05 April 2022
Good Afternoon Everyone. It does not feel like spring on the Canadian Prairies. The sky is snow white, the snow is melting, and it reminds me of the first winter I spent in the United Kingdom when I was cold to the bone and came to appreciate heavy wool sweaters and a warm fire! Canada Geese continue to fly into the city while fears of a flood are mounting. The river is rising and rising and rising some more.
I want to thank those individuals – in addition to each of you – that stepped up to help Little Middle or to help me find people to help: Keith Buch (falconer), Ron Magill (Miami Zoo Goodwill Ambassador and Communications Director who retrieved the monofilament line from R2 in the WRDC nest), Resee Collins (Eagle & Rehabilitation Permit Coordinator, Migratory Birds & Science Applications, USFWS Interior Regions 2 – 4), Rusty Boles, Al Cerere, founder of the AEF, and Jessica Halls with the American Eagle Foundation.
As of yesterday, Jessica Halls was awaiting permission from the Army to enter their property; the nest is on their land. It came to my attention that a video showing River removing monofilament line was posted yesterday. I shared that knowledge with Jessica. I have not seen the footage. If the line is off the nest, great! Jessica is in charge and is working to verify if that is true. I have every faith in each of these individuals – their only concern, as is ours, is the health and well being of the eaglets. I want to give them a big shout out for stepping up and helping in any way they could. Little Middle and the Dale Hollow nest are now in their expert hands.
At 09:342 this morning it appears that DH15 or Little Middle still could have some monofilament line around that left foot area. It seems to move. I took an overall image showing the date and time stamp and then blew up the area with Little Middle.
Jessica will certainly ascertain if that is fishing line. We have done our due diligence and hope for a happy ending for Little Middle. He has eaten well today! He is more mobile than earlier. And with the rain, the nest and the eaglets will be turning into soggy little birds.
At 12:21 there is an image of a wet Big walking over to River to eat. Does Big have fishing line over its back? or is it nesting material? I don’t want to be the person that sees monofilament line where it isn’t. There is enough real line along the shores of the two rivers that impact my City and our wildlife.
River is staying in the nest with the eaglets – too big to fit under Mum unless she wants to pop the umbrella for them.
I had a wonderful note from ‘MR’ from New York who wants me to mention the Peregrine Falcon nest in Utica, New York. So many of you adore the falcons and would like to see more ‘good’ nests. The couple are Astrid and Ares. Astrid laid her third egg on the 4th of April.
The group is really organized. They have an excellent web page with both current and historic information. There is also daily information so be sure to check out the ‘latest news’ section. There are six – yes, 6 – cameras. Here is the fish eye view:
You can find everything you needed to know on the website including access to the six cameras. Here is the link:
They also have a FB group called Watch Utica. Why not check them out?
The first egg is hatching at the US Steel Bald Eagle nest. The chick is making excellent progress and appears strong. Here is a short video of that action:
There is another hatch in progress as of 09:43 nest time at Two Harbours. Chase and Cholyn are getting ready to welcome a sibling for Thunder over at the West End nest!
Here is the link to their camera:
Kincaid from the KNF nest in Louisiana and the second eaglet of Anna and Louis fledged yesterday morning. It happened at 08:17. Congratulations to Cody, Steve, and everyone at the Kisatchie National Forest. It was a great year. This is a wonderful eagle nest to watch. Cody and Steve are always working on improving the camera and the sound and are often on chat to answer questions. The mod is also wonderful – Eagles at Work.
This is an image from today. Unlike Kisatchie who fledged last year and never returned to the nest, Kincaid has been lured back by his/her love of fish. S/He had the opportunity to eat three fish so far today. Fantastic. As we all know, the fledglings that return to the nest, get better at flying and learn how to hunt/fish have a much better chance at survival. Hopefully we will be able to see more of Kincaid over the next 2 or 3 weeks. S/he is a gorgeous fledgling.
Life continues to be good at the West End nest of Thunder, Akecheta, and the triplets. They are so big now and have all of their thermal down. There is a hint of feathers coming!
The naming contest for Jackie and Shadow’s only eaglet this year is set to be announced. The deadline was 4 April. The children from the grade three class of a local school pick the name from randomly drawn submissions. Can’t wait. Baby is getting quite big!!!
The two nestlings at the Decorah North nest of Mr North and Mrs DNF are thriving. Aren’t they cute? And seemingly well behaved.
The two eaglets of Harry and Nancy are also thriving. Harry continues to load the nest with prey.
No worries for the triplets at the Pittsburgh-Hayes nest. They are all growing and doing quite well, transitioning from wee white fuzzy babes to getting their thermal down.
There is really good news at the Dyfi Osprey nest in Wales. Idris is home!!!!! He is often called Daddy Long Legs and no matter short or long, welcome home. Telyn has been waiting for you.
Dr Bast at the CROW Clinic has issued a statement on the death of the eldest osprey on the Captiva Nest. The chick died suddenly on the 15th of March. There were, of course, worries that it was the highly pathogenic Avian Flu, H5N1, that is spreading through the region. However, the other two osplets continued to thrive. Here is that announcement:
I am so grateful for all the wildlife rehabbers who work tirelessly – and through donations – to care for injured wildlife or in this case to rush to retrieve a dead chick to find out the cause of death. Thank you CROW.
It is that time of years. Birds are returning, local counts are being undertaken, and everyone with a camera is out trying to get that ‘great’ shot or to fill in their ‘Life List’ of birds. Cornell posted these guidelines for the photographers. Even if you don’t take pictures, it is always good to respect the space of our friends – feather, furred, or scaled.
The tributes continue to come in for our dear Grinnell. It is so wonderful that a falcon could bring such joy to so very, very many. The role that birds play in enriching our lives should never be underestimated. Many who write to me feel closer to their bird friends than to humans. They find great solace in watching their lives and the care they give to their families. Grinnell certainly did all of that!
The ‘New Guy’ continues to bring Annie prey late at night, to help her protect the nest, and incubate the eggs. He is certainly rising to the occasion.
Karl II’s transmission for today has not come in. He was in Belarus yesterday having made it through the Ukraine without a problem.
I want to close today with a few images of the Canada Geese that I have been out counting for the past several days and for the rest of the week. As I said, I adore them! Some absolutely do not.
The local nature centre puts up wonderful nests and provides the straw – if the geese want to use them. This one did. Her mate is on the boardwalk and has decided that I will not walk through! I did turn around.
I remember when the geese used to arrive the middle of April. Now it is in March and we continue to have snow, rain, and melting snow. It is hard to find food.
The geese scour everywhere hoping to find a morsel of grass – green or dry. It doesn’t seem to matter.
There are geese everywhere!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for joining me today. Take care of yourself. I look forward to seeing you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and FB pages where I took my screen captures: CROW, Pix Cams, Explore.org, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Dale Hollow Eagle Cam, Dyfi Osprey Nest, MN-DNR, KNF, and Utica Falcons.