Tag Archives: lead poisoning in eagles

Inside a Harpy Eagle’s nest, Captiva Ospreys, pips and more…Wednesday in Bird World

28 December 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

Thank you so much for your good wishes for the holidays. I always do appreciate your notes and the beautiful images of your pets, garden animals, and arrivals in your gardens. It is so very kind of you to think of me. It means the world to me.

We have news from Captiva, V3 returning to Gabby’s nest, little eaglet heads popping up at Superbeaks, and more today including a call for help with moving and temporary accommodation for a person who cares for emotionally abused Cockatoos. Please do not buy a Cockatoo. Tell anyone who is considering it not to as well. They live a long life and well, they can be like badly-behaved toddlers. They require care, attention, training, and the ability of the owner to commit to a lifetime of vet bills (even trimming beaks is very costly), food, enrichment toys, and proper enclosures. Many who have owned parrots for a long time are calling for a ban on the sale of birds. I heartily agree. So many wind up caring for those disposed of by others simply because they did not understand the demands made on them by birds. I would also suggest that many of the ‘cute’ videos on YouTube have driven these sales. As ‘J’ says, it might be cute to hear a parrot swear 10 times but for an entire life time, ‘no’. Parrots that swear are also less likely to be adopted if their owner dies or can no longer keep them. Please pass this along. OK. That is my rant for the day!

It is a warm day here on the Prairies considering what it has been like. -5. That means that I am off for a walk at the nature centre for sure. I wonder if there will be any birds? Will let you know tomorrow! It will be so nice to be outside for an extended period of time in the fresh air. It is one of the most dire things of living where it is cold – being stuck inside. I plan to try the Merlin Sound ID to test it at the winter feeder. Will let you know how it works.

Geemeff sent the link to the final episode in the radio series for Flight of the Osprey this morning. Oh, thank you, Geemeff. Looking forward to the film!

BBC Earth takes us into the jungle, up a tree and into a Harpy Eagle’s nest!

Come back to this one – but try your luck at guessing some of the environment’s top stories from The Guardian (the emphasis is on the UK wildlife and environment but give it a go anyway!).

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/27/take-a-wild-guess-the-environment-quiz-of-2022?CMP=share_btn_link

Things are really going to start to perk up in the US. There is a pip for Connie and Clive at the Captiva Bald Eagle nest! Congratulations. Their first egg was laid on 3 December. We will be watching for M15 and Harriet around the 3rd of January but, tonight there could be a pip at Kistachie National Forest at E3. With the humidity, that strong first hatch took 29 hours, 49 minutes and 07 seconds to hatch. Then, of course there is Missy and Pa Berry…and before we blink, the Florida Osprey season will start.

Thankfully Clive and Connie took a break from incubation so the camera could pick up that pip.

In addition, the Captiva Osprey Cam is now up and streaming. It is unclear who will claim the platform nest for this upcoming year. There is a new female FO and the male MO. There have been three ospreys flying around this platform. Lena is apparently fine. It is my understanding that with Andy not returning, she left the area. It is completely unclear what happened to Andy but he could have been lost during Hurricane Ian. We know Lena was seen after the hurricane so she survived but, of course, her platform nest did not. Might she return? I wonder. Andy will, sadly, be added to the Memorial Wall for the year.

Gorgeous Gabby on the morning of 27 December wondering what her fate will be for this year, possibly. The visitor that has been coming and going flew in with a squirrel today (the 27th). He is confirmed by the AEF to be V3.

V3 flew in with a squirrel to the nest. It looked like he intended to share it with Gabby.

Here is he. Gabby is obviously giving them a second look or three!!!!!! I hope this fellow measures up. He is rather handsome. At the end of the day, I don’t care who she chooses as long as they can try to match up to Samson.

The latest announcement from the AEF:

At the WRDC, Rose has brought in what looks like a gull for lunch. She is beautiful. Let us wish her and Ron a long life together and many successful fledges!

Despite the PS that hit the camera along with the pine branch obscuring our view, we can see the two eaglets at Superbeaks today! They appear to be thriving. What a wonderful sight!

These eaglets are semi-altricial. This means that when they hatch they have a very thin layer of down. They cannot regulate their own temperature. Their eyes are open or partly open but they cannot focus. That is why they are bobble heads. They are entirely dependent on their parents for food, for warmth, and for teaching them how to be eagles. The two eaglets at Superbeaks are getting their second coat of natal down which begins growing in about a week after hatching.

Alex and Andria seem to be doing very well. Alex is really keeping a lot of food and a variety of items on the nest – I cannot identify all the fish species but there are several different ones and the remains of that Coot.

That little eaglet seems to grow right before our eyes! Let us hope that it is a cracker of a big sibling to the one that should be trying to hatch tomorrow. There is lots of food and Andria and Alex are doing an incredible job.

The Bald Eagle nests at Kincaid Lake benefit from a stocked lake right out their doorstep. And the males continue to fish even if there is a pile of fish on the nest. It is wonderful to watch but, oh, can you imagine the smell after awhile??????

The eagles were at the nest at Decorah, Iowa today. One was even having their lunch on one of the main branches to the nest. What a beautiful winter setting on a farm. Like a postcard.

Oh, a correction. It was a Musk Lorikeet that Indigo had for lunch on Boxing Day! It remains unclear if Indigo caught the bird or if it was a prey transfer from the parents. He sure wasn’t going to share it and he found a way to eat the entire bird….nothing left for Mum to snatch.

I have been concerned about Big Red, Arthur, and L4 since the temperature plummeted in the Ithaca region during the big weather bomb. This morning @CornellHawks posted images of L4 hunting. Much relieved. Now for Arthur and Big Red! Maybe tomorrow.

This is a great little clip from Montana about the dangers of lead poisoning. Please pass it along to those you know who hunt or fish (if you feel you can). They need to know that the raptors can be killed by secondary poisoning and toxins and that there are alternatives to lead. Thank you.

Migration News for Karl II’s family. There has been no transmission from Bonus since he crossed the Eastern Desert in Egypt nor from Kaia since she arrived in Chad nor from Karl II since he flew southwest from the Nile. We believe Karl II and Kaia are well in their winter homes and hope that Bonus is, too. We will look forward to transmissions in the spring.

First up, little Udu from 2021 has sent a transmission!!!!!! He has left Italy and is now in Turkey!

Yes, Udu is always late and sometimes does things backwards but, he is alive and for this we are thankful. This is the pond near to where Udu is foraging.

Waba is also alive and well and remains in the Sudan foraging at the Nile River. I suspect he might well just spend the winter here. Why not?

Dan Scott – the Chloe Sanctuary -has put out a call for assistance. This year the 501k charity that looks after traumatised and sick cockatoos lost their home due to flooding and their benefactor to dementia. He is looking for help packing the flock of 11 up for their move as well as temporary accommodation until they can get settled in their new home in Nevada. He is not asking for funds but, if anyone knows anyone that could assist, he would be grateful (directed to persons in California, Arizona, or Nevada).

Chloe Sanctuary call for help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZKfq8jLV3s

Thank you so very much for being with me today. Please take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their posts, announcements, videos, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: The Guardian, BBC Earth, Window to Wildlife, NEFL-AEF, WRDC, Superbeaks, KNF-E#, Raptor Resource Centre and Explore.org, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, @CornellHawks, Looduskalender, ‘J’ and Dan Scott.

This Eagle is a Warrior

In the Bald Eagle world, it has been a stressful day for many. Snow and plunging temperatures in areas that normally are warmer with flowers blooming have caused a lack of prey. Others sitting on nests are facing snow and more snow and some are having freezing winds blow those nests about. So it is nice to have one when something wonderful happens and it warms your body from the top of your head to the tip of your toes. And that spark of ‘hope’ comes from A Place for Hope.

Many of you will recognize this Bald Eagle from an earlier posting but for those who don’t know I will briefly explain why this is such a miracle. This eagle was seen last October with a very injured beak. The eagle was in flight and could not be captured so nothing could be done for him at the time. The eagle made the local news because of its injured beak. So when he was found near dead and hardly able to move in a ditch last week, the person who found him knew that it was the eagle with the injury in October. He was taken to A Place for Hope. They determined that he had an extreme case of lead toxicity. They fed him and gave him fluids and after 24 hours this eagle still wanted to live. He was started on Chelation Therapy. In Chelation Therapy, EDTA is given to the eagle through an IV. The wildlife rehabbers said if he had the will to live they would work with him. Well, look at that picture today! Amazing, isn’t it? The lead levels were so very, very high that the wildlife rehabbers honestly did not think he would survive. He is responding and everyone is joyful. And guess what? By taking the x-rays they found that this warrior had also survived a broken leg which probably happened at the same time as the beak injury. This is one tough eagle. Incredible.

Another end of the day happy story. One of the Bald Eagle nests that is not suffering high stress levels due to diminishing prey because of the frigid cold is the SWFL Eagle nest in Fort Myers, home to Harriet and M15 and E17 and E18. Today there were six prey items brought to the nest ranging from a squirrel to a huge rabbit and a pile of fish. It was fabulous to see E18 being fed a huge portion of squirrel after 17 had eaten and fallen asleep. This evening E18 was fed rabbit. It was fed so much rabbit that when he walked the cropped swung and he fell over. It was humorous and heart warming. I never worry about 18 when he goes to bed full and today was a very good day.

In the image below, E17 is asleep with its head on a twig. E18 is behind the bunny and Harriet the mother is getting ready to leave. The darkened spot that makes E18 look like he is nine months pregnant is his crop and it is bursting. Gosh, it was good to see him fed. It was good to see lots of food in the nest, too.

And tomorrow, E17 and E18, the twins, will be 21 days old. Happy three week birthday!

Harriet departing after feeding the Es some rabbit.

And another nest with a big pile of fish on it is NEFL. E24 would not stop wiggling. Look at the size of that fish it is eating now. It is just such a cute fur ball. And E24 loves its fish. Because it is so little Gabby feeds her a multitude of times a day and if she wants some fish, E24 is quick to let mom know. Little cheep, cheeps OR like she did the other day, she crawls right out of the nest bowl. Very strong and healthy! That is the third really good story of the day.

E24 loves its fish.

Unfortunately, it has been noticed that this little eaglet has some eye issues. Its right eye is irritated and its left eye is a little squinty. Because E17 and E18 had to go into the clinic for nearly a week for eye treatments, E24 is being monitored very closely. The update is that the eyes have improved over night and there are no plans for an intervention. This is one feisty little eaglet! You can hear it chirping very loudly when it wants some of that fish! Adorable. And last but not least, Bonnie is still incubating one or more eggs on that Bald Eagle Nest near Kansas City. That owl is not budging. Her mate is protecting her on a branch but he does not incubate the eggs. Yesterday she took only one break. And Bonnie is not giving up any secrets. One egg has been seen but the cup holding the eggs is deeping and there is a guessing game going on as to how many there really are in that nest. This morning her mate brought her a mouse for breakfast.

Below the male lands on the rim of the large Bald Eagle nest around 6:28 am.

He quickly transfers the prey to his mate incubating the eggs and leaves. It was literally a blink and the mouse that you can partially see was gone.

Looking at the temperature in the upper right hand corner indicates that it was actually warmer at dawn than it is currently.

Gosh, it is cold there and they have had some snow. The weather than they are having in Missouri and Kansas, across that whole belt of the United States, is almost unheard of. A friend of mine living in Arkansas says it has never been as cold as it is where she lives and she has been there for more than two decades. And the amount of snow and ice is more than she remembers. Thank goodness for the insulating warmth of those beautiful feathers. Stay warm little owl!

Thank you so much for joining me today. There are so many positive things happening despite the frigid weather that just seems to have hunkered down over Canada and the United States. Last night there was more snow in Victoria British Columbia than here on the Canadian Prairies and, of course, everyone out there is watching the Delta 2 Eagle Nest on Vancouver Island. Will being you news of that later. But for now, stay warm and stay safe wherever you are.

Thank you to Farmer Derek for the streaming camera on his property in Kansas City; to a Place for Hope for the fine work they are doing on that amazing eagle and for providing images on their FB page; to SWFL Eagle Cam and the D Pritchett family thank you and to the AEF and the NEFL cam, thank you for your streaming camera. My screen shots have come from those live feeds.