It could be a very busy day at the UK nests and in the western part of the US as favourable winds are blowing in the ospreys.
It has been confirmed that our dear Iris is, indeed, the osprey that landed early this morning on the Hellgate Canyon nest. I hope everyone had a good cry – a joyful one. Now let’s get that young male osprey back that was courting her last season!
Louis and Starr are already back. Starr was the first to arrive in Missoula. Their nest is at the Baseball Park – and despite all we think, Louis is a good mate to Starr and they raise 2 or 3 chicks to fledge every year.
Gosh, Iris looks good.
Blue 35 has returned to Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve in Cumbria and is reclaiming her nest after Blue 717 got a little friendly with White YW.
We are waiting the arrival of Louis at Loch Arkaig Nest 2 in Scotland. His mate Dorcha will be delighted to see him land with a nice big trout.
Busy day at the Glaslyn nests:
Lots of action at Loch of the Lowes.
Thanks, Alison Copland. BoPH have created a genealogy chart. The Carey nest is the one for CJ7 and Blue 022, and it has a streaming cam.
One of my favourite males, Tegid Z1, Monty’s son, who breeds on a private nest, has returned safely.
So the males are starting to show up in Wales, too. Come on Louis!!!!!!!!!
The feeding is going very well at the Achieva Osprey platform. My goodness, if I didn’t know better, I would think this was a new male. (Maybe it is – I am not trying to start rumours here, just pondering the fish deliveries. I was never that pleased with Jack’s deliveries for Diane and the kids. Has anyone truly identified head markings?)
Bella and Scout’s two eaglets are doing just fine although there was a choking concern for the baby earlier on Monday.
Nature chat’s banner:
Interloping Common Buzzard laid 2nd egg today at Lesser Spotted Eagle Cam, as usual LSE pair hasn’t arrived for the season yet.
Peanut has branched at the Winter Park, Florida Bald Eagle nest. Best be watching this energetic second hatch. She is going to take off fast!
News about California Condors:
Stop over and see the two little cuties that Jackie and Shadow are feeding and brooding. They are two little round teddy bears! So very happy for our darling couple.
Take care everyone. Iris’s arrival has made this day much brighter! We are all delighted. If Louis returns, I will be posting again. Otherwise, I will see you later in the week.
Thank you to ‘PB’ for her messages, to the owners of the streaming cams for my screen captures and for allowing us to witness the life of these incredible birds. I am grateful to everyone who posts on FB with information. Without your eyes, we might miss something!
Just a quick check in on some nests and the garden as spring arrives.
The first Dark-eyed Juncos of the season have arrived! Thank goodness the whole seed area is a mess and there is lots for them on the ground.
The big news (as far as I am concerned) is that Kai, Beau and Gabby’s baby, fledged about an hour and a half ago caught on video by Netflix Memories. https://youtu.be/VnmSSSODa6M?
Ospreys are arriving at the European nests including those in Germany.
Blue NCO calls for a mate from her nest at Loch of the Lowes.
She might be 23 years old but she is still gorgeous. Big Red.
Chichester’s Peregrine Falcon newsletter has arrived.
We have at least one osprey on the Pitkin County nest in Colorado.
On pip watch at Achieva. I hope that Jack steps up provisions. Many of you might wonder about the fish he brings in – this couple recycles fish just as Jack and Diane did. A fish comes in, part is eaten, it is taken away and. brought back. The ospreys have a place where, like the squirrels in my garden, that cache food. We saw this clearly at Captiva when there was a tree near to the platform that served this purpose.
So when you see a fish, don’t count them as individual fish – that is not the case. Jack will need to provide more. Diane supplemented the fish with her great catfish. Will this female have to pitch in for her babies to survive?
Thank you so much for being with us. Take care! See you soon.
Thank you to all the individuals who posted videos that I am sharing, information on FB, and to the owners of the streaming cams, we are all grateful to be able to watch our beautiful birds.
The first ‘star’ of the UK streaming cams (I am not counting Blue 25) to arrive home is Blue NC0 at Loch of the Lowes. She lost her partner, Laddie LM12, and lost her nest last year. Indeed, not a chick hatched; it was such a muddle at LOTL. Let’s hope Blue NC0 will have a mate and keep that nest!
Hello! Back again…with a note from Heidi and some links to the osprey cams in the UK, and a four-part possible scenario written by Dr Green for the Hellgate Canyon platform of Iris. Please join me in the hope that Iris and her new man both return this season safely.
Yesterday, it felt like the sky was falling in. First the fire, then the car, then Toby, and then the washing machine broke. I confused the names of the chicks – Brutus (who was awful to the little one) and Peanut (who is much bigger than that now) with the parents Atlas and of course, Mum, who is called Wink. I also forgot something important that happened at Dade County. Heidi refreshed my memory and said I could quote her. So here goes:
“Just to refresh your memory re: Dade County eagles: You cannot believe what you read some chatters say, because most of them are confused. The eaglets were mixed up at banding, then the admin mandated that we call them by the wrong names. The experienced chatters have resorted to calling the eaglets by their band numbers, because they don’t want to call them by the incorrect names. R9 is the older brother (band 7/0), and he fledged on 3/4. R10 is the younger brother (band 6/9), and he branched on 3/4. As of mid-day on 3/9, R10 has not fledged.
(you may quote me with that statement if you wish)
If you haven’t seen it, I made a video of R9’s return to the nest a couple days ago, here is the link:
Brad is hosting a guess the date of the arrival of Maya and Blue 33 at Rutland Water’s Manton Bay Osprey platform. You need to go to the YouTube channel and put your guess into the chat. To help you, there is the observation board and history of the nest at the top of the chat. Here is the link to that streaming cam: https://www.youtube.com/live/V08ET209nvU?
I hear cows in the distance today. Where are the Egyptian geese??? Have they moved on already?
There are ospreys already on a nest in The Highlands. Birds are arriving early everywhere. So join the fun and guess the date!
Loch of the Lowes is live! Oh, I wish Blue NC0 would return early and get a mate after last season’s fiasco. We need to remember that she has lost her band. Link: https://www.youtube.com/live/bod12rMVvO0?
Waiting for a few of the UK cams to come online. Will continue to add images and links throughout the coming days. These include Dyfi, BoPH, Lyn Clywedog, Usk Valley, amongst others.
We are less than a month from the favourite day for Iris to arrive at her nest. Dr Greene has given us four possible scenarios for this coming osprey season at the Hellgate nest.
It was a bit nippy on Sunday, but spring is definitely here. It was time to shake off the winter and get back to walking 4 or 5 times a week. Our first trip was around St Vital Park and then over to the duck pond. There were approximately 85 Canada Geese there along with 5 male Wood Ducks and 2 females, and a couple pair of Mallards along with 3 Ring-billed Gulls. There is still some ice on the pond. It was nice to see families with proper seed feeding them as we wait for the grass to turn green and grow.
You have no idea how happy I am that the walkways are free of ice. This winter has been long because of this. I so enjoyed all the walking that we have done in previous years. Oh, this is wonderful!
Moving on to our feathered friends…
Eggs are starting to land in those osprey nests! Eaglets are growing or fledging or halfway there.
Birds of Poole Harbour: CJ7 laid the season’s first egg for her and mate, Blue 022, on Sunday.
Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home: There are now three eggs in this osprey nest.
Glaslyn: Ospreys can count and they ‘know’. Aran arrived on Saturday and Elen laid her first egg on Sunday the 13th. It would have been KC1’s, Teifi’s. Aran tried to evict it and then when that did not work, he buried it. Aran might have trouble holding on to the nest he shared with Mrs G and then Elen when Mrs G did not return from migration. We wait to see how this works out.
So why did Aran (and other males at different nests at different times) try to eject and then bury the egg?
Male ospreys eject eggs from their nest if they suspect they didn’t fertilise the eggs. We quickly learn that ospreys can count! This behaviour is a strategy to ensure their offspring survive, as they may eject eggs from the nest that they don’t believe to be their own. Ospreys are generally monogamous and mate for life, but if a male suspects infidelity, he may eject eggs to remove potential competitors.
Ensuring their own genetic line: Male ospreys are motivated to ensure their offspring survive. They may eject eggs if they believe they are not their own, as they are essentially removing potential competitors.
Guardianship of the nest: Ospreys fiercely protect their nests and mates. If another male is suspected of mating with the female, the male may eject eggs to ensure his own paternity.
Courtship and Mating: Male ospreys engage in frequent courtship displays and mating behaviours, which can increase the likelihood of fertilisation by their partner. If they witness a female with another male, they may attempt to eject the eggs to ensure their genetic line is the only one present.
Territoriality:Male ospreys are territorial and will defend their nest and mate from other males. This can extend to ejecting eggs if they suspect other males have been involved in mating with the female.
In summary, the ejection of eggs is a behaviour driven by the male osprey’s instinct to protect his mate and ensure his genetic line continues. It’s a natural defence mechanism against potential rivals and a strategy to maintain the success of his breeding effort.
Oh, what a worry KNF-E3 O3 was to everyone. Steve looked. Cody helped. And on Sunday that fledgling flew up to the nest like a pro wanting fish. Mum and Dad did not disappoint. Isn’t this wonderful? We will count every one of these moments as gold.
Little Miami Conservancy: These two are doing well but cannot yet thermoregulate their temperature.
Foulshaw Moss: White YW and Blue 35 have their second egg on Sunday. at 1308.
Fort St. Vrain: Less drama today at the nest. Both eaglets fine.
Fat little bottom. Cute.
NCTC: The trio of Scott and Bella are doing extraordinarily well. Little angels.
Port Tobacco: All is well.
Johnson City ETSU: I blinked and that little fluffy chick now has juvenile feathers!
Bluff City ETSU: And just look at these two!
Duke Farms: Then there is this trio. All doing well.
US Steel: Only Bob is doing well. Getting his pin feathers.
Sauces: Betty Lou. Look at those feathers coming in!
Fraser Point: Two adorable babies being well cared for by Andor and Cruz.
Big Bear Valley: Is it possible they will be too full to fly? We would love to keep them on the nest.
Geemeff’s Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig. Just look at the number of fish that Louis has brought in. Now he started out, as Geemeff reminded me, like this last year. But bad weather and an illness and/or injury turned the tide on the nest and the two osplets were translocated. One survived. One did not.
Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Sunday 13th April 2025
Another calm day without intruders, Affric 152 or Prince dropping in. And sadly, no unattached female visitors for Garry LV0 despite his bringing a fish and making Nest One very cosy with sticks and bedding. Garry’s fish tally rises by a whopping 50% up to a total of three since he arrived on 9th April, fingers crossed that this will be the season he finds a mate. Louis on the other hand is providing so well for Dorcha that she initially refused the second of his two fish deliveries today, and his tally now stands at twentynine since they returned on 2nd April. At the time of filing this report (23.45) Nest Two is empty – will Dorcha return and spend the night as she did last night, will she lay the first egg tomorrow? We must wait and see. The weather forecast is light rain and light winds overnight and into tomorrow, not the best weather for eggs but Dorcha will cope.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.31.19 (05.28.03); Nest Two 21.29.45 (05.32.34)
“Over the last 5 days, things appeared to have settled into a fairly relaxed routine for LM24 (The Dark Intruder) and his new mate the Unringed Female. The pair have been spending more time on and around the nest, often appearing at first light, indicating they are likely to be roosting nearby. Mating has been regular, though the male is still sometimes getting himself back to front, but he has also busied himself with bringing material into the nest, skydancing and bringing in fish to his mate – everything you would expect a breeding male to do.
Throughout the week there had been little in the way of intruders, with only a fleeting incursion on the 9th April, which the Unringed Female easily defended against. Not content with LM24’s offerings, she brought in a huge trout yesterday, which unusually she caught on the Loch where it is usually more common to see pike and perch.
This morning it was only LM24 who appeared on the nest at dawn, and it remained quiet for much of the day, with no sign of the Unringed Female. Ospreys can be a little bit like buses, with not much happening and then everything happening all at once! True to form it all kicked off mid-afternoon with the arrival of yet another new intruding bird (another unringed female) who was very ‘hangry’!
This female wasted no time in demanding food from LM24, who although initially reluctant, passed his half eaten pike to her, before trying to attempt to mate. The female, with very striking markings (a large triangle on the back of her head, dark chest and a white gap between her eyes) was not keen to reciprocate, but quickly began rearranging the furniture. This female behaved in a way that was very confident and suggested that she may be a little older and more experienced than both LM24 and his Unringed Female partner.
The ‘hangry’ female (who devoured her fish) very vocally began demanding more food from the male, who was keeping a close and perhaps rather confused eye on the things from the top of the camera. After several more failed mating attempts, he finally managed to encourage the female to lift her tail and mate successfully, before……enter stage left; LM24’s mate, the Unringed Female landed on the nest, flapping her wings and mantling, clearly unhappy with proceedings!! She was closely followed by LM24, who briefly touched down before being chased off by the ‘hangry’ intruder!
All three osprey then took to the skies in a spectacular display of flying, diving and shouting, before the Unringed Female returned to the nest. Her respite was short lived however, with the other female returning to launch another furious attack! Once again the birds took off in a flurry of talons and wings, before order finally seemed to be restored 5 minutes later with both LM24 and his mate the Unringed Female settling back onto the nest together.
Things appear to have settled down and order for now seems to have been restored, but for how long?
Follow the webcam for all the action, or come and visit the centre, open 10:30am – 5pm each day”
Hellgate Canyon: Gorgeous Iris. Still waiting for Finnegan. He was there on the 14th last year. Fingers crossed he arrives today!!!!!!! Oh, tears will flow around the world. Please let this miracle happen again…
Salem Electric: Lots of work to do on this nest. I sure wish that humans in the US would follow some of the UK’s practices where the nest is refurbished each year while the ospreys are on migration!
Clark PUD: Both ospreys are on the nest. Lovely.
Port of Ridgefield: Both home.
Seaside: Bruce has been supplying Naha with some really nice fish since their return. Sunday was no exception with a Redtail Surf Perch and two trout.
Niagara Bee Ospreys: No eggs but a Canada Goose is visiting the nest.
Farmer Derek’s Owl Nest: Bonnie and Clive have one owlet this year, Starr. She is a beauty.
Russell Lake, Nova Scotia: Oscar arrived so early. It seems that he was so happy to have Ethel return that he has been out looking for any kind of gift to brighten her day! OK, Oscar. You can stop now. Those eggs and chicks don’t want to get mixed up with human litter!
Coeur de’Alene, Idaho: No ospreys in sight. Canada Goose nesting on the north platform.
In 2024, with four osplets on the nest and everyone hoping for them, the male disappeared during a heat dome. Mum tried but it is difficult to raise four even if both parents are fishing. Three of the chicks died of siblicide/starvation. One fledged.
Update from Fort St Vrain:
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, videos, and articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post: ‘Geemeff’, Birds of Poole Harbour, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home, RAKPhotographic, Kistachie National Forest, Little Miami Conservancy, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Fort St Vrain, NCTC, Port Tobacco, Johnson City ETSU, Bluff City ETSU, Pix Cams, Duke Farms, IWS/Explore, FOBBV, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, The Scottish Wildlife Trust, Montana Osprey Project/Cornell Bird Lab, Salem Electric, Clark PUD, Port of Ridgefield, Seaside Ospreys, Niagara Bee Ospreys, Farmer Derek, Ospreys of Nova Scotia, City of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, The Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Loch of the Lowes Visitor’s Centre, Fort St Vrain/Excel Energy
There was quite the scare at Sauces Canyon Friday when a huge placenta was brought in that covered most of SC1. The wee one was shivering. The camera operator stayed and caught Audacity doing everything she could to save her little one. She was moving and shuffling and removing matter to free SC1. It took two hours. Everyone was holding their breath.
Meanwhile the nest is simply full of food including a dead seal pup and a lot of Mackerel.
SC1 standing up for a meal after its arduous ordeal. Another miracle. Poor little thing could use a bit of a wipe. But who cares – SC1 looks fine.
In other Eagle news, Bodie and the visitor at NE Florida are quite settled in with one another. Gabby even fed the other juvenile – and, of course, Bodie got fed as well. Many are hoping that the American Eagle Foundation will give the adopted eaglet a name.
Bodie did not go hungry! Look at this crop. It is a wonder she can stand upright.
The two at Big Bear Valley are doing so well. Look closely, the pin feathers are coming in. The little one is scampering around that egg cup wanting ‘out’. They are flapping their little wings and growing fast.
The eaglets at John Bunker Sands Wetlands are gorgeous.
The triplets at Duke Farms are doing well. Their mum was heroic in keeping them as dry as she could during the recent storm. They have their dark thermal down coming in which allows them to regulate their temperatures but, oh, what a lovely sight she was tucking them in as best she could. Just look today.
At the NCTC nest, Bella and Scout’s little one had its first feeding. It is fine. Scout was there to see it hatch and has brooded the wee one. This is good news. https://youtu.be/0aPqI9_OW5c?
Mr North and Mrs DNF have a hatch in progress or two at the Decorah North nest in Iowa.
Hancock Wildlife Foundation announced today that their Surrey nest of Brit and Rey has their second egg of the season.
We are keeping eyes on several other nests for pips that include Harvey and Ellie at the Kansas Eagle Cam on Farmer Derek’s land, the other egg for Bella and Scout at the NCTC nest, and US Steel.
Osprey News:
Dyfi Osprey Project: Idris has arrived home. They just turned the camera on and as if by magic, there he was. So happy to see him home. It is nine days earlier than his usual arrival date of March 30th. Now let’s get his mate Telyn home soon – and safe.
Known as ‘Daddy Longlegs’, Idris is an excellent fisher. He must have been hungry. Look at those whoppers at the nest.
Kielder Nest 7: Female KX7 arrives! This is the earliest arrival ever of an osprey back at Kielder Forest. Her mate is KM18, yet to arrive.
Threave Castle: Blue KC has arrived on the nest to join her mate Black 80 on the 20th of March.
Birds of Poole Harbour: Blue 022 that helped raise our fine osplets to fledge with its mate CJ7 has arrived home safely! He wasted no time in starting to work on their nest.
Glaslyn: Elen, Aran’s mate, arrived back on the Glaslyn nest this morning and then flew over to the PC nest which interestingly has a camera this year. Wonder who will get to watch it?
Meigs Point, Connecticut: The unringed male has returned on the 19th of March. He immediately began to work on the nest – cleaning out that egg cup.
Eschenbach: Hermine has not returned yet. The visiting female is getting more comfortable. Joan Castanyer writes: “Herbert follows the courtship rituals with the female, from gifts in the form of fish to displays of submission. In the video we can see him with his back to her, flapping his wings. Meanwhile, the female complains because he, instead of fish, has brought material for the nest. The candidacy of the new partner is strengthened, although there is still time for Hermine.”
Mark Avery has an update on Bird Flu in his latest news blast. I am cutting and pasting here for all of you. This is going to be a potentially catastrophic year for our feathered friends.
Bird flu 1: there are currently many UK cases of bird flu and the list of affected bird species has reached 31 for 2025: Mute Swan, Whooper Swan, Bewick’s Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Barnacle Goose, Shelduck, Mallard, White-tailed Eagle, Red Kite, Buzzard, Goshawk, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Kestrel, Curlew, Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Gull, Little Gull, Cormorant, Razorbill, Barn Owl, Long-eared Owl, Tawny Owl, Grey Heron, Pheasant and Starling. It might look as if gulls, wildfowl and raptors are particularly affected, and it’s possible that’s the case, but the flaws in the ‘surveillance’ scheme (negative tests not publicly reported, limited numbers tested, no systematic testing) mean that it is difficult to know what this species list means in terms of species affected – click here. An interesting gull list and just one passerine in the list!
Bird flu2: wintering Sandhill Cranes have been dying of bird flu in Indiana – 1500+ of them (click here). This link – click here – provides information from the USA on detections in wild birds but also in dairy cows (quite a lot) and there are some human cases including one death, it seems. Robert F. Kennedy, who was put in charge of health matters by Trump, has suggested letting the disease rip in order to find the resistant birds that could form the basis for building a resistant stock. Something similar was considered as a covid response in the UK. US scientists are quoted as opposing Kennedy’s suggestion because intensively-farmed chickens and turkeys are killed so quickly that they never (?) produce antibodies to the disease. I wonder what the death rate is in Wild Turkeys in the USA?
Bird flu3: a paper in British Birds (by Tim Birkhead and Ben Hatchwell) assesses the impacts of bird flu on the Guillemot colony on Skomer which has been studied for five decades. The 2023 outbreak of bird flu led to a higher-than-usual number of recoveries of (dead) ringed Guillemots that July and August and counts of ringed birds in 2024 suggested that about a quarter of the colony had been lost the year before. There were impacts on nesting success too which will take some years to work their way through. For a not very relevant comparison (perhaps), UK human covid deaths in 2020 numbered around 72,000, or 1 in 1000 of the population, or 0.1%.
In Manitoba, the Assembly of First Nations has issued a statement on Bird Flu. As you can see, the concern is world-wide. Please help by keeping your feeders and bird baths clean and follow any directives that you are given. So far no one is asking for songbird feeders to be taken down. The fear is for the migratory birds that are coming to their spring and summer breeding grounds.
‘PB’ loved Smallie like all of us. She sends news that there are three falcon eggs at Amersfoort. How grand!
At Robert Fuller’s kestrel nest, the couple, Apollo and Athena, are fighting to protect their eggs. https://youtu.be/qFeLnxjXT24?
The’ quiet’ was one of the best things about being on Hecla Island during the winter. (The hardest was being away from The Girls). Hardly anyone was there except for those ice fishing and the odd tourists. The snow was pure white – not dirty with salt and sand like the City. You could see the deer in the woods, the Crows and Eagles flying overhead, and some small birds murmuring. A few gulls were sitting on the top of the lighthouse and, of course, at least one very large grey wolf. Without the foliage, it was also easy to spot Crow nests, a few eagle nests and one osprey, one near Winnipeg Beach. It felt so good. As most of you know, I am not fond of the City. While I have dreamed of moving to ‘the middle of nowhere’, my heart is also with the animals that occupy our garden. So this summer, we must plant even more trees to enclose us; perhaps, it will be a buffer for noise and other humans. Yellow Warblers on the Galapagos Islands feel the same as I do about traffic noise!
Closing on a really upbeat note – Cornell’s Red Tail Hawk Big Red has been working on that egg cup on Friday. We could have eggs soon!
Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care. We hope to have you with us again soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, images, articles, posts, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, J, PB’, IWS/Explore, NEFL-AEF, FOBBV, John Bunker Sands Wetlands, Duke Farms, NCTC, Deb Stecyk, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Dyfi Osprey Project, Kielder Forest Ospreys, Threave Castle, Meigs Point Ospreys, Eschenbach Ospreys, Joanna Castanyer, Woodland Trust (LOTL), Lynn Cracknell, Knepp Farm White Storks, Cultured Northeast, First Alert 6, Mark Avery, Robert Fuller, Town of Amersfoort Falcons, The Guardian, LRWT, Cornell Red Tail Hawk Cam, Hancock Wildlife Foundation, Manitoba Assembly of First Nations, Osp, Birds of Poole Harbour, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn
Blue NC0, the resident female at Loch of the Lowes, also arrived on St Patrick’s Day to her nest waiting to see if the new male from last year, after LM12 (Laddie) passed came courting.
She is gorgeous. She flew over the loch landing on the nest at 14:23.
In 2023, Blue NC0 also arrived on the 17th of March. Last year, she touched down early on the 8th of March. Her and Maya from Manton Bay often arrive near to one another and today, of course, they landed back in the UK safely on the same today.
Maya sent Blue 25 packing off the nest just like she did last year. So glad to see her home and hoping she is healthy and this is a good year for this nest.
What an incredible sight this morning, when just before 10am we saw our resident female Osprey Maya land on the Manton Bay nest.
Maya has been in Rutland since 2009 and has been breeding on the Manton Bay nest since 2010. During that time she has raised an amazing 38 chicks, making her the most successful breeding female Osprey on record.
As we are watching the live stream now there is a fierce battle going on between Maya and female 25(10). 25(10) has been on the nest for the last couple of days, and when this same scenario happened in 2023 Maya eventually saw her off and 25(10) returned to her usual nesting site.”
Maya caught her own fish. Blue 33 you had better get busy and get another one for her!
Thank you to the Woodland Trust (Loch of the Lowes) and to the LRWT (Manton Bay) for their streaming cams and posts on FB and Geemeff for the video of Maya.
I apologise for being late with the Monday posting.
At Lake Murray, Mum came down from her perch to sleep with her only surviving chick. Did she hear the GHO. Oh, if this chick can only put on some good weight and if the beams from the strobes were the same as they were Saturday night, Middle might stand a chance. (Note: Little was taken the first night and it appears that Big was taken Sunday night.)
Baby was safe this morning. Oh, please, let this nest keep one!
As we recover from the second GHO predation at Lake Murray, we must – where possible – advise the osprey and eagle nests of the success of the Cowlitz PUD experiment with the metal fish grids. I keep talking about the economical cost. Two fish grids with a welded rod attached to opposite sides of an Osprey platform. That is all you need! It works. A baffle at the base of the pole for raccoons would always sweeten the deal. If you know of a nest that suffers predation from other raptors, please advise them. You can feel free to copy this. They can contact Cowlitz PUD and they will happily tell them how they did it. We need to be proactive. No sense osprey parents working hard to fledge chicks only to fatten them up for owls and eagles who can find other meals.
‘B’ wrote with a very good question. I want to go through my files and put my ‘thinking cap’ on with ‘H’. It is not a topic that we have put into our data forms which are related to ’causes of death in ospreys’ and, specifically, siblicide, but it is worthy of some good notes and someone might be working on this research and I am unaware.
I wonder if there is a statistical difference in predation from osprey nests on platforms that humans have installed specifically for them, as opposed to predation from nests on natural sites that the ospreys have selected? (That is, are the ospreys somehow better able to select a site from their own choices among natural sites than when they receive implicit encouragement to use a site selected by humans? Have the ospreys built up some sort of knowledge from experience and historical patterns?)
I have not seen a difference. In fact, if I think of overall predation by other raptors for the past three years, it ‘seems’ higher on natural nests in the UK and Finland than on platoforms in the US – the deaths there were mostly caused by weather related events or eggs that DNH. The major predator in the UK and Europe appears to be the goshawk that lives in the nearby forests. These nests are not in urban areas as a rule like many are in North America.
A goshawk came and took one of the osprey chicks at Llyn Clywedog right when Seren was feeding them in 2023!
This is a comment by John Williams who cares for these ospreys: ‘This blog was never going to be easy to write, but yesterday at just before 16:30 a goshawk attacked the nest and took one of our young ospreys. It was blue 8B1, the attack was very quick and out of the blue. Both juveniles and Seren 5F was on the nest eating the fish when it happened. All distracted by the food their guard was down. You could see Seren 5F looking down to the ground as if she could see him down there.’ (I have placed a file at the end of this, the entire sad report by John Williams. I was glad to see him refer to the birds as ‘family’ because that is, of course, how ‘H’ and I feel about those we monitor).
A young goshawk took a female chick that had just been ringed at Kielder Forest in 2023 from the nest of Mr and Mrs UV. The couple are raising chicks again this season on that very nest.
Goshawks also attack ospreys in Latvia and in one nest in particular the male has failed to attract a new mate because of this. The rumour, this great sadness of chicks taken, must have spread. It was the nest of Theo and Vita.
The new fledgling, Sacha, named after Sacha Dench and The Flight of the Osprey, was attacked by a goshawk at Tweed Valley. To my knowledge, the ospreys are still breeding there.
CJ7 and Blue 022 are still using their nest in Poole Harbour despite the goshawk taking their fledgling H52 on 5 August 2022.
In the US, people will remember Steve and Rachel and the attacks on their nest. Rachel did not return from migration and Steve and his new mate, Callie, refuse to use the on-camera Hog Island nest despite restoring it and mating and having fish gifts. “Last year, the rangers posted a photo of a very remote nest on Hog Island that they believe was used by Steve and Callie (H)”. ‘H’ also adds, “Dory and Skiff had Skipper that was predated by an owl in July 2023, but they did not change nest sites. The primary nest that I know of is Hog Island.”
There was a spate of killings in Finland and I do wonder if some of the nests without families this year are those. I would have to do some more research and check for certain.
Della and Warren have their first hatch of the 2024 season at Mispillion Harbour.
There is the first hatch at Clark PUD.
Olive and Oscar’s little chick at The Port of Ridgefield is peeking up – look under Mum’s fluffies -. So cute. This nest will be getting lots of predator protection for the 2025 nesting season.
Cutie Pie baby at Boulder County.
And another one at Cowlitz. Let us hope those fish grates hold this year against predating raptors in the area like they did last year.
There is a hatch at Moraine State Park on Monday.
Idris and Telyn are celebrating the hatch of their third chick. It is the 15th year for Ospreys at Dyfi in Wales.
There are now three for CJ7 and Blue 022. CJ7 is making valiant efforts to get that little one some fish.
Beautiful Dorcha is feeding her three chicks. Louis keeps that pantry full despite in climate weather.
Louis delivered six fish on Monday. SIX large fish!!
And there is the first hatch for Elen and Aran!
The three osplets at Smallwood State Park in Maryland are doing very well. Like Manton Bay they are right on the water and I hope it is full of fish!
The three at Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home are getting a little rowdy, especially the two older ones. Arthur needs to being in many more large fish – if they are even available, maybe not. Or lots and lots of fish deliveries very close together! Fingers crossed for this little one.
Patchogue Nest is so full of garbage you can hardly see the chicks.
Radford University has two babies. Here is the link to their camera in Virginia.
There are four osplets at Field Farm.
At the Loch of the Lowes, Blue NCO lost her chance for a family when Laddie was killed/died. She had two suitors – a Pale Male and a Dark Male. Now Mrs G’s (Glaslyn matriarch did not return in 2023 from migration) granddaughter 7C1 has been battling with Blue NCO for the nest and she was on the nest with the Dark Male on Monday. It is not going to be nice this nest attempted take over.
Archie is working over time to keep his four babies fed!
The trio from the Denton Homes nest are doing very well at SOAR. As well as can be expected when they are being raised in care. Safe, well fed, nice vet care.
Across Europe firefighters work tirelessly to save the lives of storks – whether it is fishing line or floods or just abandonment.
Other ordinary individuals adopt storks and feed them. Makes my heart warm up!
Bety and Bukacek had only one hatch out of two eggs at Mlade Buky this season.
Iris and Finnegan hoping for a family.
The fledglings still visit the nest at the Venice Golf course in Florida while that nest that was loaded with fish at Fisherman’s Creek appears to have no more visitors.
It is very difficult to tell how much food Smallie is getting at Amersfoort. ‘PB’ reports that Smallie was very clever and jumped out of the box to get fed and then back inside. Yeap for Smallie.
Larry’s eyases are getting pretty independent and not sure they want Mum telling them what to do!
Pip/Hatch watch at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum coming up in 3-4 days.
‘H’ reports on the nests she is monitoring:
“5/17 Patuxent osprey nest – There were six fish brought to the nest by Dad. After two days with very little to eat, chick 3 “Little” finally had a couple good meals on Monday. At 0715 Dad brought a medium size whole fish, and Little was not allowed to eat. It’s not just ‘Big’ that is aggressive toward Little, but also ‘Middle’ at times. Dad quickly brought another fish at 0805, while the two older chicks were still full, and Little was able to eat 52 bites of fish. Little was shut out of the third feeding. At 1336 Dad brought a very large headless fish, for a feeding that lasted nearly an hour. Little ate 70 bites of fish at that meal, and had a nice crop. There were two more fish deliveries from Dad of small fish, and Little was not able to get any bites of those fish.”
“5/27 The Mispillion Harbor Delaware osprey nest of Della and Warren has their first baby of the season. One egg remains.”
“5/27 Captiva ospreys: They had a better fishing day with 8 fish brought to the nest, including a partial catfish from Edie. Darling (CO8) was only completely shut out of one short meal, and s/he managed a couple nice crops.”
Could this Golden Eagle nest be the exception to the rule of ‘Cainism’? There are two healthy eaglets at the Golden Eagle nest in Estonia. The first chick always eats first but there is enough food for all and second chick eats well, too along with Mum. Fingers Crossed.
The camera has been on and off with ‘Highlights’ at the West End. I have been told that Koa has branched. I did not see it! They are so big!
It was yesterday but we can celebrate today. One of my heroes.
Thank you so much for being with me today. This was a quick check on all those hatches and some coming up. It is a busy week and there are still eggs to hatch – lots of them! Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, questions, posts, videos, articles and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, J, H, SP, PB’, Heidi McGrue, Clark PUD, Port of Ridgefield, Boulder County, Cowlitz PUD, Moraine St Park, Dyfi Osprey Project, BofPH, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Smallwood State Park, Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home, PSEG, Radford University Ospreys, Field Farm, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), SK Hideways, SOAR, CS, Mlade Buky Stork Cam, Montana Osprey Project, VGCCO, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Amersfoort Falcons, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Patuxent River Park, Mispillion Harbour, Window to Wildlife, Eagle Club of Estonia, IWS/Explore, and USFWS History Archives.
The Girls and I hope that you have had a wonderful week. We are so grateful that you are here with us and for your Leo and care for the wildlife – and all the animals – that grace our lives. Today is a bit of a hodgepodge. I mention Cal Falcons early on and then later bring them in again…my mind was a bit wandering! Most of all I would like to continue to convey my gratitude towards those that care for ospreys on platforms or trees and who are mindful of the dangers to their lives and take preventative action.
We are in the midst of the biggest downpour of the year. The thunder clapping and lighting sent Hugo Yugo running out of the conservatory in sheer fright! That has stopped and she is back with everyone except for Baby Hope who much prefers to nap on my bed during the day. Calico and Missey have called a truce with one on the hassock and the other on the back of the sofa pillows. They seem non-phased by the rain hitting the glass roof.
There was a beautiful rainbow when the sun finally began coming out!
‘H’ and I continue and will continue to monitor Little at Lake Murray, although it breaks my heart to know that predator-fish grids – could have been installed to protect these young from the resident GHO and were not put in place. It is hard cheering a little one on when it gets fed and smiling at its big crop when you know the outcome could be that it will be lunch for an owlet. Cowlitz PUD had great success with their simple placement of fish grates on opposite sides of their osprey platform. They are happy to share that information and everyone that has an osprey nest should install these. It might also work with goshawk predation.
H reports: “Kenny delivered a small whole fish at 1220. Little had the perfect positioning again… on Lucy’s left side, with the older sibs to Lucy’s right. Little was fed 20 bites of fish before Lucy moved, and exposed Little, and he was beaked. It was only an 11 minute feeding. Little managed to get two more bites of fish, for 22 bites at this meal.”
I note that Little was shut out of the afternoon fish until Kenny came in with a third back-to-back one and Little got in a good position and ate almost all of the fish.
Then great dad Kenny brought in so many fish back to back that Little got the majority of the 17:29 and all of the 1811! Way to go Little. The two big ones did not even bother standing up for the last fish they were so full from the earlier deliveries.
This family is working so hard they really do deserve protection from those owls. I am shattered that this was not done in the offseason. If money was an issue, try a CrowdFunder. The cost of two fish grates and welding could not be that much compared to the price of setting up an osprey platform or to the lives of the birds.
Others are keeping an eye on Lake Murray and I am grateful for MM’s morning observations: “dad brought a small fish in at 5:56 am which mom and number 3 ate most of except for a few bites to number 1. I think #3 got beaked one time other than that it was a quiet breakfast. At 7:46 am dad brought in what appeared to be just the head of a fish. #3 lucked up for the first few minutes and was on the far side of mom out of the eyes of the other two and recieved about 24 bites before mom changed her position and blew 3s cover at which time it was beaked away from the table. Feeding ended pretty soon after since it was only the head. So overall #3 has ate a decent morning as far as food goes.”
And even ‘A’ who doesn’t watch osprey nests has fallen in love with Lake Murray’s Little Bob. She adds, “
I am amazed by the third hatch at Lake Murray. It is simply incredible. Lining up right next to its fearsome siblings, reaching across in front of them to take bites. This is one brave little osplet. I think his older, larger siblings are actually slightly in awe at his daring. Why else do they allow him to get away with it? But the key point is, he is brave. He is prepared to take risks to get fed, and I honestly do believe Lucy has made that choice we often see mums make in these situations. This one has earned the right to a chance, and Lucy is giving him that chance. I could be wrong – I have only been watching the nest closely for three or four days, but that is certainly my impression.
I must also say that pretty much every time I’ve turned to the stream, the three osplets all have very noticeable crops (including the smallest). I have on several occasions watched the youngest crop drop several times in order to continue eating more and more. He is definitely getting plenty of food!
Whether or not this nest has turned a corner, it is way too early to say that because the level of aggression is still very scary on occasions. It may be that the two older osplets are now more interested in each other than in their youngest sibling – it certainly seems that way. Yes, they do intimidate the youngest, but as long as he takes the appropriate action and displays suitably respectful behaviours, they seem to be threatening him, looming over him, but then leaving him alone. Watch him feeding around 04:13 yesterday afternoon (16 May). Let’s hope, having put the oily teenage phase behind them, they will now learn to get along nicely, as we have often seen before on osprey nests. Talons crossed.
I didn’t intend to become involved in an osprey nest, especially one with three osplets and a siblicide threat hanging over it. Unfortunately, due to your blog, I happened to stumble across the live stream and instantly fell in love with Little Bob. He is just so cute and so very brave and clever, I couldn’t help it. You just have to root for the chicks like this one. And like others before him, I think, he is going to learn so much from all this bullying that he will fledge as a smart, resourceful juvenile with a great chance of survival as a wild osprey. “
Dixie fledged on Thursday morning at Superbeaks just like Mason did!
In case you missed it, here are some banding day highlights form Cal Falcons. Two boys and 2 girls and they need names.
Poor Annie gets it right in the face!
I am always touched by the kindness of humans to our wildlife friends that we share our planet. It is so timely that this edition found its way to my inbox. Yesterday I sat and chatted with my allergy doctor (I don’t have allergies but I do have Nonallergic vasomotor rhinitis which causes my sinuses to cause my nose to run like a water hydrant on a hot day in the summer. He lives in the country. People have taken to letting their children use bee bee guns to shoot squirrels. He builds homes for the squirrels! Or to sit on their porch with shot guns looking for a coyote to kill. It made us both sick and I sighed that living in the country was no different than in the middle of a large urban city. Some will care for our wildlife friends and others are so ignorant and cruel – best ignore them and do what we can.
This story of how one family dealt with nests at the doorway will melt your heart. It is from Orion Magazine.
Tracking data indicates that those amazing Sandhill Cranes that migrate through Nebraska and come up to Canada travel as far as NE Asia in their winter migration!
A Tree Pipit visits Dorcha and Louis’s nest at Loch Arkaig. If you don’t know how large ospreys are, this will give you a good idea.
The weather at the PSEG Patchogue nest has been torrential rains. Mum and Dad have been doing heroics to keep the chicks dry and warm. Weather like this is always troubling as the chicks can get ‘colds’ and not thrive. Let’s hope for sunshine and some fish!
I often talk about the lack of siblicide in the Peregrine Falcon and Hawk populations. It does occur. It is extremely rare. Even the smallest hatch normally survives. I did find a short letter with some good information in it on one exception.
The second egg has been laid at Dunrovin on May 16 in the morning. Congratulations Winnie and Swoop.
Precious baby. Rutland. Grateful for the quick intervention on Wednesday. Rutland Water is to to be praised. This baby tried hard to get out of those cot rails and back to its mother. Blue 33 brings in some really big fish and despite eating their head they are sometimes still alive and flapping. So glad this little one, their only one, survived.
Sometimes people listen when we make loud noises for things that will protect the raptors. Well done!
And Geemeff reminds me that even The Woodland Trust that has a non-intervention policy has placed Pine Marten baffles around the two trees at Loch Arkaig that are occupied by the ospreys. Before it is too late, those osprey nests under threat by predation should have metal grids placed opposite one another, as at Cowlitz PUD Osprey platform, for the bird’s protection.
What has caught the attention of Louis and Dorcha?
There are now two Golden Eaglets in the Bucovina nest in Romania. Without exception, the eldest will kill and eat the second hatchling. Please be advised of this historical practice of this species if you are watching this streaming cam.
The precise term is “mandatory/obligatory cainism”. The oldest has no choice. Looduskalender published one of the most concise definitions: “The killing is done by pushing away from food and / or by direct attacks. Usually the dead body is not eaten, but it is often fed by the parent birds. While with many species of birds the nest killing of siblings during malnutrition is common, the act of killing is independent of the food situation in species with obligatory cainism. Mandatory cainism is similar to the inherent nest clearing behaviour of the Cuckoo and can be also triggered experimentally, for example by presenting a white cloth ball to the young bird. The attacks of the older towards the younger siblings usually begin with the day of hatching of the latter. Most of the younger birds survive only a few days. The parents do not hamper these attacks, it has been repeatedly observed that the older young bird continued his attacks even when a parent bird would feed him. The roles of “Cain” and “Abel” are determined solely by the sequence of hatch, in experimental transposition of “Abel” to a younger sibling, this “Abel” immediately took over the role of “Cain” and attacked the younger nestling. In further experiments on Verreaux’s eagle eagles, the aggressiveness of the siblings lasted at least until the completion of the major plumage growth. The nest of the species with obligatory cainism usually consists of two eggs. That’s why if both eggs hatch, only the older nestling survives.” (June 18, 2013).
The aerial acrobats of the falcons at Cal’s The Campanile are going to continue to get impressive as Archie and Annie demonstrate and then teach the Fab Four how to survive in the wild.
A video encapsulation of the Cal Falcon eyases growth over the past weeks.
The news is worrisome for the fish at Captiva and the warm waters could be the reason that Ospreys have not had chicks late in the season in the Barrier Islands.
‘H’ reports: “It was another slow fishing day for Jack. The water of the small bay between the islands is warm, and the fish may have gone deeper.
The first feeding was not until 1119, and consisted of a small whole silver perch. CO7 intimidated CO8. CO7 ate, and later beaked CO8 at 1125 when s/he attempted to approach. It was only a 13 minute feeding, and CO8 had nothing to eat.
Meal number two was at 1217, a partial sheepshead. CO7 was in a position to be fed, and CO8 was intimidated a few times and stayed back. The feeding was over by1235. Nothing for CO8.
Jack brought in a whole hardhead catfish at 1549, and the third feeding started around 1551. With fewer fish, CO7 has been extra aggressive today. CO7 beaked CO8 on multiple occasions. At 1610 and 1614 CO7 seemed to be done eating for a while so CO8 made his move toward Edie, but CO7 beaked him and then ate some more each time. At 1617 CO8 attempted to move even further away from Edie, but was followed by CO7 and beaked. Finally, at 1620 CO7 moved away from Edie, and allowed CO8 to eat! CO8 ate for a full 10 minutes, and ate approximately 142 bites of catfish. At that point CO7 had returned to eat some more, until the fish was about finished. CO8 then ate at least 6 more bites while Edie was trying to pull some flesh off of a tough piece of skin. Oh, yes…CO8 had a nice crop!
Feeding four was at 1936. Edie had brought in a partial catfish at 1935 (strange that Edie did not have a crop). CO7 would not let CO8 eat. CO8 snuck one bite. At 1955 Eddie rushed off to chase Clive (the neighboring eagle), and she returned a few minutes later. Upon her return, she fed CO8 a few bits of the scraps remaining. CO8 had a total of 5 or 6 bites of fish.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better fishing day. It will take a lot of fish to calm CO7 down.”
Ildiko Pork got some good screen shots of Mum and the oldest and only surviving chick of three at the University of Florida-Gainesville osprey platform. It looks like the osplet is healthy and will survive. Stella is doing well providing for it and her after Talon’s disappearance.
Maria Marika reports that the four Bolewice storklets are doing well. Great news.
‘H’ reports that there is a second hatch at Outerbanks. “517, The earliest that I could see the second chick fully out of the shell was at 00:18.”
At the Netherlands Peregrine Falcon nest, watched closely by PB, she reports that the Smallie has gained some feathers and she is really hoping for its survival. With the good rate of success by the falcon nests, we will all be cheering this little one on.
And just look at Monty and Hartley’s four to put a smile on your day!
At the Loch of the Lowes, Blue NCO is getting acquainted with the ‘dark male’ that has appeared on the nest tree for a few days.
Tom and Audrey are not having any luck at Kent Island this year as ‘H’ reports.
Thank you for being with me this morning. Take care everyone. We wish you a ‘Rainbow’ of a day.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, observations, articles, and streaming cams that helped me write my post this morning: ‘A, Geemeff, H, MM, PB’, Lake Murray Ospreys, Heidi McGrue, SK Hideaways, Orion Magazine, Audubon, Geemeff, PSEG, Raptor Research Foundation, LRWT, Bald Eagles 101-Judy’s Post, Looduskalender, Wild Bucovina, Window to Wildlife, Ildiko Pork, Maria Marika, Outbanks 24/7, the Netherlands Falcon scrape, Chesapeake Conservancy, and The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL).
I am using the word murder because this is an isolated area, restricted during breeding season, and someone would have deliberately taken out a firearm of some sort to kill this precious bird. This is not an accident.
There is heartbreaking news coming out of Scotland. I am putting it in order as I receive it but it sounds as if someone has killed our dear Laddie and that his disappearance was not due to old age/natural causes. This is extremely disturbing if that is the case.
I want you to imagine a beautiful loch restricted for fishing and human activities from the time the Ospreys arrive to the end of the breeding season. I want you to imagine quiet. We hear of other raptors being killed near grouse moors, but when was the last time you heard of a fish eating raptor being killed in the UK? True, there have been some very ‘sick’ stories coming out of regions of the US where ospreys were targeted. The last incident I heard was the deliberate cutting down of the Llyn Brenig platform in Wales. One egg was on the nest. It disturbed the entire breeding season. At Loch of the Lowes, we have Laddie. He was the resident male beginning in 2012. He is unringed so we do not know his history. He probably did not get a mate and a nest until he was four. Let’s use four as a reasonable beginning point. That means that Laddie is approximately sixteen or seventeen years old when he was killed. In that time, he flew to his wintering grounds. Let’s hypothesise that he went to West Africa. That is a distance of 2951 miles from Perthshire to Senegal. If Laddie hatched in 2007, he made his first trip to Africa then and flew 2951 miles. He remained there until he was a two-year old returning to the area around his natal nest which would be Scotland. So another 2951 miles in the spring of 2009 (making it a total of 5902 miles per year for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and another 2951 on his return in the spring of 2024. That is a total flight distance just or a probably migration of 94,432 miles in total without incident. It is staggering and that is why I have listed the years individually.
Laddie left his nest and Blue NCO after delivering a fish at lunchtime on the 28th of April. He did not return.
He travelled more than most people and probably much more than the individual who lifted a gun and shot him out of the sky. It is unbelievable. He lived through the truly trying juvenile years when we lose almost 2 out o every 3 ospreys, he made at least 17 round trip migrations to be blown out of the sky doing what he did this time every year – delivering fish to his mate on the nest incubating their eggs, Blue NCO (the latest of his mates).
Laddie did not kill grouse. He did not swoop down and take chickens out of a coop. He fished quietly on a Scottish loch. It terrifies me for all the others who have eggs in the nest because someone out there thinks their lives do not matter. This is no different than someone sitting on a chimney pot and shooting Hugo Yugo or one of the other girls through the conservatory’s windows. They do it because they have the power to kill. It is time for the people to stand up for those who cannot defend themselves. Let Laddie be a symbol of the love and respect that we have for our raptors. Show these people that they are wrong. We do care. Force the Scottish Government to persecute this individual and make it meaningful, not a laughing stock.
“Police Scotland Tayside have posted on Facebook:
“We are appealing for information after the remains of an osprey were found near Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross, on Friday, 3 May, 2024.
The protected species is believed to have been nesting at Loch of the Lowes, close to where it was found.
Enquiries are at an early stage to establish the full circumstances.
Inspector James Longden said: “It is illegal to kill any protected species and we are working closely alongside partner agencies to confirm what has happened here and whether there is any criminality involved.
“Information from the local community could prove vital and it is important we speak to anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area, or who may know something which could assist our investigation.
“Any information can be passed to Police Scotland on 101 quoting incident number 3266 of Friday, 3 May, 2024. You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
This news will send ripples of concern throughout the UK Osprey platforms. The platform at Llyn Brenig was cut down a couple of years ago and we know that Hen Harriers, eagles, and even Red Kites have been killed around the grouse moors intentionally. Why would anyone want to kill an osprey?
The remaining issue is Blue NCO and the eggs. This is a human caused tragedy. The police would not be investigating if Laddie had died from natural causes or a battle for territory. Since this is the case, do we not have an obligation to provide fish for Blue NCO and the eggs, if they hatch, until such time as Mum is able to care for them entirely by herself? The terrain and the location might make this difficult if not impossible but they do ring the chicks. Of course, the best situation would be that the eggs would be abandoned and Blue NCO would move on with no chicks to worry about starving.
And now news arrives of a Peregrine Falcon being shot. This is becoming more than troubling.
This morning it was discovered that Maya and Blue 33 are only incubating two eggs. Here is the news from Rutland. We know they can count now we know that they can also spot viable and non-viable eggs. Brilliant birds.
Tuffy and Ruffie compare wingers. Hilarious. As funny as this video is there is something rather disturbing too and that is the state of the nest at Moorings Park. The rails appear to be sliding off and well, I don’t even want to think about either of these beautiful osplets prematurely sliding off or being blown off the sides. Is it too much to appeal to Moorings Park to do major reconstruction during the off-season like they do at some nests in the UK? Where the rails are secured? Nesting material enhanced?
The Captiva osplets are in the reptile stage! Thanks, ‘H’ for that FB video clip.
The oldest osplet at Florida-Gainesville and Mum are faring alright.
Samson’s new mate, Blue 500, has been named Augusta after she laid their first egg on 3 May 2024 at the Border Osprey nest. Samson’s former mate, Juno, did not return from migration.
‘H’ reports that at Severna Park, Olivia and Oscar have their third egg.
‘H’ also checks in on Lake Murray and the triplets appear to be doing fine.
The two osplets at Frenchman’s Creek seem to be working their way through the fish that Dad brought.
A hatch at Surrey. I am posting this because of the unusual nature in the way that the shell cracked during hatch. The little one made it out safely!
Gorgeous Big Red and N1 and N2.
The female has been fish calling at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. The male appeared later on Saturday but I have not seen any fish deliveries. Intruders? Anyone watching this nest closely?
Three beauties at the Venice Golf and Country Club Osprey Platform.
Lessons in plucking for those two big Decorah North eaglets.
Fraser Point eaglets doing fantastic.
The trio at the West End are real ‘treasures’.
Rescued chick back home at Bald Canyon and both have full crops.
The oldest and the youngest at Little Miami:
Checking on the Finnish nests:
Janakkala: Incubation
Paltamo: No eggs yet
Muonio: Unsure.
Ylläslompolo: No eggs
Beautiful female on her German nest.
For those looking forward to the Glacier Gardens Eagle Cam, there could be issues this year.
For those wondering about Richmond and Rosie, it is unclear whether there are two or three eggs. They sure didn’t make it easy for us this year!
The third egg at the Green Ledge Light Preservation Society on Long Island was laid on 2 May.
During the time that I conducted research in Mumbai for my PhD and later when I was writing all of that up, I met many Zoroastrians. They are often called Parsees (Parsi) and they immigrated to India from Iran after being persecuted by Muslims. They have unique traditions and, one in particular, the non-burial of their dead. They leave the bodies of their deceased for vultures to clean. The bodies do not contaminate the air, the soil, or the water. Today, this community is facing a particular challenge and it concerns a lack of vultures.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care – there is a flu bug or something going around and it isn’t nice! See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, H, J, PB’, Scottish Wildlife Foundation (LOTL), Police Scotland Tayside, LOTL Visitor’s Centre, Val Gail, Daily Record, Geemeff, Raptor Persecution UK, Rutland Osprey Project, Heidi McGrue, Moorings Park Ospreys, Window to Wildlife, Border Ospreys, SK Hideaways, Cal Falcons, Severna Park, Lake Murray Ospreys, Frenchman’s Creek Ospreys, Hancock Wildlife Foundation, Cornell RTH Cam, Miami Landscape Arboretum, VGCCO, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, IWS/Explore, Gracie Shepherd, Little Miami Conservancy, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Green Ledge Light Preservation Society, and The Guardian.
*Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to credit the correct individuals for their contributions. If an error has been made, please let me know! I wish to fix it.*
