by the parents.

When Big is finished, Mum feeds Middle. Big is looking out. Will she go for some more flights or rest?!

It appears that one of the big siblings might have branched at the ND-LEEF nest. Time is 06:02:51. There is the tail up in the top right corner.

17 is sitting up on the edge of the nest. The trio had a salmon this morning so they ate well – all of them, no fighting. Little Bit 17 pulled his share – the tail with a lot of nice fish left from the older sibling at 08:35:52 (shown in an earlier blog today). They still need more fish!

You may recall that the Llyn Brenig Osprey platform in Wales was cut down last year when the couple had laid their first egg. A new platform was put up for the pair this year with a high security camera. The male is LM6 and the female is LJ2. Today, there are two osplets that have hatched at that nest. Well done!

Louis hauled in this monster fish for Dorcha and the chicks at the Loch Arkaig nest. Wow. They are all going to be more than full.

Yesterday it was reported that Sky was the first to fledge. The eaglet that fledged has now been identified as Ahote, the smallest of the three eaglets! Apologies for any confusion. The Institute of Wildlife Studies clarifies the first to go. Below, Sky and Kana’kini remain on the nest.

Here is the video of Ahote’s fledge:

It is much easier to see the only surviving osplet out of three on the Dahlgren Osprey nest in King George County, Virginia. Beautiful plumage! and toys! Jack will make sure of the toys and Harriet will try to place them so they do not interfere with the nest!

The names for the eyases at Cal Falcons seem perfect – Lindsay and Grinnell. The nests seem to be doing fine for the moment. I checked in on some of the Welsh nests and right now the weather is not so bad.

Thank you so much for joining me. Take care all! See you soon.

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages: Cal Falcons, Eagle Club of Estonia, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, ND-LEEF, Llyn Brenig, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery and the Scottish Woodland Trust, Institute for Wildlife Studies and Explore.org, and Dahlgren Ospreys.

Glacier Gardens, Ervie on the nest, and other news in Bird World

19 May 2022

It has been a rather dreary damp day. The garden has been full of Orioles, Chipping Sparrows, European Starlings, and Harris Sparrows. They sure bring a lot of joy. At the same time, they let you know that your place is to fill the feeders and then get inside and do not disturb them. They can be rather loud about that. Little Red was about a metre from his new home. I do not know if he found it. Will continue to watch on and off. Fingers crossed!

Glacier Gardens Bald Eagle streaming cam is now live at the new nest of Liberty and Freedom! It is also a brand new camera.

Here is the link to the Glacier Gardens camera:

Big and Middle (known as Warrior by some) were both on the Dale Hollow nest this morning. Then Big left and Middle has been flapping his wings. Our time with them could be limited. So nice to see these two beautiful juveniles.

Yesterday it seemed that Big was up on a high branch. Middle kept looking up. If there is a fledge the camera might not catch it if they are up on those high branches.

Look how big Warrior is. After Big killed Little Bit, we did not know if Middle would make it. We can now rejoice that all is well and we can hope that he or she has an amazing and long life.

I have not seen a prey delivery today at the MN-DNR nest of Nancy. The weather is not great and it is unclear if there are any intruders about. Nancy has been up on the branch watching over the territory.

Nesting material is being delivered to the Barnegat Light Osprey nest in New Jersey today by both Duke and Daisy.

Lady and Dad both spent the night on the old Ironbark nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest where they raise their little White-Bellied Sea Eagles. Sea Eagles are the second largest raptor in Australia with the Wedge-tail Eagle being the largest. Lady and Dad normally have two eggs and fledge both chicks. That said there are birds in the forest that chase them far away so they cannot map the route to and from the nest in their GPS systems. This means the fledglings do not learn from the parents how to fish or have the opportunity to be fed on the nest and get their flying stronger. Last year WBSE 27 went into care twice and was finally trained to hunt and get their flying strong before release the last time. 28 is believed to have returned to the nest recently – to everyone’s surprise – but it was very gaunt. There can be some food competition.

If you have never heard the ‘Dawn Duet’ by the White-Bellied Sea Eagles you are in for a real treat. I taped it last year on 22 June – have a listen. The couple do this every morning at dawn to wake the forest. The chicks also join in!

Many have commented that it looks like the Manton Bay trio of Blue 33 and Maya grow right before our eyes. They are certainly moving from the soft fluffy new born nestling phase and will soon enter the dark wooly period. As the plumage changes the osplets do tend to get a little edgy. Those feathers must be really itchy and irritating. No worries – it is just ‘feather stress’ (that is what I call it). There will be no problems with siblicide on this nest!!!!!! Blue 33 has spent a lot of time on the nest with Maya and he has been feeding the chicks every once in awhile.

They are considered to be a Power Couple in the Osprey World. They are certainly very strong together.

Maya was first seen at Rutland in the summer of 2009. She is the only Rutland osprey to have a name. The letters for Maya come from Manton Bay (first and last two letters to form Maya). The Greek word ‘Maia’ means ‘coming of spring’. Maya successfully bred with 5R (04) from 2010 to 2013. They raised 11 chicks! At least five of those have returned to Rutland – if not more. I have not checked the last two year’s stats. Sadly, Maya’s mate did not return in 2014. She waited and then finally paired with 28 (10). She laid three eggs. But Blue 33 (11) wasn’t having it. He wanted both the nest and Maya as his mate and he persisted – finally kicking the other males eggs out of the nest!!!!! Blue 33 and Maya have been together ever since. They are utterly devoted to one another and with the exception of this year, have often arrived from their winter migration within minutes of one another. They first raised successful chicks in 2015.

So why are they considered a power couple within the Osprey world? In addition to the 3 chicks in 2015, there were 17 chicks from 2016-2020 including two years of clutches of 4 chicks raised to fledge!!!!!!!!!!! Two years of four chicks. Think about that. 2019 and 2020. In 2021, they fledged 2 making a grand total of 22 chicks fledged with three now in the nest. In total, Maya has fledged 33 chicks. Incredible. I love this nest. This year will make that 36 chicks.

Here is a video of Blue feeding the chicks. I should mention that Blue is quite different to other male ospreys; he likes to be involved in every process, spends a lot of time on the nest, sometimes feeds Maya and brings in a heck of a lot of fish!

I am a great fan of the California condors and have followed the trials, tribulations, and the victories of both Redwood Queen 190 and Iniko 1031. Everyone was waiting for Iniko to be reunited with her mother after they were separated because of the Dolan Fire. Indeed, if you do not know the story of Iniko – it is beautiful and it should give us hope that things do work out. Iniko was in the Redwood nest that her father, Kingpin and Redwood Queen shared, when the Dolan fire ripped through Big Sur in 2020. The fire raged around the nest tree. Iniko survived but was knocked out of the tree by Ninja 729. Redwood Queen came to the rescue! Iniko was taken into care at the Los Angeles Zoo supported by the Ventana Wildlife Society. Redwood Queen has a new mate, Phoenix, and they had an egg this year that was believed to be non-viable. Iniko was released on 4 December and this is the first time Mum and daughter have been seen together. Both females dive into the pack and get close to the carcass!

@Ventana Wildlife Society

The only surviving chick on the Dahlgren Osprey nest of Jack and Harriet has a nice crop at 1800 today. The heavy storms and rain caused the waters to rise and be murky. Not good if you are an osprey trying to catch a fish. The water is now clearing and let us hope everything stays on track with this one Bob.

It was nice to see Louis cuddled up with Dorcha at the Loch Arkaig Osprey nest in Scotland. The weather has been terrible – that along with a mess of intruders have really not made it a good start to the year for these two.

I can hear rain falling on Theo’s nest in Latvia and see that some work continues to be made on the nest but no Theo and no mate. Beautiful birds singing in the distance.

Black Storks are very, very rare in Latvia and Estonia. Because of this conservation status, they are much loved by the people – and many of us. Karl II and Kaia have four eggs on their Black Stork nest in the Karula National Forest in Estonia. The first egg was laid on 24 April with the last on 1 May. We should be looking for a pip in what? Incubation is normally 32-38 days (varies by author). So we are at 25 days with the oldest egg.

Here is the link to Karl and Kaia’s streaming cam:

The Black Stork nest of Jan and Janika is also in Estonia in Jogeva County. There are five eggs. The couple are, according to the chat moderator, on day 34, 31, 31 and 30 (counted from laying). Here is the link to their streaming cam:

There was one Black Stork nest that was monitored in Latvia. It was the nest of Grafs and Grafiene. I have not been able to confirm any activity for this couple this season.

There was a scary moment on the nest of Big Red and Arthur when Big Red brought in greenery at 11:47 and L3 looked as if she would fall backwards off the nest.

There is tug-o-war with some prey and the inklings of self-feeding with bits of prey left on the nest. Too cute. L4 looks on and wants to join in the fun.

I checked on Ervie a few minutes ago and he was not on the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. Then ‘B’ checked after me and Ervie flew onto the nest and is now sitting in Dad’s cave!!!!!!! Oh, we are truly blessed. Thank you ‘B’. Now anyone can go to the Port Lincoln streaming cam and see our beautiful boy!

Seeing Ervie brings tears of joy! So happy for this third hatch. He is much loved and adored by so many. Thank you ‘B’ for taking the time to send me a note! It is much appreciated. Ervie might well bring a puffer back. He seems to find them around the barge.

Thank you for joining me today. It was a whirlwind around the nests. Too many. Too much going on. It is hard to keep up with them. Take care all. If you want to see Ervie, here is the link to his camera:

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or their FB pages: Ventana Wildlife Society, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Glacier Gardens, Cornell RTH, Eagle Club of Estonia, Latvian Fund for Nature, Friends of Loch Arkaig and People’s Post Code Lottery, Barnegat Light Ospreys, Sea Eagles @BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre, MN-DNR, Dahlgren Ospreys, DHEC, and LRWT.

Early Wednesday in Bird World

18 May 2022

The torrential downpour is back again! The skies are dark grey in places and there is a lot of thunder. The ground is super soaked and outside the city the flood waters were receding yesterday. I wonder if that is still true today. What is different is the shade of green from all the trees. Old Maples, planted in 1902, make a canopy on the streets and that is now tinged with green, more chartreuse, than the green the leaves will be in a week. The leaves on the the trees, the lilacs, and the vines in the garden are beginning to pop. I would like to say that we will have beautiful summer weather but it is to go down to 3 degrees C – they even predicted snow – this weekend. All of the annual plantings are out in the rain enjoying it but will come in if that forecast is correct. Despite the rain the garden visitors were here early – a flock of Harris sparrows, Junior (the Blue Jay – sadly his parents are not with him this year), Mr Crow, and a dozen or more Chipping Sparrows. In about an hour the Starlings will arrive. You can almost set a watch on their timing – 0900 and 1700.

It was sure a good morning at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. Dad came in with a fish at 06:54:13. And then a second one arrives around 07:31. Middle has his mojo back. Only once did he move away because of Big that I could see. He is getting better – or is Middle a she? -. What joy to see the birds eating first thing in the morning. Such a huge relief.

There is Middle next to the rim. Big still has a longer tail and larger wings but you have to look carefully to see who is who sometimes. Middle has a very sweet face.

This is, of course, the way to deliver fish – two right in a row – if there is food competition on a nest. Dad, you did well this morning!

The second fish played out like this: Big was distracted trying to self-feed. Yes, please, don’t fall over! ——- Mum is feeding Middle. Mum continues to feed Middle. Both chicks will have nice crops and a beautiful start to their day. Happy. Very happy.

In other Bird World news, Mr Blue Berry from Duke Farms fledged at 06:43:47. Didn’t think twice – flapped the wings and off! Let us hope we see him on the nest getting food and getting those wing muscles stronger for a few more weeks.

The two eaglets are really thinking about fledging at the Dale Hollow nest!

Richmond and Rosie have a hatch as of the 17th. I wonder what is going on with egg 3? Rosie isn’t telling.

Iris, the grand dame of US Ospreys and the oldest Osprey in the world at 28 years old (29?) is finally free to enjoy her summer. One egg was ruined the other day and the Crows finished off the other last evening.

There were 8 feedings that I counted between 06:32 and 13:20 on the Manton Bay Osprey nest of Blue 33 and Maya today. Those kids have at least tripled their size since hatch last week!

Blue 33 flew in wanting to feed the kids some Perch.

Just look how big they are! It is hard to imagine that a few days ago we worried about that flapping fish and whether or not chick 2 would survive. All three are strong and growing bigger almost before our eyes thanks to the great work by Mum and Dad.

Blue 33 loves to feed his kids and be on the nest with Maya and them when he isn’t fishing. If I were an osplet I would definitely wanted to have hatched in this nest!!!!!!!

The water has finally cleared and Jack should be able to bring some nice fish to Harriet and the one surviving chick out of three at the Dahlgren Osprey nest in King George County, Virginia. Richmond arrives and Rosie gives him the morning breakfish order. What a wonderful change. Hoping to see some nice fish on this nest and a few less toys and sticks.

Jack will return at 07:30 with a partial fish for Harriet and Big Bob.

It is too bad that those torrential rains came and muddied the river but it is nice to see the surviving chick doing well. It is now getting that dark wooly down and will soon be in the Reptilian phase.

Did you say you love Kestrels? The five eggs are due to hatch at the Prairie Dy Chien Kestrel nest box in Wisconsin starting today! Kestrels are the smallest of the falcons. They feed on insects and small rodents, small birds, and amphibians. They are quite common in the southern part of my province during the summer where they breed.

Here is a link to that camera!

Sadly, a nice fish came on the ND-LEEF nest around 0808 but, Middle did not get any. There are some bones left on the nest with some flesh. I bet it will go after those. Oh, how I wish the fish would fly on to this nest. The little one did have a good PS this morning and did do some wing exercises. It just needs food!!!!!!

Despite its size that fish is really only enough food for one of the bigger siblings. Lots more deliveries needed!

So far it is a nice morning at the MN-DNR nest of Nancy and Harriet (E1). I wonder if they are going to get the storms we are having? Harriet is waiting for some breakfast! On the nest are a lot of turtle shells – it must be a good time of the year for hunting turtles. They seem to be on every eagle nest we have been watching.

Dad’s cave at the Port Lincoln Barge has had a make over getting ready for the new season. It was pulled into place, washed, and given a once over.

Guess who was eating a fish all the time the work was going on? Ervie! And apparently it didn’t bother him one bit. Ervie, you are looking so good. I wish we could see how your talon is doing but it is so good to see you.

I still cannot imagine feeding five little eyases. Everything was quiet and then Dad arrived at 1135 and everyone got excited for food! All is well at the Manchester New Hampshire peregrine scrape!

It is pitching rain and my garden shed/garage is almost completely demolished. Strange equipment. Been working 2 hours. Little Red and Mr Crow definitely are not happy.

Have a wonderful day everyone. Wish for fish for 17 at ND-LEEF. Check out the PLO camera. Ervie might return today. Wouldn’t that be grand? Take care. Thank you so much for joining me this morning.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Duke Farms, SF Bay Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, DHEC, Montana Osprey Project, Dahlgren Osprey Nest, LRWT Manton Bay, Cornell Bird Lab Kestrels, ND-LEEF, MN-DNR, Port Lincoln Ospreys, and Peregrine Networks.

Early Saturday in Bird World

13-14 May 2022

First up. By the time you open this blog, it will be Saturday the 14th of May – Global Big Day. Join in. Check out the link in the notice by Cornell and follow the directions. Join in everyone around the world counting birds!

At 18:55:06 Friday the 13th, a fish landed on the Osprey nest at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Typically, Mum would feed Big almost exclusively but today, something else happened. Middle got himself positioned perfectly and he was fed, almost non-stop, for 13 minutes until the fish was entirely gone. The Mum feeds fast and this time, instead of Big getting all the fish, Middle did. He seemed desperately hungry. Relief.

Middle’s position is perfect. Big tries to get under Mum and for some reason cannot seem to move forward to get up to the beak. That was a good thing as Middle just snatched and grabbed all of those bites encouraging Mum to feed faster and faster.

I kept capturing images but, in the end, they all look the same. Big on the right side of Mum (if you face the image) and Middle on the left getting fed.

It was really nice to see Middle get a good feeding. Earlier in the day but, typically, Mum feeds Big about 15 bites to every one for little. This is a great way to end Friday!

Blue 33 (11) kept good tabs on Maya and the three Bobs at the Manton Bay nest. There was another flippy fish that came in today but no chick was injured. Thank goodness. Each time I saw Blue there I thought how supportive it was if something happened again. He even got to feed the kids a couple of times. Super Dad!

The fish came in on a regular basis and sometimes Maya fed the kids more frequently than every two hours. Look at them all lined up so sweet.

There is something so cute about the Bobs at this stage. They can get a little aggressive when they enter the Reptilian phase. I wonder if it is in part that they are growing so fast and are so itchy with the feathers coming in??

Maya feeds each one until it is so full it passes out in a food coma. Blue 33 looks on at his trio. I love this family.

Next week we will be looking for a hatch at the Loch of the Lowes nest of Laddie LM12 and Blue NC0. Last year the couple hatched three eggs with two chicks fledgling. Third Bob died within a couple of days. It was very tiny and weak and could not compete with a ‘Big’ sister.

Hatch watch will begin for Idris and Telyn at the Dyfi Nest in Wales on 23 May. That is 10 days away. Idris is incubating the eggs while Telyn enjoys her meal down on Monty’s perch.

It is just starting to get light at the Dyfi nest. The train is going by. Idris is on the nest again with Telyn on his perch having a break and a meal.

The surviving chick of Jack and Harriet’s at the Dahlgren Osprey platform on Machodoc Creek in King George, Virginia looks as if it will survive. The other two died this past week – probably multiple reasons such as lack of food and maybe cold and damp issues.

The triplets of Thunder and Akecheta are such striking eaglets. Here is a three minute short video of them – as we get closer and closer to fledge. Kana’kini, the only female of the three, has begun hovering. She will be 67 days old on the 14th.

One of the little eyases at the Cal Falcons scrape, is sleeping on the non-viable egg. It reminds me of those ‘medicine’ or exercise balls that people sometimes use for exercise or to sit on for their posture. Annie is such a sweet Mum brooding those fast growing chicks!

Every California Condor egg is precious. Many are not viable but when one begins to pip and hatch it is a time for hopeful joy. There is a Condor hatching right now. Here is a short clip of Cornell showing the pip. The egg tooth and beak are moving and the chick is alive! The nest is located in Tom’s Canyon which is part of the Hopper Mountain Wildlife Refuge. Enjoy.

It is past midnight and I am heading off to read and hopefully have ‘Sweet Osprey Dreams’. Thank you for joining me. Remember – join in and count the birds. Let’s find out where they are during spring migration! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, LRWT Manton Bay, Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, Dyfi Osprey Project, Dahlgren Ospreys, and Cal Falcons.

Late Friday in Bird World

29 April 2022

In all the flurry of the goslings jumping at Decorah yesterday and the fourth egg hatching for Big Red and Arthur, there was one thing that I missed. Please send your positive wishes to Nancy and the two eaglets on the MN-DNR nest. Sadly, Harry has been missing since Tuesday evening, the 26th.

The two eaglets are old enough for Nancy to go out hunting. No doubt she will take care of them and her. Harry was such a fantastic mate. This is very, very sad news.

Everything is going great at the nest of Big Red and Arthur. Big Red is such a fantastic mother. She has them all lined up to eat and she knows to get L1 fed full so it goes to sleep and the three others can eat. They are all doing well and Arthur has the larder packed with prey.

They are adorable. Big Red brought the greenery in this morning. The needles and the bark have oils and vapors that discourage the growth of fungal spores. They also retard bacteria growth and repel insects. Big Red and Arthur tend to get their greenery from Hemlock, White Pine, and Cypress while hawks in other areas, such as the West, select Juniper and Douglas Fir.

The blood on the back of the wee one is from prey. It is not injured!

Precious. They hatched on the 21, 24, 25, and 28 of April.

Here is news from Winnipeg. Isn’t she gorgeous? This is Ella and Dennis Swayze – an excellent wildlife photographer – caught this image of her and posted it giving us an update on Ella’s scrape. We have four eggs! I will be posting the link to the streaming cam as soon as it is live.

Out of habit and concern, I continue to check the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta and the Two Harbours nest of Chase and Cholyn to make sure all of the eaglets are present.

There is Chase with TH1 today. That bush blew in and will probably leave when gusts arrive. The baby is fine from its fall. Hungry and growing and losing the few dandelions that were on its head.

All three eaglets are at home with Thunder this afternoon. Hopefully they will all stay on top of that cliff nest until it is time to fledge.

I am not 100% certain but I believe it was Middle that got the fish. He saw the adult coming and immediately was ready to mantle the delivery! Good work. Big looked on from where she was perched on the nest rim.

The eaglet was quick – hungry! Notice the crop on the eaglet perched on the rim of the nest. You can see that crop better – and how big it is – in the second image below.

That was a great mantling job!!!!!!!

Middle is really going to enjoy that fish.

Why do I think it is Middle? Middle never stops chirping when it is eating. Everything looks fine at Dale Hollow.

There is still a bit more of a white terminal band on Middle – not really a band as in hawks and falcons – but enough of a white ruffle to still identify.

There are three eaglets at the Notre Dame St Patrick’s County Park nest in South Bend, Indiana. ND15 is the oldest. ND16 is one day younger than ND15. ND17 is 5 days younger than ND15. So there is a span of five days between the oldest and the youngest. So far they have had a squirrel and a turtle today.

Little Bob is sound asleep with a really nice crop!

Here is a link to their streaming cam:

Still having eaglet withdrawal, there is also the Decorah North nest of Mr North and Mrs DNF. The eaglets are approximately one month old and cute as buttons! Are buttons cute? Who started that saying?

Here is the link to the Decorah North camera:

It is really hot on the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest today. The two osplets had crops early on but I cannot rewind the camera to find the time of the feeding. It appears that they would very much like more fish brought in!

You can see the filled crop squish out at the side as the osplet presses against the twig.

Trying to stay cool.

They sure can make one nervous hanging over the edge of that nest like that!

Today, there are two nestlings at the Osprey nest of Jack and Harriet in King William, Virginia. Congratulations!

Something to put a smile on your face for a Friday. The smallest at Pittsburgh-Hays has discovered ‘the Quarterback Sneak’. Look at it grab those bites between Mum’s legs!

Lori Covert has been watching Andy and Lena and Middle (LittleO) and Little (MiniO). Andy brought a fish to the nest for Middle (Little O). Little or MiniO was seen right on Andy’s tail by Lori when he was diving. He made the dive about 10 ft or 2.5 metres from her kayak!!!!!!! What luck. He subsequently got a fish for Little or MiniO. Both kids fed. Everyone is OK at Captiva. Fantastic.

This is how Lori described it: “And MiniO was literally right on his tail feathers for the whole dive! Afterward they circled around for a couple of minutes then MiniO went back to the perch and Andy delivered the fish to LittleO.”

An article from The Smithsonian Magazine on H5N1 Avian Flu:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bald-eagles-are-dying-from-bird-flu-180979940/?fbclid=IwAR2rJmkWXD93lGmsKascaoISBIyGKP5dz0LU6DkCGbxjtKwefvQPqtAbIBY

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, FB pages or Twitter feeds where I took my screen captures: MN-DNR, Cornell RTH, MB Birding, Explore.org, DHEC, ND-LEEF, UF-G Ospreys, Dahlgren Ospreys, Pix Cams, and Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife.

Big continues her attack at Dale Hollow and other stories in Bird World on Sunday

27 March 2022

Jack brings in yet more toys for the kids as Harriet lays the third and, hopefully, final egg today at the Dahlgren Osprey Nest on the King George V River.

Not to be out done by the Cornell Red tail hawks with their four eggs, the female at the Syracuse Red tail Hawk nest has now laid four eggs! Goodness. While we might want to think that this is a prey rich summer, I had a conversation about Avian Flu with someone who is involved in that research. They said that Avian Flu H5N1, the highly pathogenic strain, is spreading like wild fire. Could the extra egg be part of a natural reaction to this? The general consensus is that 1 out of 3 fledglings survive. Are the hawks laying 4 eggs with the hope now that 1 in 4 survives this year with the spread of the flu? It reminded me of a quote on the Looduskalender Forum byIrene Ripperberg: “Clearly animals know more than we think and think more than we know.”

I had hoped that the afternoon would be a good one for Middle Little. While Little Middle did eat, those feedings did not come without enduring the wrath of Big. At 12:06:54 a parents flies in with a piece of fish. Big immediately goes after Little Middle who will get nothing of that prey drop. At 14:19:13 there is a large fish and a small piece left from earlier on the nest. Little Middle moves and Big goes on the attack. LM watches as Big is fed. By 14:26:47, Little Middle is at the rim of the nest moving cautiously. Little Middle gets a bite at 14:29:00 and a few more bites. Big gets up and Little Middle goes into submission. Big ate the rest of the fish and the tail. Little Middle did have a crop, part of which was left from the morning. Obey flew in with another fish at 15:28:58. Middle was where he landed. He gave Little Middle some bites which LM snatched and grabbed til Obey flew off at 15:32:39. At 17:52:47 River moves the large fish Obey brought in earlier and begins to feed Big. Little Middle moves over by Dad who has arrived at 17:54:24 hoping he has some more food. He doesn’t. Little Middle moves over to the rim and cautiously up to River who gives him some bites.

Big appears to be sleeping. At 18:15:27 – only three minutes later- Big goes into an attack. Oh, how I wish that Big would have just slept. There is hardly any food left – it ate an entire fish!

She tries to get Little Middle’s head to inflict the most damage which despite a large crop she does. Little Middle appears to be quite frightened. Big moves up to eat again. Middle Little must move – Big goes on the attack again at 18:16:11 in spite of having a big crop. Big positions herself so that she can grab Little Middle’s head and she twists it.

I had hoped that the beaking was going to slow down. It certainly does not appear to have anything to do with whether Big is full of not. One of our readers ‘BG’ observed that Big has a much more difficult time attacking Little Middle if she has a big crop which she does in the image below. It is hard for her to go over the top of the back anymore. That said, she was surely determined today and shifted to the side so that she could grab Middle’s head and neck which she shook.

While Little Middle is getting bigger and Big is often so full she can’t do anything, Little Middle must be cautious. And we have to hope that much more food comes on this nest. As it happens what is being brought in is enough for Big but barely enough for Little to have lots which it needs now. Both eaglets are 27 days old today – 28 if you count hatch day.

In the image below, Big is trying to go down to the head on the side at a slightly different angle than the image above. She has strong legs and, in fact, could, if she got wild enough, push Little Middle out of the nest. Despite being full, she simply could not sand that River would feed Middle Little a few bites of scrap fish.

Big is huge compared to Little middle. Look at her legs!

River feeds Big as he pushes Little Middle from the back. Little Middle raises its head and Bit goes at it again at 18:16:25.

Little Middle tries to get away by moving up close to River. River feeds Big. Nothing for Little Middle.

I am putting the image below in as a comparison of the size of the two. There remain many ways that Big can harm Little Middle but let us look at the positive. Despite not getting lots of food and cheeping wanting more, Little Middle did eat and did have a crop. He also had a really good PS this afternoon.

I am continually checking on Karl II and his movements curious as to if he can ‘smell’ or ‘sense’ war and not go to his normal watering hole in the Ukraine.

One of the British that travel to The Gambia to monitor Ospreys, Chris Wood, notes that many of the Ospreys arrive and go right to the same tree that they have done in many years previous. Will this also be the case for Karl II that he will, nonetheless, go to his normal spots despite the war?

Karl II is through Bulgaria, almost. Will he continue through Poland up to Latvia? We wait for the transmissions.

The people of Mlady Buky, The Czech Republic, are awaiting the arrival of their two White Storks. This community is the one who saved the father and the three storklets (originally four but Dad selected) by providing food for them last year.

Are you fond of Goshawks? The Goshawk nest at Riga, Latvia has its first egg today.

For any of the Latvian nests, I urge you to subscribe to The Latvian Fund for Nature’s streaming cams. There is no charge. You can do a search on YouTube and then select the nests you wish to watch. You will get a notice if something happens! There you will also find all of the videos of Milda the White-tailed Eagle at Durbe, her trials and joys.

There is a lovely little video of the adults at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest doing a tandem feeding. Oh, I just love this when the parents work together to make sure their chicks survive – if at all possible.

I love Red tail hawks and A Place Called Hope posted this today. I wanted to share it with you. If I were a raptor and needed rehab, I would really like to find myself at APCH.

The second egg for Mr President and Lotus at the National Arboretum Nest in DC is 35 days old. I so hope that this one hatches and the chick survives to fledge. It would be wonderful for this new pair. This is 18:13 this evening. Lotus is being very careful when she rolls that egg!

The following was posted a few hours ago. It looks like there is an internal pip happening. Please send your warmest wishes to Mr President and Lotus for a successful hatch for DC9.

R2 was returned to the nest by Ron Magill at the Miami Zoo. The remaining monofilament was removed successfully from its foot. These images were posted on Ron Magill’s FB page:

How wonderful! So happy for R2. He is sleeping on the rim of the nest tonight.

Everything is fine on the Captiva Osprey Nest of Andy and Lena in Florida. The beautiful juvenile plumage is coming in on both Middle and Little. They are growing so fast! Still no news on what killed Big.

Today, Grinnell protected the egg at the Peregrine Falcon scrape in The Campanile while Annie chased off the intruder. Here is a short video clip of that action.

Cal Falcons just posted another. The couple have been busy with intruders.

And before I close, a quick look at the West End Bald eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta where the trio of eaglets continues to thrive and grow without a second of discord. Remarkable parenting at this nest!

Look at how big they are. This just brings tears to my eyes. Two parents working together got this fantastic result for Thunder and Akecheta.

It looks like Ervie went out to the water. I hope he caught a nice fish! His tracker continues to work and he remains around Port Lincoln. Joy. Now if we only had news of Falky and Bazza.

Life is good at the nests!

Thank you so much for joining me. My blog may not be out til late on Monday. Hopefully the news will be good at Dale Hollow. Take care all. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB or Forum: Looduskalender, Latvian Fund for Nature, Mlady Buky Stork cam, Captiva Osprey Cam, Ron Magill, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, Cal Falcons, Dahlgren Osprey Nest, Pix Cams, Port Lincoln Ospreys, A Place Called Hope, and WRDC Bald Eagles.

Thursday Morning at Dale Hollow and other news in Bird World

24 March 2022

Please pardon any spelling or grammar issues today. I have not had time to proof this report, unfortunately. Thank you!

So far it is a pretty good morning even at Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagle nest on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky in the US. I turned on my computer just as a small fish was brought in my River, with its head, at 08:11:14.

Big goes to intimidate Middle at 08:23:49 but it is not the level of frenzy that Middle experienced late on the 23rd. Big ate all of the fish that came in. It was finished at 08:35:16. Then River moved over to the piece of Sucker that was still on the nest at 08:36:29.

I was encouraged by River’s actions as she clearly seemed to have feeding Middle in her mind. Middle turned to River to eat at 08:37:23 and then Big entered the picture pushing herself between River and Middle after she had a PS.

It was evident that both Big and Middle had eaten earlier as Middle had a nice crop.

River began feeding Middle at 08:38:25.

Eight minutes later, at 08:46:15, Big decides it wants to eat and starts intimidation. It ate a few bites.

River tries again to feed Middle at 08:47:33. River stops feeding at 08:47:25. There is still a piece of the sucker left. The nest is quiet of any animosity. At 09:03:38 Big turns and towers over Middle and does nothing! River returns to the nest. She is aerating the area by the small piece of remaining sucker. Big moves down at 10:01:20 and River feeds Big all the Sucker.

By 10:11:40 Middle is up at the top of the nest on the left being fed the rest of the old fish tail (not much on it). Big ignores the whole thing! Both eaglets are full. It is just after 10:15 on the nest.

Despite the modest attempts of intimidation, Middle ate this morning and has a nice crop when I stop watching. Big also has a crop. Hopefully more larger fish will come on the nest. Indeed, I hope that obey knows where to find more suckers! We can be joyful. This morning has been good for Middle!

River returns to the nest later to aerate. It is now 11:35. No more food items but not expected. Both Middle and Big have big crops still!

Middle had a really healthy PS at 11:32:41.

There is Big’s Crop. Because Big is such a large bird – no doubt she is a she – her food requirements are probably twice that of Middl now. Continue to send positive wishes for this nest. We are not out of the woods yet but I sure hope we are in a week. Both chicks cast pellets this morning and both had at least one PS. Enjoy this morning. It has been a good one at Dale Hollow.

Here is the first view of the newly hatched chick at Harry and Nancy’s MN DNR (hatched yesterday).

I have received word from ‘S’ in Latvia that a female interloper White-tailed eagle has destroyed the two eggs that Milda had laid on her nest in Durbe County. This is what ‘S’ conveyed: “Just a quick update. Yesterday evening a ringed strange female came to the nest and destroyed/ate Milda’s eggs while Milda was away feeding. Voldis did not stop her. It’s clear Voldis is not in any nesting mode yet, since his incubation skills also did not improve significantly. The intruder female is a Latvian WTE who was ringed in Latvia, near Jaunpils in 2016.”

Here is a video summary of the events:

As ‘S’ points out, many of the experienced watchers of Milda’s nest believe this to be better as it is clear that the situation could have gotten worse – no care for hatchlings, lack of prey to nest, etc.

‘S’ also included a message sent out by the Ornithologist, Jan Kuze:

“Today we have witnessed a very interesting turn of events – at least I am not aware of any other such cases. The role was played by the fact that the male is young and inexperienced, its connection with the territory and this partner is not sufficiently strong yet. The female continues to incubate due to inertia, but it cannot be ruled out that another egg will be laid in this nest, the next week or two will show.

I ringed the egg-eating female bird in the vicinity of Jaunpils on 25.05.2016. It is a young female who has reached the nesting age and is looking for a nesting area, it cannot be ruled out that we will continue to see her here and that some conflicts will continue.”

In Montana, members of the Raptor Resource Project are installing some ‘goose exclusion’ mechanisms to the Osprey nests. Here is the message from Dr Ericke Green:

It is not an Osprey nest but an unused Bald Eagle nest at Decorah, Iowa. The Canada Goose that has been checking out this nest has now laid her first egg. This is going to be a terrific nest to watch as long as there are is no predation. Imagine all those little goslings jumping off the sides.

The goose laid the egg and then covers it. Did you watch Daisy on the WBSE nest? If so, you might remember that the goose or duck will lay their eggs and then begin to add down from their breast to make the soft nest. After 24 hours, the goslings will all jump down! They have quite a ways to go but video has been taken of goslings jumping 106 m or 350 feet. They bounce! It is really exciting. They will then follow their Mother to water where they will begin eating. Ducklings and goslings are precocial – covered in feathers and able to eat on their own after hatch. Amazing.

On the Cornell Campus yesterday, 19 year old Big Red surprised everyone when she laid a 4th egg! Perhaps most surprised was her 6 year old mate, Arthur. Cornell called it “unprecedented” on Twitter. Red tail Hawks can lay up to 5 eggs. Since the camera became operative in 2012, Big Red has consistently laid 3 eggs. It is not know how many she laid in years prior.

I will alert all of you as pip approaches for Big Red and Arthur as well as for the Peregrine Falcon couple, Annie and Grinnell. If you are used to watching eagles, it is very educational to observe the smaller raptors and how they manage larger clutches.

Speaking of Falcons, it is not time for any egg laying by the Australian falcons at CBD 367 Collins Street or Xavier and Diamond at Orange. That will come in late summer. For now, there are several nests. That said, I am playing close attention to Annie and Grinnell (as much as Dale Hollow allows for). This morning Grinnell was in the scrape at 06:44:05 calling Annie. I sure hope he had her breakfast! In terms of hunting, Peregrine Falcons, the fastest birds in the world flying up to 370 kph, capture their prey when flying. That prey can range from parrots, doves, pigeons, Starlings, to geese and herons depending on the falcons location.

For those just starting/thinking about observing this scrape, there is one quick difference between Grinnell and Annie. Grinnell has a black ID on his left leg and a standard silver band on the right. I would also like to draw your attention to the hue of Grinnell’s legs, cere (the yellow part above the beak), and the yellow around his eyes. Notice how the colour appears to be an orange-yellow. This deep colour indicates that Grinnell is extremely healthy.

At 08:48 Annie returns to the scrape. Peregrine Falcons may have first laid their eggs in twig nests but, if they did, they evolved to using cliffs with sand or pebbles. It is believed that this allows for few, if any, diseases unlike Eagle nests that constantly have to be aerated.

The eggs that Annie will lay are some of the most beautiful in the avian world with their rich red-brown colour. Indeed, because of their beauty and size they became the target of egg collectors. Once Annie begins hard incubation, her and Grinnell will take turns for 33-35 days. On occasion, as at the CBD Collins Street Nest in 2021, all three of their eggs hatched within a few hours. It helps to avoid the issues that we have seen at Dale Hollow and with Eagles and Ospreys in general. Once hatched, it is 5 to 6 weeks til fledge. The parents will then train the eyases to hunt and feed them for about another month. On occasion, the fledglings return to the nest area.

I sure hope Grinnell had a good breakfast for her. Annie appears to be ‘thinking’ about laying eggs. We wait.

Here is a recap by CalFalcons of the 2021 year. You might want to turn the sound down a little – the music is quite loud (or maybe not). It compresses the season from mating to banding to fledge.

At the Berry College nest of Pa Berry and Missy, B15 is one sweet and energetic eaglet! The nest has become a launch pad for ever higher jumping. B15 loves the wind between its wings. This morning he was up checking out the DVR. Fledge could come any day now. It has been a terrific year for this nest.

About four hours ago, Harriet at the Dahlgren Osprey nest laid her second egg. Jack continues to bring in toys. Oh, dear. Last year an egg got lost in all the items on this nest. Poor Harriet.

As we wait for Richmond and Rosie to finish their nest and the arrival of Iris in Montana, the Ospreys heading to Europe are on the move. A couple of days ago there were 51 on a site in Senegal and today only 10.

I want to check on Karl II, the male at the Karula National Forest Black Stork nest who is making his way home for the spring and summer breeding season in Estonia. Yesterday, 23 March, Karl was making good progress and was feeding at Lake Beysehir in Isparta Province in Turkey.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Karl II would normally be heading for an area around Odessa in the Ukraine on the Black Sea. Is it possible that he might revert and fly slightly West? We wait.

The day is half over on the Dale Hollow nest and I would suggest that it was a good start. River is currently on the nest shading the eaglets.

Thank you so much for joining me. I have skipped around checking on other Bird news this morning. All of the other nests are doing well and there is a lot going on. A storm is heading to Captiva that might put fishing off for Andy because the air pressure drives the fish deeper in the Water. Jackie and Shadow have been dealing with intruders. I may not get to all of those today. It could be a very late report. Take care everyone!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab and the Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Dale Hollow Eagle Cam, Cal Falcons, Berry College Eagles, Looduskalender, Google Maps, Dahlgren Ospreys, and Explore.Org. I know that there are more pressing concerns in the Balkans but I am extremely grateful to ‘S’ who took the time to alert me about Milda’s eggs being predated. Thank you ‘S’, I know the birds are your solace right now.

Tuesday in Bird World

22 March 2022

It is impossible to convey how joyful the image below makes me. River has been diligently shading Middle and Big since they finished an entire American Coot around noon.

As you can see both eaglets have big crops. Middle’s is enormous. That kid really likes American Coot!!!!!!

River stayed with the eaglets on the nest for most of the day. There were high level alerts between her and Obey and they both went into defensive mode. The two chicks ate and ate and still have a bit of a crop after some crop dropping. They will be fine til tomorrow but let us hope that something big comes in to the nest so things stay relatively peaceful. Middle is growing and that is a good thing and he is getting better at strategizing.

Middle is, however, scaring the wits out of me! I really hope that he doesn’t tumble over the edge when he tries to get upright. Oh, gosh, golly. What next?

At the MN DNR nest of Harry and Nancy, it was a cold torrential downpour this morning and the weather is still miserable in Minnesota. Nancy is doing everything to protect those precious eggs.

Poor Kincaid is one soaked eaglet and its nest is wet to its core. You can see all of the turtles that have been brought up for lunch by Louis! Goodness. This was another nest that often had American Coot along with the fish and the turtles.

It isn’t raining yet in Pittsburgh. Thank goodness. DH17 just hatched this morning. Two little Booble heads for Mum and Dad! DH16 wants to eat and the wee babe just wants to sleep. Cute.

The winds have really calmed down at the Captiva Osprey nest. Lena must be so happy. She was almost blown over last night! Just take a look at these two gorgeous osplets.

In the image Lena is moving around the edge of the platform to provide shade for the osplets. That is Little – yes, Little (or Mini) under Lena’s tail. Can you believe it?

And there is beautiful Middle Bob up front by Mum. The plumage that is coming in on these chicks is so gorgeous.

Both watching Mum fly!

The fourth fish delivery to the Captiva nest came around 14:00. Look at how well the chicks plumage camouflages them on the nest.

Everything looks good at Eagle Country. The two chicks of Abby and Blazer – well, it doesn’t seem right to call them chicks anymore. Gosh, they are beautiful and big! Won’t be long til fledging.

Well, what is up with Annie and Grinnell? Some are worried because the young females continue to come to the ledge of The Campanile wanting to court Grinnell. He has tried to get them to leave without a lot of success. Meanwhile, he tries to reassure Annie that he is the one. The pair have been caught on camera courting in the scrape. Annie, who normally lays her first egg on 10 March, is a bit late. She has been spending more time hanging around in or near the scrape. Thanks to ‘B’ we have a good time line of Annie’s activities this morning. ‘B’ notes the following (I missed it because of Dale Hollow): “Grinnell arrives on the wall to their balcony at 7:55, drops down to the scrape at 7:57.  Annie arrives on the wall almost immediately as G drops down, then Annie joins Grinnell in the scrape at 8:00:16, sixteen seconds late for their 8:00:00 pair bonding appointment.  G leaves within about a minute, but Annie remains, lying in the scrape until 9:30.  Annie moves to her roost on the lamp at that time and remained there until 10:23, when she returned to the scrape, where she remains now at 10:35.  Doing a little scraping, picking at rocks, lying.” Thank you, B. 

Annie has a really nice crop. I sure hope that meal was provided by Grinnell! Annie is gorgeous. They are even grandparents.

Here Annie is in the scrape.

Annie returns to the scrape. I sure hope we see some eggs in this scrape, soon

Martin and Rosa are taking really good care of their one and only chick for 2022. It is growing quickly – getting all the food that could be meant for 1 or 2 more. What a darling.

The first hatch at the Redding Bald Eagle nest of Liberty and Guardian is certainly cute and fuzzy. It hatched on 20 March at 21:20 so it is 1.5 days old. The remaining egg is pipping!

Oh, those first little bites are so tiny.

Well, this is really how to feed three eaglets so that you have three fledges! Thunder and Akecheta are a great team. This keeps the volume and any rivalry down when they do their tandem feedings which is often.

In Manitoba we have the Peregrine Recovery Project and two of the breeding males have arrived back in our province a little early. One was trying to work on the scrape box on the Raddison Hotel and the gravel was still frozen. Meanwhile the Canada Geese continue to fly in while the Snowy Owls are departing for the north.

It is a beautiful day so far on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. What a gorgeous place to have a nest. There is the Queen of the Red tail Hawks, Big Red.

I want you to take in this beautiful Welsh landscape. Pastoral. Now look at the Osprey nest. The good people of Glaslyn have built up the edges for Aran and Mrs G on their return. Everything is fixed and wired. All the Ospreys have to do is bring in the nesting material!

I sure wish someone would have done this for Richmond and Rosie. Seriously there are twigs all over the Glaslyn Valley for Aran and Mrs G but no so plentiful on a shipping yard with concrete! Rosie was making progress yesterday and then the wind flipped her off the nest along with all her hard work.

The Dahlgren Osprey nest was a new build platform. Jack and Harriet have both been working and the locals are leaving more stuffed toys for Jack to take to the nest. Today’s delivery was number 2 toy. Jack and Richmond both have something in common. They love to bring bright and unusual things to their nest. Cute. Jack does get out of hand, helped along by the good citizens of the community. I don’t think I have ever seen an eagle bring a toy to the nest. Have you?

This is the most recent report from the Kakapo Recovery – it is a struggle with these amazing non-flying parrots. Those who work with them are so dedictated.

Thank you so much for all your notes and suggestions for viewing. I hope to have a listing to share with everyone in a couple of days. It has been a good day except for the weather and intruders. There are pips, hatches, eaglets and osplets eating, Ospreys arriving, intruders, tornadoes, torrential rain, high wind gusts, and all manner of anything that can happen at a nest.

Oh, River brought in a small rat or squirrel. It looks like Big will eat most of it. I am kinda’ glad about that if it is a rat.

Middle has now moved up and has not fallen off. Relief.

At 16:49:11 the camera goes to the lake. There were some horrible sounds at 17:07:23. What was that? I hope it is just my over active imagination.

There must be intruders about. Fingers crossed everyone!

Middle doesn’t need a rat to eat. He had half an American Coot this morning and some leftovers from it -small pieces later. He still had a nice crop. That said, I am certain he would get right up there for ‘rat’ if Big left any for him.

Thank you so much for joining me and thank you for all of your notes, your comments, your questions, and your recommendations. They are always appreciated. Please take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: The Kakapo Recovery, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Dale Hollow Lake Eagles, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Pix Cams, Dahlgren Ospreys, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, MN DNR, KNF, Dulles Greenway Eagles, Redding Eagles, Eagle Country, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife, and Cal Falcons.

Late Friday and Early Saturday in Bird World

11-12 March 2022

It was sure easy to fall asleep Friday night after the tide turned, so to speak, at the Captiva Osprey nest. There were five fish deliveries on Friday. Mind you, one of them was about the size of a sardine and lasted 3 minutes but the last one coming in at 15:21:01 filled up the entire family. It did not just go to Big.

The weather might not be so great tomorrow but today was a good day. Little Bob (they call him Mini on the chat and call Middle Bob Little) crop dropped and then went back up to the table to get some more food. Good for him. He has really suffered the last few days. Little Bob winds up with a nice crop, too. Huge actually.

At one point, they were all lined up being nice like the good ole’ days.

On Saturday morning, Andy brought in a whopper of a fish, headless, at 07:31. Lena fed the chicks slow and that fish wasn’t finished for a long time. Little Bob (Mini for chat followers) was intimidated but once he got over there – after the other two were full – there was food left for him and Lena.

It is interesting how Little Bob sometimes keeps his distance from the fish. He used to get right up to Mum.

Lena is looking good today. She was very thin and sunken yesterday morning. One really has to hand it to her. She often has to deal with long droughts but the chicks are still alive and seemingly doing good.

It was family meal time at the Big Bear Valley nest of Jackie and Shadow. Just look at how big that nestling is! That egg looks wee in comparison now.

Some bites for Mum and then one for the little one.

Have a giggle! This is too funny to miss!!!!!!!!!

Early Saturday and the wee one has been fed at Big Bear – twice! There should be no bad weather at any of the nests in California.

It looks like the two eaglets at the West End Bald Eagle Nest on Catalina Island are going to have catfish for dinner.

The Wildlife Institute also uses ‘the name the eaglet’ as a good opportunity for fund raising. Here is that information for the West End babes:

It is a really fine Saturday morning in California. I could take images of proud parents Thunder and Akecheta all day long. They are two of the most photogenic eagles I have seen.

Did you know that Cheta began courting Thunder when he was three years old?

Gosh they are a beautiful couple with one of the most stunning landscapes for a nest I have ever seen. Just look at them. They remind me so much of Jackie and Shadow and certainly their success parallels that of Jackie and Shadow and both have beautiful territories that were devastated by DDT.

Thunder and Cheta will be a lot busier later. The third egg has a pip. It was officially seen at 08:19:59.

The three at the Dale Hollow Lake did good yesterday. Little is getting fed! Sometimes it seems that it doesn’t so watching this and seeing it happen live was good.

Here is a short video of River bringing in a fish and feeding all three chicks!

Dale Hollow has gotten hit by the snow storm that is plowing through a huge swath of the US for the weekend. Not worried about Mum and Dad but Little Bit. Fingers crossed there is fish under that snow and Little Bit gets a good meal.

As predicted, this same snow storm is hitting the nest of Big Red and Arthur in Ithaca, New York.

The surviving eaglet at the Duke Farms Bald Eagle nest is doing very well. It was flapping its wings around the nest bowl all afternoon.

This is Duke Farms Eagle nest this morning. Mum and chick are covered in snow.

B15 is all tucked in and trying to keep warm at the Berry College nest of Pa Berry and Missy. B15 is well equipped now to thermoregulate but gosh, it might be nice to cuddle with Mum.

They don’t have snow but they are getting the torrential rains at the southern end of this system at the NEFlorida Bald eagle nest of Samson and Gabby and their two eaglets, Jasper and Rocket. It is really going to take some Florida sunshine to dry out this soaking nest. They have rain and more rain!

Others are working on nests like Rosie and Richmond and Jack and Harriet at the Dahlgren Osprey nest. It is wet there, too, but now snow today. There is a long way to go but they are making headway. It is another thing on the Whirley crane where the Ravens dismantled Rosie and Richmond’s nest and now they are taking every stick they bring in! Crazy.

Here is a video of Richmond and Rosie working on their nest – furiously working!

That is a look at what has been happening at only a handful of the nests out there to watch.

Thank you for joining me today. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Friends of Big Bear Valley, Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, Captiva Osprey and Window on Wildlife, NEFlorida Eagles and the AEF, Duke Farms, Berry College, Dahlgren Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, the DHEC River and Obey.