Tag Archives: Kaia migration

Early Tuesday in Bird World

23 August 2022

Today turned out to be a very special day (22 August). OK. It is always special when I can go out to the nature centre and do my long walk. It is also a good way to check every nook and cranny for the geese and ducklings. A few had moved from where they were yesterday but many stayed in or close to their normal pond area. I continue to be fascinated that there simply are no Wood Ducks at the nature centre. It is like the two species – Mallards and Wood Ducks – sat down and signed a truce and decided who would go where! There were a lot of birds at the ‘winter’ feeding stations — they must fill the feeders year round. There were several Downy Woodpeckers, two American Goldfinches, a number of Black-capped Chickadees and then a bird sitting in the squirrel feeder that I did not recognize. After going through the birding book, it appears that the little lovely below is an immature female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. I certainly welcome any help with this ID.

The most excitement came this evening, however. It is hard to imagine sitting next to a pond which is about 6 metres away from, perhaps, the busiest highway in our City and seeing a Great Egret fly to a tree to join two others. They are part of the heron family but they are very large. In North America they have black legs and a yellow bill. They gather in groups near ponds and wetlands if there is plenty of food. Otherwise, if food is relatively scarce, you will see them alone.

What a magnificent creature.

In the mailbox. Following up with the question about Titi and Boris and the reason for the Janakkalan nest cam in Finland to go offline. We have answers. Thank you ‘S’ for getting back so quickly to us. Boris was seen on the nest two days after Titi’s fledge. It was the morning of 12 August. Titi did not return to the nest while the camera was still operating.

There is a video of Boris’s nest visit.

There were difficulties with the camera and it completely broke down. It will be fixed and will be up and running again next year. ‘N’ did receive a response from the Finnish Osprey Foundation stating that there were a number of Osprey fledglings in the Muonio in Northern Finland. Thank you ‘N’.

Can you help? There is a new book on Peregrine Falcons being written by Richard Sale in the UK. Susan Sale writes with the following information and a question. “My husband is self-publishing a book on the Peregrine Falcon and I am trying to source the following Peregrinus Casini, Japonensis and Pealei. Do you have any photographs of them or perhaps give me some contacts who may and if you or they would be willing to allow use in the book.” If you have any images of any of the three sub-species of Peregrines or you know someone who might be able to help, please contact Richard and Susan at this e-mail address: Richard@snowfinch.co.uk

Several have been wondering about Big Red and Arthur’s L3 and L4 that are currently in care. They ask “Will they, if ever released, be placed near their family so BR and Arthur can find them? If not, Who and How will they learn to hunt after all these WEEKS in the clinic???” L3 and L4 are in very good hands. Just like they would if they were patients in my local wildlife rehabilitation centre, they will learn to fly and they will also be taught how to hunt and catch their own prey. I do not know where they will be released.

‘B’ sent a note and wondered if I had seen Thunder and Akecheta on the West End nest together. I had not and went quickly to rewind and there they were. Thanks ‘B’. We are always happy to see the parents on the nest as well as the fledglings!

‘L’ wrote: “When I grew up in the north of England, along the Pennines…near the Lake District….I never saw an Osprey, Kite, Goshawk, Golden Eagle that were native to our islands as we had eradicated them… I thought all was lost .it wasn’t and these efforts wipe away the despair that can overwhelm you when you ask how can we make a difference. WE make a difference.”

‘L’ you will then be thrilled to learn that the National Trust, RSPB, and the Peak District RaptorGroup just announced two successful Hen Harrier nests this year! And, as you know, the Ospreys are thriving and so are the Goshawks. Isabelle Tree’s re-wilding at Knepp is taking off…there will be more raptors.

https://raptorpersecutionuk.org/2022/08/23/perspective-required-as-national-trust-celebrates-two-successful-hen-harrier-nests-in-peak-district-national-park/

Nest News. It is hard to imagine sitting in the heat of summer in the Northern hemisphere but, the forecast is for snow in Orange, Australia. Holly Parsons who heads up the FB group was posting an image of Xavier and Kelli HissiFit Walker, one of the new mods on the streaming cam chat, dressed Xavier for the occasion. I chuckled so loud – I hope you enjoy it. If I were Diamond I would not want to lay eggs in that cold!

Thanks Holly and Kelli for letting me share!

Like Titi at the Janakkalan Osprey nest, LC at the Osoyoos nest doesn’t seem that much interested in fledging — yet. LC is 66 days old today.

As of the 22nd, Telyn was still at the Dyfi Osprey nest. She has not begun her migration yet. There is no rush and the females need to be in top form before they depart. Taking care of three big female chicks really has to be draining because they require much more food.

I went to check on the Sydney Sea Eagles and Lady was feeding SE29 and 30. It was very civil. SE30 did a few quick grabs and kinda looked to make sure 29 wasn’t going to do anything. Lady had it all in hand – a bite for you and then one for you. Back and forth. How lovely.

Sometimes 29 did seem to get more bites than 30.

and then 30 would get a few more…

There is plenty of fish. Both will be full. Just look at the ‘blood feathers growing in on SE29’s back and wings. Oh, they are changing so quickly — and the are simply adorable.

It rained later in the day and Lady spread her big wings and covered those babes who do not, as you can see above have their feather covering.

Dad was in the nest and on alert to any intruders that might be around,

Migrating tracking. Kaia flew in a big loop today staying in the same area that she flew to after she flew north out of the Ukraine.

There is considerable worry for Kaia’s mate, Karl II, and migration has not begun. He normally spends much time at a nature reserve on the Black Sea near Odessa. The area is currently a war zone.

A lovely image of Little Bit 17 was posted by S Basly on the Notre-Dame FB page. It was taken on the 28th of July.

What a wonderful way to end today’s blog with a look at Little Bit 17. He is, of course, a prime example of what an intervention and wildlife rehabilitation can do to give a raptor a second chance at life. Little Bit deserved it and he is living it. Such a beautiful juvenile.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Please take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or posts that made up my screen captures: Notre-Dame Eagles, Looduskalender, The Eagle Club of Estonia, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Osoyoos Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, Raptor Persecution UK, Explore.org and the IWS, Finnish Osprey Foundation, and the Orange Australia Falcon Cam FB.

Featured image is Thunder and Akecheta on the West End Bald Eagle nest in the Channel Islands. 22 June 2022

Early Sunday in Bird World

21 August 2022

Good Morning Everyone. It is a gorgeous sunny day – a good day to go out checking on ducks! It did get a little excited and a little tragic. There was a scratch scratch behind one of those switch covers. For awhile I worried that a squirrel had gotten into the wall but listening carefully you could hear the flutter of wings. All light had to be shut out, all doors closed and two layers of plates and plugs had to be undone…and we still could not get to a cavity where the bird could fly free out the open door. If the birds make their way down the chimney in the wood stove, we have a fool proof way to deal with this but…not where this little bird got itself. I have to admit that at first all I could imagine was as squirrel leaping out. The key now is to find out how that bird got where it did so that no others get themselves in this predicament. Sadly we cannot save it.

As many of us wait with much ‘impatience’ for eggs to appear at either the Charles Sturt scrape in Orange or the ledge scrape on the 367 Collins Street skyscraper in Melbourne, I will try and find as many short video presentations or articles so that we can learn more and more about the Peregrine Falcon, the fastest raptor on Earth. In this less than four minute video, David Attenborough shows us how the Peregrine sets about to catch its prey in Rome.

Cal Falcons caught Annie and Alden doing some bonding in the scrape….and then Alden saw a moth!!!!!!!! It is so amazing how a parent’s behaviour influences eyases (or human parents on their children). I had never seen any of the chicks at the UC-Berkley scrape box in The Campanile ever chase moths until his year! ‘B’ commented that it is a great strategy for teaching eye-talon coordination – essential to being a falcon.

Stephen Basly worked for a very long time cleaning up the images that he took of Little Bit ND17 on his perch at the St Joseph River so we could really see this fine juvenile. There are two other images on the Notre-Dame Eagle FB page.

It is so wonderful to still be able to see this amazing fledgling. So grateful.

Someone else is still coming to her nest, too, and that is Iris! Every visit to her nest and every time we see her is so very, very precious. Iris is possibly 29 or 30 years old this year and she lives in the wild. She migrates. No one knows where but it is often thought it could be the south of Texas. Other Ospreys from this particular Montana area have transmitters and either go to Central America or parts of Mexico.

Many of the females on the Osprey streaming cams are still at home. Maya, the mate of Blue 33 at Rutland, is still home as of Saturday morning, the 19th. It appears that 1H2 and 1H3 have begun their migration leaving the eldest daughter, 1H1, at the nest with Mum and Dad.

At the nest of Rosie and Richmond, Rosie is the only one of the couple that migrates. Richmond remains in the San Francisco Bay area. Here is Rosie in the golden glow of a fine August morning.

During the week of 11 August at the Dyfi Nest in Wales, it was 30 degrees C – the exact same temperature that the Ospreys will have in Africa. Emyr Evans says that he never remembers this happening before ever. Telyn, the mate of Idris and the daughter of Rutland’s Maya, was still at the Dyfi nest as of Friday the 19th. Yesterday she flew to the nest with a mullet which Padern and Paith were very much interested in…

Meanwhile, the first hatch of Idris and Telyn for the 2022 season, Pedran, has not been seen at the nest since the 11th of August. She was 77 days old and it is believed she started her migration earlier than all.

Mrs G is also still with us, too. Here she is with all three of her 2022 fledges on the Glaslyn Valley nest she shares with her mate, Aran.

Mrs G is the oldest UK Osprey – at 23 (?).

In the world of Bald Eagles, Chase & Cholyn were caught perched together. They have been raising chicks at the Two Harbours nest together for at least 19 years. They are the parents of Thunder who is breeding at the West End nest with Akecheta.

Their fledgling this year was Lancer — and thanks to Dr Sharpe, Lancer got a second chance at life when he fell off the nest and was clinging to the side of the cliff for 24 hours. Thank you Dr Sharpe for always taking such good care of the Channel Island eagles.

The camera at Two Harbours – the one for the old Overlook Nest that they used to use – has Lancer on it. The camera cuts in and out of ‘Highlights’ but Lancer can be seen around 0702, 0710, and 0721. Here are some of those lovely images this morning of Lancer looking out to the sea.

What a lovely wild place to hatch — and return to, Lancer.

Andor is spending the night on the Fraser Point nest that he shares with his mate, Mama Cruz. They are the parents of Victor who is in care at the Ojai Raptor Centre and Lilibet.

I have seen no other mention of the three year old, Trey, who returned to her natal nest (parents Mama Cruz and Spirit). Mama Cruz had taken exception to her being at the nest while Andor had ignored the visit. At one time Trey was under the nest like Victor. Many of you wrote and asked me if Dr Sharpe would rescue her. I have written to find out the status of Trey. I will let you know if I hear anything. If, however, you are aware of Trey’s status, please let us know.

Speaking of Victor in rehab because of heavy zinc toxicity. ‘C’ writes me today to tell me that one of the serious issues with bird cages. He asks, “Did you know that cockatiels raised at home have a problem with zinc in the body? There is an interesting research done by veterinarians in Brazil. It is common to find a lot of zinc in cockatiels when they go to the vets. They found in the research that the source of zinc was in the cages. There is a lot of zinc in the cage bars. And when the cockatiels are biting the bars, they consume zinc.” This is very, very interesting. Victor would have been larger than a cockatiel so how much lead would he need to consume to be so sick? And wouldn’t all caged birds including Budgies be threatened by the zinc in the bars?

Mark Avery was with the RSPB for nearly 30 years. He writes a blog about many things including governmental policies, the end of grouse hunting calls, etc. in the UK. Yesterday, however, he published a blog by Les Wallace. The focus was the promotion of a documentary film looking at what wildlife would have been in the UK if humans had never existed. It is all about rewilding and Wallace draws some very interesting connections on which species should be introduced first. It is a good read.

Guest blog – Blue Frogs and Scimitar Cats by Les Wallace

Kaia is still in Belarus. I can only imagine how wonderful it would be for the Black Storks of Estonia if there were no humans living in any area on their migration route. What will happen? where will she go? The Ukraine is dangerous for the wildlife and many of the natural areas that the storks visited to eat and eat and get their strength to fly to the centre of Africa have been destroyed.

Big Red and Arthur were spotted by Suzanne Arnold Horning. Big Red is in her stage of moulting where I often call her ‘Big Blond’. L2 has not been seen since Thursday and it is now fully possible that s/he has left to find their own territory. Big Red and Arthur do not migrate. It is entirely possible that the other hawks in the region do not migrate either. Must find out!

Big Red. August 20 2022
Arthur. August 20 2022

Karl II has brought fish in for Iks, Waba, and Voog. Bonus was not at the feeding. You will remember that Bonus is the only surviving chick of Jan and Janika. He was fitted with a transmitter. If he has begun his migration the information should be showing up on one of the migration charts. Will check and report later today or tomorrow.

Hatch is not expected to happen at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge until the 18th or 19th of September.

This is the latest satellite tracking of Ervie. There is some speculation as to why he might have headed to the same area as Calypso.

Port Lincoln has also posted some information about their new Friends of Osprey FB and Website. As many of you are aware, Port Lincoln could not take donations as much as everyone asked to help pay for the streaming cam. They formed this group as a response and it has morphed into a good site for information. There is a $20 AUD charge.

We are expecting eggs at the CBD 367 Collins Street scrape any day now. If you want to check out the status there is a 367 Collins Falcon Watchers FB group. Victor Hurley has said they will turn on the camera the minute eggs are laid. Yahooo.

The Sydney Sea eaglets are doing great. SE30 does not always trust 29 and for good reason. Yesterday it found some ingenious ways to eat including between Lady’s legs – something seen on numerous Bald Eagle nests.

The only eaglets on a North America streaming cam left to fledge are those at the Glacier Gardens nest in Alaska. The larger eagles take longer to fledge than those in the south. Love hatched on May 29 with Peace hatching on June 1. Historical records indicate that GG1 fledged on day 86, GG2 on day 83, GG3 on day 85, GG4 on day 97, GG5 on day 98 and Kindness, GG6 last year, fledged at 86 days.

Unfortunately there is a branch that always seems to make it impossible to see the entire nest. So GG7 Love is 84 days old if we count hatch day and Peace is 82 days old. It is entirely conceivable that both will fledge within the next week.

I want to thank you so much for joining me today. Please take care of yourselves. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or their FB posts and websites where I took my screen captures: Cal Falcons, Notre Dame Eagles, Montana Osprey Project, LRWT, Golden Gate Audubon and SF Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bwywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Explore.org and IWS, Mark Avery, Looduskalender, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Eagle Club of Estonia, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Friends of Ospreys, and Glacier Gardens.

Little Bit ND17 and more…Friday morning in Bird World

19 August 2022

Good morning everyone! It is the end of the week. We blink and time whizzes by us. There is not a lot of news in Bird World. Sometimes that is nothing short of a welcome relief – a time to breathe.

What a way to start a Friday morning! Getting up and seeing Little Bit ND17 perched on his river roost in the evening. Oh, what a magnificent bird he is. Stephen Basly posted three images on the Notre-Dame FB page. This is the full zoomed in version. Oh, Little Bit looks so confident. A few little springs of baby down working their way out of the juvenile feathers. What a joy to see him!!!!!! So I want to move ahead a year and wonder if Little Bit will come to this same perch next year? Basly added that he had not seen 16 since Little Bit kicked him off the perch a few days ago! Way to go Little Bit. 16 was a nasty big sister!!!!!!

You will remember the two eaglets that were on the Pitkin Trail nest. The Mum flew off and pulled them out of the nest in the third week of June – one perished. The other was saved by passersby who got in touch with help immediately. I wrote to Pitkin County Open Space and Trails to find out if there are any updates on the little one. This was their quick response to my query: “The last update we received, on Aug. 8, was brief: “This Osprey is doing well so far. He is still being monitored at our ICU. Normally, this chick would have fledged in late July and would be making fewer and fewer appearances at the nest by now.” This ultimately means that the osplet will most likely not be in fit shape to take on the fall migration.

It is so nice when humans stop and do everything that they can to help our wildlife in need. It is often that immediate attention that is crucial to whether they will survive or not. Here is another amazing story of a passerby reaching out to help an electrocuted eagle. This one certainly got a chance at a second life thanks to an individual who saw the injured bird and called for help. Please cut and paste this link. I hope it still works! https://youtu.be/SCoigRwwA-Q

As you are aware, I am extremely concerned about the birds migrating from Scandinavia, Estonia, and Lativa who would normally be flying through the Ukraine. The other day Kaia, the mate of Karl II from the Karula National Forest Black Stork nest landed in the Ukraine and immediately headed back to Belarus. She has flown a bit east from her previous position but has not left Belarus. I understand from my colleagues that there are other migrating birds in the area where Kaia is resting and feeding.

August 19. Looduskalender gives the following information for where Kaia is this morning. “The Pripyatsky National Park is a protected area of swamp & oak forest, noted for wading birds, rare lynx and a herd of European bison.Pripyatsky National Park or Pripyat National Park in a natural reserve in Gomel Region, Belarus. It was founded in 1996 for preservation of natural landscapes around the Pripyat River from which it takes its name. Much of the park’s area is occupied by turf swamps.”

Hesgyn (KA3, 2019) was the last chick that Monty, the famous Welsh osprey, fathered, with Telyn. He returned as two year old in 2019 and sadly, at the blossoming age of 3 years, he was found dead. The wildlife centre that will do the post-mortem returned Hesgyn’s silver band and his coloured Darvic ring to the Dyfi Osprey Centre in Wales so that it could be placed on the family tree board. The results of the post-morten will be published when they are available.

I have been praising the Dyfi Osprey Project and Emyr Evans for their data driven website. It is wonderful to be able to go and find clear and accurate information. I also loved their family tree. Llyn Clywedog has now published their own family tree for their ospreys. Here it is:

Seren was still at the Llyn Clywedog nest in the Hafren Forest of Wales at 2055 on 18 August. She appeared on the nest wet and with muddy feet covering most of her Darvic band. Poor thing. How do I know this is not an Osprey chick? What would you say?

If you said the adult plumage you would be absolutely correct! If the plumage had been juvenile feathering then, it could have been the third hatch, Blue 555 (male).

Just look at all those males that will be returning to find mates and start their own families. My goodness, Dylan and Seren have had only one female. The largest male chick every to hatch and fledge was Blue 496 last year. He was a whopper! If every Osprey nest would design one of these family trees and have it on their website, it would be a great educational tool especially for studying the returnees, the dates of their return, and their gender and hatch ranking.

Oh, those little sea eagles are developing nicely. Breakfish arrived at 0614 with another meal following in about 4 hours. The eaglets eat more and are not fed as regularly. They are left longer in the nest alone but there is always a parent close at hand. We will see much more feather development and more balancing with the wing tips and standing up in the coming weeks. Grasping twigs and moving them about will be seen much more often, too.

Oh, this probably feels like a baby book for the sea eagles. I just got a note from ‘J’ that SE29 was playing with 30’s toes and so I went to look immediately. Thanks for the time stamp, J. Much appreciated. The cam operator gave us some great close ups. Also look, 29 is standing on its feet. Still shaky but fantastic.

‘J’ is right – it is a really cute bonding moment!

The two chicks on the Loch of the Lowes nest, LP8 and LR0, of Laddie LM12 and Blue NC0 were really fish calling when they saw an adult fly towards the nest. How said they must have felt when it was an intruder. There are many intruders landing on nests now as the birds being shifting away from their natal nests, exploring around them, and moving south for migration.

Blue NC0s chicks are really loud — just like their Mum. I often wondered if we should donate a pair of noise cancelling headphones to Laddie.

Laddie has been busy delivering fish to the pair on the nest and it is fantastic – like it is at all the nests – to see the birds on the streaming cams. So often they are simply not around. This year appears to be a bit of an exception no matter where the nest is located.

Fish delivery from Dad. Is Blue NC0 around or has she left for migration? Last week she took off for spa time for about 3 days and then returned with a big fish for the kids. She is quite the Mum.

Gosh these two are healthy! They are ‘fattening up’ nicely for their long adventure. Laddie is doing a great job keeping the fish on the nest.

Lancer is still getting room service from Chase & Cholyn at the Two Harbours nest. Lancer is certainly a really beautiful eaglet.

‘H’ sent a lovely close up of Sloop, the third hatch of Dory and Skiff at the Boathouse Osprey platform in Maine. What a cutie pie. She adds that Sloop is now loving the perch that he was afraid to move from before fledging. Grand news, indeed.

Sloop is quite handsome. So many of us worried when he was wee making sure Dory got some fish flakes in his little beak. Dory was an amazing first time Mum and Skiff kept the fish coming in.

Sadly, the Osprey rescued hanging from the tree with fishing line had to be euthanized and its sibling was found in the nest, image below, tangled in human debris. This is the announcement. Please read it and look at the tangled mess that killed these poor chicks. It seems that our rivers, lakes and oceans are nothing more than dumping grounds for human garbage carried back by the birds to their nests – innocently or tangled.

‘T’ sent me this very concerning story this morning. Another migration hazard – human meanness. Thank you ‘T’. A migrating White Stork has been shot through the neck with an arrow. The photograph of it on top of a house is below. It is not clear where the bird was shot. You do not need to hear what I am saying!!!!!! We have culprits like this in our City who think it is fun to do the same to the geese.

https://www.milliyet.com.tr/gundem/leylegin-okla-goc-yolculugu-turkiyede-vurulma-ihtimali-yuksek-6809314?fbclid=IwAR2IK2rnRzR1YU01Rr6LyAyD1s4AeC5MCREmLznuO-gzOGTSNzR9YnhXQ7U

The RSPB in the UK has released the initial findings on the post-mortem of ICI, the Loch Garten chick that passed away after being lethargic in the nest. Please have a read. I find it interesting that they mention an enlarged organ. The inconclusive findings of Big at the Captiva Nest when he died stated, ‘enlarged organs’. They did not state that this could have been due to an infection. I would like to hear more about this – and I wonder if it is the same for Molate who also was lethargic for several days and died.

https://community.rspb.org.uk/placestovisit/lochgartenospreys/b/lochgartenospreys/posts/osprey-update-post-mortem-results?fbclid=IwAR36xBdBt84rAMULZAgotA8uRz2CnQFsNCEkI4CDKkoB5DzacVMQDbsa4Mg

Thank you to everyone for being with me today. I hope that each of us is enjoying a lovely end of the week. Please take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or posts where I took my screen captures: Notre-Dame Eagles FB, Looduskalender, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyxWild, Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Explore.org and the IWS, Audubon Explore and ‘H’, and The Raptor Centre.