Tag Archives: Llyn Brenig

Mini Picks Fights, M3 fledges…Friday in Bird World

30 June 2023

Good Morning Everyone!

I got up early – it was cool for a change and not so humid and headed to Fort Whyte Alive. It has been a few days since I walked around that trail checking on the little ones and oh, was it good, to get out and get some exercise. What is that phrase? “Use it or lose it!” I remember a surgeon telling my mother that after she had broken her hip and it was all pinned…she did not want to get up. Well, she did when she realised that laying there might mean spending her entire life like that. Thank goodness.

The cutest Little Red wasn’t afraid of anyone walking by.

There were little ones around. Here are some images of them..and their proud parents. There are not many families and it was such a delight to turn a corner and encounter a family out foraging.

Hooded Merganser chicks! There were 18 of them at the final count.

The Canada Goose family with four chicks is doing fine. The males always follow behind, keeping the little ones in line! The rain has provided much-wanted new grass for everyone! And no worries, that chick is wet from the recent rain – is not ill!

The giggle for your morning continues to come from the Loch Arkaig nest. Gosh that chick is a character. Thanks, Geemeff.

Mini missed out on breakfast which must have caused her to be a little grumpy. Then she had a nice feed of fish around 11:42 before the Bigs came over and Mini moved away…she would definitely have linked more fish. Our girl is so skinny. She really needs to bulk up with the weight but it is difficult with the three Bigs. Well, Mini started staring at Three after puffing herself up…and then…

Despite having some fish, Mini’s crop is hollow and it is very hungry. This chick – as I will keep saying – needs fish to ‘bulk up’ for migration. Note the ‘thick’ legs and toes.

‘R’ reports that Mini picked another fight in the afternoon. Mini is hungry! Watch the video again and see how she puffs herself up to look bigger—perhaps sizing out the siblings. She needs to eat…and today, like other days, has been slim pickings. At 20:32, Mini finally – in desperation – grabs a bite meant for a larger chick. That bite was all Mini got. The fish was gone. This nest desperately needs more fish so that Mini can get a nice big crop…she is so thin.

When Ferris Akel was on the Cornell Campus Thursday evening, M3, the third hatch of Big Red and Arthur for the 2023 season fledged from the light tower to Rice to join the two other siblings who had previously fledged. Congratulations. Stay safe, sweetie.

The little one at the MN Landscape Arboretum nest had a few feedings on Thursday. Not much fish and adult female eating often and not offering, often off the nest for long periods not protecting the chick from the weather…makes me ache.

A nice fish came on the Collins Marsh nest and both chicks and Mum ate well. Nice.

Only Bob at Cowlitz PUD had a nice fish feed before tuck in Thursday night! In fact, this little one had several nice fish dinners on Thursday…and just look at it grow.

Oyster Bay continues to flourish.

The camera pixellation is not so defined as others but it is easy to see that both of the chicks – Kewok and Naika -on the Seaside osprey nest in Oregon are thriving this year.

It has been a good day at the Boulder County Fairgrounds Osprey platform and oh, Little is getting a private feed right before dinner. I so wish this was Little Mini eating…

Massive chicks – three of them at Carova Beach North in the Outerbanks.

The trio at Wolf Bay in Alabama are bigger than Mum…

In Finland, you will remember that the female went missing on nest #3. The father continued to bring fish filling the nest but the chicks were too young to self feed. One died and two were taken into care. There is now good news on two fronts. The two chicks taken into care are doing so well that they will be placed as fosters in other nests. And the Dad did a 30 minute sky dance for a new female and has even delivered fish to her. She could not find a better mate than Tuulos.

There are two chicks for Beau and Hope at Newfoundland Power – Snow Lane Platform.

Several fish for the duo at the Clark PUD nest in Washington.

Blue 022 comes in and checks out the supplies at Poole Harbour and returns with a nice fish and then another one so the chicks have a big tea before bed.

The ringing of the two osplets of Idris and Telyn is available on YouTube: (414) RINGING 2023-YouTube. For some reason it will not allow me to embed it for you. Those chicks were a female weighting 1920 with Darvic ring 7B3 and a male at 1515 arms with ring 7B4.

Everything is fine at the Llyn Brenig.

Laddie makes sure everyone is fed before they are tucked in for the night – and now, they are waiting for the breakfast fish!

One of the Great Spirit Bluff fledgling Peregrine Falcons was killed by an owl on the 22 June. That was Alice P58. All of the others, Thomas B59, Kami P59, and Jaycee P60 are still alive (do not believe the rumours they have all died).

‘H’ found some worrisome news about WBSE 30.

There are now three chicks at the Patuxent nest..if you go your eyes do not need to go to the doctor! There is a foster placement at the nest.

‘H’ checked on two other nests on Thursday – Fosythe and Kent Island.

Forsythe had already had three fish in the afternoon, with a feeding at 1412.  “I decided to observe their behavior to determine how well the chicks had been fed throughout the day.  They both waddled up to Opal, and ate peacefully side by side.  No sign of aggression.  Verdict: they had plenty of fish throughout the day.  ‘Big’ obviously had that feeling of ‘food security’, as you say.”

Kent Island: “I am aware of at least 4 large fish brought to the nest by Tom.  The fourth delivery was at 1522.  The chick was well fed.”

‘H’ also recommends a season tribute to the SW Florida Eagle Cam by LizM- again I am getting blocked but the title is (414) A Season to Remember Season 11-You Tube. It sure was a bittersweet year at SW Florida!

Mini is not the only one wanting fish. Soledad has been waiting for a prey delivery for over a day!

I need to go and check on Mini before I post this. I am so worried about Mini. She needs fish – a really good feed. My concern is that the big ones just take the fish now and leave nothing.

Well. Mini is being brilliant and staying close to the right side of Mum so that whenever a fish comes in, she is at the ‘good eating spot’. The others appear to be more interested in wing-flapping this morning, which is good. Mini ate from 0625-0636, then pulled at the leftovers on a bone at 0757. She eats again from 0853-0906. There appears to be not a lot of fish on those bones – Mum and Mini cleaned them up quickly. Hopefully, Mum is also feeding Mini faster, so it gets more before the others come around. Please wish for fish for Mini today!

Telling Mum she wants fish!

Eating.

Pulling on that bone.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Wish for fish! And take care of yourself if you are out in the heat. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, and postings that helped me to create my blog today: ‘H, Geemeff, R, T’, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Ferris Akel, MN Landscape Arboretum, Collins Marsh, Cowlitz PUD, Seaside, Boulder County FG, Outerbanks, Wolf Island, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Newfoundland Power, Clark PUD, Poole Harbour, Dyfi Ospreys, Llyn Brenig, LOTL and The Wildlife Trust, Australian Raptor Care and Conservation Inc, Patuxent, Forsythe, Kent Island and Explore, SK Hideaways and SJCH Falcons.

Friday in Bird World

24 June 2022

Stormy weather with hail and strong winds in the south of our province meant that I am home earlier than planned. How nice! I get to check on some of our favourite birds and that is always a wonderful thing (unless something awful is happening).

This was a super cell caught at noon posted by Manitoba Storm Chasers.

Remember that I said that Blue NC0 was a good fisher? I have watched her go out fishing for three years. She left this morning and came back quickly with a meal for her and the chicks – they are older now and there is less of a threat of predation.

Now why did Blue NC0 go fishing? Her mate, Laddie LM12, spent the morning keeping 5 different intruders away form the nest. There is that word that is becoming haunting – ‘intruders’.

This morning both Lindsay and Grinnell Jr returned to The Campanile. It is a rare event and one that is to be celebrated – all chicks being together at the same time. Cal Falcons posted a lovely video of that visit. Those babies are doing so well ——- rabbit_moon_rising and others have posted fantastic photographs of aerial prey drops between Alden and the kids. Check out the Cal Falcons FB and Twitter pages.

The adults at the ND-LEEF nest continue to do great in feeding Little Bit 17 and 15. I have seen no word on 16. Sadly, the nest is continuing to break away. Will it hold out until Little Bit can fledge safely – not a forced fledge but on his own? He is 80 days old today. We really need about another 7-8 days. Positive wishes, please!

More of the left side breaking and on the right where the rim was it is all ready to collapse at any moment. Will the weight take the rest of it tumbling? Oh, I hope people are close by to help!

Little Bit and 15 are such good mates. Eating the fish together.

The remains of a very large sucker.

Several hours later, and Little Bit 17 is up on a very safe branch! 17 has officially branched already but this is so good because of that nest moving away. If you look at the image above, it will not take much for the right side to fall away completely. I hope that Little Bit is imprinting his exit route if that nest collapses. After spending time on this branch, he jumps back to the nest. So if he hears the nest giving way surely he will jump up to the branch. Oh, surely.

Oh, Little Bit. Stay safe!!!!!!!!

I seem to have not mentioned the Kakapo lately. Every time I put on their cute t-shirt and go out in the garden, I think of them and how much is done to try and protect their numbers and the cost of it. Helping wildlife is a good thing to do, whenever and however you can.

Kakapo are parrots that do not fly – sort of. They live on only a couple of islands and wear transmitters that need changed each year. I believe there are now 194. Last year it was 208. Staff change their transmitters annually and do wellness checks year round. Those who need care are flown to Dunedin, near Taiaroa Head, for help.

They are cute! Here is a link that was posted to help raise awareness of these flightless birds and their funding needs.

https://www.google.com/search?gbv=2&hl=en&q=kakapo&sa=N&start=18&ndsp=18&tbm=isch

Gosh. I blinked. They were wee babies and I was worried about their feedings and now Big Bob at the Llyn Brenig Osprey nest is standing up on its feet!!!!!!! Not yet steady but wow. So happy. They lost one chick and the weather was not grand but wow. Nice.

Oh, the weather can turn so nasty so quickly. I don’t think I would ever visit Wales in June because of all the rain and cold blowing winds. (Oh, that also sounds like Manitoba!). Poor Mum!

The winds are up at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn. Telyn is out on the perch with the chicks in the nest. I wonder if she will join them? That perch is really bouncing around.

Oh, my goodness. The wind is tearing through the Glaslyn Valley with great force. Mrs G is really hunkered down with the trio tonight. Just look at her determined face. Poor Mum. Those babies are too big to be brooded. Send positive thoughts to all these nests.

The weather is not that bad at the Rutland Water’s Manton Bay nest of Maya and Blue 33. The wind is up a little bit. You can see it from the windblown look of Maya’s nape of her neck.

It’s 22:12 at the Loch Arkaig nest of Louis and Dorcha and all is well. They are just that further north that the day camera is still on.

It looks like it was an alright day on the Mispillion Osprey Nest on Delaware Bay. The chicks are flapping their wings and getting those muscles strong. Hard to see if Mum has done any more decorating. I don’t think so today.

Oh, and what a beautiful sight – three little Bobs enjoying their fish at the Boathouse Osprey nest on Hog Island, Maine. It looks like Dory has figured out the feeding!

I just love this phase of Osprey development. Being good, eating well for Mum, no beaking. Adorable. Just look at Little Bob…precious.

Only Bob at the Patuxent River Park nest 1 has a charmed life. He doesn’t have to share any of the fish with anyone but Mum and Dad.

I have a love-hate relationship with Goshawks. They have been known to lure Osprey parents off the nest into the forest where they kill them. (They do the same to other birds as well, mainly Corvids). Then they return for the chicks. In fact, Llyn Clywedog was just bothered today by a Goshawk intruder.

The trio of little hawklets at the RSPB nest in Abernathy, Scotland are certainly growing and getting stronger on their legs.

Liberty and Freedom have growing eaglets up in Alaska. Lots of food brought to the nest – no one is hungry!

It has been a couple of days since the Summer Solstice but, I don’t know about you but I am having some ‘Spirit Withdrawal’. Sure miss seeing this beauty on the nest all the time. Cali Condor caught her visit!

If you are having Red-tail Hawk withdrawal – and it is easy to do – Ferris Akel posted the highlights of his tour the other evening when he got all of them on camera. Much appreciated, Ferris!

It was nice to catch up with our feathered friends. Thank you so much for joining me. Take care. Stay safe. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages and videos: Ferris Akel Tours, Cal Falcons, ND-LEEF, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Wildlife Trust, MB Storm Chasers, Llyn Brenig Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bwywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, LRWT, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery, and the Woodland Trust, Mispillion Ospreys, Explore.org and Audubon, RSPB, Glacier Gardens, and Friends of Big Bear Valley.

Early Monday in Bird World

6 June 2022

Liz has posted a video of Urmas and his team removing the Black Storklets from Janika’s nest in Jegova County, Estonia on 5 June. I reported earlier that a glove like a Black Stork shape had been used to place the storklets in the basket. That information is incorrect and my apologies. Bare hands were used. One storklet, sadly, died in the nest over night before the intervention. They need temperatures of 22-28 degrees C. They cannot thermoregulate their temperatures yet. In addition, it rained and well – I hope the remaining chicks survive and thrive. It will be a first for the Veterinary College to raise Black Storklets to fledging. Good luck to Urmas and his team!

Here is the video that Liz posted:

The White Storks Bukachek and Betty still have five storklets in their nest in Mlade Buky, The Czech Republic. You can see the difference in size from the oldest to the youngest known as ‘Little Finger’ by the chatters.

Bukachek (male) is making sure that the wee storklet gets food in the image below.

It has been raining on and off. The rich Red Iron in the clay makes all of the Storks look dirty. Maybe when it is not so rainy more straw will be brought to the nest! That would help.

Awhile ago I mentioned the Lesser Spotted Eagles. Andris and Anna, at their nest in Zemgale, Latvia. The camera was down for awhile but it is now back and running. In the meantime, a beautiful little Lesser Spotted eaglet has hatched!

It is so cute and fluffy! There was only one egg so this is the only chick. Had there been two eggs, the first hatch most always predates the second. So having only one is a good thing! The parents can focus on bringing food to this cutie pie.

Voldis came to the White-tailed Eagle nest that he shares with Milda near Durbe, Latvia. He arrived at 05:30 and stayed for well over an hour.

Milda has had a terrible time since her long time mate, Raimis disappeared two years ago. I hope that Milda and her mate if it is to be Voldis have a very successful next breeding season. This year the eggs were predated.

Margit hatched on 25 April and is growing by leaps and bounds with the tender care of the parents, Kalju and Helju. This Golden Eaglet’s nest is in Soomaa National Park in the southwest of Estonia.

Oh, such a beautiful eaglet. Margit is waking up. The black dot behind the eye is the ear. It will be covered over with feathers before the eaglet fledges.

Helju just brought breakfast for Margit. Liz caught it in a video:

This is the streaming cam for this nest:

What is happening with Ahote? Ahote, the youngest of the three eaglets at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta, fledged on June 2. He has spent the time since then on Transmission Rock and is getting hungry unless food was delivered. Working his way back to the nest, he got some wind on his wings and got to the nest but was blown off course. No doubt he will get there! Very determined.

In the image below you can see him directly below and slightly to the right of Kana’kini and Sky.

Checking on Osprey nests in the UK, the third chick hatched at Llyn Brenig but did not survive.

Aeron Z2 and Blue 014 have had their first hatch at the Pont Cresor nest in the Glaslyn Valley.

Laddie LM12 delivered nine – yes, 9 – to the nest for Blue NC0 to feed their three Bobs at the Loch of the Lowes.

All three Bobs seem to be doing fine at the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G. Just look at how dark Mrs G’s plumage is and that necklace.

Aran has been busy delivering fish. Little Bob is not always in the most perfect position!

I do have to admit that Idris and Telyn are my favourite Ospreys in the UK along with Blue 33 and Maya.

Telyn is feeding the two older Bobs while Bobbie Bach is asleep.

Food coma!

Oh, could that be comfortable?

There is Bobbi Bach ready for his meal while the others sleep. Poor Telyn. They are surely keeping her busy.

It looks like it is starting to dry out for Dylan and Seren at the Llyn Clywedog nest. Gosh, Seren was just so wet and hunkered down keeping the three Bobs warm and dry. Let us hope the sun comes out, too, to warm them up.

Both of the Ospreys were on the UFlorida-Gainesville nest sleeping during the night.

Both are back on the nest waiting for a breakfast delivery!

Good Morning Little Bit 17! Everyone is waiting for prey deliveries at the ND-LEEF nest. I hope that the adults will feed Little Bit like they did yesterday. That would be grand.

The scrape box at Manchester NH is getting to be quite the mess! A good wind will help clear it out. It is hard to believe but this scrape will be on fledge watch beginning on the 10th or 11th of June – this coming weekend!

Nancy is on the nest at 08:40 feeding E1. It looks like they will have a beautiful day at that Bald Eagle nest in Minnesota. Wonder when E1 is going to take to the skies? Nancy has done wonders taking care of E1 and fending off intruders.

Fledge watch is on for the three at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest. It looks like only two but 17 is up higher in the tree.

There are still two eaglets – Sentry and Star – on the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. We are on fledge watch for these two also! It could be a very busy week!!!!!!

We are definitely on fledge watch for the eyases on the nest of Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell campus. The chicks are restless and L1 is definitely ready!

Oh, the excitement of a nest of four hawks – each itching to fly including the youngest, L4. Wonder if L1 will be the first of the oldest to go? Stay tuned.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: the Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlade Buky White Storks, Latvian Fund for Nature, IWS and Explore.org, Friends of LOTL and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyXWild, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, ND-LEEF, Peregrine Networks, MN-DNR, Pix Cams, Friends of Redding Eagles, and Cornell Bird Lab RTH.

Friday Afternoon in Bird World

3 June 2022

The two Peregrine Falcon chicks at the University of California-Berkeley Campanile scrape box have been named. What fabulous names that were selected. Here is the announcement:

It also seems that Annie has decided that Alden’s moth hunting is a good idea!

I have posted this video earlier but the kindness and heart warm wishes flowing to this nest and for the efforts of the Estonians so huge. It is the nest of Jan and Janika in Estonia in the Sooma National Park. Jan has been missing for more than 40 hours. There were 6 storklets. The smallest was eliminated immediately leaving 5. Sadly, one of those died from no food after the male vanished. (Thank you ‘R’ for reminding me to explain the numbers!).

Janika has been feeding the chicks. She is doing her best. The nest is being monitored by Urmas. If it is required the storklets will be rescued but right now it looks as if everything is going well. Things can change in a minute. One of the problems is other wildlife that could come to the nest to predate the storklets if Janika is away. .

Black Storks are extremely rare in Estonia and they are treasured. The Ornithologist has worked wonders in the past. His name is Urmas. Today, he brought out a decoy that had been used at a pond last season.

The plastic stork decoy acts out the behaviour that a female would use when feeding her storklets. Then Urmas pours a bucket of small fish on the nest for the storklets! They all eat and have huge crops. It is a wonderful day!

The rest of the world can learn much from the kindness that Europe bestows on its Storks!

Janika has also found the fish provided and come to the nest earlier to feed the storklets. So happy. They will survive!

Other great news is that a big fish arrived on the UFlorida-Osprey nest at 13:50:51. It did not take Big long to get on that nest to eat some fish! Fledging is hard work.

Big crash lands on the back of Mum.

Just look at Middle.

What a mess of wings. Clearly Big needs some landing lessons.

Whew. After a bit the wings are sorted out, no one goes over the edge, and Big gets to eat that prize of fish because she flew back to the nest. This is the best place for the parents to feed both chicks. They can hone their flying skills and come to the nest for food provided by the parents.

When Big is finished, Mum feeds Middle. Big is looking out. Will she go for some more flights or rest?!

It appears that one of the big siblings might have branched at the ND-LEEF nest. Time is 06:02:51. There is the tail up in the top right corner.

17 is sitting up on the edge of the nest. The trio had a salmon this morning so they ate well – all of them, no fighting. Little Bit 17 pulled his share – the tail with a lot of nice fish left from the older sibling at 08:35:52 (shown in an earlier blog today). They still need more fish!

You may recall that the Llyn Brenig Osprey platform in Wales was cut down last year when the couple had laid their first egg. A new platform was put up for the pair this year with a high security camera. The male is LM6 and the female is LJ2. Today, there are two osplets that have hatched at that nest. Well done!

Louis hauled in this monster fish for Dorcha and the chicks at the Loch Arkaig nest. Wow. They are all going to be more than full.

Yesterday it was reported that Sky was the first to fledge. The eaglet that fledged has now been identified as Ahote, the smallest of the three eaglets! Apologies for any confusion. The Institute of Wildlife Studies clarifies the first to go. Below, Sky and Kana’kini remain on the nest.

Here is the video of Ahote’s fledge:

It is much easier to see the only surviving osplet out of three on the Dahlgren Osprey nest in King George County, Virginia. Beautiful plumage! and toys! Jack will make sure of the toys and Harriet will try to place them so they do not interfere with the nest!

The names for the eyases at Cal Falcons seem perfect – Lindsay and Grinnell. The nests seem to be doing fine for the moment. I checked in on some of the Welsh nests and right now the weather is not so bad.

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

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages: Cal Falcons, Eagle Club of Estonia, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, ND-LEEF, Llyn Brenig, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery and the Scottish Woodland Trust, Institute for Wildlife Studies and Explore.org, and Dahlgren Ospreys.

Saturday in Bird World

14 May 2022

Today is Big Bird Day when all the world is counting. The lists of the birds coming into the garden is growing and growing. For the first time, there have even been some Baltimore Orioles and the numbers of Harris Sparrows continues to grow. The rain forecast for this afternoon has been cancelled by the weather station and it is hoped that those traveling long distances to get to the north of our province have a good rest and feed before starting up that journey again. I made a decision to put out at separate stations many different kinds of food: sliced oranges, grape jelly, peanuts, Butter Bark, Black Oil Seed, White Millet, Solid Seed Suet, and Meal Worms. Gosh those European Starlings love the Butter Bark and the Meal Works while the Harris and Chipping Sparrows are taking to the Millet. It should be a big count by the end of the day.

Southwest Florida. The big eagle nest of Harriet and M15. Everyone thought that E20 had left for the long goodbye but look who is back on the nest branch this morning?

The streaming cam for the nest of Anna and Louis will probably be turned off on 20 May. It was a fabulous season down there with Kincaid that beautiful female. What a treat that she hung around the nest tree for so long. Indeed, she was there this morning proving to be a delight for everyone. It was so nice that Cody got the cam up and running after the latest storm.

Kincaid arrives at 11:19:20.

All of these fledglings will be leaving their parents territory – if they haven’t already – to find their own place in the world.

Speaking of fledglings, the Three Amigos at the West End nest are thinking about flying. Kana’kini hovered this morning. Here it is:

The security system seems not to be bothering the ospreys at the new Llyn Brenig Osprey nest in Wales. LM6 laid her first egg on the 25th of April. Dad LJ2 has been bringing in some fantastic fish. Wishing this couple all success this season.

It is sometimes very difficult to tell which osplet is which at the UFlorida-Gainesville nest. While this is a good thing, it is often hard to focus on who is eating and who isn’t. This morning was very interesting. I am hoping that the dominance attacks on Middle by Big are behind us.

A fish was delivered – it looked like it had been hacked up by a chain saw – by Dad at 08:32. The kids were squawking to be fed but Dad didn’t, as usual, by into that. He left the fish. While both of the chicks pecked about, it was Middle that really got into the self-feeding. Of course, he has had to do this for several weeks now to get any food at times. He is doing well. Mum comes in a little over an hour later and feeds the two. Both were fed.

There are male Ospreys that really like to feed their chicks. This Dad doesn’t seem to enjoy this part of the parenting. I am glad to see a big hunk of fish on the nest.

Middle has found the open spot and he should be able to get some good fish. Notice the ‘design’ of the feathers on the top of its head. That is a way of distinguishing the two. Big’s plumage is darker with a much longer tail, also.

Middle has done a good job on that fish. Another difference is the size of the wings. You can clearly see this below. All bets say Big sibling is another one of those robust aggressive females and our Middle is a male.

Mum comes to the nest. She is feeding Middle. Big is behind her just like yesterday. Interesting.

I wonder if Middle ever wishes that Big would just flap those wings and fly off? She will, Middle! The plumage is gorgeous. There is still a long way to go for that tail to be long enough for flight.

When Big Red laid four Red-tail Hawk eggs at the nest she shares with Arthur on the Cornell campus, everyone went into shock. Almost immediately thoughts of doom and gloom went through the community – fearing that the wee one, L4, would have the same fate as the youngest eaglets and osplets. Not so with hawks and falcons normally. Little L4 has been the first in line making its way through the gang if necessary to get on the front row. Today, L4 is skipping and flapping its wings! Big Red is going to be tired and Arthur has had to bring in more food than ever to feed his family but life is good and everyone is well.

Get the worry beads out! When these four start running and flapping from one end of the ledge to the other your heart will sink several times. But all will be well if you don’t see them as there are blind spots on the cameras. It looks like chippy is for lunch!

The California Condor chick that was hatching yesterday has hatched. You can get a wee glimpse of the newest member of the Condor family at Tom’s Canyon under Mum. The female is 846 and the male is 462. 462 hatched in 2008 and 846 hatched in 2016.

Here is a short video of the hatching:

Alden is trying so hard to be the best Dad and mate he can be. Alden will figure it out. Precious. He caught a moth and brought it in to feed to the chicks. I adore Alden! You know he will get this and he will want to take part in every aspect of the nestlings lives.

He is really hunting and getting the pantry full an those wee white balls are growing! The oldest is 9 days old today! And the youngest is 8 days old.

There are so many nests but I know that some of you will want to go and check on E20 or Kincaid if you didn’t know they were around the nest trees. Have a lovely Saturday. Please take care!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Friends of Llyn Brenig, Cal Falcons, SWFlorida Bald Eagles and D Pritchett, KNF, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, and the Cornell Bird Lab (RTH and Condors).

Starting off to be a great day in Bird World

Looking out onto the garden in the morning is always a delight, even when it feels like rain or snow is coming. The sky is a white-grey. The trunks and branches of the trees are all manner of brown except for the Flame Willow which is the most striking orange-red. Our forecast is for three days of snow starting Monday. They are mostly wrong. Fingers crossed.

The Grackles are building their nest and the Starlings seem to have taken over the feeders while the Dark-eyed Junco are dancing around on the outdoor carpet finding any little seed they can. How many grains do they need to keep up their energetic activity?

“Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)” by Becky Matsubara is licensed under CC BY 2.0
“European Starling” by Becky Matsubara is licensed under CC BY 2.0

For the past four years, the European Starlings and the Dark-eyed Juncos arrive in the garden in early April. This year they came in mid-March. The Starlings are known to chase the sparrows away from the feeders but, in my yard, they seem to prefer to forage around on the ground. It is the Grackle family that causes the most mischief but I adore them. They always arrive around the end of March and did the same this year. Two years ago they fledged a single chick. The extended family arrived to cheer it on. It was the most amazing moment. I am going to get an outdoor camera! There were seventeen of them gathered. The fledgling and its family all left together. Last year Mr Crow raided the nest and ate the new fluffy chicks right after the Great Horned Owl threatened its nest. It is always a big saga during the summer. Things quiet down again in October when the visitors return to their winter vacation spots.

Speaking of migration, there is a lot of news. I have borrowed the image below from the Loch Arkaig FB page. I do hope they don’t mind. The credit goes to Hugh William Martin. The posting says it all. The much loved and long awaited male osprey who doesn’t hesitate to tandem feed with his mate, Aila, stole my heart last year for that single reason. He is an amazing dad and mate. Louis will fish day and night for his family and he will help Aila keep the kids sorted. No fears for JJ7 the third, the tercel, the smaller male named after Captain Sir Thomas Moore. You will remember Sir Tom, the war hero who, at nearly 100, pledged to walk 100 lengths of his garden to raise money for the National Health Service (NHS). His goal was 1000 GBP but his venture captured the hearts of people around the world and he made over 13 million GBP for the health services in Britain. Incredible. I hope that Captain’s (JJ7) life is as long and illustrious.

But for now we celebrate the arrival of Louis. There are more than 300 people at this moment watching an empty nest; Lewis is off on his roost or fishing. Hopefully, Aila will return shortly and we will be able to watch them again outfit their nest and get to raising a healthy happy family!

In other migration news, the book, A World on the Wing. The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds by Scott Widensaul arrived this morning in the mail. I cannot wait to grab some time and read it. Glancing I notice a lot of material on satellite transmitters.

The other day someone watching one of the nests that I check said they did not believe in banding or transmitters – the osprey are not endangered. I would argue, as they did at Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania in the 20th century, that you need to know when you are entering a decline to find out why. That is one reason that you want numbers. How do you really know if there are too many? Hawk Mountain is on the migratory bird route from the Eastern parts of Canada and the US and they literally count the birds. A research project coming out of the University of Montana at Missoula with Dr Erick Greene has to do with migration and the understanding of the perils the birds face. Dr Green is also interested in the mercury levels in the local osprey as well as foraging and how a colony of ospreys can help one another find more food versus a solitary osprey. Some of the Montana birds are wintering in southern Mexico. At Port Lincoln, Solly, the 2020 first hatched female, was fitted with a satellite transmitter and ringed. She has already changed what we know about osprey movements away from their nest in that area where Osprey are highly endangered. Lots to learn about the long and arduous trips that all the migratory birds make – not just Ospreys! The bird books are stacking up but I do hope to get to read them shortly!

There have been a few chuckles up at the Loch of the Lowes Osprey nest since Laddie (LM12) inadvertently gave a fish to an intruder sitting on the nest and not to his mate NC0 yesterday. To put it mildly, don’t get a female Osprey upset!!! Everyone wondered if NC0 would forgive Laddie – she kicked him off the nest. Everything looked as if it was going fine this morning. NC0 returned to the nest cup. Everything appeared to be rather serene. Is she preparing to lay an egg?

But, as this soap opera continues, no more had everything appeared to be settled than the intruder arrived and Laddie flew in to assist. Didn’t someone say that there are eight Osprey males in Scotland needing mates?! or is it also this prime piece of real estate?

A female osprey has returned from her migration and has, for the past couple of days, been hanging around the Llyn Brenig nest in north Wales. It is the home to male Blue HR7 and female Blue 24. Please note the wind turbines. Some chicks have been killed in them. Spotters are hoping to identify the bird by her tag. She is being very mysterious and teasing us and not revealing anything, not even one number!

This morning I decided not to get up and check on the Achieva Osprey nest in St Petersburg- at least, not first thing. Some days my whole body seems to go on a food strike in support of Tiny. But I seem to have helpers these days -wonderful ones -and I was told right away that Tiny was eating after 10am. So coffee in hand, I decided to go back and check. I am happy to report that although he ate last, Tiny did get 88 bites (call me obsessive) between 7:46:22 and 7::52:27. Diane offered him the tail at the end and he mantled it. Great work Tiny Tot!

Here he is with fish flakes around his mouth at 7:50 having a private feed:

And here is Tiny mantling the fish tail that Diane gave him:

Tiny had a crop, in the image above, at 8:01. He dropped that crop prior to 9:30. Note: Dropping food from the crop sends it to the stomach. It is like a holding and processing tank. At 9:40:39 a second fish was delivered to the nest. At 10:04:20 Tiny is fed. There is a lot of skin but Diane is also finding flakes of fish. Tiny had 97 bites. Diane offered him the tail. At 10:16, Tiny had a crop again. In the scheme of things anyone watching would realize that the amount of food to fill Tiny is insignificant in the face of what the two older siblings eat.

Someone asked if Tiny would catch up in size. That is an interesting question. I have not gone through all my notes but it appears that from 12 March to now, Tiny missed seven (7) complete days of food. And we know that he has not eaten nearly the amount of fish as the others on the other days. A real reveal would be to compare meals and length of feeding times since we cannot weigh the food. Still, skin or not, I was glad that Tiny was rewarded by 97 bites on that second feeding. It is nearing 4pm on the nest. Hopefully two more fish will come in before dark – two more fish that are large enough for all.

Diane trying to provide shade on a hot 26 degree C day in St Pete’s.

The three siblings on the Achieva Osprey nest. From left to write 1, Tiny Tot, and 2. Everyone hopes that any intruders that may be in the area will leave so that Diane can go fishing, too. We wait and hope. It is all anyone can do.

I want to leave you some close up images of Iris, the world’s oldest osprey. She returned from her long migration to Missoula, Montana yesterday. It wasn’t long til she was over in the river and had caught herself a whopper. Apparently, Louis has been around for a visit today. Louis became Iris’s mate when her faithful companion Stanley died. Louis has been around for 4 years with no breeding success. He has another family so food and nest security are all left to Iris who also has to lay the eggs, incubate, and eat. Last year a raven stole her egg. Prior to Louia, Iris has raised, it is believed, anywhere from 30-40 chicks to fledge. All are hoping for a devoted partner. Hopefully she will kick Louis from the nest for good!

And a quick peak at the two Great Horned Owlets in the Bald Eagle nest in Kansas. They are growing and growing and Farmer Derek’s snake population on his farm is declining! If you can’t get mice, snake is an excellent second choice! It is hard to believe but these two will be branching soon. They look like little people with those big eyes all wrapped up for winter. Adorable.

Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me and the birds in ‘As the Nest Turns’. I hope you have a great end of the week wherever you are.

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams where I grab my images: Farmer Derek, Montana Osprey Project and Cornell Bird Labs, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Friends of Loch Arkaig, Scottish Wildlife Trust and People Play Lottery, Friends of Llyn Brenig, and the Achieva Credit Union. Also the Friends of Loch Arkaig FB Page.