Tag Archives: Louisiana Bald Eagles

Late Thursday in Bird World

6 October 2022

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for joining me for a late check in. Our weather turned. Yesterday it was 21 C and we woke to 2 degrees C. It is now a balmy 4 degrees!!! Time to pull out that Possum beanie and a heavier jacket.

I have spent so much time checking on the Australian nests and worrying about Little Bob at Port Lincoln always getting his fill of fish that other nest news has been – well, neglected turns out to be the right word. So I have brought in some news form various sources that has been posted that should be of interest to everyone. I was particularly interested in Victor Hurley’s discussion of peregrine falcons and what has happened at the lege scrape – it certainly helps our understanding. Sadly, it does not bring our beloved M17 back. Other reports about eagles rebuilding and a lovely video on the banding of osplets. We will be looking forward to November when Port Lincoln chicks will be banded and weighed and measured. They will get names and one of them will get a sat-pak.

Making News:

Victor Hurley has posted an update on the adult falcons, M17 and F17, that were at the nest on the ledge at 367 Collins Street. This information is very helpful to understand what is going on at the scrape box with M22 and F22.

Photographs of Connie and Clive, alive and well, on Captiva have been released by Window to Wildlife. They will rebuild! I have seen no news on Lena and Andy. Their nest platform was completely destroyed and will, when the time is right, need to be replaced.

Harriet and M15 have been photographed rebuilding at their nest tree on the property of the Pritchett Family in Fort Myers, Florida following Hurricane Ian.

A great video showing the ringing of osprey chicks. Have a look!

The Bald Eagle couple on the E-3 nest at Kistache National Forest in Louisiana were caught on camera. The male delivered a fish to the nest and you should see the female squeeing and grabbing – first his poor talon and finally the fish. A quick look and then slo-mo. Incredible footage.

Cilla Kinross posted a video of the feeding of chick 2 at Orange. So cute. There has been some concern that the little one is not getting enough bites. Let’s see how it does today. I witnessed a few good bites at one feeding yesterday.

The sun came up at Melbourne and Mum22 went and found some leftover pigeon in the family pantry and is feeding the wee ones. It is 0645.

SE29 spent the night perched on the parent branch of the old Ironwood tree. SE30 did not have to be lonely. Later, you can see that an adult is higher up on the branch. SE29 and that adult have been encouraging SE30 to get higher on the branch and it worked! SE30 so wants to do what 29 is doing – flying but, s/he will in their own good time. Best to have the confidence than to get caught up being afraid with the Currawongs around.

Look carefully. SE29 is on the branch above SE30 and a parent is to the far left. You can see the white of their head in the V of the branch.

SE30 can sleep adult style!

You can see SE29 and the adult better in the image below.

SE30 is being encouraged by 29. It is up on the branch. Did I say that these two remind me so much of 25 and 26?

Well done 30!

29 has flown off and 30 is back down lower towards the nest looking out at that big world.

SE30 looks up to 29 (under the adult). I am sure we will see 30 getting higher on the branch, today. He so wants to be with his sibling.

They are waiting for a fish delivery at Port Lincoln. Big and Middle have already been at one another – the minute Mum gets off of them. Little just curls up and hides. It is the one difference from Ervie. Ervie stood up, looked at Big and gave it back. In this instance the beaking is much more violent than it was with Bazza. I don’t blame Little for just staying out of the way. No need to enter into the conflict. Just eat your meal and get out of the way.

Mum puts an end to it all but just sitting on them as best she can!

There was a feeding at 0633 at Orange. I could not possibly tell you how much the wee one got – but some, once its little head was still. Then, Diamond turned her back to the camera!

Such a big yawn out of such a little eyas.

Oopsie!

It appears that the wee one, once straightened up, did get some good bites.

Thank you so much for being with me this late afternoon. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures, their posts, and videos: 367 Collins Street Watchers, Window to Wildlife, SWFL Eagles and Donna Lee, RSPB, KNF, Dr Cilla Kinross and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, and 367 Collins Street by Mirvac.

Late Wednesday and Early Thursday in Bird World

1.23-24.2022

I have to admit that I can’t stay away from the Captiva Osprey nest for long. After dinner, I decided to stop in and see what I had missed. It was two things! There was a fifth feeding. The last two ran together and the fish were lovely Mangrove Snappers. The other one happens around 12:33 nest time. Little Bob is in the back. Big and Middle Bob are not that interested in food. Lena begins to cut through the two older chicks and she feeds Little Bob full to the brim. The other two paid absolutely no mind.

All the thoughts that keep going through my head keep asking: Is this a clutch of three males like Port Lincoln?

You can see that Little Bob’s crop has filled up in the image below.

That was an excellent feeding for Little Bob. The fifth feeding so close to the fourth insured that Mum also had some fish before she went to bed. Marvellous family working so well together!

After all my praise for Andy having a fish right at the dawn, today Lena called and no answer. Andy flew in with a fish at 09:07:36. Lena checked a couple of times, each returning to brood the kids. In the image below she knows that Andy is coming with a fish.

It is now 11:30 nest time. Lori, the owner of the property, has posted on chat that Andy is below the nest in the mangrove eating the head of a huge fish. Looks like the kids will have a big lunch! Despite the late breakfast, the trio were well behaved. Just like Port Lincoln.

Here is that big fish being delivered at 11:37:08. No doubt Lena is going to fill herself and the nestlings up to the brim! Nice one, Andy.

It took a few seconds for Little Bob to wake up and get himself around to the side where Lena is feeding. Ah. Now they are all lined up. It looks like it will be another great day at Captiva!

Oh, Little Bob got himself right up to the front so he can get lots of fish! Just like Ervie. Gosh, I miss Ervie. That Port Lincoln Osprey nest is so lonely.

Big Red and Arthur continued work on their nest today – almost at a frantic pace.

You can really see the nest cup much clearer at night.

Big Red and Arthur are on the edge of a system that could bring up to 30 cm or 12 inches of snow to the Northeastern parts of the US. It looks like it could just miss them. Fingers crossed.

It looks like Big Red and Arthur might have escaped the storm.

The Dahlgren Osprey nest of Jack and Harriet now has its streaming cam live. You might recall that Jack brings in a lot of toys to the nest. Sometimes there is so much stuff that the eggs get lost in the jumble. This year there is a brand new platform for the Ospreys to fill up! You can see it in the image below in the link to the streaming cam.

It is 08:52 in Big Bear Lake, California. The sun is filtering through the snow covered nest of Jackie and Shadow. That nest is 44 metres or 145 feet up at the top of a Jeffrey pine tree. You can see the eggs as they are being gently rolled. It will be hatch watch for Jackie and Shadow this weekend. Thousands are holding their breath for this couple in their quest to raise eaglets.

Egg 1 was laid on 22 January with egg 2 laid on the 25th.

Here is the link to Jackie and Shadow’s camera if you do not have it on your list.

There has been a fight between two White-tail eagles on the nest of Milda near Durbe in Latvia. It was posted as a short video on YouTube. It was a younger eagle, perhaps 4 or 5 years old, fighting with Mr S. Thankfully Milda was not involved.

It is snowing on Bonnie at the Great Horned Owl nest in Newton, Kansas. The one egg of Bonnie and Clyde was laid on the 16th of February this year. Last year, the couple fledged two fantastic owlets, Lily and Tiger. They have taken over the nest of a young Bald Eagle couple.

The human made nest at the WRDC is looking a little bare to the wire this morning. R1 and R2 – Rita and Ron’s kids – are looking good. It is lovely to see them doing so well. I know that many of you worried, like I did, about R2 in the early days. He is a big strong creative eaglet. His early attempts at self-feeding really helped.

Kincaid had a Red-eared Sunfish for breakfast this morning at 10:15:18. Like R1 and R2 his juvenile feathers are really coming in now although not as advanced as the Miami duo. He is doing a good job at self-feeding but loves when Anna stays and does the honours.

They are all doing so well. Put a smile on your face! It is so nice that the egg laying is staggered from region to region so that we have the time to enjoy these wee ones growing up into beautiful juveniles!

For the first time in I can’t remember when, all three Grey Squirrels – No Name (the great big one), Dyson, and Scraggles were all in the same area at the same time. I had eyes on all three. Then Little Red ran along the telephone lines. So everyone was around the garden. Dyson was eating on the solid seed suet and in the snow and Scraggles was eating seeds on the snow. I took lots of photographs – none of them great quality but, I wanted to find out if any of them had been injured by the cat yesterday. (Of course, that was only an assumption based on the two locations of blood). No Name is fine. Tail in tact, no scars. Both Dyson and Scraggles have tail issues. There are no marks anywhere on Dyson other than his beautiful tail seemingly thin to the skin in one area. I know it is Dyson because of the tufts and his sweet little face. You can see what would be a nice solid busy tail. It doesn’t quite look like it does when Dyson is moulting.

Little Scraggles seems to look the same as it did the other day. So I think that it was Dyson caught by the cat.

Dyson is fine! He is vacuuming up every seed he can find! It is such a relief.

And we are now heading out to fill up all the feeders so there will be more for him. It remains terribly cold here. It is now only -23 C but temperatures are dropping throughout the day to -31.

Take care everyone. Thank you for your warm wishes for the injured squirrel. Tails will grow back!!!!!!! No real damage done, thank goodness. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Window on Wildlife and Captiva Ospreys, KNF Bald Eagles, WRDC Miami Eagles, Dahlgren Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab, Friends of Big Bear, Farmer Derek, and CNN Weather Tracker.

Samson feeds Little Bit and more Bird World News on Tuesday

NE27 known affectionately as Little Bit by all his fans, got itself right up to Samson when he flew down to feed the kids.

Samson is already feeding NE26. Little Bit is frightened but is scooting its way up and over the twigs on the nest to get within reach of Samson’s beak but hopefully, not catch too much ire from big sibling who wants all of the food to themselves.

Someone asked why NE27 is always cheeping. It is food calling. It is hungry and it is letting Samson and Gabby know even though its beak is not right up against theirs.

Samson is gesturing to 27 to turn around.

There. Little Bit gets a good bite.

Despite its big crop and fish on the nest, NE26 does not want 27 to eat!

Samon bypasses NE26, moves his head way over, and gives Little Bit a bite.

Little Bit gets quite a few bites from Dad.

This feeding is ongoing as I wrote this blog. It is 15:50:54 and Samson is giving NE27 lots of attention and bites.

Samson will continue to feed Little Bit and 26 will try to stop it. By this time 26 is more than full.

Little Bit and Samson are working around 26.

Little Bit got some nice pieces of fish.

There is that precious little one with a nice crop thanks to Samson!

Both parents are on the nest as I finish writing this. Gabby is doing some aerating and Samson is looking around.

Samson is definitely alert to what is happening around the nest in his territory.

We can all sleep well tonight. Little Bit is full. Nest behaviour is very interesting. Samson responded to NE27s little cheeps for food and worked to help get it to eat. This is precisely what he did 48 hours ago. Do the males remember what it was like having a big sibling? I notice that M15 is quick to come in and help. Curious.

Port Lincoln moved the camera zoom in close and here are a few close ups of Ervie. Isn’t he handsome?!

Ervie. Happy Birthday. You are 5 months old today!!!!!!!!

These images were taken around 07:11-12, 16 February. Ervie is, of course, fish crying! He is also still a little wet from heavy rain a little earlier.

Just look at R1 and R2. Their juvenile feathers are really covering that dark thermal down underneath and they are standing so tall! And walking – not on the elbow but on their feet. Growing Up. I am showing you this because Little Bit will be fine. R2 still suffers but has learned much about snatch and grab, end runs, and feeding itself that are invaluable lessons for survival. Little Bit is learning them, too.

These characters are 10 weeks old.

B15, the eaglet on the Berry College nest of Pa Berry and Missy, is such a curious little one. Today it spent time watching Missy aerating the nest. You can often catch it moving nest materials about, too. This only eaglet is adorable.

Louis and Anna are on the nest with Kincaid. Those feathers are really coming in nicely. Sometimes you can hardly see Kincaid on the nest.

Andy and Lena are keeping alert. No indication of a pip on any of the eggs yet at the Captiva Osprey Cam.

Oh, let us hope these two are lucky this year!

In other news, Iceland has announced that it will end commerical whaling by 2024. That is very good news, indeed.

It has started to snow once again. I went out for a short walk and there is about 24 cm of snow on the sidewalks. I did not get very far! Tomorrow.

Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me today. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, NE Bald Eagles and the AEF, KNF Bald Eagles, Captiva Osprey Cam, Berry College, and the WRDC.

Friday in Bird World

Just about the time I begin to think, and then say, that it looks like the parents at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge are slowing down with fish deliveries, they bring two nice sized fish to Ervie. There was a huge chunk at 07:34 and another nice fish arrived at 15:20. Ervie didn’t actually start eating it until 16:25. Ervie was the only lad about. Bazza was last seen on Sunday the 9th and Falky was last seen on the ropes with Mum and Dad at 19:40 on the 12th. Will Ervie stay or go?

Ervie is still full from the morning fish when the afternoon delivery arrives.

Ervie is still eating at 17:34! My goodness those were nice fish brought to the nest. Ervie finished off his fish and flew off the left side of the nest.

Will that be our last sighting of Ervie on the nest? No one slept on the barge last night. We wait.

Missy has been feeding the little one on the Berry College Eagle Nest. It appears to be doing fine. Everyone is watching for the second egg. Sadly that broken shell has really attached itself to that egg.

I believe this is Missy’s first eaglet to survive. She is figuring feedings out!

B15 is getting stronger. You can see the issue with the second egg clearly here. I cannot tell if the extra piece of shell is over the narrow or wide part of the egg. The eaglets pip on the wider end. Pip watch coming for that second egg.

The nest is empty this morning at Big Bear, California but everyone is on egg watch for Shadow and Jackie.

Anna let Louis brood the chick this morning! Last year she waited a long time and Lous is delighted to be involved with his chick. Both Anna and Louis have been on the KNF nest this morning and the eaglet is eating well. Lots of nice fish for everyone on that nest!

There seem to be two words used for Harriet and M15’s E19 and E20. They are ‘nice’ and ‘cute’. Look at the feathers coming on E19 and E20 and then look at Anna’s baby above. They change so quickly!

This is a great little film about the Kakapo. Since it is breeding season and we are looking at eggs, it seems like a good time to refresh what we know about this very endangered non-flying parrot and how they are cared for. The update on the numbers is that there are now 202 Kakapo down from 208 the beginning of last year.

Daisy the Duck has not returned to the White-Bellied Sea Eagle Nest to lay eggs since she visited with her mate on 1 January. That was two-weeks ago. Fingers crossed she has found another spot and is successful. One of the women who visits the centre was to send us images of Daisy paddling but nothing so far. Maybe Daisy is away from the area of water around the Discovery Centre and the Duck Pond.

Great Horned Owls have been mating on the Savannah Osprey Nest and the GHOWs have been mating on the nest that was stolen from a young Bald Eagle couple in Newton, Kansas last year. The couple who became known as Bonnie and Clyde raised two of the cutest little owlets on this nest. When the eggs are laid, I will definitely let you know.

For the most part the Owls and the Eagles live cooperatively but I really don’t like the owls when they try to knock the eagles off or hurt their eyes and heads as at the WBSE Nest by the small BooBook Owls and at SWFlorida when it is a GHOW hitting M15 and knocking him off the branch into the nest, sometimes.

One thing I did not know is that there are no Great Horned Owls near the WRDC Bald Eagle Nest in Miami-Dade County. The Coot delivered yesterday, the second one to arrive as prey on the nest, is gone! They seem to love the taste of that waterfowl. My eagle expert tells me that the WRDC are thinking about putting up more nests like this one for the eagles. Fantastic. It seems to be a really good design and they can work out any kinks watching this nest.

R1 ate well and now Dad is making sure that R2 is full to the brim. Ron, you are a great Dad! You can see R1 passed out in a food coma and Ron has even moved across the nest to feed the youngest sibling. Fantastic.

Today is Day 40 for the eggs at Captiva Bald Eagle Nest on Sanibel, Island. It is the home of Connie and her new mate, Clive. There is some chatter that the eggs might not be fertile. Let’s wait and see.

I haven’t seen any of Ervie’s tracking uploaded since 26 December. I will be checking on the PLO nest during the rest of the day to see if anyone returns to the barge at Port Lincoln. That wing of his could be our last sighting of the Erv until people along the coast send in images of him. There appears to be a huge interest ‘and caring’ for the Osprey in the region. That really helps!

Take care everyone. Have a great end to your week. Thank you for joining me. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, SWFlorida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Berry College Eagle Cam, KNF Bald Eagles, Friends of Big Bear, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Forest, Captiva Bald Eagles, Farmer Derek Owl Cam, and the WRDC Bald Eagle Nest.

Bald Eagle Season is approaching

As Bald Eagle season quickly approaches, I am reminded that everyone has a few favourite eagle nests. Some like to cheer Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear while others like Harriet and M15 at the Southwest Florida nest or Samson and Gabby at the Northeast Florida nest. Others love Mr and Mrs North at the Decorah Eagles, the Pittsburg-Hayes or the new couple, Anna and Louis, who had the first eagle fledge from a nest in Kisatchie National Forest since 2013, last year. I could list so many because there are so many streaming cams on Bald Eagle nests in the United States. It is their National Bird and there is a lot of patriotism surrounding some of the nests! Some individuals do not like to watch birds eating birds and mammals but, did you know that the diet of the Alaskan Bald Eagles is almost exclusively salmon? the same will apply to many of the Bald Eagles out in British Columbia. Bald Eagles eat what is in front of them; they are opportunists. So the diet will vary regionally. Sadly, they also eat carrion, dead animals, many of which are on the highways and the eagles get hurt or killed flying down to get the food or the remains left from hunters full of lead shot.

I caught up with a few of the Bald Eagle couples recently. Anna and Louis have returned to the nest they used in the Kisatchie National Forest. Cody and Steve have really worked on the camera situation and there is now sound, too. You have a broken screen showing the landscape and then another view looking directly down into the nest. Cody and Steve are part of the forestry staff. They also ‘man’ the chat. I am terribly grateful for their active involvement in the nest. They have worked hard to make it a fabulous viewing and learning experience for all of us. It was a real joy to watch the first time parents figure out how to parent a growing eaglet last year!

Samson and Gabby have been working on their nest for quite some time. It is comforting to wake up in the mornings and see them roosting on the branch together.

I use that word ‘comforting’ because at any moment something could happen to one or both of the adults. That is certainly the history of Samson’s parents, Romeo and Juliet, who raised their young in this nest. So for both of them to show up every morning and every evening is simply – well, it takes a lot of weight off the mind. Of course, the same applies to all birds on all nests.

Here is a very short slide show that someone posted showing various stages of Legacy’s development last year. Legacy was such a sweetheart. Samson and Gabby did not hold back on the teaching. They had to be parents and siblings, too, so that Legacy would learn how to live in the world beyond the nest.

You may also remember all of the worries over Legacy’s survival when she got Avian Pox. It was a mild case and she not only survived but, also thrived. Legacy became a gorgeous strong fledgling.

Harriet and M15 are getting ready for another season. Harriet has been bringing in monstrous size sticks (someone referred to them as logs) to the nest in Fort Myers. I am so excited.

E17 and E18 were riots last year. I originally thought 17 was going to kill 18. You might recall they were sent to CROW for their eye infection and 17 had ‘time out’. I think the two of them in care for those five days melted everyone’s hearts. Harriet and M15 are old hands at raising chicks and when the pair got into too much bonking, both parents stepped in and fed one or the other. By the time the pair fledged, they were inseparable, best buddies.

Lady Hawk catches one of their first ‘rock’em sock’ems’.

Here they are as fledglings battling over a prey drop. There was not a dry eye in the house when these two finally flew away to find their own territory.

Harriet and M15 have been at the nest since September working on it for another year. What a beautiful couple!

If you have been watching the territorial battles going on at the Captiva Nest on Santibel Island in Florida, word has come that the former male adult, Joe, has reclaimed his nest. I cannot confirm this as none of the eagles have leg bands. That is what someone posted on the Bald Eagle 101 FB page.

I will have lots more Bald Eagle news in the days to come. There are also other birds beginning to get their nests ready for breeding season. Jack and Diane have been at the Captiva Osprey Nest in St Petersburg, Florida and the Royal Albatross are arriving at Taiaroa Head, NZ. There are now 80 adults there. One of the founders of the colony was Grandma and this is a lovely video on the importance of her to the present and future of the colony.

https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/grandma-1990/credits?fbclid=IwAR2AwcNqLyVQ_lqyb2wxAYmfoU0Ohzg3aXVHWLF3AvrHpl2D4TFZJkhxfgA

A quick check on the Australian falcon nests show that all are doing fine. The Collins Street Four run up and down the gutter. As a result their legs are getting really strong. Diamond continues to get Yurruga to stretch for food so that she will strengthen her neck. At the 12:23:40 fish drop on the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge, Little Bob didn’t think he wanted any food at first. Then he changed his mind and went barreling in between Middle and Big so he could get to Mum’s beak. Neither of them blinked. This nest is so civil! Ringing will take place sometime during the first week of November and one or all three will be fitted with a GPS satellite tracker. (I was told all three awhile ago).

For those who want to see the Season of the Osprey, this is a reminder that it is showing in the US tomorrow. Please check your local stations for the correct time in your region.

Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. Have a great day wherever you are.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: the KNF Bald Eagle Cam, NEFlorida and the AEF, SWFlorida and the Pritchett family, and the Port Lincoln Osprey Project.