Tag Archives: Llyn Clywedog Nest

Late Tuesday in Bird World

14 June 2022

I want to start this newsletter off with something wonderful! At the Redding California Bald Eagle nest, Sentry and Star are both on a high branch of the tree. Sentry has found his way home to Liberty, Guardian and Star who has yet to fledge. This is fabulous news!!!!!!!!

The weather in California is beautiful.

The bad weather returned to the Canadian Prairies and thus, also, to the MN-DNR nest of Nancy and E1. The tree is twisting around in the heavy winds at the moment and rain is pouring down.

There are floods in Montana and, we should check on Iris and her nest at Missoula. Iris did not spend the night on the perch or the nest that I could see. There is a wee bird that has made its home and nest under Iris’s big one. Can you see it?

The waters in the Clark Fork River are said to be rising. There are floods in various parts of Montana which means that it is difficult for the Osprey to catch fish. No wonder Iris did not want to share her fabulous catch yesterday with an intruder. Iris is simply amazing. There she is holding that precious fish and fighting off the intruder at the same time! Bless her heart.

The weather is quite bad at the Charlo Montana platform. (For Ospreys but occupied in March by geese…and not aware of current occupants, if any).

There are birds singing at Dunrovin!

Harriet continues to sit on her eggs even though they are well past the day to hatch. Swoop is supporting her. We wonder as do the folks at Dunrovin when they will quit hoping for their miracle.

Why do eggs not hatch? Dunrovin in their newsletter listed the following causes: cold weather, high humidity, lack of food, lack of egg fertilization. They noted that like many places it has been a very cold and wet spring in Montana.

The camera is still down at the ND-LEEF nest. It is 96 degrees at the nest – perhaps more higher up. Thoughts go to Little Bit 17 who desperately needs food (as do the other two but less so than 17).

The tea time feeding at the Loch of the Lowes left Middle and Big with gigantic crops. There was clearly enough fish for three. But we need fish for four – Mum has to eat, too.

Before Little Bob at the Loch of the Lowes was fish begging to Blue NC0 before she tucked them all in for the night. He first looked to see if Big Bob was in a food coma. He was. Little Bob is smart.

It would have been the perfect time for a fish to arrive. Little Bit would have had his fill along with Blue NC0! Sadly it was not to be.

Blue NC0 stood waiting and waiting for a delivery. Finally, everyone is in bed.

They are a beautiful couple – CJ7 and Blue 022 at the Poole Harbour Osprey Platform. Blue 022 brought in a nice big fish for CJ7 and the three Bobs at 21:08. These are first time parents making history in Poole Harbour. There have been no ospreys hatched in Poole Harbour for 200 years.

Know what? They are doing a fantastic job!!!!!!!!!

All is well at the nest of Idris and Telyn in Wales near the River Dyfi. Bobs are well fed and sound asleep. Another great Osprey couple. This is good news…we need all the good news we can muster. Good night Telyn. Good night Bobs. Good night wherever you are, Idris.

Gracious. Look at the crop on Mrs G!

Louis delivered a real whopper to Dorcha and the two surviving chicks at Loch Arkaig. What a monster. Everyone is going to eat well – a good time for it to come on the nest. Hopefully the weather will start giving this nest a break.

Middle Bob looks sassy!

The sheep are bleating. Aran is on his perch and the kids are asleep. It looks like Mrs G is going to go into food coma, too!

Notice the grass growing in the nest. In Finland they have noticed that grass growing in the Osprey nests actually helps hide the chicks from predators. Quite interesting.

At Rutland, the three osplets are fast asleep and Maya is going to take some time to enjoy some fish before lights out, too. Looking forward seeing these three ringed any day now.

The Bobs are still quite small compared to those at the Loch of the Lowes but everything at RSPB Loch Garten with Mr and Mrs AX6 and chicks seems fine.

It is 21:30 at the Llyn Clywedog nest in Wales – the nest of Dylan and Seren and the three Bobs. Seren is giving Dylan grief and telling him to go and get some more fish. Meanwhile the Bobs have eaten very well today. It takes a lot more fish to feed these fast growing large Bobs – and Mum.

Did you know that there are less than 1500 ospreys in the whole of the UK? That includes juveniles, too. There are a little less than 100,000 in the US. I hope to find out the distribution in the US. There are many in the US and the Cape area in the NE area of the US.

At the Manchester NH Peregrine falcon scrape, Clem was returned this morning. It looked like she wasn’t going anywhere for some time and then – she fludged again.

Colum, one of the males, is at the nest now. Little Colby fludged too but photos of him doing well have been posted on the groups FB page.

Lindsay and Grinnell Jr were ‘loafing’ earlier this morning and now I can only find one of them playing hide and seek. Fledge watch is on.

Alden is doing some ‘loafing’ too. Once those two chicks fledge he is going to be even more busy! So glad he signed up for all of this. You are fantastic, Alden.

Gosh. Do you remember when Alden had no idea how to feed a chick? maybe he had never seen one! – most likely.

Both fledgling ospreys from the UFlorida-Gainesville nest were having a fish dinner at 18:00! Lovely. These two have figured it out perfectly. Fly and get your wings strong. Learn about landings and take offs. Fly to the nest and be fed by Mum and Dad. When you are ready, 60 million years of knowledge will have you catching fish without realizing it….if there are fish to be caught.

They are gorgeous!

Oh, those three Black storklets of Jan and Janika are doing fabulous in rehab care at the Vet Clinic. The plastic decoy mother fell into the nest and the chicks were delighted!

Notice also that a couple of times they work to stand on their feet not walk on the ankles. It will not be long til they are standing and walking. Lovely crops. So healthy!

Today has had some really good news. We will continue to watch the Loch of the Lowes nest as well as wait for word of the ND-LEEF nest and Little Bit 17. Did I saw it was 96 degrees on the ground at the nest – hotter above! I hope 17 got some food.

Thank you so much for being with me. Lots of fledge watches – Star at Redding, Star at West End, the Cal Falcons, L4 at Cornell, National Arboretum, etc. The list is long! Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I grabbed my screen captures, for their FB postings and for the videos uploaded: Liz M and EMU, Peregrine Networks, Cal Falcons, Friends of Redding Eagles, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Friends of Redding Eagles, MN-DNR, Montana Osprey Project, Owl Research Project Explore.org, Dunrovin, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Dyfi Ospreys, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, LRWT, RSPB Loch Garten, Scottish Woodland Trust, Friends of Loch Arkaig and People’s Post Code Lottery, and CarnyXWild.

Late Wednesday in Bird World

8 June 2022

We are continuing to have the most beautiful days with bright sun and blue skies and no rain. The ground is actually spongy the water table is so high and there remains clear evidence of how high the river continues to be when I drive through the park. For the past week I have attempted to find and count goslings and ducklings. In the beginning it was very frustrating as all I could find were six goslings with two other Canada Goose couples incubating eggs. Then a couple of days ago I decided to go ‘somewhere else’ to see what was happening! There sure won’t be Guinness World Records broken this year for the number of goslings and ducklings in our City. It is quite sad! At the same time, when I hear someone interviewed about the issue of Canada Geese down by our Legislative Building and their solution is to tear up the nests and break up the eggs, I go wild! What they have now is a loud speaker projecting the sounds of hawks that are keeping the geese away from the water and the grass. Why not hire workers to clean the sidewalks? One day we will wake up and there will be no songbirds singing or geese honking or little ones scurrying to catch up with the attitude that it is simply alright to destroy their nests. It isn’t alright. They are protected by our 1994 wildlife protections for migrant birds.

At any rate, I found spawning fish, an Osprey flying overhead, a single American Pelican, and lots of geese along with a couple of duck couples at one site.

A female Mallard with her 9 ducklings. She never took her eye off me. The male left the edge of the pond first and then she went in with the 9 ducklings. I was approximately 37 metres or 120 feet away.

One Canada Goose family with four little ones.

At another park, I found a couple of Mallard and Goose families along with a lot of male wood ducks and only one female in sight.

These little ducklings were having so much fun racing ahead of their Mum.

At the other end of the pond, a single gosling constitutes the ‘family’ for these two geese this year. Back on the island scattered about are abandoned eggs that would have been destroyed by the flood waters at the pond.

The Wood Ducks were not at this park the last time I visited. It was very disappointing as the pond is normally full of them. There were some this time, thankfully.

The little female Wood Ducks are adorable.

Mixed in with the geese and ducks was this one particular shape that did deep dives into the water. The light was not good but what you are looking at is a very wet Common Goldeneye below.

What is interesting to me is that Common Goldeneyes will seek out tree cavities or stumps – even chimneys. The females have also been known to lay their eggs in another duck’s nest (if they do not have a suitable one). This is known as ‘brood parasitism’. Thankfully ducklings are precocial – they can take care of themselves once they hatch! There could be as many as 30 in a single clutch! Since ducks return to the site where they hatched, it is common for them to be related to one another.

This is the first time I have seen this species at this pond. It is a female. It is possible the floods have caused a variety of species to come to the city where it is dry than stay in the rural areas where the fields are totally flooded.

At another park this afternoon, there was one group of goslings totalling 11 with both parents and another younger group totalling 9 with no parent visible. It felt odd to see them alone and not a single goose with them!

It was, however, great to see those fuzzy little bodies on the water paddling or eating grass.

Let’s take a spin around the nests and see what has been going on.

At the ND-LEEF Bald Eagle nest, ND17 Little Bit 17 does an amazing steal at 13:08. Little Bit just seems to be coming into his own – much more confident. Today at 13:08:53 he made a major steal from one of the big siblings. I believe it was 15.

In the beginning Little Bit went up between the two sib siblings looking to snatch and grab. That didn’t work so well.

He crept closer to the beak but the big sibling only started flapping its wings.

Little Bit went back by the porch when 15 started flapping. Meanwhile 16 is looking to see what is going on.

Little Bit wasted no time getting up on the other side of the big sibling.

The kid is lighting fast – he grabbed that prey item and off he went to the porch. Both big siblings look on in dismay. Dismay because Little Bit actually pulled the prey item out of the beak of 15 and ran with it!

Little Bit ate all of it! Great steal. This kid is really getting so confident. When he wants something he has been able to get it – at least for the past couple of days. Just imagine if he had food everyday. This eagle would be a very formidable opponent – long ago. He is getting there now.

As evening arrives, it is pitching down rain on Little Bit 17.

All three Bobs are growing and doing well at the Loch of the Lowes nest of Laddie LM12 and Blue NC0. Even Little Bob is growing – still smaller but right up there.

Aran has a huge Perch for Mrs G and the trio at the Glaslyn nest.

Come on Little Bob get up and get some fish before bedtime.

The winds are blowing a gale up at the Llyn Clywedog nest. They even sent Seren flying over the edge of the nest earlier. Here Dylan (on the right) is helping Seren feed the three Bobs so that everyone eats. There has been some nonsense on this nest in the past couple of days.

Idris just keeps catching whoppers for Telyn to feed their three Bobs at the Dyfi nest. Just look at that fish! And they still have big crops from an earlier feed.

Idris takes the fish he just brought and Telyn gets a piece from the nest and they do a tandem feeding. Everyone gets fed – once again before bed – including the littlest Bobbi who goes over to Dad!!!!!!! Do you find that the males seem to empathize with the small little males having to fight sometimes for food? like they might have had to do once?

The three Bobs are still lining up like a perfect choir for Maya to feed them at the Rutland Water Osprey nest she shares with Blue 33.

Besides L1 and Clem fledging, Jack at the Cromer Peregrine Falcon scrape fledged yesterday.

Speaking of Clem fledging. They are keeping an eye on her and Maria, the local Wildlife Rehabber, will return her to the scrape if she can. A big shout out to all the wildlife rehabbers that help these wee ones.

Middle has dropped his crop at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. For several days, many of us have watched intently believing that now was the moment he would fledge. Middle is still with us! He will fly off easily, just like L2 as if he had been flying all his life.

That is just a quick stop at a few nests this afternoon. Everyone of the Ospreys nests in the UK appears to be doing fine. Lots of eaglets wanting to fledge in the US. Different events happening all over the place! Looking for more fledges at Cornell this week and surely Middle at UF-G will let the wind carry him upward and forward. I am working on an article on a couple of amazing Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres for the beginning of next week. If you have a favourite send me a note and tell me how they pulled your heart strings!

Thanks so much for joining me this afternoon. Stay safe. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: ND-LEEF, Dyfi Osprey Project, Llyn Clywedog and CarnyXWild, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Loch of the Lowes and Woodland Trust, Cromer Peregrines, LRWT, and Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn.

Spirit Fledges, Hatch at Loch Arkaig, and other news in Bird World

31 May 2022

It has rained again so hard in our area that many farmers will simply not be able to plant anything this year. The flood that was here is still present in several locations and has now also flooded other areas. This is the wettest it has been in the history of our province! Several months ago I was longing for the sound of rain. It can stop now, please!

Right now there is a break. It is gusty but the animals have been coming to the garden. Mr Crow has been here for breakfast, Dyson has come to help eat the food put out for Hedwig (Dyson seems to want to eat everyone’s food but his own!) and Hedwig is here somewhere. There is lots of grass. We have been doing ‘No Mow May’ to help the insects get established so Hedwig can hide in the grass in certain areas! The rain has really made everything grow. I also noticed that the baby Chipping Sparrows have come for their White Millet. They want to eat in the sort of house feeder on the top deck on the red carpet. Go figure. Perhaps they don’t like to be lower with the adults???

After seeing ND-17 with a huge crop and knowing he ate well yesterday evening, I slept well. I checked and no food deliveries yet at the nest so I am hoping that lots of food will come in the afternoon and evening.

Little Bit sitting like a Buddha on the left. Conserving energy. Waiting for food. The winds are blowing 15-25 mph so not sure what the condition of the water at the river is like.

Congratulations go out to Jackie and Shadow and to Spirit for that beautiful fledge early this morning! No worries. Jackie and Shadow will keep close tabs on their fledgling teaching her everything she needs to know to survive in a world she has just entered.

There she goes! It was 05:40 ish.

More congratulations go out to Louis and Dorcha for their first hatch of the 2022 breeding season at Loch Arkaig! Louis sees his baby for the first time and immediately gets to brood! What a great dad he is! So happy. Two more eggs to go!!!!!!!!

He was called ‘Lonesome Louis’ til Aila came along and what beautiful families they raised. Now this is his second year with Dorcha. Speaking of Aila, everyone who watched her raise her chicks with Louis loved her. A tribute has been put together (get the tissues) for the three years she was at Loch Arkaig.

If you didn’t catch it in my blog yesterday, the only eaglet at the National Arboretum nest, the last chick or Mr President and Lotus has been given the name Takoda which means “Friend to All”. Wonder when DC9 will fledge?

Takoda is a beautiful eaglet. It is sad that his mother, Lotus, is not here to see her chick leave the nest. Mr President has really taken over all the jobs and has made sure this eaglet is thriving despite not having two parents.

Gorgeous Bobs at the Dfyi Osprey nest of Idris and Telyn – so much fish on the nest that sometimes they don’t wake up to eat! Seriously.

CJ7 is higher in the nest today and she is busy moving nesting material around her in the front. We might just have a hatch coming at Poole Harbour! It will be Cj7’s first – she waited a long time for a mate, just like Louis at Loch Arkaig.

Blue 022 has arrived at the nest but CJ7 isn’t getting up yet. Both will be first time parents. Blue 022 is just three years old! He arrived too late as a 2 year old first returnee at the Poole Harbour nest to have a clutch last year. So thrilled the two joined together again this year. A historical first when that egg hatches!

Dylan has been bringing trout to Seren and the three Bobs at the Llyn Clywedog nest. Everything seems to be going fine there.

I watched Blue NC0 at the Loch of the Lowes and Little Bob definitely got fed lots of bites. So everything is going alright at that nest. Thank goodness. She is going around to every beak with fish checking. Big Bob is full and little got food before mom horked the tail. Little Bob would have liked a few more bites but he waits til the Big ones eat, often.

The one to watch. Kana’kini at the West End Bald Eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta will be one of the juvenile bald eagles to fledge this week amongst many.

Hatches and fledges. Names. There will be more of all three all week! I am off to try and beat the next bout of rain and get my walk in at the nature centre. Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this morning!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: ND-LEEF, Friends of Loch Arkaig, Woodland Trust and the People’s Post Code Lottery, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Dfyi Osprey Project, Explore.org, FOBBV, CarnyX Wild, NADC-AEF, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

Fishy Dreams and Fish Tails

Today, the Collins Marsh Osprey chick, Malin, had six fish deliveries. SIX! Feel free to correct me but I don’t ever remember this much fish on this Osprey nest. Ever.

In fact, there was so much fish with deliveries coming in on top of one another that Malin simply could not eat all the fish. There is a bullhead left – it is on the left below the light. Malin is sleeping on half of a bigger fish. What a grand pillow for an Osprey. He can have fishy dreams all night! And, Malin can wake up in the morning and not have to wait for a fish delivery.

Fish. It makes all the difference in the health and well-being of our Ospreys and Storks.

In the image below, the setting sun puts a soft glow over our little one. Please note that the big feathers are now beginning to cross. Malin is also standing and walking more and is flapping his wings much more often to get them strong for flying.

A month ago there was concern that Malin would not develop his plumage and would be unable to fly successfully off the nest. Now just look! Food – the right kind of food and the amount of it – makes all the difference in the world in Malin’s development.

Malin is miracle #3 for 2021.

Here on the Foulshaw Moss nest, Blue 463 or Tiny Little Bob, is eating the fish her dad delivered. White YW would have heard her several miles away screaming for fish. Blue 462 had gotten the earlier fish and Tiny Little wasn’t liking it. Dad came to the rescue! Indeed, White YW and Blue 35 should get a round of applause. They pulled off a nest of three fledglings this year. They did not lose a hatch.

The crows are hoping that Tiny Little will leave some bites for them! I don’t know. She is a bit like a nest vacuum when it comes to food falling between the twigs!

Tiny Little is miracle #2 and, of course, miracle #1 is Tiny Tot from the Achieva Osprey nest in St Petersburg, Florida. I am certain that there are others that will come to mind when I publish this newsletter. For now, however, these three were enough to cause lots of anxiety.

I did a Sunday hop-skip-and-jump through some of the UK Osprey Nests to see if anyone was home. This is the Dyfi nest in Wales of Idris and Telyn. On the nest is Ystwyth, their daughter. Telyn is on the nest perch and Idris is on the far perch.

Idris and Telyn together. How beautiful.

Does he need an introduction? The chick on the Llyn Clywedog Osprey Nest, Only Bob? Only Bob was so big when he was ringed that everyone believed him to be a large female. Nope. It is just all that fish that Dylen and Seren fed him. My goodness did Blue 496 grow.

He has spotted Dylan flying in with a fish. We are so lucky to see this. Indeed, to see so many of the UK fledglings on the nests today is fantastic.

That is a gorgeous fish for dinner. Only Bob looks pretty excited.

Watch out for your toes Dylan.

Only Bob learned well despite the fact that he was the only chick on the nest. He is excellent at mantling. But, stop, and take a look at that tail and the size of those wings. I would be ever so grateful if Malin’s was half that size when he fledges.

Oh, let’s just move this beauty over here so I can eat it!

At least one of the chicks on the Loch of the Lowes has a huge crop. It is so big, it looks like it could pop. The other is hoping for a fish delivery. Of course, neither is showing us their pretty blue bands.

NC0 and Laddie have done an amazing job raising these two. NC0 has really moved up to be one of the females that I want to watch. She is becoming super mom. She can fly and haul fish to the nest just like Iris – and she isn’t afraid to do it!

Grafs was able to find enough fish for two deliveries today. The first was a bunch of small fish at 15:29 and the second came at 19:41 with some bigger fish. The storklings are starving. They are already beginning to show the signs of malnutrition.

Grafs makes sure he moves around so that each one gets a little something.

It was mentioned that not only the sunken bodies but also the fact that the bills are turning a bright colour indicates starvation.

Once the people watching these nests realized what was happening, they became very vocal in their demands that the birds be fed. Everyone knows about the fish table that the two engineers set up for the White Storks in the village of Mlade Buky, Czechoslovakia. The people demanded that their storks be fed and the wildlife staff heard them. After seeing only one feeding by 15:00, Janis Kuze wrote the following on 15 August 2021: “It may be necessary to support the operation of the feeder – to bring live fish there regularly (once a day or two). I will write about it in the coming days.”

Liz01, the moderator of the looduskalender.ee/forum (English forum for the Latvian Fund for Nature and this Black Stork Nest) posted this notice:

“Due to the fact that the female has not been seen in the stork nest for several days, she has probably started migrating, opportunities are being sought to artificially feed this nest. Currently, the only feeder is the male, whose capacity is too small for the young birds to be successfully.
One way of trying to help the inhabitants of this nest is to set up an artificial feeder. There is one ditch near the nest where it can actually be done. Ornithologist Jānis Ķuze is ready to take over the management of this event, but he needs the help of the society. Therefore, we are looking for:
1) people on the Sigulda side who would help to set up a feeder,
2) human or fish feeders on the Sigulda side, which would be willing to donate and / or catch small fish (they must be still alive), with the possibility, to put these fish into the feeder, thus regularly
replenishing fish stocks in the feeder a third person or another link in the chain).
If anyone has the opportunity to help with this event, please send a message to Jānis Ķuze by e-mail: janis.kuze@ldf.lv.
This is currently the only real way you can still try to help the young birds in this nest survive and fly successfully! It is not known whether it will work, but we think it would be better to try not to do anything and just watch.”

Immediately, there were too many offers to help the Black Storklings and Grafs. Tears. People are so generous. All we have to do is ask.

If you wish to follow the discussion about what is happening at this particular nest in English, please go here:

https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/viewtopic.php?f=96&t=1015&sid=27122a0e6af24ac608f207b05ee29a55&start=2140

When I have news of what is happening at the Estonian Black Stork nest, I will let you know.

You can watch the Black Stork Nest in the forest near Sigulda, Latvia here:

We all send our prayers and warm wishes to these beautiful birds and the people helping them. We need a miracle like that at Mlade Buky.

Thank you so much for joining me. It is wonderful to bring you such good news. Please send all your positive energy to Latvia and Estonia so that the efforts to save the Black Storklings from starving to death will be successful. It is heart warming to see so many people answer calls for help.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams: The Latvian Fund for Nature, the Collins Marsh Nature Centre, Dyfi Osprey Project, Cumbrian Trust and the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Friends of Loch of the Lowes, Llyn Clywedog Osprey Nest and CarnyX Wild, and Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn.

Just a note. My newsletter will be posted late on Monday 16 August. Thank you!

Monday in Bird World 26 July 2021

There have been dark clouds over our City since the morning. I think everyone I know was hoping for some heavy rain – gutter gushers are what I think they call it in some places in the southern United States. But, no. Enough to water the flowers for the hummingbirds and then stop. No more than four minutes of rain. So what do you do? Well, you go and check on Tiny Little at the Foulshaw Nest. No one was there this morning and guess what? No one is there tonight!

It is the time of year when we have to loosen the apron strings and begin to say farewell to all these beautiful bobbleheads that have grown into amazing birds. Their journey is just beginning as the cameras are shut down. There is at least a 4000 mile trip to Africa or Central America, or Brazil depending on where the birds begin their long, arduous flight. We wish them all well and hope to see Tiny Little in two years flying around, causing mischief.

Earlier, both of the chicks on the Loch of the Lowes Nest were home waiting for a fish drop from either Laddie or NC0 or both.

Feeling lucky after catching these two and watching them in that gorgeous setting, I decided to check on some of the other nests. Some luck at the Llyn Clywedog Nest, where Seren 5F had delivered a Mullet to Blue 496. That is one big baby. He has already been seen carrying a good size piece of fish on his talons to the trees.

No one visited Poole Harbour when I checked, but all of the chatter says that sky dancing continues to take place between CJ7 and the two-year-old fledgling Blue 022.

Blue 096 on the Rutland Manton Bay nest has been missing from sight since last Thursday. He turned up on the nest today for a few minutes, and his sister, Blue 095, sent him packing. He has a crop, so he is getting fish somewhere else. No worries with that chick! Alive and well.

And now for something completely different. Remember the small white storks that the people of Mlade Buky saved from starvation along with Father Stork?

The female has fledged, and I suspect the males have too (but I have not seen this information). They still return to the nest to be fed by Father Stork. Their animation and the sounds they make are incredible. Have a look, and a listen:

The little chick on the Collins Marsh Nest has had three feedings today. Mom flew in not that long ago with what looks like a Small Mouth Bass (feel free to correct me) for the wee one. That chick was excited to see that fish land on the nest. It remains warm up on that tower, 110 feet off the ground!

Look at the chick’s expression.

It is so exciting when food lands for everyone! Indeed, the parents simply become Door Dash – or other food delivery services. There are a lot of people looking out for this little one – at the Wisconsin DNR (Stephen), at the Collins Marsh Nature Center (James) and at the local wildlife rehabilitation clinic (Patricia). Their attention to the mother missing and the feather issues with the chick are so appreciated.

The nests are slowing down and I will also be slowing down with my postings. You can expect one posting a day in the late afternoon or early evening. Thank you so much for joining me. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots or my video clips: Mlade Buky White Stork Nest, Collins Marsh Osprey Nest, Poole Harbour Osprey Project, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Friends of Loch of the Lowes, Carnyx Wild and Llyn Clywedog Osprey Nest, and Cumbrian Wildlife Trust and Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest.

Adventures in Ospreyland and other bird tales 16 July 2021

Imagine that you have one child. Everyone is happy – it is easy to provide for the one. Then imagine one day you blink and think you are seeing double. But you aren’t. There are two children. Now imagine that you are away from home and return to find three. Osprey families have the same difficulties in providing for multiple children just like humans. The adults at the Patuxent River Park in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Osprey nest number 2 now have that challenge! The pair had only one chick of their own and are now fostering two chicks about the same age as theirs.

Cathy Cohen of the Jug Bay Natural Area posted the following image on the park’s FB page today of the mom and the three chicks. The first foster chick was placed on the nest on 30 June. Nest 2 was chosen because the foster chicks are about the same age as the one hatched on the nest. There they are. It is incredible. They look like a perfect match. How wonderful to give those two lucky ones another chance. Intervention can be a good thing.

The foster Mom was said to have welcomed the chick who had fallen from a barn silo with open wings yesterday! Here she is looking over the babies while they are sleeping (or supposed to be sleeping).

And here they are this morning. It is getting warm and the new babies are getting shade.

Most of the time if I say the name ‘Iris’ everyone knows who I am talking about. If you don’t, here is a mini-bio. Iris is an Osprey. She is 26-28 years old. This makes her the oldest Osprey in the world. Iris has her nest at Hellgate in Missoula, Montana. The platform was put up for her and her mate, Stanley, to save them from getting electrocuted on the hydro lines. When Stanley did not return from migration, Iris bonded with Louis. They have only had one chick survive. That was a female, Le Le, in 2018. The reason for this is that Louis has another mate and another nest at the ballpark. For years, people have watched Iris perfect the renovations on her nest, catch magnificent fish, mate with Louis, lay her eggs and then either have the ravens steal and eat the eggs or have the chicks die because the female cannot protect them and fish at the same time. Individuals are very vocal in their support of Iris. They want her to have another mate and to be able to raise chicks. I have always thought maybe she could retire with dignity and just take care of herself during her summers in Montana. At the same time you know just seeing her work on the nest and the fish she brings in that she would be an amazing parent. The issue is one of territory. Iris’s nest is in Louis’s territory – according to Louis. Louis has protected Iris on a couple of occasions this summer from intruders. Iris has also managed on her own to thwart them. She is strongly independent.

When someone posted an image of Iris sitting on a branch with another Osprey on Twitter 15 July 2021, people got excited.

The notion that Ospreys mate for life is not consistently true. When Blue 5F, Seren, got tired of laying a nest full of eggs only to be abandoned by Aran because he also had a nest with Mrs G at Glaslyn, she left Aran’s territory and found another mate, Dylan, at Clywedog. According to Google Maps, Seren moved a distance of 67.4 miles. Seren and Dylan are the proud parents, this season, of fledgling Blue 396 otherwise known as Only Bob.

It will be very curious to see how things develop over the end of the summer.

We all worry about Tiny Little. It is easy to forget looking at Blue 463 that at one time his older siblings kept him from eating and were quite aggressive. Because of that Tiny Little is hesitant to engage with the older siblings and, in particular, Blue 462. So there are worries that he will not get enough to eat. Today White YW brought in a fish and within about 15 minutes he brought in another fish. Blue 35 took that one and fed Tiny Little while the other two were eating fish pieces. What a beautiful image of Mum and her three chicks on the Foulshaw Moss nest having a nice meal of fish.

People have been asking if Tiny Little has been flapping. OH, yes, he flaps those wings all the time.

If you want to join in the fun watching Tiny Little prepare to fledge, this is the link to the Cumbrian Wildlife Osprey Cam:

https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife/cams/osprey-cam

Erick Green with the Montana Osprey Project posted some images of chicks who were entangled with baling twine. They saved three chicks a week ago but sadly one had died. Another chick had twine cutting into his right leg to the bone. Dr Green reported today that the chick is doing fabulous today. In his posting I learned something interesting. He says, “One thing that seems to work in their favor is that ospreys (and all birds) have very high body temperatures – about 105 degrees Fahrenheit. These high body temperatures help birds fight off many bacterial infections.”

Only Bob, Blue 396, has gotten really good at flying and zooms in when Dad Dylan does a food drop. Poor Seren might have to discuss Dylan bringing in an extra fish for her. Only Bob can finish them off pretty good! Look at how big this fledgling is. Wow. Dylan delivered the fish around 13:09.

At the Dyfi Nest, Idris and Telyn are waiting for Ystwyth to fledge! So is her brother Dysynni. He is sitting there urging her to come on and join in the fun while the parents are up on the camera perches watching. Ystwyth was getting some really good height to her hovering and she will go soon if not today. She is 53 days old.

Here is Ystwyth hovering. Isn’t she great?

Other nest news:

There is sad news coming out of Taiaroa Head, NZ. One of 33 Northern Albatross chicks died yesterday. The chick was not gaining weight and the NZ DOC rangers gave it a supplementary feeding. When the chick died following this it was discovered during the necroscopy that it had a piece of charcoal stuck in its trachea. As Sharon Dunne notes, charcoal floats on the surface of the ocean and it can easily be taken in by the parents when they are out fishing for food for their chick. I never imagined charcoal! Everyone is distraught. The rangers do such an excellent job taking care of these parents and chicks. Condolences go out to all of them including the albatross parents.

Our little Golden Eagle, Zenit, has had a prey delivery – a bird – and is beginning to stand really tall and strong on its legs – adult style. All good news! The Golden Eagles eat the bones – absolutely every part of their prey so Zenit will have something later. Still, having lots of meat is what this young eaglet needs right now. Excellent news.

Ferris Akel has posted a nicely edited version of his tour on Wildlife Drive on the 14th. The editing is well done and there are discreet bird names in case you do not recognize what you are looking at. There are some really nice shots of a Black Tern. Here is that short clip.

My friend, ‘T’ tells me that there is a stork with an injured food that is getting a prosthesis. Will try and find out all the news on this incredible intervention.

And speaking of storks, there are still three White Storklings on the Mlade Buky nest in Czechoslovakia:

That’s a short morning round up of happenings late Thursday night and early Friday morning at some nests. Remember that Ferris Akel does his tours on Saturday. He begins at noon NY time and ends up at the Cornell Campus. It is a great opportunity to see the Red tail fledglings in action. They have now moved from flying near to the nest to other buildings farther away. Big Red and Arthur do this with prey drops gradually to expand their territory. It will not be too long til they are down by the barns at Cornell. Always fun. You can search Ferris Akel Livestream on YT. Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I get my screen shots or add their videos: Ferris Akel Live Tour, Patuxent River Park Ospreys, Montana Osprey Project FB Page, Cumbrian Wildlife Trust and Foulshaw Moss Osprey Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyX Wild and Llyn Clydewog Osprey Cam, Capi Hnizdo- Mlade Buky, and Asociatia Wild Bucinova.

Alan Poole’s talk on why Ospreys are special and some other news tidbits from Ospreyland

LR1 at Loch of the Lowes fledged! Only one more to go for NC0 and Laddie (LM12). Here is the big moment:

John Williams has been trying to figure out where Dylan is getting his nice trout for the Lyn Clywedog Nest. Today, our sleuth detective, reports that an unringed male was seen leaving Nant y Moch Reservoir at 9:55 carrying a fish. The bird was flying in the direction of Llyn Clywedog. Williams watched the streaming cam and sure enough Dylan landed 25 minutes later with a trout on the nest for the Only Bob. I am certain Seren Blue5F was pleased too.

We know that Dylan is going to go as the crow flies – straight from Nanty-y-Moch Reservoir to Clywedog. But, wow. That is a good distance to travel for trout! Apparently there are too many people fishing for trout at the end of the Clywedog Reservoir and that could be the reason he is travelling so far. I am in awe.

Here is Seren Blue 5F feeding Only Bob that lovely fish:

I wanted to bring Blue 5F up today so you can see how well she is doing on this nest at Clywedogs with Dylan. Look at that lovely chick! I had a fantastic conversation with Tiger Mozone late last night. We talked about all things Osprey but one thing that Tiger mentioned early on is that Ospreys are not bonded to one another for life. It might appear that way and you have read over and over that they “bond for life”. Tiger had so many examples that it made perfect sense that they do not. So here is the thing with Blue 5F. Blue 5F hatched in Rutland in 2012. Chris Wood regularly sees her at the Tanji Marsh in Africa where she winters. She came to Glaslyn in 2015.

Aran, the mate of Mrs G, took a liking to Blue 5F and they mated in 2015. Eggs were laid on the Traeth Glaslyn Nest but as the Glaslyn Osprey News notes, “once the chicks hatched on the Glaslyn Nest he gradually lost interest” in Blue 5F and the future of their eggs. According to Glaslyn records and Tiger this went on for four years! I really hope right about now you are thinking about Iris and Louis. But, Blue 5F decided she didn’t like that arrangement so, she left! And she found the nest at Llyn Clwedog in 2020 where she is quite happy. Last year her and Dylan raised three male chicks to fledge when his regular mate did not return. This year they have the Only Bob! Give the girl a hand of applause! The entire issue of Aran and Blue 5F brought in discussions of how close nest platforms should be to one another. It might well be that they want to look into this again at Glaslyn. I am not entirely sure that the blue banded bird after Aran at the Cob was not Z2 Aeron from the Pont Croesor Nest. Time will tell if Aeron Z2 is trying to take over the Glaslyn territory.

Alan Poole, the author of Ospreys. The Revival of a Global Raptor did a 45 minute YouTube talk with nice visuals on Ospreys. It is definitely worth watching – you will learn something. You can stop and start!

Thanks for stopping in. I hope that you have a lovely weekend. Take the time to listen to Alan Poole’s talk. I think you will really enjoy it.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams: Llyn Clywedog and Carnyx Wildlife. Thanks to Tiger for the great conversation and to John Williams for tracking the travels of the trout!