3 February 2024
Good Morning and Good Gracious.
It was a marvellous Friday. The temperature rose to +5 C in some areas while at others it stayed around +3. The two degrees didn’t matter. The sky was blue and the sun was shining bright. People were happy!
Missey and Baby Hope looking out the window.
Missey and Hope had finished their lunch. If you are wondering ‘why’ Hugo Yugo grew so much in a month, well, ….She finished her dish and then decided to go around and eat anything left in her sisters’ bowls while they are busy watching birds!
It was not clear what would happen when Baby Hope discovered Hugo Yugo eating her food….Nothing. The older ones seem to tolerate anything that Hugo Yugo does. It is astonishing.
Then Hugo Yugo showed that she is capable of problem solving. There was one piece of food on the opposite side of the dish. She could not get at it very well. She tried her paw. That didn’t work.
So, what did she do? She went around to the other side of the dish. Ate every last nibble. Well done, Hugo Yugo!
2 February was not just Ground Hog Day or the day that Flaco escaped from the Central Park Zoo, but it was also the day we said goodbye to Harriet, the matriarch of the SW Florida Bald Eagle Nest on the Pritchett property in Fort Myers. Today, marks the beginning of M15 doing the amazing – he raised two one-month old eaglets to fledge all by himself while fending off numerous unsuitable female eagles!
It was a scary time for everyone and no one knew how this story would end, but M15 showed himself to be worth of the top spot of Top Dad for 2023 easily. E21 and E22 thrived.
M15 had multiple options, and he chose well. F23 has turned out to be a wonderful mate, and E23 is a healthy, happy eaglet. Look closely and see the colour around the mandible changing to yellow.
Too cute.
I am in tears. The other eagle family that we are so desperate to have chicks this year is at Sauces, and Audacity laid her first egg on Friday. That nest is lined with soft materials (compared to Big Bear). Oh, please, let them have a chick this year! Parachute one in if you have to, Dr Sharpe! Surely there is an orphan eaglet somewhere.
The snow at Big Bear appears to have stopped, but it isn’t melting. Shadow took a turn incubating and then flew around the nest getting a nice stick for the railing. He must be calculating how many new sticks he has to bring in if there could be three eaglets!
It took a bit to get Shadow to get up off the nest!
Both eagles of Abby and Blaze look fantastic – soft dandelion heads and that deep nest bowl keeps us wanting to see more of them!
Swampy hatched on the 31st of January and Meadow hatched today. There was some bonking and Swampy is getting the majority of the food. Fingers crossed that Meadow will be resilient!
The surviving eaglet at JB Sands Wetlands appears to be doing fine. Being fed well, but goodness, I wish that support was transparent!
At the Captiva nest, Lusa is now self-feeding!
| 11:42:08 AM | Lusa | ANOTHER MILESTONE! | Can now SELF FEED. |
The clean up crew is working hard on the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. The lads were off early in search of fish.
‘A’ reports on the Royal Albatross: ”At Taiaroa Head, the wee one at BOK and WYL’s nest needed to eat this morning, and so far, new mum BOK has not managed to do this. So the rangers swapped little TFT (Top Flat Track) chick with TF chick, putting TF under BOK and bringing TFT chick to mum LGL. Immediately, foster mum LGL fed the chick, which will presumably now be switched back to its own nest. A close eye will be kept on the weights of both chicks, with twice-daily weighing for TFT chick and daily checks for rapidly growing TF chick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKbM5HBesZ0. “
And she also brings us the news from yesterday at the Parramatta River: “February 2: Last evening (1 February) at 7:39pm an eagle flew from the island area and across the wetlands. With poor light, it was impossible to identify. Shortly after, an osprey was seen with a fish, heading back to Concord. Early this morning, our team reported SE31 at the river, first at Juvie Roost then closer to River Roost. She was seen later attempting a catch from the river, but it seemed nothing edible. The juvenile was confirmed as SE31, as she was using her favourite roosts and flight paths. During the day, the adults were seen at Goat Island, then flying west together at 4:30pm. Ospreys were active on the river in the late afternoon. Then, the adults were seen back at Goat Island again.”
They are watching for the first egg at Dulles-Greenway with Rosa and her new mate.
Everyone at the WRDC nest is alright. They survived the drought of prey items and the nappy and R6 looks to be in fine health.
Enjoying some shade!
We are about 3 weeks from the first egg at Denton Homes with Mum and Beau. (Yes, another Beau).
Some activity over at Decorah North, too – and a fish gift!
The Hatchery Eagles were at the nest, too.
Your eyes are not fooling you if you look at the amount of water around the nest of Liberty and Guardian in Redding, California. ”Sacramento River’s water flow triples…” – this is due to the latest heavy rainfall in the area.
More bad weather is expected with mudslides…
SE 31 has not gone anywhere!
Everyone should be serious about plastic and demand alternatives just like the lead in fishing, hunting, and military use. This is for the UK, but maybe it should be international.
I want to give a big shout-out to Mary Cheadle. Mary handles all the fundraising projects for The Friends of Loch Arkaig. When Jean-marie Dupart was asked what he needed, he answered he needed a new pair of binoculars to count the UK and European Ospreys in West Africa. We are so grateful for Dupart’s sightings and photographs. Mary undertook the challenge of raising funds, and today, she announced that she had “raised £1085 for Jean-marie’s binos.” That is amazing. Thank you, Mary! And thank you, Jean-Marie, for always informing us of the Osprey counts and the sightings of ringed birds.
Cranes were made extinct in the UK in the 16th century. This past year they bred in record numbers.
Wetlands are positively essential to our feathered friends. Did you know that 1/4 of North America’s wetlands are in Canada?
The following article has a map showing the Boreal Forest and more information about its importance to our planet, not just our feathered friends.
You know Flaco, the escapee Eurasian Owl in Central Park. He is celebrating a year of freedom. It is highly unlikely Flaco will ever have a mate. Today I found this – a bonded pair of Eurasian Owls in Estonia. Have a peek.
They are Hugo and Hanna. She is on the nest platform and he is on the tree branch.
The Peregrine Fund reminds us of some facts about Eurasian Owls:
- Eurasian Eagle-owls combine fast and powerful flights with shallow wing beats and long, fast glides. They also soar on updrafts, displaying a type of flight similar to that of soaring hawks like the Red-tailed Hawk.
- Eurasian Eagle-owls are among the world’s largest owls.
- Their pumpkin orange eyes and feathery ear tufts make them one of the most striking owls in the world.
“Eurasian Eagle-owl, Bubo bubo, Uhu” by Sonja & Roland is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
They also state, “Eurasian Eagle-owls are found throughout much of Europe and Asia and in parts of northern Africa. They live in a variety of wooded habitats. They are more commonly found in areas with rocky outcrops and cliffs, but they also live in open habitats that have some trees and rocky areas like taiga, farmlands, steppes, semi-arid areas, and grasslands.
Eurasian Eagle-owls seem to do well in most types of habitat if there are available nesting spots and adequate prey. These large, beautiful owls have even been documented living in city parks. One owl showed up at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Finland. This potential fan spent time hanging out on the goal post, causing the game to be delayed for several minutes!”
Eurasian Owls are under threat. ”During the first half of the 1900s, Eurasian Eagle-owl populations declined drastically. Humans hunted and poisoned them and they had a hard time surviving. Happily, local governments have begun to increase their protection of these owls, and some reintroduction programs have taken place. Thanks to these efforts, the Eurasian Eagle-owl is recovering in Europe although their numbers still haven’t returned to what they were before the mid-1900s. Electrocution and collisions with cars continue to be a problem for this extraordinary raptor.”
The latest announcement about the West End camera in the Channel Islands:
Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, photographs, videos, posts, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’A, J, MC’, Nancy Babineau, SW Florida Eagle Cam, info visual.info, Lady Hawk, IWS/Explore, FOBBV, Eagle Country, JBS Wetlands, Window to Wildlife, PLO, Dulles-Greenway, WRDC, Denton Homes, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, FORE, The Guardian, Bozena Isia, The Mercury News, Sea Eagle Cam, @ChrisPackham, Audubon, The Government of Canada, The Peregrine Fund, Open Verse, and the IWS.