Tag Archives: Liberty and Guardian

Tuesday in Bird World

22 March 2022

It is impossible to convey how joyful the image below makes me. River has been diligently shading Middle and Big since they finished an entire American Coot around noon.

As you can see both eaglets have big crops. Middle’s is enormous. That kid really likes American Coot!!!!!!

River stayed with the eaglets on the nest for most of the day. There were high level alerts between her and Obey and they both went into defensive mode. The two chicks ate and ate and still have a bit of a crop after some crop dropping. They will be fine til tomorrow but let us hope that something big comes in to the nest so things stay relatively peaceful. Middle is growing and that is a good thing and he is getting better at strategizing.

Middle is, however, scaring the wits out of me! I really hope that he doesn’t tumble over the edge when he tries to get upright. Oh, gosh, golly. What next?

At the MN DNR nest of Harry and Nancy, it was a cold torrential downpour this morning and the weather is still miserable in Minnesota. Nancy is doing everything to protect those precious eggs.

Poor Kincaid is one soaked eaglet and its nest is wet to its core. You can see all of the turtles that have been brought up for lunch by Louis! Goodness. This was another nest that often had American Coot along with the fish and the turtles.

It isn’t raining yet in Pittsburgh. Thank goodness. DH17 just hatched this morning. Two little Booble heads for Mum and Dad! DH16 wants to eat and the wee babe just wants to sleep. Cute.

The winds have really calmed down at the Captiva Osprey nest. Lena must be so happy. She was almost blown over last night! Just take a look at these two gorgeous osplets.

In the image Lena is moving around the edge of the platform to provide shade for the osplets. That is Little – yes, Little (or Mini) under Lena’s tail. Can you believe it?

And there is beautiful Middle Bob up front by Mum. The plumage that is coming in on these chicks is so gorgeous.

Both watching Mum fly!

The fourth fish delivery to the Captiva nest came around 14:00. Look at how well the chicks plumage camouflages them on the nest.

Everything looks good at Eagle Country. The two chicks of Abby and Blazer – well, it doesn’t seem right to call them chicks anymore. Gosh, they are beautiful and big! Won’t be long til fledging.

Well, what is up with Annie and Grinnell? Some are worried because the young females continue to come to the ledge of The Campanile wanting to court Grinnell. He has tried to get them to leave without a lot of success. Meanwhile, he tries to reassure Annie that he is the one. The pair have been caught on camera courting in the scrape. Annie, who normally lays her first egg on 10 March, is a bit late. She has been spending more time hanging around in or near the scrape. Thanks to ‘B’ we have a good time line of Annie’s activities this morning. ‘B’ notes the following (I missed it because of Dale Hollow): “Grinnell arrives on the wall to their balcony at 7:55, drops down to the scrape at 7:57.  Annie arrives on the wall almost immediately as G drops down, then Annie joins Grinnell in the scrape at 8:00:16, sixteen seconds late for their 8:00:00 pair bonding appointment.  G leaves within about a minute, but Annie remains, lying in the scrape until 9:30.  Annie moves to her roost on the lamp at that time and remained there until 10:23, when she returned to the scrape, where she remains now at 10:35.  Doing a little scraping, picking at rocks, lying.” Thank you, B. 

Annie has a really nice crop. I sure hope that meal was provided by Grinnell! Annie is gorgeous. They are even grandparents.

Here Annie is in the scrape.

Annie returns to the scrape. I sure hope we see some eggs in this scrape, soon

Martin and Rosa are taking really good care of their one and only chick for 2022. It is growing quickly – getting all the food that could be meant for 1 or 2 more. What a darling.

The first hatch at the Redding Bald Eagle nest of Liberty and Guardian is certainly cute and fuzzy. It hatched on 20 March at 21:20 so it is 1.5 days old. The remaining egg is pipping!

Oh, those first little bites are so tiny.

Well, this is really how to feed three eaglets so that you have three fledges! Thunder and Akecheta are a great team. This keeps the volume and any rivalry down when they do their tandem feedings which is often.

In Manitoba we have the Peregrine Recovery Project and two of the breeding males have arrived back in our province a little early. One was trying to work on the scrape box on the Raddison Hotel and the gravel was still frozen. Meanwhile the Canada Geese continue to fly in while the Snowy Owls are departing for the north.

It is a beautiful day so far on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. What a gorgeous place to have a nest. There is the Queen of the Red tail Hawks, Big Red.

I want you to take in this beautiful Welsh landscape. Pastoral. Now look at the Osprey nest. The good people of Glaslyn have built up the edges for Aran and Mrs G on their return. Everything is fixed and wired. All the Ospreys have to do is bring in the nesting material!

I sure wish someone would have done this for Richmond and Rosie. Seriously there are twigs all over the Glaslyn Valley for Aran and Mrs G but no so plentiful on a shipping yard with concrete! Rosie was making progress yesterday and then the wind flipped her off the nest along with all her hard work.

The Dahlgren Osprey nest was a new build platform. Jack and Harriet have both been working and the locals are leaving more stuffed toys for Jack to take to the nest. Today’s delivery was number 2 toy. Jack and Richmond both have something in common. They love to bring bright and unusual things to their nest. Cute. Jack does get out of hand, helped along by the good citizens of the community. I don’t think I have ever seen an eagle bring a toy to the nest. Have you?

This is the most recent report from the Kakapo Recovery – it is a struggle with these amazing non-flying parrots. Those who work with them are so dedictated.

Thank you so much for all your notes and suggestions for viewing. I hope to have a listing to share with everyone in a couple of days. It has been a good day except for the weather and intruders. There are pips, hatches, eaglets and osplets eating, Ospreys arriving, intruders, tornadoes, torrential rain, high wind gusts, and all manner of anything that can happen at a nest.

Oh, River brought in a small rat or squirrel. It looks like Big will eat most of it. I am kinda’ glad about that if it is a rat.

Middle has now moved up and has not fallen off. Relief.

At 16:49:11 the camera goes to the lake. There were some horrible sounds at 17:07:23. What was that? I hope it is just my over active imagination.

There must be intruders about. Fingers crossed everyone!

Middle doesn’t need a rat to eat. He had half an American Coot this morning and some leftovers from it -small pieces later. He still had a nice crop. That said, I am certain he would get right up there for ‘rat’ if Big left any for him.

Thank you so much for joining me and thank you for all of your notes, your comments, your questions, and your recommendations. They are always appreciated. Please take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: The Kakapo Recovery, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Dale Hollow Lake Eagles, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Pix Cams, Dahlgren Ospreys, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, MN DNR, KNF, Dulles Greenway Eagles, Redding Eagles, Eagle Country, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife, and Cal Falcons.

Late Sunday and early Monday in Bird World

20-21 March 2022

Correction: Abby and Blazer’s chicks hatched on the 11th and 14th of February not March! Argggh. Thanks, ‘S’.

The atmosphere at the Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagle nest of River and Obey has been so good for the past 36 hours that, well, I am still smiling and can’t settle down. When that happens I start watching nests!

Mum and Dad met at the nest on the Port Lincoln Osprey barge around 11:49-11:59 on the 21st. How nice it is to see them! They get a chance to rest, relax, and enjoy the quiet. Do you remember how loud Ervie was calling for fish all the time once Bazza and Falky had literally flown the coop? Mum and Dad needed ear plugs!

Xavier and Diamond have been hanging around the scrape box. Xavier brought Diamond a gift – a Starling. Now Diamond doesn’t like Starling but she grabbed it and went flying away ready to enjoy the meal.

Besides those delicious prey drops for Diamond, the couple have been bonding inside the scrape box. Life is good at Orange!

It may be good with no confusion at Orange, Australia but Grinnell has problems! That young female juvenile that brought a pigeon to the ledge of The Campanile just won’t go away. Grinnell and Annie have been mating and Annie has been in the scrape — and Grinnell needs this other female to leave! It is a good thing that Grinnell didn’t let all this female attention go to his head.

Annie is so beautiful. She has been staying close to the scrape today. I sure hope Grinnell brings in some juicy prey for her.

Thunder and Akecheta are ending the day with a very unique way of tandem feeding. Akecheta is passing bites of food for Thunder to feed the Little Baby while he feeds the two big ones. Another brilliant strategy to keep this nest calm and to quiet any inklings of food competition and rivalry.

At the nest of Liberty and Guardian, Guardian has brought in a huge fish. Their first egg pipped 12 hours ago. In the next 12 hours there should be a Bobble head.

Guardian got up to eat some fish but she is not giving away any hints as to the stage of the pip.

Eagle 1 at Redding hatched at 21:14 on the 20th of March!

No hints coming out of Pittsburgh-Hayes either. But, if all is going well, there should be Bobbleheads at both nests by 09:00 tomorrow morning, the 21st of March, the first official day of spring.

Mum and Dad were present when the first chick popped off the top of the egg at Pittsburgh-Hayes. They both stood in awe watching. It was pretty amazing. That chick fully hatched at 08:16 and there is a pip in the second egg. Squint and go right below beak of adult to see that the top if cracked all around.

Welcome both of the new eaglets. Congratulations to Liberty and Guardian at Redding and to Mum and Dad at Pittsburgh-Hayes!

Andy had a nice big fish on the nest at Captiva Ospreys at 07:57:24.

Both ate until their crops were full and there was fish left for Lena! All is well on this nest. Still no official word on the cause of Big’s death.

Wow. Arthur has had most of the incubation duties for Monday morning at the Cornell Red-tail hawk nest. Big Red who normally doesn’t give him much time on the nest got off for her morning break, left Arthur for more than an hour, she returned for a short while and gave Arthur incubation duty back. Fantastic. He is a great mate and really needs to be involved more now that he has proven himself. Also, wouldn’t you get really stiff sitting on eggs all day??

Arthur is such a little cutie.

Big Red is back on deck.

I am writing a separate report on the happenings at Dale Hollow and it should be finished in about two hours. There were some amazing things this morning and it is good to look at them separately.

Thank you for joining me this morning. There is so much happening. Pipping, hatching, fledging or branching. It should be a lively week in Bird World. Oh, and don’t forget about all of the Ospreys returning! Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Redding Bald Eagles, Pix Cam, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Cal Falcons, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife, and Charles Sturt University at Orange Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross.

SE19 fledges, noon feed at Dale Hollow, and other news in Bird World

20 March 2022

I haven’t yet checked every nest because I have been constantly monitoring the Dale Hollow situation with Middle and Big. It has been a day of great achievements on that nest and other exciting news from nests all over.

There was a fledge and could be another at the SW Florida Bald Eagle nest of M15 and Harriet.

This was the official announcement:

E19 had been up on the branch with the parents. It was early morning and foggy. M15 flew off and was seen flying around the nest tree enticing E19 to flap and hop on the branch. At one point the cam operator didn’t know if E19 would go first or E20 flapping from the nest to another branch. Here are some images.

Several hours later, E19 took the plunge and became a fledgling! Here is the video clip taken by the folks in that white vehicle at the centre of the screen.

Congratulations to M15 and Harriet, the Pritchett Family, and especially to E19! I wonder if E20 will go today? or tomorrow?

At the Cornell Campus, Big Red laid her third and most likely last egg of the 2022 season at 09:27. At this point, Big Red and Arthur will begin hard incubation. Congratulations to Big Red and Arthur!

If you were looking for Bald Eagles eggs in the Decorah Bald Eagle nest in Iowa, forget it. A Canada Goose has taken over the nest. Believe me when I tell you that you are really going to enjoy watching this nest. The female will lay between 4 and 7 eggs which will be incubated for 25-30 days. The male will serve as security guard. When the goslings are 24 hours old, the parents will fly to the ground calling the goslings to leap. Within a few minutes all of the little ones will be down on the ground following their parents. It is a nice change from the Bald Eagles!

It appeared that B15 at the Berry College Bald Eagles had officially branched. Everyone is waiting for the official word on that – did B15 fly up high enough?

It has been a good morning on the Captiva Osprey Nest. Middle is standing more on its legs and Little is working with the nesting material. Both have eaten and both appear to be in excellent health! They are getting along find and we simply cannot ask for anything better than that.

That is Middl (or chat Little) in the back standing up as the sun rises and spreads a golden pink glow on the nest.

Little (or Mini) in front with the lighter plumage (he is younger and this is how you can tell him now easily) moving sticks with its beak.

Both chicks lined up at the table having a nice fish for breakfast. No animosity or rivalry here.

The joy continues at the Dale Hollow Nest. At 11:58:39, it appears that River flies to the nest with some new nesting material. Big thinks it is fish and moves up to the table. Middle is at the far rim of the nest. Obey then flies in with a small fish at 12:01:01. River feeds part of the fresh fish to Big and then stops feeding her. River then pulls another small fish out of the straw! That was at 12:16:56. She feeds Big. At 12:17:13 River abruptly stops feeding Big and walks over to Middle who has moved up a bit and offers it fish! This is HUGE. We are really passing milestones on this nest quickly today. Then River moves the old fish in the straw to the table. She has 1.5 small fish left. She feeds Bit again at 12:17:34. Middle very cautiously moves around the nest to the right. At 12:19:40 he is in position for snatch and grab which he does splendidly. Big does nothing. At 12:19:59, Middle is at the table being fed. It appears that River fed him the last half of the fish. This is just incredible. The fish need to continue to show up or be pulled out of the nest if in hiding to keep up the good momentum but…for now, let us celebrate another big win today at the Dale Hollow nest for Middle DH15. Here are some images:

Obey has brought in the fresh fish. River had been feeding Big a few of the scrapes left from the morning. Middle just wants to stay out of Big’s way.

River moves to get the fresh fish and bring it up to the table. Big does not move away. Little still in position at the rim. Little is watching and listening. This is what the siblings who have abused do. They know their environment and they watch and wait. They have to – their life depends on it. Good skills for living in the wild.

River actually stops feeding Big and reaches out to Middle who has moved up. Middle does a great snatch and grab. Big does nothing.

Middle moves around from where it was along the edge of the nest always aware of Big. He will move up to the food table and eats properly.

In this image you can easily see how much bigger Big is than Middle. Middle remains at the table until he is very, very full.

Middle might be hoping that River is going to offer the fish tail but she doesn’t. They are both full. Big is passed out at the edge by the rim.

Another good feeding. Tears and more tears rolling down my cheeks. We will take it one feeding at a time. So far since Saturday evening everything has been good on this nest. I remain cautiously optimistic.

At present we have another nest with three chicks. Akecheta and Thunder are going to have to really bring in the prey and maybe do some tandem feedings as these three get bigger. The baby is four days younger. This has to be kept in mind as we move forward.

There is a pip for Liberty and Guardian at their Redding California nest. Last year these two fledged three. The pip is right on time. Congratulations Liberty and Guardian.

The hole is right under the feather hanging down the lowest on the egg closest to the screen. Once we see the external pip, hatch will happen between 12 and 24 hours! Yippee. A new bobble head.

Here is the link to the streaming cam of Liberty and Guardian. It is a good nest to follow now that the older eaglets are becoming fledglings.

I am so behind catching up with Grinnell and Andy. You can hear noises on the camera once in awhile but I have not seen much action on the camera when I checked. Today, however, Annie first arrives in the scape around 08:11 with bloody talons. That tells me – hopefully – that Grinnell has provided her with some prey breakfast.

Annie shuffles the gravel and is scraping.

Oh, thank goodness.

Annie returns to the nest at 09:38:05. Here she is teasing us at 10:04:05. Annie sure isn’t giving away any news this year. She has held us in a state of worry that she was going to abandon Grinnell for another nest. So happy to see her here in the scrape at The Campanile. I mean it has to be “Grinnell and Annie” – .

Right now even with Annie teasing us, everything in Bird World feels good. As we all know things can change quickly but for now all of the nests appear to be fine. I am told by ‘S’ in Latvia that even the young mate of Milda, Voldis, is doing better. ‘S’ wonders what kind of year it will be at the Durbe Nest of Milda in Latvia with this young man. We will just have to wait. We all need to remember that young mates can be fantastic – Arthur at Cornell, Harry up at the MN DNR nest, and Cheta who did not do well his first two years but who is trying to make up for it now.

Thank you for joining me this afternoon. Take care all. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, Cal Falcons, SWFlorida and D Pritchett, West End Bald Eagles, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, and Explore.org

Thursday Afternoon in Bird World

For more than a week now I haver been wondering what is going on at the Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagle nest. There was torrential rain and then snow. At the beginning of the season, I saw tandem feedings and was so hopeful that this was another great nest. Sadly, that just simply does not appear to be the case. While other raptor mothers are covering their chicks from the hot sun, nothing is happening at Dale Hollow. Little Bit does not have all its thermal down. Little Bit is also crying out for food. I want to be wrong because you always hear ‘The Eagles Know Best’ but with the case of River and Obey, I am not sure. Did the rain stir up the lake and it is so murky that they cannot get fish? did the snow send the critters underground? At any rate, I am very worried about Little Bit surviving. I do not wish to cause undue alarm but what happened here?

A small fish was brought in to the Dale Harbour nest around 14:30. You can see for yourself what is happening. I suspect that the Big sibling might well eat all of it – and yes, that is what happened.

Are River and Obey eating off camera?

If the fish brought on to the nest is only one of these a day or two, then it is possible that the other two siblings will not get any food. It is so sad. They might well be beyond getting up to the table.

Little Bit is at the bottom of the screen. Both of them know not to get near the food until Big is finished. Little Bit is really suffering today. It has had nothing to eat for approximately 30+ hours and is crying and crying. At any other nest, this wee babe would be getting 8 or 10 small meals a day.

Middle is walking away towards Little Bit.

Neither Little Bit or Middle had any food to eat. Neither made any effort to go up to the table. They are dehyrated and lethargic. The fish is all gone. Big has an enormous crop. Sadly, unless another fish comes on the nest and Little Bit gets fed full, I do not believe this poor little nestling will survive. The middle chick might have a better chance. Are both Little Bit and Middle too dehydrated, too hungry, too tired – and too intimidated by Big – to ever get up to the table again? We wait.

It is a hard reality. The eagles only need one chick to survive. Watching this nest is extremely difficult when we look at the others. I continue to wonder what is going on.

This is the last image I have today of the Dale Hollow Bald Eagle nest. It pretty much says it all. Big is over by River at the opposite side and Middle and Little Bit are together sadly alone, beyond hungry.

In comparison, Thunder and Akecheta were feeding the three chicks on their nest before daylight and several times after.

We can also compare what is happening at Big Bear Valley with Shadow and Jackie. It is 11:55 and the wee only Bob has been fed four times. There have also been multiple poop shots.

The two eagles of Abby and Blaze at Eagle Country hatched on the 11th and 14th of February. Gosh, they have grown and are lookin’ good.

What a beautiful sight at the Duke Farms Bald Eagles. You might recall that the second hatch was so tiny and died. The surviving eaglet is doing very, very well. The nest is full of fish and Mum is there not only shading but keeping the chick warm.

Mark your calendars. Pip watch begins on the 19th for Liberty and Guardian at the Redding California Bald Eagle nest. Last year the couple fledged three lovely juveniles.

Here is the link to the streaming cam at Redding.

There were sure some beautiful images coming out of Iowa at the Decorah North Bald Eagle nest of Mr North and DNF today. Eggs were laid on 16 and 19 of February and we are about a week from pip watch!

The top image is of Mr North.

This is DNF. You can compare her with Mr North above so you can recognize who is on the nest.

A close up of DNF below.

The nest is on top of a White Oak Tree near a small forest area with a stream on private farmland north of Decorah, Iowa. The nest is 17 metres or 56 feet above the ground.

I love how the different regions provide such a variety of nesting materials. In Florida and Louisiana there is Spanish Moss and in Iowa it is corn husks and wheat stalks.

This is DNF on the nest below. She has grey eye shadow.

Here is the link to the Decorah North Bald Eagle nest.

The nest of Martin and Rosa at Dulles Greenaway Bald Eagle nest in Virginia is also covered with corn husks. Wow. The couple laid two eggs. The first on Feb 1 and the second on Feb 4. The first little eaglet hatched on the 13th and is now 4 days old. If the other egg is going to hatch, we should be seeing a pip soon.

Andy brought in some nice fish for the family so far today. In fact, Andy has made three fish deliveries so far today. A Sand Perch at 08:32:40; a Sheepshead at 10:20:31, and this Ladyfish at 14:41:53.

Little (Mini on chat) has a big crop now. Compare with the image above.

These two are doing really, really well. I am quite optimistic for the two of them. There is no news yet on the cause of Big’s death.

If you missed it, there are now two eggs at Cornell’s Red-tail Hawk. One more to go!

There is the beautiful Big Red with her dark morph incubating those two eggs. She will leave the nest periodically to eat. Normally, Arthur will have her meal ready for her off camera.

There are the two precious eggs. The second was laid today.

Here is a close up with markings that was posted on the Cornell Twitter account so you can tell the difference between the eggs.

Big Red is giving Arthur, her mate, more incubation duties! Fantastic. He is a great mate.

Arthur is also very handsome! It will be interesting to see which of the populations of chipmunks or squirrels are the most plentiful on the nest this year.

That is it for my Thursday afternoon report. All of the nests are doing quite well except for Dale Hollow which, sadly, is a tragedy in the making. Thank you so much for joining me. I look forward to having you with me again. Take care.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife, Dulles Greenaway Bald Eagles, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, Explore.org, Redding California Eagles, Eagle Country, Friends of Big Bear Lake, and Duke Farms.

Late Saturday and early Sunday in Bird World

12-13 March 2022

I was really concerned about fish arriving today with the weather system moving through Florida potentially causing Little to not get any fish on Saturday. Little (aka Mini on the chat) has lost a lot of his ‘get up and get in there to eat’ energy due to Big’s beaking. Almost three days without much food and Little, Middle, and Mum, Lena, were looking pretty bad Friday morning. It has been hot and humid and they were clearly getting dehydrated. Andy saved the day – or should I say that something gave way so that Andy had good fishing on Friday. He brought four good sized fish in to the nest and one snack. I only counted two fish coming in on Saturday but I could well be wrong. Little got a real good feed at the end of the day.

This fish, the last one for the day, was delivered at 16:24:52. Andy has just dropped if off and is flying back out to the Gulf. You can see that Big still has a crop from the earlier feed.

There is Little up at the table. He has now completely lost his baby down and has his beautiful dark grey thermal down. The copper red feathers run from the tip of the back of his neck down his shoulders. if you look at the two older siblings you will see their blood feathers coming in – the flight feathers and there contour feathers are also just starting.

I was just so thrilled to see Little eating that well, joy isn’t the right word. Joyful relief? He was so thin Friday morning.

The other two moved up as they got their second wind. Little didn’t move.

Little just kept eating and one of the older siblings turned to face the other way. Good for Little!

It has been raining on and off but everyone looks dry now. Lena is trying to gather up the chicks so she can brood them and keep them warm. Sweet.

It is just 12:19 at the Captiva nest on Sunday and already there have been seven fish deliveries!!!!!!!! Yes, you read that right. 6. The fish were delivered at 07:53:03, 08:16:44, 08:31:37, 08:42:08, 09:12:52; 10:06:24, and 12:19. It has been difficult to see the chicks but I understand that there has been no beaking from Big Bob. This is fantastic news. The bad weather coupled with few deliveries during the last storm clearly caused Big to behave badly. Hopefully the civility will last.

The first six fish that Andy has brought in were Needlefish. They are not that big but Andy must have found a stash of them!

“Needle Fish” by anselor is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

The 11:37 fish was a catfish. It is big! Here it comes. Look at the top left. And then look at the chicks looking up as that whopper arrives.

He shows it to Lena, takes it and eats the head and returns the partial catfish at 12:19.

Thunder is brooding and incubating and the third chick is really making progress on hatching as I write this. Thunder is a great Mum. I love how she feeds the chicks. Here is a bite for you and here is one for you. Back and forth so they have time to swallow but in a nice rhythm so that both are very civilized.

The third chick hatched sometime right before 22:15 or thereabouts. Thunder was taking out the eggshell halves. It is going to be busy busy in the morning at the West End nest!

Then there were three in the morning. Akecheta dug the egg cup so deep that it is really difficult to see all three of the chicks.

Akecheta stayed by Thunder during the night guarding his family – now a family of five instead of two for this first time dad. The Ravens that have plagued this nest will be bothersome and can predate the chicks until they are approximately 5 weeks old. So both Thunder and Akecheta will need to be vigilant.

Golden glow on Thunder as the sun rises on Catalina Island.

Akecheta has been working on the egg cup. I hope he is making it a little wider! You can see the three. Squint for the wee fur ball.

The babies at Dale Hollow are all being fed for the night. River wants them to stay in the dry straw and not be crawling all over the place like they do ordinarily. She has been good, then, to bring the fish to them! All have eaten and somewhere on the Internet is a video of the three of them crop dropping at the same time. Must find it.

It was a cuddle puddle at the Dale Hollow nest this morning. The snow is melting. One of the parents will be nearby serving as security while the other is out hunting for food. The chicks are doing well.

There has been a possible fledge at the Osceola Bald Eagle nest in Florida. This was one of three nests that only had one chick – the other two being Kistachie National Forest and Berry College.

It was a real fledge. OC9 has flown out of the nest and has returned also. This morning she was eating at the nest with the parent when they came in, flying back and forth from the branch to the nest and is now off to explore the world. This is excellent news. This fledgling OC9 needs to return to the nest for about a month. She will perfect her flying and continue to be fed by the parents until she can hunt on her own. Perfect. When they dart out and never return, there is always cause for concern. So well done OC9.

Speaking of fledges, E19 and E20 have both branched and, like the juvenile on the Osceola nest, could fledge any day.

E20 did some great hovering on Saturday. Have a peek.

It will not be long til Kincaid at the Kisatchie National Forest (KNF) nest is branching. He is really working his wings lately.

I have not checked on the Redding Eagles for some time. Liberty is 23 years old and she is incubating two eggs at the nest high up in the Cottonwood Tree on the Sacramento River. Her third mate is Guardian who is 8 years old. We are about one week away from pip watch at this nest!

You may already know the Two Harbours Bald eagle nest high on the cliffs above the town of Two Harbours on Catalina Island. It is a new nest to me. I am including it for a very good reason today. Two Harbours is the home of Chase K81 and Cholyn K82 proud grandparents to their 2009 fledgling Thunder’s trio.

Chase hatched at the San Francisco zoo in 1998. He was fostered at the West End nest which is now home to Thunder and Akecheta. In 2003 he bonded with Cholyn. Cholyn hatched from an egg taken from the West End nest to the SF Zoo – hence the sequence of their wing tags. She was fostered at Pinnacle Rock. Cholyn and Chase are 23 years old and they are incubating one egg so far at the Two Harbours nest this year!

There is snow on the nest of Big Red and Arthur from the storm that went through and the Port Lincoln Osprey Project’s camera on the barge is still off line. However, we do have news of Ervie. Here is his most recent tracking. He is staying right where he has been along the North Shore. Wonder if he has found his forever territory?

I hope that PLO do not mind but Rob Watson sent them an image of Ervie sitting in the top of a Norfolk Island Pine up from his house yesterday. Wonder where that tree is on that tracking chart?

Ervie is certainly intent on watching something. Ervie, you are lookin’ good.

Thank you for joining me this morning. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams and/or their FB pages where I took my screen captures: Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Dale Hollow Eagles, Explore.org and Institute for Wildlife Studies, KNF Bald Eagles, SWFlorida Eagles and D Pritchett, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Redding Bald Eagles, and Osceola Eagles.

Tuesday Afternoon in Bird World

08 March 2022

I was very concerned about Middle and Little Bob at the Captiva Osprey nest after Big Bob’s bopping. Big has certainly caused a fright in Little Bob that really causes him to hang back now instead of getting up there in front, no matter what, like our sweet Ervie.

Well, a Sheepshead came on the nest and after Big got his fill there looks to still be enough to give a good feed to both Little and Middle with some for mum Lena.

Middle is certainly getting its fill but what about Little?

Shadow and Jackie are such an amazing couple. I love how they chit chat to one another. Shadow has been bringing in lots of fresh fish to the pantry for all three of them to eat.

Jackie and Shadow are such proud parents. They are not only making certain that the little one is fed often and there is plenty in the pantry but also that any would be predators do not get even close to their nest. Very protective of this only little eaglet – their miracle.

Jackie has taken care of the feedings today giving the wee chick a chance to try and eat bigger bites.

Open wide! That little chick nailed that big bite. Four days old almost. Doing great.

Simply adorable. Just look at Jackie’s eyes. Such a very proud and happy mama.

Sooner than we think, this yet to be named eaglet at Big Bear will be branching just like OC9 at the Osceola Bald Eagle nest of Starlight and Skyler in Florida.

At the WRDC nest of Ron and Rita in Miami, the parents have been giving branching demonstrations to R1 and R2.

“Now look. It is really easy! Just do like I am doing. Soon you will be flying!”

Thankfully the nest of River and Obey at Dale Hollow Lakes is drying out. My goodness they must have been inundated with rain. The three little ones, the twins and the baby, are doing fine. From the time they were a couple of days old, River has had them working their legs scooting around the nest. They are all doing really, really well.

If you look carefully, the baby, at the back, has a crop from an earlier feeding.

Still it is going to crowd up to the front with the twins and it is going to get some of that fresh new fish, too.

River is a really laid back Mum. She reminds me of my grandmother. I wonder how many chicks she has raised? She is at least 23 years old so chicks for the past 21 years?? Very experienced! Nothing seems to rattle her.

The snow is melting at the MN DNR nest of Harry and Nancy. Look closely. You can see the tinge of spring green beginning to appear. What a beautiful day. You could hear flocks of geese flying overhead.

I still worry about the youngest one at Duke Farms. It is just so much smaller than the eldest. It has had trouble getting up to the table and, yet, just about the time I am ready to wring my hands, a good feeding comes along.

It is also a really gorgeous day at the Redding Bald Eagle nest of Guardian and Liberty in California. Golden Rays falling down on this nest. They have lost one egg to breakage but, hey. Two healthy eaglets will be just fine.

While eggs are being incubated at Redding and chicks fed elsewhere, Big Red and Arthur continue to work on their nest on the Cornell Campus. This morning Arthur brought in some nice bark to line the nest cup. He worked hard at placing it precisely where he thought Big Red would want it. Of course, when he flew off she rearranged the whole thing! Arthur tries hard. We could be within five days of eggs! That would match the earliest Big Red has laid her first egg. I am realistically thinking another week to ten days.

Talk about working together quickly to save an Osprey. Desy got caught on a TV antenna and the Port Lincoln Osprey group were called into action!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-08/osprey-rescue-bird-of-prey-satellite-tracking/100890852?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

Desy is improving and he now has his own special fresh fish tank in front of Bazza’s house. Apparently Desy, like most Ospreys, prefers eating live fish! This news is good. Ian Falkenberg hopes to put a satellite tracker on Desy once he is ready to be released in the Lough Bay area. It will be a first for Port Lincoln (the tracker on an adult bird) and should provide much needed information on their dispersal.

Sadly, Meg, the Osprey from Thistle Island has been found dead. She has been sent for an autopsy. There were no outward injuries and she appeared quite healthy. My condolences go out to everyone with Port Lincoln Ospreys who work so hard to increase the numbers and care for these amazing birds.

I went back to check on the Captiva chicks. Andy, thank you. Another fish has come on the nest. Big is full. Little, Middle, and Lena are going to enjoy most of this fish. What a relief!

Middle Bob passes out.

Little would like some more but he has eaten well. Lena really needs some fish and she is going to finish this one off. Meanwhile, look at the image above. That is Middle Bob’s fat little bottom sticking up in the centre of the image. Cute. You can also see that Big Bob is really getting those copper-red feathers at the back of his head near the neck.

Wait! There’s another fish delivery and look who is up front!

There is some major crop action going on. And it is a bit confusing with the extra fish on the nest – the one in front of Little Bob above. Lena moves the fish she is working on to the middle of the nest and begins feeding the chicks and eating herself leaving the new fish in the back corner.

Little Bob is at the far end. You can see his head in front of Middle Bob. Big Bob, despite its enormous crop, seems to be thinking of a third or fourth helping.

Lena is feeding Middle Bob and Little is trying to snatch some bites.

At 15:24 Little Bob is getting fed and will have a nice crop just like its sibs. That is wonderful. It has been really hot and Little has often suffered when Big eats most of the fish. I suspect that Little will crop drop shortly.

Andy seems to have good fishing today. Nice to see Little Bob full.

I cannot think of a nicer ending to a blog than having Little full to the brim late this afternoon.

Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. Send all of your positive wishes to the little ones struggling and all those birds migrating to their spring and summer breeding grounds. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and FB pages where I took my screen captures: Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Osceola Bald Eagles, Dale Hollow Lakes Bald Eagles, Redding Eagles, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Labs and RTH, WRDC Bald Eagles, the MN DNR, Duke Farms, Explore.org, and Friends of Big Bear.

Late Saturday and early Sunday in Bird World

06 march 2022

There were several conflicting weather forecasts for the area that included the nest of Bald Eagles Jackie and Shadow. Along with thousands of others, I was hoping that the forecast that said the snow and wind would taper off between 18:00-19:00 was correct – and not the one that said 22:00.

Around 18:00, you could see the lake. Relief.

Shadow comes to the nest around 18:06. Jackie gets up. The baby is fed a wee bit and Shadow eats some of the fish.

What is so special is the look on the eyes of these two parents. It is like they still cannot believe, after trying so hard for two years, that they have a wee baby in that nest. It is more than adorable.

You can see the indentation where Jackie kept the baby and the egg warm.

By 19:00 lights could be seen in the distance.

The forecast is so much better. Jackie and the Baby had a good night. Did you know that Bald Eagles are known to lower their body temperatures by 1.5 degrees F. This saves calories in keeping warm so they do not require as much prey or to go hunting in very extreme weather. Because Bald Eagles are such large birds their sheer mass also helps them retain heat. Jackie and Shadow’s brood patch – skin to egg and/or chick – between the breast plates – keeps the chick and eggs at optimum temperature. Not moving also retains energy along with their 7000 plus feathers to keep them warm. Jackie can tuck her legs and feet up under her to keep them warm. She can also do the same with fish – keeping a piece from freezing solid under her tail.

Jackie fed the chick at 05:51. All appears to be just fine on the Big Bear Valley nest as the sun rises over the lake.

Shadow is going to bring in another big fish and he will feed the chick at 07:57.

According to the moderator on the chat, the only muscle that has developed in the chicks is the hatching muscle at the back of the neck.

Shadow really enjoyed brooding his little one and feeding it. Jackie will come in and take over and feed the chick again at 09:06.

There has been no indication by anyone at Big Bear Valley that there is a pip in the second egg. At times it certainly appears like there could be but it could easily be just a speck of dirt or nesting material.

The weather couldn’t be more different – from the high mountains in California to a Florida island in the Gulf of Mexico. Lena has to work hard to keep the shade on her growing family.

Andy brought in a fish at 08:06:31. By the time Lena finished feeding the three, they all had big crops!

Little Bob often does a duck and cover when Andy lands. Several times Andy has landed on it! Little Bob was, fortunately, fine. That looks like a nice breakfast fish, Andy!

Little Bob is right where we expect him to be — right by Lena’s beak.

Everyone had a big crop and Mum, Lena, took off for a short but much needed break.

The plumage is such good camouflage now that it is often hard to find the chicks within the twigs of the nest. I wonder at what point these chicks are too large for the crows to predate? Must find out.

The three are so big now that it is hard to cover them and keep them cool.

There is sad news coming out of the Redding Bald Eagle nest of Liberty and Guardian. Yesterday afternoon one of the three eggs broke.

The other two eggs at Redding appear to be fine.

Guardian is doing a great job of incubating the eggs this morning. Quite handsome he is!

The two eaglets at the nest of Abby and Blazer in Eagle Country have grown! My goodness. Both are doing really well. They are losing their baby down and getting that nice thermal layer that will keep them ever so warm in the future.

Oh, that image below is so serene and peaceful – th golden glow of the morning filtering in as the wee ones are fed.

I have been ignoring Dale Hollow because of the hatch at Big Bear. It is hard to believe but chick 1 will be three days old at Big Bear. It made me realize that the trio at Dale Hollow will, in a blink, be as big as the eaglets at Eagle Country. Best check on them and see how they are.

It looks like Obey has been fishing on a Sunday morning. There are at last three new fish on the nest.

I love the image below because of the little one. This baby is so cute. Chubby little bottom and tail and those precious wings.

Sleeping with the fishes. Is River wondering if any of the wee babes are going to try and take bites out of the fish this early????

The three are lined up with the oldest on the left and the youngest on the right. That wee little one survived the twins. Thank goodness.

Jackie wasn’t the only Eagle Mum that had to contend with snow last night. Nancy at the MN DNR nest was buried in the white stuff, too.

Last year Nancy and her four year old mate, Harry, fledged two beautiful eagles.

It certainly is a beautiful area for a nest!

I have not paid as much attention to this Minnesota nest amongst all the others. It is difficult to keep up with all of them. This is a good nest to watch. Just ignore the call for donations. The DNR makes way too much money on selling hunting licenses!!!!!!!

Looks like it is time for a switch in incubation duties. Last year it was easy to tell who was who because Harry did not have his pure white head yet. This year he is five and a fully fledged adult eagle.

Here is the link to Harry and Nancy’s camera:

I am going to close with a return to the nest of Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear. It is 10:15. Shadow has brought in another catfish with its head on it. Both him and Jackie stand and marvel at their wee babe. You can just feel the joy coming off of their feathers. The camera zooms in to check on the other egg.

It is hard to say if anything is happening in that second egg. Honestly, if it doesn’t hatch, all is fine. This nest has, historically, had problems with storms when chicks are about six weeks old. It is too difficult for the female to get them under to brood and keep warm and, several times, one has perished. In 2018, Jackie lost one of her chicks, BBB, to a storm and freezing rain and another, Cooky, in 2019. Both died of exposure with the other eaglet surviving.

So I am fine if this is an only chick. It is sad to raise the babies for six weeks and then lose one.

I once asked why certain nests are popular and others not so much. There could be a huge number of reasons including as ‘B’ suggested YouTube and FB nuances. Still, there is something very special about this couple at Big Bear. Is it Shadow’s utter devotion and his antics with sticks? is it Jackie’s unrelenting need to incubate and brood 24/7? is it the conversations between them? or the joy and satisfaction looking down at their baby? I am not sure but what I do know is I can hardly take my eyes off this nest — in the same way that I could hardly keep away from the Port Lincoln Osprey nest with our dear Ervie.

Thank you so much for joining me today. It is blue skies, sun, and melting snow on the Canadian Prairies and I am way late in getting out to feed my birds. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures: Friends of Big Bear Valley, Eagle Country, Redding Bald Eagles, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, MN DNR Bald Eagles, Captiva Osprey and Window on Wildlife.

Bird World News 16.2.22

It is -17 C on the Canadian Prairies, almost noon on 16 February. The temperatures will drop overnight so that it is -32 C tomorrow. No snow. Yeah! But the wind was blowing this morning and swirling around Mrs Woodpecker when she was eating the suet.

Yes that white strip is actually how the blowing snow looked to the camera. Isn’t she lovely? None of the other birds had arrived and she had this compressed seed cylinder all to herself. They seem to prefer it over the more traditional suet- at least at our breakfast bar!

It is the middle of the night in Port Lincoln Australia and Ervie and Dad are on the barge. Ervie on the nest and Dad up on the perch.

Yesterday afternoon I needed a break from the worrying over NE27 and so I went and checked on Xavier and Diamond. Diamond had a large crop and was in the scrape. Oh, she is gorgeous.

Did you know that the Latin word peregrinus means ‘foreign, wandering’? Apparently they noted that the bird was constantly on the move!

Sharpie came to visit the other day and I was reminded, looking at him, that he is just so much smaller in size that the Peregrine Falcons which are medium to large size hawks.

I love how the raptors can close one eye with their nictitating membrane, that third eyelid unique to them.

It was comforting to see Diamond in the scrape. Breeding will not take place til the late summer but if you are longing for Peregrine Falcons, it is time to turn your attention to Annie and Grinnell at the UC-Berkeley Campus. Egg laying should be taking place in a couple of weeks.

Both of the chicks have hatched at the Eagle Country nest of Abigail and Blazer. The oldest was given the name Thunder and the youngest is Fern. Fern gets some bites amidst a bit of bonking from Thunder.

There is a pip on at least one of Andy and Lena’s eggs at the Captiva Osprey Cam. I thought it was on two eggs, some think only one.

Here is the link to the cam:

I grew up in Oklahoma. Sadly, one of the oldest living eagles, Taurus, who was an ambassador for the Sequoyah State Park in my home state died. Taurus was 43 years old!

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article258434148.html

At the 07:10 feeding on the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest of Samson and Gabby, NE27 did the old snatch and grab. It got right under the parent and up so it could grab ignoring a couple of earlier pecks by 26.

NE27 needs to keep its head and neck away from NE26. It seems to know that. It is also figuring out how to circumvent NE26 and get up front quicker. Clever little eaglet.

Later NE27 stared down 26 with the older sibling not reacting. Well done, Little Bit.

That cheeping by Little Bit is because it is hungry. Some eaglets do it more than others.

We are in the third week. We should be seeing this competitive behaviour by 26 easing up in the next week. NE27 is going to be fine and much better suited to deal with the outside world where there will be huge competition with other raptors.

If you missed it, Liberty and Guardian now have three eggs as of yesterday! I missed that one for sure. Last year this couple fledged three juvenile eagles. The Redding California Bald Eagle nest is one to watch!

Here is the link to the Redding Cam:

The sun is shining bright and it is getting a little colder. I am off for my walk and to check on the chickadee at the park. There is a small bag of seeds for it in my pocket today.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey, Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Captiva Osprey Cam, and NEFlorida Eagle Cam and the AEF.

Late Saturday Bird World News

I have spent the morning sorting books and clearing out paper and all that gets accumulated before you realize it. In the midst of all of that I found a really nice letter from the Director of the 1000 Islands Environmental Centre in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. I think that each of you will be interested in the contents of this letter – indeed, I know you will.

“Bald eagles typically have a clutch of 1-3 eggs laid in late February or early March and hatch approximately 34-36 days later…Observations on the nest of the 1000 Islands Conservancy Zone confirmed a successful hatching with video and photo evidence of eaglets. Over the weekend, additional video of the nest was able to show that the adult pair have successfully hatched four eaglets.”

This is an extremely rare occasion. Nowak continues, “Successfully hatching four chicks in one nest is a very rare occurrence for bald eagles and it is an event to celebrate and safeguard. There have been very few documented cases of nests with four eaglets, and despite the success the eagles have had to this point, the adults face a significant challenge to provide enough food to sustain the young eaglets until they are independent this summer.”

There are the four nestlings being fed by Mum. Can you imagine how busy those parents were providing food?!

Here is a video of one of those feedings:

And guess what? The four eaglets fledged!!!!!!!! So if anyone ever asks you if you know of a Bald Eagle nest fledging four, you can now say ‘yes’ with confidence. This is one of those really feel good stories.

Today, I have spent more time cleaning than checking on the birds. Ferris Akel has his tour going on behind me and he has made me really miss the ducks in our City. I am just counting the weeks until April when they return.

In other Bird World news, we are still eggspecting Liberty to lay her second egg today. Lots of people watching and waiting. I continue to check.

UPDATE: Liberty laid that second egg today, as expected, at 14:42. I have to say I even felt for her as she was in labour! Congratulations Liberty and Guardian.

Andy is giving Lena a bit of a break at the Captiva Osprey nest. We are now on pip watch for this couple. It remains unclear to me if the owner still intends to shut off the camera after a hatch. The Ospreys have had bad luck in the past with the Crows taking the chicks. My understanding is that the camera is to be shut down until such time the chicks would be too big for the Crows. We wait to see.

And sadly, the camera at Port Lincoln is off line again. This is the last available image of Ervie and Dad on the barge. I always keep these. You never know if this will be our last sighting of Ervie for some time.

UPDATE: The Port Lincoln Osprey Barge camera is now up and streaming again. Ervie is watching the water! That is a good sign. Oh, wouldn’t we love to see him catch a fish off that barge! And not a Puffer or a Toadfish, please, Ervie.

It is a beautiful blue sky with sun here creating deep shadows on the snow. It is -19. Today’s garden adventure is brought to you by Little Red. A week ago I put a suet bell on a hanger for Little Woodpecker. Someone has been working very hard because they got the heavy suet off the holder, took it across the snow and got it on top of the small wood shed in the back. At that point the suet got stuck on a branch. (I lay them on top of one another on the top so the birds can get inside and hide if Sharpie comes!). That someone is Little Red! What a surprise. He deserves every bite of that suet. What a character! And a hard worker.

There is the object of desire. That little squirrel really managed to get it quite far.

Little Red got big bites of the suet. He would then run up to Sharpie’s post and eat it in the sun and then run back and get some more.

Isn’t this squirrel adorable?

Oh, the joy and the giggles these garden animals bring!

Thank you so much for joining me today. Little Red says to remember to leave some food for the squirrels, too! Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB page where I took my screen captures: Redding Bald Eagles, Explore.org, Captiva Osprey Cam, and 1000 Islands Conservation Zone FB page.

Good night from Thunder and Aceta at the West End Bald Eagle Cam on Catalina Island. Looks hot.

d
Catalin

Ervie and Liberty!

The Port Lincoln Osprey cam is working!!!!!!!! There sitting close together having one of their silent conversations were Ervie and Dad. I noticed something different about Ervie. He has a nice crop and he displays the appearance of an Osprey who has been in the water fishing. Oh, Ervie, it is so nice to see you! It is so very nice to see you.

Liberty has laid the first egg of the season. It happened just a short while ago on 9 February at 15:19. She had a 5 minute labour. Congratulations Liberty and Guardian!

Here is a video of that exciting event!

Quick news report from the other nests:

The new female at the NCTC Bald Eagle nest with Smitty has some flight feathers missing. The missing feather/s were noticed today when she flew in to get a fish from Smitty. It answered a puzzle. One of the searchers for Bella found the feathers but noticed from images that they did not come from Bella. Mystery solved!

Lady and Dad have visited their nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest for two straight days. Oh, ask me if I am glad that Daisy isn’t trying to incubate eggs in that nest! This year the Sea Eagles stayed away longer than normal. It could be because they were harassed so much by the Currawongs on their last visit.

It is not breeding season. We will not be looking for eggs until June – two of them traditionally known as the heir and the spare.

Lady and Dad are alerting. Lady in front and Dad in the rear. They are letting the forest know they are home from Goat Island!

Staying in the Southern Hemisphere, the Royal Cam chick nicknamed Quarry Track or QT til it gets its official name, is growing and growing and growing. Parents OGK and YRK have literally been coming and going almost every 24 hours. The little one is working its wings and getting strong.

Ranger Sharyn keeps an updated log of the weights of all the chicks including the Royal Cam ones. The NZ DOC does DNA testing to see if the chick is male or female but sometimes, around 80 days, this can be done by comparing the weight of males and females. Here is the chart for QT so far:

Mum, YRK, is on the nest today.

Adorable.

When the Osprey nests stress me out too much, this is where I come for comfort. NZ DOC takes excellent care of its wildlife. Never a worry if there is not enough food for chicks or parents –supplemental squid feedings are always on hand. Here is your link to this at Taiaroa Head, New Zealand (on the South Island near Dunedin).

Thank you for joining me. I know that we all love Ervie and are so happy to see that he is fine – and there are many Redding and WBSE fans here, too. Stay safe all of you. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab and the NZ DOC and Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park.