Tag Archives: Louis and Dorcha

Friday in Bird World

24 June 2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The remains of a very large sucker.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eagles tumble, tug-o-fish, and rehab…a busy day in Bird World

23 June 2022

It is 96 degrees F on top of the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. Big and Middle are feeling the heat. ‘R’ tells me that a cooling down rain is on the way. Wish for rain!

I am extremely grateful to ‘R’ for the time stamp for the tug-o-fish between Big and Middle at the UFlorida nest. No rain but you can clearly see why the adults get out of the way once they drop a fish!

Wildlife suffer in the heat. As temperatures rise, scientists are noticing that birds are adapting somewhat by being smaller in size and by moving north to cooler climates. That said, it was 100.4 degrees F in Winnipeg two days ago and it was scorching hot yesterday and today. Will there even be a cool spot?

As you may be aware, the ND-LEEF nest – home to Little Bit 17 partially collapsed a couple of days ago. The adults tested the remainder of the nest and have been bringing in prey and feeding the three eaglets. Both 15 and 16 have fledged. Little Bit is not ready yet. Last evening both 15 and 16 were perched on a dead branch. It broke. Both flew off. 15 has been located but not 16.

So far the nest is holding and Little Bit is alright. Continue to send all that positive energy!

Parents are delivering prey to the nest and 15 has come in to eat. It looks like there is a raccoon on the nest as well. Little Bit 17 is fine. Eagles are solitary raptors for the most part. I suspect he is enjoying getting more of the prey and having his crop full.

The third hatch of Big Red and Arthur, L3, was found injured last evening. Here is the full announcement from Cornell.

Isn’t she gorgeous? Wishing her a speedy recovery.

At Loch Arkaig, Louis brought in two nice sized fish in less than 12 minutes. In the end, he decided to tandem feed with Dorcha – so everyone was really full! Fantastic. It looks like the weather is much better there. Thankfully.

Oh, its soggy at Llyn Clywedog, home to Dylan and Seren and the three Bobs.

It was soggy earlier in the Glaslyn valley home to Mrs G and Aran.

Below the Glaslyn nest there are sheep and cattle. You can usually hear them.

The nest started drying out later in the afternoon. There is Mrs G with those 3 big Bobs. Is it possible they are all Bobettes?

It is rather idyllic at the Loch of the Lowes. Blue NC0 looks out over the loch with her two big Bobs that should be getting ringed any day now.

Oh, it was hot on the Canadian Prairies and the heat made it very difficult to count ducklings and goslings.

I did not see any ducklings, only goslings today. I wonder if the rain and flooding ruined all their eggs?

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, ND-LEEF, Cornell University, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery, and Scottish Wildlife Trust, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Woodland Trust, and CarnyXWild, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn.

Summer Solstice in Bird World!

21 June 2022

In the northern hemisphere, this is the day when the earth is tilted at its maximum to the sun – the longest sunny day. It has been pitching down rain and now….the sun is shining bright and the temperatures have dropped from the blistering 38 to a mere 20 C. The birds are active and the air conditioning is turned off. Nice. Today I will be sorting through all the things that were in Little Red’s penthouse looking for tomato cages. With the heat and the rain, the tomato plants are almost as tall as I am – seriously. But, let’s see what is happening with our birds, first.—–Oh, and now it is clouding over again and the torrential rain is back. Goodness. I sure hope our City imported a lot of Dragon flies this year to eat those mosquitoes.

The Canadian celebrities continue to be the little hawklet who is living with the Bald Eagles on Gabriola Island in British Columbia. Malala is very cute – and one lucky Red-tail hawklet. Of course, he thinks he is an Eagle! Doing well. Branched the other day. Can you imagine? This wildlife rehab group just put up the camera a few months prior to the eagles arriving and now they are the talk of Bird World? This is a good interview by CBC radio.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-the-monday-edition-1.6495076/an-eagle-snatched-a-baby-hawk-for-dinner-then-ended-up-adopting-it-1.6495246?fbclid=IwAR2T_4Mhw4tgXNvli_SHd6xDPlr1aMWUOx1q-QsoBwDbH3Ef8p9nb7KN0rw

The fledglings at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey platform continue to return to the nest for food and sometimes just to have a quick rest. Gosh, these two are doing really well after a very rocky start on this nest. They are waiting for the tea time fish drop!

What gorgeous birds these two have turned out to be. They know where home is. I wonder if they have been trying to fish on their own yet?

I was able to get some more information about the history of the Mispillion Harbour Ospreys. The woman at the DuPont Centre is not certain that this is the same couple that were on the nest when the camera was installed. Lynn Pussey said, “We’ve generally had good success with our nest, with 2-3 successful fledgelings each year. The only exception to that was 2017 when we lost one chick early on to siblicide and the other two to illness. This year was odd because we had 4 eggs but only 2 hatch. But those two are healthy and growing. Other than that, we usually see all eggs hatch and all chicks successfully fledge.”

 

I wonder if these chicks will be prone to bringing bright coloured material to their nests in a few years?

Little Bit 17 at the ND-LEEF nest just proves that being small is not a hindrance when you are confident. Mum landed with something – I could not see it – and Little Bit mantled right away. One of the big siblings came and took a little piece but Little Bit held on and ate ‘it’! So impressed. 17 is so quick – just like the hawklet in the Bald Eagle nest at Gabriola Island.

Here is Little Bit 17 mantling and hanging on to its food. Take that 16!

Bukachek and Betty’s four White Storklets at Mlade Buky were ringed this morning.

Whatever was happening at the Loch of the Lowes dissipated yesterday when Laddie delivered 7 fish. He has already gotten a good start to this morning and Blue NC0 and the chicks are very happy. They should be ringing these two osplets soon.

The Welsh sunrise is really beautiful. There is always a soft pink glow over the Glaslyn Valley and the nest of Aran and Mrs G.

Aran has been letting out intruder calls in the afternoon around 15:50 but it didn’t stop him from getting Mrs G and the kids a nice fish.

101 votes have been cast guessing the gender of the three osplets at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn. It is a record. GGB is still out ahead with 40 of those votes! We will find out next week when they are ringed. So happy for the interest in this great Osprey family in Wales.

As KG and I said on the chat – the guessing of the genders adds a bit of fun to ringing day — it does. We can all use a smile these days.

It was a beautiful morning at Loch Garten. Mrs AX6 is looking good. She is a great mum.

Later in the day you can see the unviable egg and the two little Osplets.

Just look at those three big females with their bling at the Manton Bay nest of Blue 33 and Maya. I would sure welcome some of that sunshine!!!!!!! It is interesting. At Manton Bay there was no aggression this year — three females. At Port Lincoln Osprey barge last year, no aggression — all males. It is often when you have a female chick with males where you see all the beaking. Females require more food because they have to grow 1/3 larger and they are often very aggressive. Think ND16 at the LD-LEEF Bald Eagle nest.

June 20 was Bald Eagle Day in the US. I forgot. For all who celebrated, belated Happy Eagle Day!

Mr President has brought in two fish already to DC9 Takoda this morning! This is the second delivery. Everything is going as it should. Takoda fledged and is returning to the nest to be fed while getting those flying muscles strong — and take off and landings improved.

As the sun comes up on the Channel Islands, Sky is home alone at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta.

It isn’t long until Sky is joined by his younger brother, Ahote. Everyone is waiting for Akecheta to bring in some fish for breakfast. And never fear, Kana’kini is somewhere around the island and will no doubt fly in hoping to get some fish, too.

Chase and Cholyn’s Lancer has been getting some good air and doing some high hovering in the past few days. She is sure a beautiful eagle!

I am really glad that Kaia was not successful in eliminating one of the three healthy chicks on the Karula Forest Black Stork nest. They are all doing well and Karl II just brought in a heaping load of fish for them. What is interesting is watching them now as they stimulate the feeding by doing a special wing flap and lowering and raising their heads. So cute! And they are so nice and fat. These are doing super well and food does not seem to be an issue!

Jan and Janika’s Black Storklets in the care of the Vet Clinic were ringed. They should be moved to the forest enclosure soon – they are thinking 24 June. Today they are 30 days old. How lovely – so grateful to those folks who made it possible for these three to survive.

This morning Lindsay returned to The Campanile and she is chasing a moth! Look at the influence of Alden – both Lindsay and Grinnell Jr love chasing moths. So cute. It is also nice to know that both are safe and doing well. They certainly are loud!!!!!!!!

It continues to pour – just like the monsoon rains in SE Asia. Incredible. I am going to turn the AC off and get a sweater. The thunder is rolling and the temperature has really dropped.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures and their videos: Cal Falcons, Liz M and the EMU, Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlade Buky Storks, Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, NADC-AEF, LRWT, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery and the Woodland Trust, RSPB Loch Garten, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Mispillion Harbour Osprey Cam and DDNR, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, and the ND-LEEF.

Monday in Bird World

20 June 2022

It was hot but -not like yesterday- and the weather reports says it is currently raining – again – and will do so for a few hours! The heat and the rain have done amazing things in the garden including causing the tomato plants to grow so tall that they will not have to be transplanted into bigger pots with bamboo poles. They are the same ones that I always plant that have more or less just sat there for 4-5 years with about a dozen tomatoes on each. I understand not, more fully, why the gardeners and their crew are always busy and often use machetes to clean up the lawns and beds in the West Indies.

I was looking for information for another nest and I came across a 2020 Zoom conversation about the ND-LEEF Osprey nest – home to Little Bit 17 this year. Some of you might be interested in the discussion – the first sighting of the nest, the size, how many ospreys in the area, etc. Those stats would have changed over 2 years but they are interesting and helpful. The conversation starts at 26:28. There are some audio issues at the beginning.

The three osplets at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn will be ringed next week. The precise date will be announced one day prior. There is a guessing game going on as to the gender of the chicks on the Dyfi chat. Have a look, take a guess. It is all in good fun. The other day Idris brought in a Twaite Shad. The record catch of that particular species in Wales is 2 lb 2 oz. It is possible that Idris now holds the Welsh record! Hey – he’s fabulous – Daddy Longlegs. You gotta’ love him. Of course, he brought in another whopper not long ago.

BTW. Telyn is one of those Rutland gals that found a home in Wales. Manton Bay (Telyn’s Mum, Maya) has 3 girls this year we need some Welsh boys!!!!!!!! Although I think it is GGB on this nest. We will find out next week.

‘H’ introduced me to a new nest this morning by way of a question. I wonder how many are watching the Mispillion Harbor Osprey Cam at the DuPont Nature Centre? The nest is located on the Mispillion River and Cedar Creek on the west shore. There were four eggs. There are month old osplets on the nest currently- two of them. I cannot confirm what happened to the other two eggs.

‘H’ told me some wonderful stories about this nest – much appreciated! But the one about the piece of yellow material is just brilliant. Mum is apparently obsessed with it and it flew off one day and she went and retrieved it. She certainly isn’t using it to camouflage the chicks so why? Is it nice and soft and you don’t get poked with the sticks from the nest? It is quite a lovely colour and it is surprising how Ospreys get drawn to bright coloured items – Richmond -I think Rosie has broken him of bringing them to the nest and Jack – Harriet still contends with all those toys.

I did not know this nest before this morning. Never watched it. It is on the Mispillion River and Cedar Creek in Delaware – another nest in Delaware. The area is now protected so there is no development.

Dad brought in a whole fish this afternoon. Very nice. Most often the males will eat the heads. He must not be hungry.

Here is the link to their streaming cam.

Osprey Watch shows this population of Osprey nests in the area. Wow.

Laddie just brought in fish 7 to the Loch of the Lowes nest. He was unable to fish and not seen for 36 hours. It is assumed that he was busy getting rid of intruders other than an injury. There are definitely fish in the loch. Blue NC0 must be so full she will pop – I hope Laddie is eating those fish, too. Big and Middle must be too full to even move.

Dylan continues to bring in nice trout – his favourite I think – to the Llyn Clywedog nest. Those three Bobs are fantastic! Seren is quite happy with the deliveries, too.

There they are – 3 big girls with all their bling at the Manton Bay nest at Rutland of Blue 33 and Maya. All the chatter is their arrival in two years time looking for a mate and a nest in Wales. We will wait and see.

It is 16:58 at the Poole Harbour Osprey nest and Blue 022 has just brought in the 4th fish of the day to CJ7 and the kids.

I can see one nice chick’s head up there for the fish.

We have the names of Richmond and Rosie’s osplets. Here is the announcement from SF Ospreys today.

I continue to miss much that is happening at Llyn Brenig. Both of the chicks are still with us but this nest is plagued by intruders. It is unclear how much fish get delivered. The babes look good, though.

Poor Dorcha. It looks like her weather is the same as ours. She doesn’t always catch a break. Still, Louis is great to get the fish on the nest for all of them regardless.

Louis lands with another fish just as I took the screen capture above. Oh, how splendid. Full crops at bedtime.

I hope that Dorcha gets her own fish. That salmon looks good and she is one super mum. My goodness I have forgotten how many times she has been blown tail over head off that nest this season. She is fantastic. Kids are lucky to have her and Louis. Very lucky.

The Glaslyn nest is doing fine, too. Aran has brought in the tea time fish and you can hear the sheep bleating in the background. How idyllic. Mrs G and the kids seem happy.

Two little heads peeking up above that large nest bowl at Fortis Exshaw in Canmore, Alberta. After what happened at Patuxent, I am really starting to wonder if someone doesn’t need to check this nest after breeding season and secure that middle and fill it in. (It could be done now – the osplets will not jump out and it should be a quick temporary fill in).

Electra continues to visit the Cowlitz PUD nest in Washington State where the Bald Eagle took all three of her babies. Heart aches for her.

It looks like it is a beautiful Tuesday morning in the Sydney Olympic Forest. Lady is rolling the eggs and getting ready for the day. Still a few weeks to hatch. Dad has been busy bringing in fish, giving Lady a break and taking his turn incubating the two eggs.

I do not know how many of you saw this. Our dear Grinnell Jr spent the first night after fledging up in a tree. John Davis shot this footage and Cal Falcons posted it. He has since visited The Campanile and I am sure missing the sound of his ‘voice’.

The two worrying nests – Loch of the Lowes – and the ND-LEEF are fine today. Laddie has quite outdone himself and could have shared half that fish with Little Bit at ND-LEEF. 17 did a nice of the end of that fish this morning. I hope there is more later at the nest. Both ND15 and ND16 have branched. Ahote still seems to be the ‘star’ at getting prey at the West End. What a juvenile that third hatch has turned out to be. He is one to watch.

Thank you for joining me. I hope all of you are well. Stay safe. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Inside the Nest, Dyfi Osprey Project, Mispillion Osprey Harbour Cam, Osprey Watch, Friends of the Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, CarnyXWild, LRWT, Poole Harbour Ospreys, SF Bay Ospreys, Llyn Brenig Ospreys, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Postcode Lottery and the Woodland Trust, Fortix ExShaw, Cowlitz PUD, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, John Davis and the Cal Falcons.

World Albatross Day and other news in Bird World

18 June 2022

Everyone reading my blog loves birds —-that is what we have in common. We love great big raptors and tiny little hummingbirds. Some favour Ospreys because they eat fish over Eagles but, in the end, I do not think any of us would harm our feathered friends deliberately. Indeed, many of you care for birds, volunteer or work at wildlife rehabilitation centres, make donations, feed the birds in your garden, etc. Whatever you can to make their lives better. So, when you read the following article, you are going to get mad. I found myself remembering the two men who took the juvenile osprey chicks off the light stand (somewhere – it has gone out of my mind) and killed them rather than waiting til they fledged to change the bulbs. After you read this, take a deep breath. Then, if you live in the US, write to your local officials. I do often wonder if the people doing these terrible deeds – how would they feel if they were treated this way? Birds and animals are sentient beings.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/06/us-bird-flu-outbreak-millions-of-birds-culled-in-most-inhumane-way-available

Every June we have a problem in our City with tree cutters! While the City of Winnipeg is priding itself on planting 1 million trees, it has probably hired cutters to cut down some very old Maple trees that are not diseased or damaged. Do they check for nests? No. Last year, it was a battle with our public utility Manitoba Hydro and a Cooper’s Hawk nest. After lobbying by hundreds of us, Manitoba Hydro backed off and agreed not to trim the trees around their lines until nesting season was over.

Tree cutting should be limited to times when birds are not nesting. Simple. Write – scream – get your friends – if you see trimming going on and you know that there is a nest there!

There is still some anxiety at the Loch of the Lowes nest. Laddie LM12 did not deliver a fish to Blue NC0 until 10am. Big was unkind to Middle. What in the world is going on at this nest? 12 days ago Laddie brought in 9 fish. Oh, I wonder if he is not injured in some way and we cannot see it.

In contrast, Louis – despite the gale force wind and rain – has brought in at least 4 if not 5 large fish for Dorcha and the chicks today.

It really seems that there is something amiss at Loch of the Lowes. Again, is Laddie in some way injured that we cannot obviously tell?

Little QT chick is flapping her wings in the strong winds blowing over her nest at Taiaroa Head. Soon all of the fluffy baby down will be off those wings and our beautiful little fluff ball will look more and more like her parents, OGK and YRK.

The 19th of June is World Albatross Day. Of course, it is today in New Zealand and all other countries in different time zones. Many of you – and I – watch the Royal Cam Albatross Family on Taiaroa Head, New Zealand – YRK, OGK, and little QT. Did you know that OGK and YRK have been together since 2006? They are so lovely. OGK has melted my heart since the time he used to come and sit next to Pippa Atawhai.

I am forever grateful for the NZ DOC for intervening in the care of the chicks with their supplemental feedings, provisions against fly strike, and aid to them if injured. QT has had many supplemental feedings this season. While the cause is unknown, it could be warming waters and also large trawlers emptying the sea of the fish.

The Albatross Task Force posted 3 ways that 99% of the Albatross deaths could be mitigated. Here they are:

So how can you help? You can begin by purchasing fish that is not harvested using gill nets. Here is some information for those in the UK from the Task Force:

It is summer and there are parties and weddings. If you are going to use confetti – read this posting that showed up on my FB feed and think about using leaves for confetti. How brilliant and how sustainable.

Lindsay fledged early this morning at the Cal Falcons scrape on the grounds of the University of California at Berkeley. Here is younger brother, Grinnell Jr, looking out of the stonework wondering what it is like out there.

The hawklet being cared for by the Eagle family on Gabriola Island branched this morning. It is a beautiful scene when the Big Bald Eagle female feeds her ‘little baby’.

The hawklet has been given the name Malala meaning survivor. You might recall Malala Yousafzai, the young Afghan girl, who was almost killed by the Taliban because she wanted to go to school. Happily she graduated from Oxford after surviving. We all hope that the hawklet will live a long and prosperous life!

GROWLS is accepting donations for a new and much better camera. Christian Sasse said they they were sold an interior product -I sure hope they raise the funds. I wonder if this would ever happen again? It is rare – or it is thought that it is rare – eaglets adopting a bird as their own that has been brought in as a prey item.

Ferris Akel’s tour today ended up at the Cornell campus. He caught all of the family. Well done, Ferris. L4 has not fledged and people should not worry. There are eagles who have not fledged even though their siblings have for weeks. There is nothing wrong with L4. He is going to fly in his own time.

One of the Ls on Bruckner Hall. She will later fly to the top of the Rice building calling for prey.

Another L on the brick wall between the Soccer and Track fields.

The third fledgling on another building. I have always relied on the belly band to differentiate between them but it is impossible now unless I see them together. Gosh they are such gorgeous Red-tail Hawk chicks.

L4 was on the railing of the natal nest light stand.

The intruder couple at the Cape Henlopen Osprey platform in Lewes, Delaware were on and off the structure during the day.

Little Bit 17 had a good day. He is at the top of my list for checking followed by Loch of the Lowes. He had lots of raccoon and an entire fish to himself (minus a few bites going to 16), scrapes off the nest, and a little bit of Bluegill that Mum delivered at 15:57. So far four fish deliveries- 2 Blue gills, 1 salmon, and 1 small mouth bass (list by Jim one of the chatters – thank you). Those eagle-eye chatters also observed two PSs – fantastic.

At 19:39:48 Little Bit was eating the leftover bones with some meat on them by the rim of the nest. He was watching and when the older sibling finished, 17 made his move to get some of that. You can see the remains of the Raccoon being moved about on the nest.

Mum is in and all three were up at the table being fed. Oh, what a lovely image. I just wish she had a pantry full of fish and filled each of them up to the crown of their head.

Isn’t this just a beautiful image? Mom feeding her three eaglets – and knowing that each of them will fledge. One or two very soon.

Mum was still feeding them the remainder of that Raccoon when I last checked. Little Bit was loving it. He has eaten well today. Everyone is just elated.

Last thing today. Each one of us was horrified when the Bald Eagle cam and took Electra’s osprey chicks right off the nest. One of our readers ‘B’ lives very close to Lake Sacajawea in Cowlitz County, Washington. I asked her what might have changed to cause the eagles to go after the osprey nest. She gave the following information, “The rivers here are running high and probably muddy so fishing might be difficult. This has been one of the coldest, wettest springs on record in the northwest. Another day of rain today, temperature only 58° F.” Certainly Bald Eagles are opportunistic feeders – fish, road kill, etc. but the weather might have played a big part in this catastrophic event.

Poor Electra continues to come to the nest. She is still broody and probably in shock. Send her special wishes. This is so difficult seeing her there on that nest with three chicks doing well this year.

Thank you so much for joining me. It is a very windy evening but the sun is out. I managed to get a long walk in today (for me) and it is now time to go and check on all those weeds that grew over night. I will also be marvelling at all of the sunflowers that are growing in the garden thanks to the birds. I am leaving them and hoping that they grow high and then the birds can eat them in the fall. Take care all. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Cowlitz PUD, Ferris Akel Tours, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust. Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery and the Woodland Trust, Cornell Bird Lab and NZ DOC, Albatross Task Force, Keeper of the Cheerios Blog, Cal falcons, GROWLS, Cape Henlopen State Park, and ND-LEEF.

Lindsay fledges, Little Bit 17 gets a whole fish, and other news in Bird World

17-18 June 2022

I really wish that I could send Louis and Dorcha some of our fine weather. This nest gas endured treacherous weather – horrific weather. Weather that you would never wish on your worst enemy. The only thing they haven’t had is _ _ _ _. Starts with an ‘S’ and ends with a ‘W’. I am not going to say it in case it happens. (I think they had that early on but not recently). Poor thing. Dorcha can hardly hold on and she is trying so hard to protect those precious babies.

You can’t see it in the image but the rain is pelting down and the wind is gale force. Not just blowing hard. Gale force.

The pounding rain has stopped for now at Loch Arkaig. I can hardly believe it – Louis has brought in a fish just after 0500. I hope the wind does not blow Dorcha off the nest like it has done on another occasion. She is trying hard to feed the Bobs and have some fish herself. Gracious.

Someone said they need to move to the other nest where it is more protected. Maybe they will after this year at this one!

Laddie LM12 brought in a super nice fish for Blue NC0 and the two osplets. It is early, early in the morning and this is brilliant. The day is starting off just great at the Loch of the Lowes.

Oh, it is such a nasty Saturday morning at the Dfyi nest. Idris hasn’t even left to go fishing yet. Everyone is wet – Telyn and the chicks are hoping the promised rain will not happen! It sure is beautiful and green but I would not want to visit western Scotland and Wales in June – all that rain and cold down to the bone.

Aran is away fishing. Mrs G is flying off for a break and the trio are sort of waking up. There is a fish already on the nest.

Dylan has brought Seren a fish for the family’s breakfast. It looks like it is a really rainy cold day at Llyn Clywedog. Sun please!!!!

Maya and the three Bobs at Rutland are waiting for Blue 33 to deliver breakfast! The question on everyone’s mind is: when will they ring the Bobs? Oldest Bob is 40 days old today. Ringing needs to take place before 45 days if it is just the Darvic Ring. If it is a satellite pack too, then from 40-45 days. Will they ring them on Monday?

There is good parenting DNA running through CJ7 and Blue 022. First time parents. Blue 022 shows up at 04:22 to give CJ7 a break and then he is off to get the breakfast fish. What a beautiful couple. I should note that it is incredibly foggy at Poole Harbour this morning.

The fog is lifting. Let us hope that Dad gets a fish soon.

It is a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Port Lincoln, Australia. Both Mum and Dad are on the barge. Does anyone think that they might actually lay their eggs earlier than last year? We will wait to see.

So why do you think that Lindsay doesn’t want Grinnell Jr looking out the stone work?!!!

You see Lindsay wanted to fledge first —— and that is precisely what she did! Lindsay landed on top of the library!!!!!

There was a lot of activity on the ND-LEEF nest this morning and one incident, right at the start of the morning, made all of us just drop for a few minutes. A prey delivery came in at 08:09:22. The adult flies into Little
Bit in the middle of the nest and then ND16? lands on Little Bit. All of that caused me to hold my breath for a moment ——along with anyone else watching closely at that time.

Little Bit was just minding his own business on the nest with 16 over at the rim and 15 up higher in the branches.

Adult arrives. You can see Little Bit behind and under the left wing and chest of the adult.

That is 16 on top of Little Bit. That little yellow foot on the right under 16 belongs to Little Bit.

Just look. Little Bit’s entire wing has been pulled over. Oh, gosh. My heart is sinking by now.

Gosh. Little Bit seems to have had everything that could happen – happen – to him. Here he is out sniffing around wanting to make that steal!

Little Bit gets that prey item and is still working on it when at 10:06:50 a fish is delivered. 16 gets it but walks away. 15 doesn’t even come down to eat and 17 takes that fish!

16 left the fish to moved up to the parent like it wanted the adult to feed it. Can you imagine when Little Bit looked over and saw that whole fish!!!!!!!! It is at the bottom right of the ‘1 Foot’ indicator.

Little Bit ate almost the entire fish. He walked away with a little left that 16 took.

I would say that Little Bit deserved that fish after what happened with the first delivery. He also deserved it because he has worked so bloody hard eating all the scraps off the nest and dried fish and Raccoon. What an amazing eaglet he is –so glad that he was not injured earlier.

At the Cornell Red-tail Hawk nest, L4 is on the fledge ledge. It is windy.

L4 is really getting some air.

Ospreys have been arriving and one has been moving sticks around the Cape Henlopen State Park nest that say the adults dead or disappear and the three chicks starve last weekend.

Everything looks good at the Glacier Gardens nest of Liberty and Freedom. the wee ones had their breakfast and are napping with Mum.

There was some excitement at the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. It ‘appeared’ that Star had fledged but later it was confirmed that it was Sentry flying off and then he returns chasing Liberty who arrives with a fish.

At the National Arboretum nest of Mr President and Lotus, one of the adults is keeping a close eye on Takoda who is running up and down the branch on the right hand side. It is windy. Will today be the day for Takoda to fly?

Ahote and Sky are on the natal nest this morning at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta. The adults will know where Kana’kini is and they will often now deliver prey off the nest to the fledglings if they are elsewhere.

Sky has been doing some great hovering but has yet to take that first flight.

If you haven’t voted for Richmond and Rosie’s two 2022 hatches, here is the announcement. You have 2 days to do so and it is free. Join in!

The little hawklet living with the Bald Eagles on Gabriola Island has branched! Well done!

There are so many nests to cover but that is it for this morning. We could see some more fledges Saturday afternoon. Congratulations to everyone at Cal Falcons – to Annie, Alden, an Grinnell – and to Lindsay for her first flight. It is OK to fly now Junior!!!!!

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care all. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: GROWLS, Cornell RTH, Cal Falcons, LD-NEEF, Cape Henlopen State Park Ospreys, Explore.org, SF Ospreys, NADC-AEF, Glacier Gardens, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Friends of Redding Eagles, Poole Harbour, LRWT, CarnyXWild, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dfyi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, and Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Postcode Lottery, and the Woodland Trust.

Late Friday in Bird World

17 June 2022

Oh, it is simply a gorgeous day on the Canadian Prairies. The wind is blowing gently and the temperature is perfect. The tyres in the bikes are topped off and they have had a good wash in anticipation of a ride along the trails this evening. Did I say Canadians love being outside once the snow melts? The ground is still water logged and the flooded areas are drying up.

In the garden. I have seen Dyson a couple of times. The leaves are so thick that I only catch his tail as he weaves in and out. Little Red appears to have found himself a new home in a near by tree!!! Thank goodness. The new rabbit continues to come. The little plants that he likes are under the frame that will hold the sunroom —– where I can ‘spy’ on all of them much better. I will transfer those plants for the bunny to another area of the garden. The real break through has come with Mr Crow. Two years ago I was ‘mad’ at him. He would go to the Grackles nest and take out one of their fluffy chicks and sit so I could see him wolfing it down. Not pleased. It has taken him two years to forgive me and trust me again. Several weeks now have seen him coming for nice Italian bread, cheese, and sausage with cheese in the middle – a sandwich – around 1700. He began calling me at a distance when the food was gone. Now he will come within 2 metres or 6 feet of me. I show him his dinner and walk away. Prior to yesterday he would wait a considerable time to fly down and eat. Now he knows that I am not going to hurt him so he drops down almost immediately.

He likes the little mess that has been created by Dyson & Co with the seeds!

Mr Crow has eaten the cheese first, then the bread, and now he is after the Polish sausage with the cheese in the middle. He will eat the cheese first, take a couple of bites of the sausage, and return to the pile to get another sausage.

Mr Crow has figured out that he can take two sausage pieces together to his nest. Are there babies? Maybe. Last evening a murder of Crows were together and not happy. It appears the GHOW was in the neighbourhood and it is one of their main predators.

He’s got them!

The last thing I want to share with you from the garden is a picture of the tea roses. These wild rose bushes were here when we bought the house. But they were ‘ragged’. Two plantings survived from the former 1902 house on the property – the tea climbing roses and the peony bush. So slowly, ever so slow, they have been cleared out and staked and with all the rain this year they have really taken off. I wish I could bottle the scent for everyone!

I often try to imagine the woman who planted these two flowers. Hopefully they will be here in another 120 years!

There is a really nice article about the fledging of the Pittsburgh-Hayes trio. Publicity and streaming cams along with those fabulous on line discussions educate people and hopefully, the more they know about the wildlife, the more they will respect it and its needs.

https://triblive.com/local/hays-bald-eagle-juveniles-take-flight-share-the-skies-with-young-hawk/?fbclid=IwAR22HzknCr8BaTgQk9XUO_IhwKqPBLabye24nb8xUI4qoa3daQpWvRdlwwE

One of the skills that Little Bit 17 (ND17) from the Notre-Dame nest has learned is how to eat carrion! Thank goodness for those poor raccoons that have been road kill because they have literally kept this wee third hatch alive on that nest. And they will keep him alive after he fledges!!!!! Just think. We are all talking about 17 branching before 16!!!!!! Remember those times when we ached with worry that he would not live another day? He has and he is going to fledge! Yesterday when I was watching with the chatters, 17 had one foot on the nest and one on the branch. If 15 would have moved, Little Bit would have easily branched before 16. Easily.

So today has been another Raccoon day on the nest. It arrived around 13:04. At 14:18 Little Bit 17 gets it. Two minutes later 16 takes it. Little Bit stole it again and around 14:46 Little Bit has it and is eating away.

At 14:17 Little Bit is looking at that Raccoon again and he wants it!

At 14:17:42 Little Bit has the raccoon.

The big sibling will give him a few minutes and then 16 will take it. (I think it is 16).

At 14:45 Little Bit is ready to go back and get some more raccoon. This time he let the older sibling open it up for him instead of doing all that work for them to get the benefit. That is how he will survive!

At 14:46:12, Little Bit has it again!!!!!! Way to go 17.

Little Bit is still eating on the meat of the Raccoon thirty minutes later. Oh, wow. He is going to get some good nourishment from that road kill.

At 15:22, Little Bit appears to be finished. There is not a lot left on that prey item. What are all the words we could use to describe this amazing third hatch? My money is on 17 being a survivor. He has all the skills to live out in the real world, all of them. Wouldn’t just love to set a couple of big fish right in front of him with no other eaglets around? He certainly does deserve them.

Give it up for Little Bit 17 again!!!!!! Big cheers. Adult flew in with what appeared to be a small fish at 17:53:53. Three captures. Adult in, 17 pounches on delivery, 17 horks delivery ——- right in front of 16. Way to go 17, ‘the King of the Snatch and Grab’.

Little Bit is having a rest on the nest – raccoon and a fish with the fish taken before 16 could even think about it. Sweet Eagle nap dreams, 17.

Birds are soooooooo intelligent. Tiger Mozone posted this BBC video on our FB group today and I hope that he doesn’t mind if I put it here. I want to add that there are other notorious birds that have done precisely what Henry did – Stanley, Iris’s mate, for one! I knew that but Tiger added that both Oden smashed the eggs and Red 8T just kicked them to the side of the nest. What I also found interesting was that EJ went missing for 9 days from Loch Garten in 2005 and Henry had to go get her and take her home – and when they got there, there was another couple on the nest! I continue to say that watching bird cams is much more interesting than much of what is on the streaming movie stations!!

Don’t miss watching this one. It is delightful. The BBC presenter says it is a tale of ‘revenge, jealousy, and murder’ worthy of any soap opera. Absolutely.

In total, Henry kicked out 8 eggs of EJ’s – four in 2005 and 4 again in 2007.

I want to do a couple of quick nest checks. The Loch of the Lowes lost a chick when the oldest prevented it from eating and then killed it a few days ago. How is that nest doing today?

Both had a good feed at tea time.

Dylan delivered such a large trout to Seren to feed the three Bobs at Llyn Clywedog that she was still feeding the trio an hour later!!!!!!! Those kids are going to sleep with sweet Osprey dreams for sure.

Despite the gale force winds at Loch Arkaig, Louis has been bringing in fish for Dorcha and the two chicks. Meanwhile, she tried to cover them with moss and keep hunkered down. Then they got a break. Oh, I hope they get more some good weather -nice sun and no rain – and no wind.

Louis delivered a whole trout and everyone had a really good feed. Just lovely. Time: 22:25.

Blue 33 and Maya have three big osplets!!!!!! When will they ring them?

It has been a good day at the UK Osprey nests – and it was a good day for Little Bit 17.

The White storklets at the Mlade Buky nest of Betty and Bukacek are doing marvellous. Mum Betty looks down as they wrestle with a single large fish. Then Betty gives them lots of smaller fish! All is well on this nest now. I do not believe there will be another elimination.

As I write this, Lindsay and Grinnell Jr have not flown and neither has RTH L4 at Cornell. Those are both a relief.

Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone. Smile – Little Bit is going to bed tonight quite full. So happy! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages: Capi Mlade Buky Storks, LRWT, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, CarnyXWild, Tiger Mozone and BBC.

Friday morning in Bird World

17 June 2022

The Cowlitz PUD nest losing all of its chicks just like the Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey nest is ‘catastrophic’. A reader ‘C’ wrote to me and said ‘not tragic but catastrophic’. I agree totally.

One reader wrote and thanked me for covering these events. You are all welcome. But, like you, I feel gutted and especially so with so many birds from this generation being lost in just a few weeks. It is numbing,.

We are left with adults grieving. Electra has a fish on her nest wanting to feed her babies and appearing in shock – not knowing what happened to them and where they are.

A discussion with Alan Poole and Poole Harbour about ospreys – New England population, mid-Atlantic Chesapeake Bay, and Florida Ospreys. I know that all of you will be interested when he compares the US birds with the UK Ospreys. It will be available for one month archived on YouTube.

There are some great images and if you want to learn about Ospreys – or be reminded about all things that are magnificent about our beautiful birds – you should watch this even if you have to do it in shifts. Very informative.

Just a note: Both males and females bring twigs to build the nest! I am thinking of Rosie at the SF Osprey Bay nest. She worked tirelessly helping Richmond rebuilt that destroyed nest – to human surprise they did it quickly!

Did you know that 20% of the world’s population of Ospreys live in Chesapeake Bay? There are 10,000 pairs on the channel markers in the water. Indeed, nests above water are quite safe for Ospreys (except for Bald Eagles and GHOW, if around). Did you know that fresh water fish is more nutritious than the salt fish? Do have a listen to Poole’s talk!

The Bald Eagle raising the hawklet in its nest on Gabriola Island has caught the interest of the world. Christian Sasse and David Hancock are at the nest site and are just giddy. It is considered a rare event and now twice in 5 years they have been able to witness an eagle family raising a hawklet. The first was Sydney in 2017. So here is the archived talk from yesterday and they will be live today, also. What a lucky little hawklet.

Things look better at the Loch of the Lowes. Both of the Osplets have big crops and it looks like Blue NC0 has had some fish, too. I sure hope so. Whatever was the issue at this nest with Laddie delivering food – weather, intruders, or an old eye problem or injury to the male – appears today, at least, to not be a problem. Fabulous.

The nest that is continuing to have weather difficulties is Loch Arkaig. If you check the local weather you will think that the nest should be fine but Loch Arkaig is its own microclimate and it can be terribly different from other areas close by. My heart goes out to Dorcha and Louis who have already lost their Little Bob. Louis – despite it all – gets the fish on the nest regardless. It is evening at Loch Arkaig. There are strong winds but no rain. Thankfully. Louis has brought the tea time meal for the kids. They are in the Reptilian Phase with those oily heads and beautiful coppery feathers at the back along the neck down to the shoulders. Send positive thoughts that we have two nestlings that are going to fledge here! Chase that bad weather away.

Aran brought in a lovely Sea Bass for Mrs G and the kids. He had the head for his tea – Sea Bass always welcome at the nests! Along with trout. All three Bobs at Glaslyn are fine. That is Little Bob coming up at the end getting a private feeding. Well done, Mrs G.

It looks like Idris might have brought in a trout to Telyn to feed their three Bobs at Dyfi. Again, another very happy nest.

Did you know that Telyn is the daughter of Rutland’s Maya and Green 5R (Maya’s partner before Blue 33 ousted him)? Both are fantastic females who really care for those chicks and have bonded with males that are inspirational providers.

I am becoming ever more interested in the way in which genetics plays out in the behaviour of Ospreys. The link between these two Super Moms, thus, becomes more compelling.

Dr Madis Levitis are moving the three Black Storklets to a forest nest and out of the clinic. They are doing exceptional and we have a huge thanks to this team who are working so hard to raise these three.

The smallest storklet is now standing like the older two. Great progress in its development.

The storklets hatched on the 22nd of May. They will be four weeks old on the 19th of June. You will no longer be able to see them in this clinic setting as they have been moved to an artificial nest in the forest where they will continue to be fed and can begin to climatize to the world where they will fledge in August and then make that very long trip to Africa on their first migration. This is a wonderful ending now – and we will check to see if a camera is installed in the forest so that we can watch their continued progress. Thank you Dr Leivits and staff!

Eyes are watching several nests today. One of those is Big Red and Arthur’s Redtail Hawk nest at Cornell where L4, the youngest, is ready to fledge.

Three are on the nest at 1300. It is L1 in the nest bowl, then L3, and L4. L1 is really prey calling! So loud. No fledge from L4 and I understand that there could be bad weather again so maybe they will stay on the nest.

L4 wants to go! It is windy and he is really feisty.

Star sits in the Redding Bald Eagle nest tree thinking about fledging.

Star sure is a beautiful eaglet.

L4 really wants to fly and I am going to watch him with my lunch. ND-LEEF Little Bit 17 waiting for food along with the others. He ate well yesterday so not worried.

You can watch, too!

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/red-tailed-hawks/

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

Thank you to: Cornell RTH Cam, Friends of Redding Eagles, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery and the Woodland Trust, Eagle Club of Estonia, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dfyi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, and Cowlitz PUD.

Little Bit ND17 is still the ‘King of the Snatch and Grab’ and other news in Bird World

15 June 2022

We needed some good news in Bird World after Big Bob plummeted Little Bob at the Loch of the Lowes to death earlier this morning. That nest, by the way, is not any happier. Laddie brought in what looked like a minnow. Blue NC0 and both chicks will be quite hungry. I wonder what is up?

But, never mind! At the ND-LEEF nest there were two fish brought in before 10:00. The first was a Sucker delivered by Mum and the second was a Blue Gill brought in by Dad.

At 05:53:51, the sucker arrives. Little Bit 17 gets it first. What did I tell you. Then he loses it. Then he steals it again — twice!

At 09:45:53 Dad brings in the Blue Gill. ND15 gets it. At 10:01:03, Little Bit 17 steals it. Boy is this kid good. He grabs it, does the most amazing turn around and runs to the porch to eat it!!!!!! Wow. Is happiness spelled fish???????? It is cooler – 78F. Yesterday it was 96 F at the nest. Let us hope more fish arrive if it is to be ultra hot later.

The sucker arrives at 05:53:51. Little Bit will get it first, lose it and steal it again twice!

Little Bit 17 is very clever. He has had to be to survive on this nest with two much larger siblings and often, little prey. His head shows that he has also paid for trying to steal food to live. So, he sits and watches 15. 15 is not hostile to Little Bit like 16 is.

Little Bit watches and listens and plans its attack.

When he sees the right opportunity – meaning he can see that he can grab the prey and get out – he goes for it. He grabs. Turns back to the right like a ballet dancer doing a pirouette. Then he moves quickly to his safe spot – the porch.

ND15 raises its wing. Little Bit 17 has the rest of the fish and is getting to the porch. What is really incredible is we are talking about an event that only took seconds.

This is thought to be ND16’s first branching – at 10:06. We don’t know what happened when the camera was off. This is good. 15 has already branched and maybe 16 will be more concerned with flying than with Little Bit.

The temperature has now jumped and it is hot. Thankfully – due to his great stealing skills – Little Bit 17 has had some food and hydration.

It is week 4 at the Osprey nest of Richmond and Rosie on the Whirley Crane. San Francisco Ospreys posted their weekly update video of the family. Do we have names for these? Not yet, in a few days. Should I mention that there is no problem with fish delivery at this nest?

Congratulations to Pittsburgh Hayes 18 who fledged this morning at around 11:17. (or is it a fludge?). Upper left branch – lots of leaves and flies off from there! Well done.

We are into day 2 of fledge watch at Cal Falcons. It is hard to believe that Grinnell Jr and Lindsay are really ready to fly!

They can look through the openings to see the world outside that will soon be theirs.

L4 was on the nest with L3 this morning. Beautiful little hawks of Big Red and Arthur. There is a storm coming in on Thursday so fingers crossed that L4 decides not to fledge! What a cutie pie.

The storklets of Jan and Janika had a good feed not that long ago. They are doing extremely well. The staff and all those involved must be terribly happy so far.

We now know that Betty at the Mlade Buky White Stork nest eliminated the youngest chick, the 5th, a couple of days ago. Now Kaia, the mate of Karl II, has tried to eliminate one of the storklets. They are all big! Everything is currently normal on this nest. Kaia might perceive that there is not enough food. She does not know that Karl II has been bringing in lots and lots of food. Let us hope that all stays normal with all the chicks! Send positive wishes.

Today there will be an on line presentation and Q & A about the Bald Eagles on Gabriola Island in British Columbia that have adopted the Red tail hawklet. It was brought in as prey on 4 June and is currently being fed and cared for by the eagles as if it is their own.

Go to this YouTube site to set the reminder if you wish to be part of this discussion. I cannot tell you the time in your zone as YT automatically sets the time remaining to my specific zone which is 15:00 CDT.

There is super news coming from the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G. Aran fed his three chicks of 2022 for the first time today.

It was pitching down rain at Loch Arkaig. Poor Dorcha and the two surviving chicks. Louis was able to bring in a fish as things began to clear. Please keep this nest in your thoughts.

Seren and Dylan on the perch together with the three Bobs in the nest below. What a gorgeous family portrait and what a beautiful site in Wales for an Osprey nest. All is well here.

Telyn and Idris have been keeping intruders away from the nest. Gosh these returning two year olds can be a nuisance that can also cause harm to a nest. Reminds me of the juveniles returning to Taiaroa Head when the chicks are on the nests alone and they dance and sky call and pick on the little ones.

There has been the osprey in the image below briefly visiting the Cape Henlopen Osprey nest. I cannot identify it other than it does not appear to be the Mum because her necklace was very faint. I could not see the feathering to tell if it was the intruder female that removed all of the osplets.

Spirit spent the night with Jackie at the Big Bear Valley nest in California. How reassuring is it to see these beautiful fledglings return home – safe and sound?

I really wanted to give you the good news about ND17 so I am posting much earlier than planned. While 17 didn’t get a whole fish – and it is getting hot – he did get food and he is definitely not lethargic like the Loch of the Lowes osplet.

It is the first sunny day we have had and rain is to come again at 1800. My plan is to be outside in the garden listening to the birds! Thank you so much for being with me today. I will be posting again on Thursday morning. Take care all.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Pix Cams, ND-LEEF, Cal Falcons, Cornell Bird RTH, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery, and the Woodland Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, SF Bay Ospreys, Cape Henlopen State Park Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyXWild, GROWLS, and the Eagle Club of Estonia.

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.