17 August 2022
Good Morning everyone! The sun is shining bright and there is not a cloud in the beautiful blue sky. It looks like it is going to be a fantastic day albeit a hot and humid one reaching 29 C (or 84.2 F) on the Canadian prairies. In fact, it isn’t really the heat but the humidity that is wrecking havoc with everything! Meanwhile my tomato crop continues to flourish. How many tomatoes can one eat and give away?
Yesterday the third hatch of Dory and Skiff was ‘stuck’ for more than 7 hours on the perch. Dory tried to lure him down with fish but Sloop was not moving! Viewers worried about the little osplet ‘afraid to fly’. Well, ‘H’ wrote this morning – Sloop flew!!!!!!! Time 0948. He was 57 days old. How wonderful. Thanks ‘H’.
You can see him flying over the water between the sailboat and the nest. Congratulations Boathouse Ospreys!
‘H’ sent a video of this first flight…did it like a pro. Congratulations Sloop for a lovely flight around the bay and a return to the nest. Thanks ‘H’ for sending all of us the video of that special moment in this Osprey’s life.
There is news of Little Bit ND17 soaring in the skies too. Always so grateful of news. 17 is doing fantastic — we always knew he was a survivor if given the chance. What joy to see him living the life of an eagle in the wild — and I still start giggling thinking of 17 pushing 16 off the perch!
You can see how Little Bit has his landing gear down. Beautiful. Just beautiful.
The two White-bellied Sea eaglets continue to do well and be cheeky to one another. No worries, it is all good. Look at those crops! And then look at the clown feet and growing beaks.
I belong to many groups that work hard to ban lead in the environment as well as rodenticides. As fall approaches and with continuing sightings of people fishing it is a good time to review the ways that lead gets into the environment that can harm our raptors. This is also a threat to our migrating birds who fly through areas where the guts of the deer killed are just left – full of lead shot – in the bush.
The Osprey fledglings are still in the UK screaming for fish. As the next two weeks pass, the females will leave, then the fledglings, and finally the males once they are assured all fledglings have departed. I will eventually put up a complete list of who is home and who is not. For today we will just look at a couple of our favourite nests.
This is a 101 Guide to UK Osprey migration:
https://birdfact.com/articles/osprey-migration
At Loch Arkaig, Louis brought in a nice one this morning and Willow retrieved it. Safafina was not the least bit happy about that and had a bit of a tizzy fit on the nest. No worries, Louis is one of the great fishers and she will get her lunch soon! Just for a second look at the great condition this fledgling is in for migration. Gosh these two are dark like their mother, Dorcha. Just look at the necklaces. The envy of any fledgling!
All three fledglings at Llyn Clywedog hoping for Dylan to get fish to them. Seren Blue 5F was at the nest this morning with Dylan so she has not departed yet.
Telyn is still at the Dyfi Nest in Wales, too. Idris is busy feeding the three girls. This is Paith on the nest enjoying some fish and still screaming about it!
Telyn down by the river. She has caught a very large fish and is enjoying it.
Idris has a beautiful flounder for the girls.
At the Glaslyn nest, Aran has been busy chasing intruders —- and, indeed, as the fledglings and the two year olds (and older) begin their movement south, the nests will have lots of visitors.
A great image of Aran and Mrs G, the oldest Osprey in the United Kingdom, two days ago.
And will there be a fledge at the Osoyoos Osprey platform today? If so, it should be the last fledge for the Canadian Osprey nests.
I will try every day to check in on Kaia as she has left Estonia. She flew as far as the Ukraine and then immediately turned back heading north to Belarus where she remains. This is where she is today (she flew a little north in Belarus to a nice area for feeding.
Will all the storks fatten up in Belarus? And then attempt to fly around or through the Ukraine without stopping? War creates a horrible situation for wildlife.
Thank you for joining me this morning for this quick glimpse at some of the nests we have been monitoring over the breeding season. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB postings where I took my screen captures: Notre-Dame Eagles, Audubon Explore and ‘H’, Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, CarnyXWild, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Osoyoos Ospreys, and Looduskalender.