22 September 2024
Hello Everyone,
As is typical, I am writing my post on Saturday. I had hoped for some sun and wind to dry up all the rain, but, the rain is now coming down harder and harder. Three Crows were frantically pecking at the nut cylinder. I noticed that they gave each other space so that they could eat. All was going well until Dyson arrived! The Crows flew off. They returned later for a big bowl of cheesy dogs. I can see Junior at the feeder sorting through the peanuts. Where is Mrs Junior? It is always worrisome when one or the other does not show up at the morning feeder.
Dyson is moulting. She isn’t sick! She is so strong and healthy. It makes us happy to be a part of her life. I wish we could get the trees to grow faster or convince her to please just stay in our garden. No roads!
It has really started pouring. And yeah, Mrs Junior just flew in to get some peanuts!!!!!! Relief.
In Canada, Beaumont continues to deliver large fish to the nest where his two fledglings might like to scrap for the dinner! Both are eating well and Beaumont is making sure each is fed.
Dad and at least one chick are still at the LDF nest in Kuzeme Latvia.
Right now there is harmony and peace at the NE Florida nest of Gabby. She doesn’t seem to care if the male has necrotic feet in places. They are on the branches together, side by side at times, and in the nest making nestorations. If Gabby gets to raise little eaglets in peace this year, we should all jump up and down with joyful tears.
They have been on and off the nest on Saturday. The AEF has ‘temporarily’ designated the male as 24E1 (year, eagle, first visitor).
The eyes of the male visitor remind me so much of those of Samson. I know it isn’t, but for a split second.
The SW Florida streaming cams are up and ready for action starting today or tomorrow.
It was a beautiful day at the nest of Bella at the NCTC. Didn’t see any eagles.
You can help support conservation by buying stamps! Aren’t these beautiful?
These will be available in the new year. There are currently others for sale – some designed by adults and other junior winners. They are lovely.
The little eaglet in Australia is doing so well and this little fluffy bundle of joy has a name – Lukin.
Bradley and Shultzie. Yes! Good thing there are two perches. It’s always good, just like the Blue Jays, to get a total head count before sunset.
Judy Harrington brings us up to date with the Olympic Park Eagles.
The new pair in the USK Valley in Wales left late. They didn’t breed but hopes are high for 2025.
Bird Flu is possibly the reason for the decline in Peregrine Falcon populations in the US. Like everything else, it is still with us – it just isn’t making the news like it did. That is a shame.
Xavier flew out for the morning breakfast hunt. Diamond waits patiently to see what he will return with for her meal.
We blinked and the Olympic Park Eaglets grew and grew. When did this happen? They are more steady on their feet. Their wing feathers are growing in. They look like eagles, not nestlings. SE 34 is learning to self-feed.
Will we see the Royal Cam chick back on cam before fledge? Possibly not.
Pippa’s Mum is the first to return: Royal Cam chick Atawhai (Miss Pippa) and Lillibet’s Mum YRK is the first to return to Taiaroa this year. You will remember her amazing mate, OGK – some of us still tear up at the thought of him. OGK has not been seen since he went missing in 2022.
The Only Bob at Growing Home is so fortunate. It will never ever have to share a fish with a ravenous sibling. Look carefully. Tiny white bobblehead.
The fight for the survival of the osprey (and other wildlife) in the Chesapeake Bay is on and hinges on the curtailing of the industrial fishing of Menhaden.
There is always something to learn about migration: “For migrating birds, fall brings difficulty and danger. To reach warm winter climes, many birds must fly hundreds or thousands of miles, expend immense amounts of energy and successfully dodge storms, skyscrapers and other potential threats.
Still, scientists have long assumed that a basic trade-off made migration worth the gamble: Once birds arrived at their wintering grounds, they wouldn’t need to work so hard to stay warm, saving substantial amounts of energy. “But nobody ever tested this,” said Nils Linek, a behavioral ecologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany.
Now, Dr. Linek and his colleagues have done so. Their findings, based on a partially migratory population of German blackbirds, challenge the conventional wisdom. Even in the depths of winter, blackbirds basking in balmy southern Europe or northern Africa did not spend any less energy than those riding out the cold in Germany, the scientists found.”
Read on to find out more.
On line tool is helping with bird collision and renewable energy in Thailand, Vietnam, India, and Nepal for the past two years.
Calico’s Tip for the Day. You have heard us mention numerous times the need to halt bird collisions. Residences indeed account for more deaths than skyscrapers. Hard to believe? I know, but it is true if you take all the deaths due to our windows collectively. So what is the problem? People do not know how to stop the birds from hitting their windows. Calico says that you must space the decals on the OUTSIDE of the window at least 5 cm or two inches apart. That’s right. You cannot just put one decal on the outside of your window and hope it will work; you never put it on the inside. The most economical method is window paint. Again, on the outside of the windows. I liked using the white or the yellow. Squiggle everywhere. Let your children or grandchildren help. The window paints come off easily.
Nova Scotia’s official bird (I know that everyone knew that, right?) on an iconic boat, the Bluenose II.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for the notes, posts, videos, articles, images, tweets, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘PB for today and for Saturday’s Tweet from Dr Greene’, Newfoundland Power, LDF, NEFL-AEF, NCTC, USFWS, Port Lincoln Osprey, Judy Harrington and Olympic Park Eagles, Jeff Kear and USK Valley Ospreys, Audubon, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Olympic Park Eagles, The Royal Albatross Centre, Growing Home, Bryan Watts and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Sharon Dunne, Bluenose II, USFWS, Birdlife International, and The New York Times.
