Tag Archives: Lancer

Early Monday in Bird World

15 August 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

The hoped for blog on migration will be written tonight and appear Wednesday morning. Lots of good information has come in! Thanks to all. If you are still thinking about migration challenges – even in your own area – send them to me before 1800 CDT Tuesday the 16th.

When will Diamond lay her first egg of the season with Xavier at Charles Sturt University in Orange, Australia? That seems to be the question on everyone’s mind. Xavier continues to bring in lovely prey items – some not so welcome like the Starlings but, it would seem that Diamond is in really good shape for this breeding season. Many of you might have noticed that Diamond appeared to be in less that stellar form last year and there was some concern that little Yurruga did not have good feather development. We are wishing Xavier and Diamond a successful season – meaning lots of prey items for the hatchlings, good weather for fledge, and success.

Here is the data on previous years:

Egg-laying time approaches…

Surviving Poole Harbour fledgling, 5H1, immediately flies away when it hears a predator approaching. Everyone learned fast after 5H2’s death by Goshawk. Today it was a Buzzard – a friendly. The little one is taking no chances though. Well done. You even took your fish dinner with you!

There was a question: Do goshawks eat fish? Goshawks are carnivores. They eat mammals and large sized birds found near the edge of the forest. They also eat amphibians, insects – and, yes, fish!

I had a comment in more the form of a question from my good friend, ‘T’. She noted that for years people have loved looking at the Osprey nests in the UK. The only things that were of concern were the weather and enough fish. They brought a lot of solace. Now Goshawks? ‘T’ wonders when the UK is so active in reintroducing the Ospreys to their country that there are now goshawks – long time enemy in the forests.

‘T’ here is your answer. A reintroduction project began in 2018 with Goshawks taken from Norway and Sweden to the UK.

Goshawk reintroduction to the UK

Watching our raptors lay their eggs can emit all kinds of empathy especially if the eggs are big and more hard than soft when laid. At the Port Lincoln Osprey nest, Mum laid her third egg of the 2022 breeding season right on time. She looks tired. Watching birds incubate eggs is like watching water boil when the heat on the stove is ‘off’. But, Mum will get a rest and then in about 38-43 days she is going to be really busy. Should I wish for a clutch of all males or all females so life is civil again this year?

Sadly, it appears that Dad might have had another issue like he did a number of days ago. ‘H’ caught it! Is Dad having some kind of a seizure? or is the wind whipping him and his beak gets caught in nest material? It really is not clear but please send warm wishes to this amazing male – Ervie’s best buddy. Here is the video:

What a treat it is to check on a steaming cam and have a fledgling sitting right there as the sun sets. That is what happened when I went to see if Lancer had visited Two Harbours today. She is probably hoping for food! Chase & Cholyn haven’t delivered anything on camera for a few days. Not to worry. Lancer is not going to starve to death. They are seasoned parents. Cholyn is 24 years ‘young’.

Remember we talked about the things that wildlife rehabilitation centres need – besides cash donations. We talked about old clean towels – well, add old clean sheets and egg cartons to your list. Collect them from neighbours, friends, and family. Create a box. Everything helps! Most centres offer enrichment to the animals in their care. This comes in many forms from using toys to crumbled up paper to egg cartons!

The very latest on our Little Bit ND17. What a fantastic image. We can all be assured that Little Bit has been eating and that his flying is getting stronger. He has been back in St Patrick’s Park for many weeks now! So grateful to those on the ground who continue to track Little Bit and send us images. Thank you Stephen Basly!

The Sydney Sea Eaglets are fine. They ate and ate yesterday. Both had enormous crops – and yes, they do still get a little scrappy but I will venture to say that there is nothing to worry about unless there is an absolute food shortage. SE29 is the dominant bird. 30 knows it but sometimes doesn’t like it!

I continue to track Kaia, Karl II’s mate as she migrates towards Africa. She did a round turn and left the Ukraine and went back to Belarus! Dates on second image below.

What caused Kaia to flee the area and return to a safe spot she knew? Will she be resting and trying to figure out a different route? will she feed up so that she does not have to stop in the Ukraine? This is an extremely worrisome situation for both Kaia and Karl II but also for the four Black Stork fledglings – they represent the only storklets to survive this year.

War is a very terrible thing no matter where it is happening. We read about the costs to people and infrastructure but never to the wildlife that are suffering. Most of the birds from Estonia will be flying through the Ukraine – or have traditionally. Send them your most positive wishes.

While Kaia tries to work her way around a war zone, Karl II is keeping the four fledglings full — they will need to fatten up and so will Karl II for their long journeys.

There is a rumour that all of the chicks on the Boathouse Osprey platform have now fledged.

Chicks are doing fine on the Osoyoos Osprey Platform. BC was self-feeding and LC was enjoying being fed by Soo. Hats off to them. They have survived the two heat domes and it continues to look good for this nest in Canada!

That’s it for today in Bird World. Thank you so much for joining me. I will be keeping my eyes on Kaia’s movements and, at the same time, I will be trying to find out what is happening in the area of The Ukraine where she had landed that sent her back to Belarus.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or postings where I took my screen captures: Osoyoos Ospreys, Audubon Explore, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Notre Dame Eagles FB, Explore and the IWS, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Poole Harbour ospreys, Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam.

Victor is doing physical therapy and other brief news in Bird World

16 July 2022

Oh, everyone is watching for news about Victor so you will already have seen what I posted below – but, oh, Physical Therapy for Eagles. Makes me smile. All of us are hoping beyond hope that they can find what is wrong with Victor so he can be ‘fixed’. That is the key isn’t it: what is wrong with Victor?

What a great little video clip. Chase teaches Lancer to work for that fish!

The Mum at the Jannakadan Osprey nest in Finland was eating a morning fish and appeared to be much better at swallowing. What a wonderful sight. Could it possibly be that the fright for the health of the Mum is over? Oh, goodness,. wouldn’t that just be a blessing!

Thank you ‘B’ for sending me the latest update on Victor that was posted on the Ojai Raptor Centre’s FB page below the image.

Look at Victor having to work those legs.

Victor being held up so that he can work his legs.

“Physical therapy time! ORC staff Veterinarian Dr. Stephany Lewis uses this technique for physical therapy for our raptor patients, as well as an assessment and monitoring tool for animals with neurological diseases. Spinal trauma is extremely difficult to diagnose on avian radiographs, but should be visible on CT scan. The CT scan on this eagle performed at VMSG did not show any evidence of spinal trauma, though further review of the CT is still pending. A West Nile Virus PCR test and a toxic heavy metal blood panel are still pending and we will update as we know more about this case.”

Did you notice that old clean towel with the holes cut through to support Victor? Do not discard your old towels that are clean. Keep them, gather others from friends, family, and neighbours. I kid you not – they are used so much in the wildlife rehab clinics. Then deliver them to your local clinic. They will be ever so grateful!

Dear Victor. So many people are sending you love and support. You can do this little buddy! If you go to the Ojai Raptor Centre FB page they also have some videos of Victor working those legs. Please watch. He is working so hard.

There was also a posting by Humane Indiana Wildlife – not specifically about Little Bit ND17 but all the animals in their care. Take the time to read down closely. I am going to take a giant leap of faith and presume that Little Bit will also be required to have hunting skills and be independent before he is released. That is just terrific news. The staff had never mentioned this but surely it is their intention. Here is their statement on their FB page:

This morning I have another video of that teenage osprey with attitude. It is nest #3 — thanks, ‘S’. I am not sure whether to feel sorry for Mum or just roll in laughter.

Small fish continue to come to the Osoyoos nest – both chicks are eating and Mum got the tail but this nest has to be ‘hungry’. Thanks Dad for all your hard work trying to find fish in this hot weather.

There have been intruders around the Hog Island Osprey platform of Dory and Skiff. The three kids really know how to pancake when someone is around.

It is fish deliveries and practice eating at Mispillion as the two fledglings continue to have some fun flying. This nest has done well. It has been fun to watch Mum decorate. I wish I could send her the sunflower the birds planted for me. I think she would love the yellow.

If you love the Llyn Clywedog nest of Dylan and Seren in Wales, then you know the name John Williams. Last year he did a lot of spotting and driving and figuring to find out where Dylan was getting the Brown Trout if he wasn’t catching them at the Reservoir. He is the person who also gives us some great images of Dylan out fishing sometimes. Here is some more information on John but also the history of the nest if you want to keep a record.

About me and the nest.

That is brief news this morning. Will be watching for a pip at the WBSE nest in Sydney. It looks like the little one at Chesapeake Bay will be it for Tom and Audrey this year! Grow fast..you are the youngest of all the babies of 2022. Take care everyone. Have a wonderful Saturday. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Ojai Raptor Centre, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Humane Indiana Wildlife, Osoyoos Ospreys, Explore.org and Audubon, Mispillion Harbour, and Explore.org and IWS.

Brief News in Bird World

7 July 2022

Do you remember holding your breath whenever the Highly Pathogenic Avian Flu H5N1 was mentioned? I recall looking at the falcons on The Campanile and the eaglets in the Channel Islands and just hoping that it would not land on those islands and wipe them out. Very very sad news is is coming out of the UK. H5N1 is in the north of Scotland and Shetland but today Coquet Island said that every chick on each of the 1964 Sandwich Tern nests has been killed by Avian Flu. Tragically, they believe that it will also wipe out every Roseate Tern as well.

Coquet Island is off the east coast of the UK just a little north of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in Northumberland.

“Coquet Island” by Grand Mookster is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
“Royal terns, Sandwich terns, Least terns, Forster’s Terns, Caspian Terns and Black Skimmers taking flight on the Gulf Coast, North Beach, Fort De Soto Park, Saint Petersburg, Florida” by diana_robinson is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
“Roseate terns/ Palometas” by USFWS/Southeast is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Suzanne Arnold Horning – thankfully – has her camera with her just when she needs it. She caught the 3 Ls on a fence at Cornell today.

Can you tell who is who?

Lancer has been playing with sticks on the nest…often the Red-tail hawks will play with pinecones to help with their eye-talon coordination. This is a very cute video of Lancer having some fun. It reminds me of the Finnish Osprey couple pulling on their fish!

As well as being asked if the females ever go fishing for the osplets, I am often asked if the males ever feed their chicks. Many do! This is Aran at the Glaslyn nest today feeding his triplets.

Awwww. They finally lined up.

The beautiful Glaslyn Valley – home to Aran and Mrs G.

It is that golden glow of evening on the Dyfi Nest. Idris has brought in a nice fish for the end of the day and Telyn is busy feeding those three growing bigger girls. The weather is nice just like it is at Glaslyn.

Oh, Dorcha is feeding her big girl and boy their last meal at Loch Arkaig. It looks like she had a nice weather day – well, deserved.

The cam operator caught two of Dylan and Seren’s chicks close up. Oh, they are gorgeous. There is a third – it hasn’t gone anywhere! Just sleeping between the two. We do not need any more excitement in Osprey Land this week. Seren has also been fishing – bringing in some nice fish from the reservoir when she thinks Dylan hasn’t provided enough. Go Seren!

At the Boathouse on Hog Island, Skiff brought in a fish. It looks like Little Bob – Peanut to some – is getting another private feeding. ‘H’ mentioned to me the nautical names given to the trio – schooner, Skipjack, and Sloop. So Little Bob or Peanut is really Sloop. Did they intend for him to be a small anti-submarine warship from WWII or a sailboat with a single mast?

Big ones are full enough and Sloop gets some nice fish all by himself. I continue to praise these first time parents. They are doing fantastic.

If you have been watching the Cornell Kestrels in Wisconsin, there was a fledging frenzy today. Here it is if you missed it. All four took flight.

A few days ago ‘L’ asked about Malena and Klepetan, the White Storks who had their nest on the roof of Stjepan Vokic’s house in Croatia. Malena had been shot by a poacher and left to die. Vokic rescued her and Malena lived with him for 28 years. For 19 of those years, her mate Klepetan flew from South Africa to Croatia. The couple raised 66 White Storks to fledge with the help of Vokic.

Surprise! I found a book, Malena and Klepetan. A Love Story on Wings by Jillian Marie Shea.

The author puts several quotes in the front. One says, “You must write for children the same way you write for adults, only better.” That is the nacre of this book!

The book is rightfully dedicated to Stjepan Vokic – who would win my vote for Gold-level Interventionist. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” A good reminder that we have the capacity to give our feathered friends a second chance– if we will only reach out and do it – because, like Malena, so many of their tragedies are due to us.

It’s a feel good book – for all of us!

Thank you so much for joining me today. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab, Explore.org and Audubon, CarnyXWild, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Wildlife Trust, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, and Suzanne Arnold Horning.

Summer Solstice in Bird World!

21 June 2022

In the northern hemisphere, this is the day when the earth is tilted at its maximum to the sun – the longest sunny day. It has been pitching down rain and now….the sun is shining bright and the temperatures have dropped from the blistering 38 to a mere 20 C. The birds are active and the air conditioning is turned off. Nice. Today I will be sorting through all the things that were in Little Red’s penthouse looking for tomato cages. With the heat and the rain, the tomato plants are almost as tall as I am – seriously. But, let’s see what is happening with our birds, first.—–Oh, and now it is clouding over again and the torrential rain is back. Goodness. I sure hope our City imported a lot of Dragon flies this year to eat those mosquitoes.

The Canadian celebrities continue to be the little hawklet who is living with the Bald Eagles on Gabriola Island in British Columbia. Malala is very cute – and one lucky Red-tail hawklet. Of course, he thinks he is an Eagle! Doing well. Branched the other day. Can you imagine? This wildlife rehab group just put up the camera a few months prior to the eagles arriving and now they are the talk of Bird World? This is a good interview by CBC radio.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-the-monday-edition-1.6495076/an-eagle-snatched-a-baby-hawk-for-dinner-then-ended-up-adopting-it-1.6495246?fbclid=IwAR2T_4Mhw4tgXNvli_SHd6xDPlr1aMWUOx1q-QsoBwDbH3Ef8p9nb7KN0rw

The fledglings at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey platform continue to return to the nest for food and sometimes just to have a quick rest. Gosh, these two are doing really well after a very rocky start on this nest. They are waiting for the tea time fish drop!

What gorgeous birds these two have turned out to be. They know where home is. I wonder if they have been trying to fish on their own yet?

I was able to get some more information about the history of the Mispillion Harbour Ospreys. The woman at the DuPont Centre is not certain that this is the same couple that were on the nest when the camera was installed. Lynn Pussey said, “We’ve generally had good success with our nest, with 2-3 successful fledgelings each year. The only exception to that was 2017 when we lost one chick early on to siblicide and the other two to illness. This year was odd because we had 4 eggs but only 2 hatch. But those two are healthy and growing. Other than that, we usually see all eggs hatch and all chicks successfully fledge.”

 

I wonder if these chicks will be prone to bringing bright coloured material to their nests in a few years?

Little Bit 17 at the ND-LEEF nest just proves that being small is not a hindrance when you are confident. Mum landed with something – I could not see it – and Little Bit mantled right away. One of the big siblings came and took a little piece but Little Bit held on and ate ‘it’! So impressed. 17 is so quick – just like the hawklet in the Bald Eagle nest at Gabriola Island.

Here is Little Bit 17 mantling and hanging on to its food. Take that 16!

Bukachek and Betty’s four White Storklets at Mlade Buky were ringed this morning.

Whatever was happening at the Loch of the Lowes dissipated yesterday when Laddie delivered 7 fish. He has already gotten a good start to this morning and Blue NC0 and the chicks are very happy. They should be ringing these two osplets soon.

The Welsh sunrise is really beautiful. There is always a soft pink glow over the Glaslyn Valley and the nest of Aran and Mrs G.

Aran has been letting out intruder calls in the afternoon around 15:50 but it didn’t stop him from getting Mrs G and the kids a nice fish.

101 votes have been cast guessing the gender of the three osplets at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn. It is a record. GGB is still out ahead with 40 of those votes! We will find out next week when they are ringed. So happy for the interest in this great Osprey family in Wales.

As KG and I said on the chat – the guessing of the genders adds a bit of fun to ringing day — it does. We can all use a smile these days.

It was a beautiful morning at Loch Garten. Mrs AX6 is looking good. She is a great mum.

Later in the day you can see the unviable egg and the two little Osplets.

Just look at those three big females with their bling at the Manton Bay nest of Blue 33 and Maya. I would sure welcome some of that sunshine!!!!!!! It is interesting. At Manton Bay there was no aggression this year — three females. At Port Lincoln Osprey barge last year, no aggression — all males. It is often when you have a female chick with males where you see all the beaking. Females require more food because they have to grow 1/3 larger and they are often very aggressive. Think ND16 at the LD-LEEF Bald Eagle nest.

June 20 was Bald Eagle Day in the US. I forgot. For all who celebrated, belated Happy Eagle Day!

Mr President has brought in two fish already to DC9 Takoda this morning! This is the second delivery. Everything is going as it should. Takoda fledged and is returning to the nest to be fed while getting those flying muscles strong — and take off and landings improved.

As the sun comes up on the Channel Islands, Sky is home alone at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta.

It isn’t long until Sky is joined by his younger brother, Ahote. Everyone is waiting for Akecheta to bring in some fish for breakfast. And never fear, Kana’kini is somewhere around the island and will no doubt fly in hoping to get some fish, too.

Chase and Cholyn’s Lancer has been getting some good air and doing some high hovering in the past few days. She is sure a beautiful eagle!

I am really glad that Kaia was not successful in eliminating one of the three healthy chicks on the Karula Forest Black Stork nest. They are all doing well and Karl II just brought in a heaping load of fish for them. What is interesting is watching them now as they stimulate the feeding by doing a special wing flap and lowering and raising their heads. So cute! And they are so nice and fat. These are doing super well and food does not seem to be an issue!

Jan and Janika’s Black Storklets in the care of the Vet Clinic were ringed. They should be moved to the forest enclosure soon – they are thinking 24 June. Today they are 30 days old. How lovely – so grateful to those folks who made it possible for these three to survive.

This morning Lindsay returned to The Campanile and she is chasing a moth! Look at the influence of Alden – both Lindsay and Grinnell Jr love chasing moths. So cute. It is also nice to know that both are safe and doing well. They certainly are loud!!!!!!!!

It continues to pour – just like the monsoon rains in SE Asia. Incredible. I am going to turn the AC off and get a sweater. The thunder is rolling and the temperature has really dropped.

Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures and their videos: Cal Falcons, Liz M and the EMU, Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlade Buky Storks, Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, NADC-AEF, LRWT, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery and the Woodland Trust, RSPB Loch Garten, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Mispillion Harbour Osprey Cam and DDNR, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, and the ND-LEEF.

L4 fledges and other news in Bird World

18-19 June 2022

The record breaking rains coupled with our current heat warning mean that it feels like a rainforest on the Canadian Prairies. The songbirds are happy. The lilacs and vines have grown enough that they are providing cooling shade for the birds. The temperature drops tremendously – just like walking into the Bamboo Forest at Arashiyama outside of Kyoto – when you enter their area of the garden.

“Bamboo Forest of Arashiyama, Kyoto 京都嵐山の竹林” by CLF is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

37 degrees C or 98.6 F today. Heat warning. Winter went to summer with tonnes of rain and flooding. The new normal?

Yesterday L4 was jumping all over the rails just as he had done the day before. The question on everyone’s mind was when is L4 going to fledge? Well, he flew this morning! 07:03:36. L4 landed in the trees across the street taking off from the rail where he loved to dance and jump. Congratulations! Big Red and Arthur have successfully fledged 4 hawks.

Ready…set…

Go!!!!!!!!! And L4 is off to the trees over by the Fernow Building across the street.

Rosie and Richmond’s two osplets were banded yesterday and the banders believe that they are two little boys by the leg measurements. Sweet. Today is the last day to vote on the name pairings! Here is the SF Bay Ospreys announcement:

The little Red-tail hawklet- Malala- that arrived for lunch and stayed to be adopted at the Bald Eagle nest on Gabriola Island (just off Vancouver Island) – has branched and is really growing. Consider its size compared to the eaglets and how fast it is at getting prey. Now think of Little Bit 17. ND15 and ND16 might be big but ND 17 is quick, like the hawklet, as lightning.

Yesterday Thunder and Akecheta’s triplets were on the nest together for awhile. So nice to see the Three Amigos. Beautiful, beautiful juvenile eagles.

Thunder’s sister at the Two Harbours nest of Chase & Cholyn is big and beautiful. Parents are bringing in the fish – there were three yesterday!

Spirit is a regular visitor to her Big Bear Valley natal nest. Her ‘eagle’ eyes see Jackie and Shadow coming in with fish and she is on that nest! Fabulous.

In the first image, Spirit has spotted a fish delivery. She rushes to the nest.

Those parents really have to be careful with those talons. Shadow’s beak is extremely sharp.

Whew.

It did not take long for Spirit to polish that fish off!

Remember when?

Saturday evening Mum arrived on the ND-LEEF nest and fed the three eaglets the rest of the raccoon. ND17 had a nice little crop after – he did appreciate the raccoon! 15 and 16 had some bites and left.

Sunday morning a really large fish was brought to the nest at 08:52. Little Bit 17 stole some of that fish at 09:01.

At 09:14:24 Little Bit 17 grabs more of that fish and rushes over to the rim to eat it while a big sibling stands behind him. I sure hope he got that nice tail portion!

Takoda is still branching – have not heard of a fledge at the National Arboretum nest in Washington, DC yet.

The nest of Aran and Mrs G is really getting to look like part of the field down below. All three of the chicks are doing grand.

Aran flew in with a really nice fish at 13:43! It was a lively one.

Not to be undone by Aran. Idris is on a roll and this morning he brought in a very rare Shad to the nest to the envy of all watching. Telyn was quite happy to take that whole fish and feed it to the Bobs!

CJ7 might be a first time mother but she is a really smart one. She had a nice piece of fish tucked under some nesting materials to feed the Bobs first thing this morning – they were hungry very early.

Blue 022 has proven himself to be a young but reliable Dad – several fish deliveries including this one at 15:47. Blue 022 is flying off and CJ7 is up and ready to feed the babies.

The three Bobs on the Manton Bay nest of Blue 33 and Maya are as big as Mum when she is feeding them. All bets are on for tomorrow (Monday the 20th) being banding day provided a boat and a bander are available.

Everyone is tired after a big meal.

The latest tracking for Ervie shows him staying around Port Lincoln and his unusual haunts. This comes from the 18th. Did he visit the barge?

Other quick news. News is coming from Patuxent River Park. An osplet fell through the platform because a Beaver chewed a large hole. A new platform is going up. Will follow up on this. There was a hatch at the MN Landscape Arboretum Ospreys on June 17 at 08:26:34. A pair of Ospreys landed on the Collins Marsh nest above the old fire viewing tower. I hope they do not stay. This nest needs to be removed and a new platform built with a ladder and a perch! And the pond needs to be stocked with fish for them. The fishing has been hard for Laddie and Loch of the Lowes with no fish delivery so far on Sunday. I sure hope Blue NC0 goes out fishing – the Bobs are too big to let starve!!!!!!! Has something happened to Laddie? If you watched the Decorah North nest, DN16 has fledged. The three Black Storklets of Jan and Janika have yet to be moved to their ‘forest room’. I am told it will be soon. This is the latest feeding video from Liz. They are getting their itchy feathers!

Happy Father’s Day to all those bird fathers out there caring for their mates and their chicks and/or eggs! Here is a lovely tribute from Cal Falcons – grab a tissue! Lindsay and Grinnell Jr are one of the positive things to come out of Bird World this year!

Take care everyone. It is a busy day on the nests with lots of things happening. Thank you so much for joining me today. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: SF Ospreys, GROWLS, Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, FOBBV, NADC-AEF, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Poole Harbour Ospreys, LRWT, Cornell RTH Cam, EMU and Liz, ND-LEEF, and Cal Falcons.

Late Sunday in Bird World

29 May 2022

The rain stopped but the grey skies remained. I went in search of Wood Ducks. Last year there were Wood Ducks everywhere – not this year with the flooding. Well, they are not at their old hangouts for sure. I found 11 at one park and none at another.

It appears to me that the Wood Ducks are now laying eggs on the island since the water has gone down at one of the parks. I also noticed more Canada Geese nests.

What was even more surprising were the lack of Mallards. Mallards are typically everyone at the pond. One couple swimming about and I found another in the forest where the water was still high.

I had so hoped that the ND-LEEF nest would improve today. Little Bit 17 is in the other area of the nest without the camera so I cannot check. Tiny Tot Tumbles went without food for 72 hours and she had less ‘fat’ than Little Bit. We are heading to 72 hours now. I really hope that 17 had some food earlier but without actually seeing it myself, I cannot say for sure. Sad when things between May 16-26 went so well. I want to make one comment. I have seen lots of tiny thirds – more than I want to think about. Each and every one that survived appeared ‘stunted’ at some time during their development. Each with the help of the adults got big – three last year being the dominant birds on the nest at the end. Right now, I just want 17 to survive. Then we will see. 17 is little like Tiny Tot Tumbles at the Captiva nest – he has missed out on a lot of food. She had a total of twelve 24 hour days without food. She fledged and she was awesome. I don’t want to give up hope but not every nest will have success. It is heart breaking when it doesn’t happen. The parents are virtually absent – fishing might be rough. Prey items might not be available. With a road closed, bad weather, and weekend people on the river – there is less carrion and well, getting food can be hard.

So, let’s jump to a nest with three eaglets that have thrived. It is always good to step back and be thankful for the joy! This nest had two bad years and just look. We almost had a catastrophe when one of the eaglets fell down and Dr Sharpe had to come and rescue it. But here they are this morning – the ‘Three Amigos’. Gosh, they are beautiful. I cannot praise Thunder and Akecheta any more than I have and, I really want to shout out Akecheta who grew up this year and found out what it is like to be a dad. He was loving it! Kana’kini, Ahota, and Sky will fledge and I hope we get to see them return to the nest for awhile as they get those flight wings.

Lancer is one beautiful bird over at the Two Harbours nest! Chase & Cholyn have done a great job with this Only chick this year.

Of course, we cannot forget about Spirit – a perfect name for a very high spirited eaglet.

Jackie and Shadow will be proud of their only chick of the 2022 season – a real wonderful hatch. We were all so happy for both of them after two years without having any success. They will be ready to deliver fish to Spirit once she fledges so that she has a brilliant start in life.

I love Spirit and Jackie hanging out together! Is Mum giving her daughter tips?

Here is a short video by FOBBV. Spirit almost had lift off on the 27th.

There are three healthy Bobs getting a nice meal from Blue NC0 at the Loch of the Lowes Osprey nest in Scotland. Yipppeeee.

There are absolutely no hints from Louis or Dorcha about any pips or cracks. These two can surely keep a straight face. So glad the bad weather seems to have moved from Loch Arkaig!

Dylan and Seren Blue 5F are doing fine with their three Bobs. The little one is up there and ready for food once the others are passed out.

Dylan arrives with some more fish and pauses to see how things are going. He has heard a rumour that one of the Bobs got caught up in house keeping and was pulled out of the nest cup. He has come to make sure there are still three – and there are. That little one rolled back in. Chicks are very resilient.

Seren feeding Little Bob. Life is good!

There is fish on the nest at UFlorida-Gainesville. One of the osplets has a big crop and the other is fine. There is fish available if it is hungry. Doing good!

R2 is still showing up at the WRDC nest in the Miami Zoo and Mum and Dad, Rita and Joe, are still supplying fish! How sweet is that?

Blue brought a whopper of a fish to Maya and the trio for their bedtime feeding! I sure would love to give a piece of that fish to ND Little Bit 17.

Just a beautiful nest of hawks at Cornell. Big Red and Arthur really showed everyone they could handle four eyases without even breaking a sweat! Gosh, will they try for five next year???

It’s a real hard day when a nest and a little one is in trouble. The parents at the ND-LEEF nest have been absent for the entire afternoon. It is an extremely volatile situation.

Thank you for joining me. All of the other nests are doing really well. We may even have a hatch at Poole Harbour. Remember to turn in your name suggests to Cal Falcons for Annie, Grinnell, and Alden’s chicks! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures: UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Explore.org, LRWT, CarnyXWild, WRDC, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Cornell Red Tail Hawks, and FOBBV.