Tag Archives: M15 and Harriet

Late Saturday and early Sunday in Bird World

12-13 March 2022

I was really concerned about fish arriving today with the weather system moving through Florida potentially causing Little to not get any fish on Saturday. Little (aka Mini on the chat) has lost a lot of his ‘get up and get in there to eat’ energy due to Big’s beaking. Almost three days without much food and Little, Middle, and Mum, Lena, were looking pretty bad Friday morning. It has been hot and humid and they were clearly getting dehydrated. Andy saved the day – or should I say that something gave way so that Andy had good fishing on Friday. He brought four good sized fish in to the nest and one snack. I only counted two fish coming in on Saturday but I could well be wrong. Little got a real good feed at the end of the day.

This fish, the last one for the day, was delivered at 16:24:52. Andy has just dropped if off and is flying back out to the Gulf. You can see that Big still has a crop from the earlier feed.

There is Little up at the table. He has now completely lost his baby down and has his beautiful dark grey thermal down. The copper red feathers run from the tip of the back of his neck down his shoulders. if you look at the two older siblings you will see their blood feathers coming in – the flight feathers and there contour feathers are also just starting.

I was just so thrilled to see Little eating that well, joy isn’t the right word. Joyful relief? He was so thin Friday morning.

The other two moved up as they got their second wind. Little didn’t move.

Little just kept eating and one of the older siblings turned to face the other way. Good for Little!

It has been raining on and off but everyone looks dry now. Lena is trying to gather up the chicks so she can brood them and keep them warm. Sweet.

It is just 12:19 at the Captiva nest on Sunday and already there have been seven fish deliveries!!!!!!!! Yes, you read that right. 6. The fish were delivered at 07:53:03, 08:16:44, 08:31:37, 08:42:08, 09:12:52; 10:06:24, and 12:19. It has been difficult to see the chicks but I understand that there has been no beaking from Big Bob. This is fantastic news. The bad weather coupled with few deliveries during the last storm clearly caused Big to behave badly. Hopefully the civility will last.

The first six fish that Andy has brought in were Needlefish. They are not that big but Andy must have found a stash of them!

“Needle Fish” by anselor is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

The 11:37 fish was a catfish. It is big! Here it comes. Look at the top left. And then look at the chicks looking up as that whopper arrives.

He shows it to Lena, takes it and eats the head and returns the partial catfish at 12:19.

Thunder is brooding and incubating and the third chick is really making progress on hatching as I write this. Thunder is a great Mum. I love how she feeds the chicks. Here is a bite for you and here is one for you. Back and forth so they have time to swallow but in a nice rhythm so that both are very civilized.

The third chick hatched sometime right before 22:15 or thereabouts. Thunder was taking out the eggshell halves. It is going to be busy busy in the morning at the West End nest!

Then there were three in the morning. Akecheta dug the egg cup so deep that it is really difficult to see all three of the chicks.

Akecheta stayed by Thunder during the night guarding his family – now a family of five instead of two for this first time dad. The Ravens that have plagued this nest will be bothersome and can predate the chicks until they are approximately 5 weeks old. So both Thunder and Akecheta will need to be vigilant.

Golden glow on Thunder as the sun rises on Catalina Island.

Akecheta has been working on the egg cup. I hope he is making it a little wider! You can see the three. Squint for the wee fur ball.

The babies at Dale Hollow are all being fed for the night. River wants them to stay in the dry straw and not be crawling all over the place like they do ordinarily. She has been good, then, to bring the fish to them! All have eaten and somewhere on the Internet is a video of the three of them crop dropping at the same time. Must find it.

It was a cuddle puddle at the Dale Hollow nest this morning. The snow is melting. One of the parents will be nearby serving as security while the other is out hunting for food. The chicks are doing well.

There has been a possible fledge at the Osceola Bald Eagle nest in Florida. This was one of three nests that only had one chick – the other two being Kistachie National Forest and Berry College.

It was a real fledge. OC9 has flown out of the nest and has returned also. This morning she was eating at the nest with the parent when they came in, flying back and forth from the branch to the nest and is now off to explore the world. This is excellent news. This fledgling OC9 needs to return to the nest for about a month. She will perfect her flying and continue to be fed by the parents until she can hunt on her own. Perfect. When they dart out and never return, there is always cause for concern. So well done OC9.

Speaking of fledges, E19 and E20 have both branched and, like the juvenile on the Osceola nest, could fledge any day.

E20 did some great hovering on Saturday. Have a peek.

It will not be long til Kincaid at the Kisatchie National Forest (KNF) nest is branching. He is really working his wings lately.

I have not checked on the Redding Eagles for some time. Liberty is 23 years old and she is incubating two eggs at the nest high up in the Cottonwood Tree on the Sacramento River. Her third mate is Guardian who is 8 years old. We are about one week away from pip watch at this nest!

You may already know the Two Harbours Bald eagle nest high on the cliffs above the town of Two Harbours on Catalina Island. It is a new nest to me. I am including it for a very good reason today. Two Harbours is the home of Chase K81 and Cholyn K82 proud grandparents to their 2009 fledgling Thunder’s trio.

Chase hatched at the San Francisco zoo in 1998. He was fostered at the West End nest which is now home to Thunder and Akecheta. In 2003 he bonded with Cholyn. Cholyn hatched from an egg taken from the West End nest to the SF Zoo – hence the sequence of their wing tags. She was fostered at Pinnacle Rock. Cholyn and Chase are 23 years old and they are incubating one egg so far at the Two Harbours nest this year!

There is snow on the nest of Big Red and Arthur from the storm that went through and the Port Lincoln Osprey Project’s camera on the barge is still off line. However, we do have news of Ervie. Here is his most recent tracking. He is staying right where he has been along the North Shore. Wonder if he has found his forever territory?

I hope that PLO do not mind but Rob Watson sent them an image of Ervie sitting in the top of a Norfolk Island Pine up from his house yesterday. Wonder where that tree is on that tracking chart?

Ervie is certainly intent on watching something. Ervie, you are lookin’ good.

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

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams and/or their FB pages where I took my screen captures: Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Dale Hollow Eagles, Explore.org and Institute for Wildlife Studies, KNF Bald Eagles, SWFlorida Eagles and D Pritchett, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Redding Bald Eagles, and Osceola Eagles.

Captiva Ospreys have their first egg and other Bird World News

Calling all Osprey fans. We have lift off. The new couple at the Captiva Osprey Nest have their first egg. Meet Lena and Andy 2. (The previous pair were also Andy and Lena).

Lena 2 laid her first egg at 10:04:08. From her actions, it appears that she could be a first time Mum from her reactions to the egg. She was very cautious which is a good thing and seemed a bit unsure about incubation at first.

Just imagine laying an egg for the first time!

The wind was really blowing. The weather station says it is 18 kph but, the gusts have to be much more than that. I have to remember that the breeze would feel good in southern Florida where the nighttime temperature is currently 24 C.

There is our proud Mum. Isn’t she lovely?

Oops. A big gust caught Lena when she was trying to incubate the egg and almost sent her flying off the nest.

Hang on, Lena!

Ahhh, nice and settled.

The nest is on the same property as the Captiva Bald Eagle nest. The land is owned by a Canadian, Lori Covert.

The first Andy and Lena laid eggs on this nest before. Sadly, the Corvids in the area come to the Osprey nests once the chicks hatch and eat them. As a result, Andy and Lena 1 did not fledge any chicks.

There is currently a discussion about having a poll to see if watchers want the cam left on if the eggs do hatch or have it turned off so that if the Crows come, we do not see what happens. The ultimate decision is, however, with the land owner.

This couple arrived early and laid their egg a month ahead of most. Hopefully that will help them with the Crows as well as any issues with the red tide that can occur in this area. Currently there is no red tide. If you would like to know the impact of the red tide, here is some very good information:

https://www.mysanibel.com/Departments/Natural-Resources/Protecting-Our-Water-Quality/Sanibel-H2O-Matters/Red-Tide-Information

Oh, let’s send this young couple positive wishes. You can watch Andy and Lena 2 here:

My intention was to report -again- on the Port Lincoln lads but it was so exciting to check on this nest first and find an egg had just been laid. Oh, I sure hope they do well.

It is quite clear from happenings on the Port Lincoln Barge why Ervie and Falky don’t have enduring brotherly love for Bazza. But, before I begin, this morning both Ervie and Falky had fish delivered which they ate on camera. Ervie got the first fish from Mum at 07:08 and Falky got a fishy shortly after from Dad at 07:23:25. When I went back to look at Bazza he had a nice crop so he has eaten off camera. I expect that one of the parents made a delivery to him but, it is possible Bazza was fishing and caught it himself.

In the image below, Bazza is on the bottom right perched on the yellow and black ropes. You can see he has a crop. It looks nice and full to me.

A few minutes earlier an incident between Bazza and Falky occurred. Please watch carefully as Bazza attacks Falky shoving him into the water. You will see Falky floating in the water below the ropes. Falky will make three attempts to get out of the water.

Falky kept his cool and did not panic. He managed the situation really well. That said, it is possible that Falky might have drown. I know that I have been watching the dust ups between the three brothers but there are instances when it can go very badly. It was such a relief to see Falky flying free of the water.

Ervie remained on the nest all day. Mum delivered a small fish to him at 15:29:44. Port Lincoln provided some really nice close ups of Ervie.

He’s a lovely juvenile.

There is a rare Stellar’s Sea Eagle that is making its way South. It was up around the Atlantic coast of Canada not that long ago and bird watchers, especially those working on Life Lists were ever so excited!

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2022/01/07/stellers-sea-eagle-maine-boothbay-harbor/?fbclid=IwAR2j9R5vZTrVaT46gMvLavzwKgUupiHysJMAoJDsUWnmYbKbVuRZrNSYsN0

I want to leave you with a smile on your face. Have you seen anything cuter today than Harriet and M15’s babies, E19 and E20? It is getting much more difficult to tell them apart! They are adorable with their clown feet and big wings. They both have crops and enjoyed the ‘mystery’ meal that Dad brought in.

We could have pips Sunday morning from Captiva and the KNF Nest. Stay posted. We are also monitoring Berry College. So much going on.

Right now there is snow falling on Missey at Barry College. My goodness she just survived a hail storm and incredible winds. Now snow.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Window to Wildlife Osprey Cam, Berry College Bald Eagle Cam, SWFlorida Bald Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, and Port Lincoln Osprey Project.

Late Monday in Bird World

It has been a wonderful day in Bird World. It is a good time to reflect on how much joy the birds bring into our lives, how much they teach us as we observe them and, as always, what else we can do to enrich their lives like they have ours. I cannot even begin to imagine what my life would have been like. First was the feeding of the songbirds in our garden and then there was the arrival of Sharpie’s mate. All of that was followed by watching Red-tailed Hawks in New York City and in Ithaca on the streaming cams. Years later the pandemic hits. Two years ago we had barely returned from a trip to Quebec City to celebrate my retirement and the first discussions of a deadly virus were swirling about. It was not long until we learned about the cases in PRC and, of course, all of that is now history. The first hawks that I watched in New York City are no longer with us (secondary rodenticide poisoning) but Big Red is still going strong up in Ithaca. She gave so many a reason to get up in the morning and, at the same time, reasons for us staying up all night as well – worrying. The birds taught – and continue to teach – me many things including empathy and patience.

Today, the Hilton Head Eagles, Harriet and Mitch, had their second hatch. The nest was discovered in October and the Hilton Head Trust held a contest for names for the couple while also setting up a streaming cam. Harriet is named after Harriet Tubman, nurse and spy for the Union army, and Mitch is for Civil War General, Ormsby Mitchel. Tubman actually led 700 slaves to their freedom, 100 of them to Mitchelville, a community established by the General for formerly enslaved persons. Thus, the names have a connection to one another and also to the community where the nest is located.

They are just adorable – littl eaglets with their soft grey natal down and spiky hair. Look how strong they are in the image below. It is so reassuring when they hatch and are strong and ready to go! Have a look:

I have been watching M15 and Harriet and the hatch of E19 most of the day. If you missed it, I updated my earlier blog identifying M15 as the adult on the nest when E19 hatched. That hatch was at 12:43:04. Harriet saw her baby for the first time at 14:46. The couple have each had turns feeding their first hatch of the 2021-22 season.

Look how wide E19 is opening its mouth. Harriet is pleased.

M15 stands guard over his nest with mate Harriet, E19, and yet-to-hatch eaglet, E20.

All of these eaglets will spend 75-85 days in the nest, depending on where they hatched. Here are the three standard divisions of the eaglet’s development. The first stage, 35-40 days, is called ‘structural growth.’ This is when the eaglets rapidly gain weight. They seem to be eating all the time. They are building bones and muscles as well as their tissue, toes, claws, etc. The second stage is related to the eaglet’s future ability to fly. The eaglets are born with natal down. Next is thermal down, then their juvenile feathers come in, and over the course from fledge to the time they are five years old, they will go through stages of feather development resulting, finally, in an adult with a beautiful white head, gorgeous brown body and yellow legs and feet. The thermal down will begin coming in around day 10. Juvenile flight feathers begin growing between 24-27 days. You will notice the eaglets doing wingercizes which help them develop the muscles in their wings. Right now these eaglets do not have much control over their heads and beaks. They will, as their neurological coordination increases, begin to stand on their feet instead of scooting around on their tarsi. They will learn to tear food, holding the prey down with their feet and pulling with their beak. Instead of being clumsy unfocused bobble-heads, they will turn into beautifully focused chocolate feathered raptors.

Within the last hour, another GHOW strike has happened at the SWFlorida Eagle Nest. These attacks are occurring much more frequently. Several nests including one Osprey one at Hog Island employed lights and clothed dolls to thwart the GHOW attacks. Thank you for that information, ‘L’. Maybe it is time to consider lights for Harriet and M15.

The Kakapo Recovery posted the cartoon of their infamous bachelors about two weeks ago.

Well, the staff no longer have to wait for breeding season to begin on Whenua Hou Island. The Kakapo kicked it up into high gear starting on 24 December. Oh, let there be many baby Kakapo!

Over at Port Lincoln everyone is eating well. Bazza found a fish before day break on the floor of the barge, then Bazza received another fish. Did I say I think Bazza will never leave home? Ervie has been over on the ropes eating a fish that it appears he caught and when he couldn’t eat another bite, Falky took over. Wow. Sibling sharing. How nice!

Ervie is at the top and Falky is eating the rest of the fish Ervie caught on the ropes near the bottom of the image.

Diamond slept on the Cilla Rocks last night. It is comforting to see her sitting on the ledge of the scrape at first light.

As I approach the end of the day, the sun is waking up on the deserts of Africa. The little birds are flitting about the bore hole in Namibia getting drinks. What a beautiful view. So peaceful. So warm compared to the cold snowy weather of Manitoba!

Good Night everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this evening. Stay well, stay safe. See you soon.

Thank you to the following streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Hilton Head Eagle Cam, SWFlorida and D Pritchett Eagle Cam, Port Lincoln Osprey, Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Nambia Cam, and Kakapo Recovery FB Page.

Soap Opera at the Campanile and other nest news

The soap opera playing out with the Peregrine Falcons at tThe Campanile on the grounds of UC-Berkeley made the Los Angeles Times this morning:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-11-04/berkeley-has-birds-eye-view-of-falcons-love-triangle?_amp=true&fbclid=IwAR0lJRqxYVAIJUW7KKkOCDnqq9RRXHHYC_qhCixKc1dA_xMAZREyHlGCfeQ

Annie only knows Grinnell is not there and it appears she might be taking up with the interloper that caused Grinnell’s injuries. My goodness!

The birds are stirring at Port Lincoln this morning. Before 6am there was calling from the nest. There were only 3 birds but it was Mum calling Dad with the breakfast order. No. It was the chicks calling Dad wanting their fish! They are so big. Ready to begin flying.

Just look at those three birds. I sure hope they stay in the nest and pancake when they are to be ringed today but I am worried the sound of the motor boat is going to make them bolt off the nest early. I so want to be proven wrong, for the sake of the birds, and foolish for even thinking such a thing.

Janet Forster says they will come in a boat and dingy when the boat gets back from the Sea Lion Tour. Fingers crossed. We will not be able to see this live but I am hoping either pictures or a video will be shared later. The trio were fed six times yesterday. It should have been seven but dad lost a fish and he found it and decided he would eat the entire thing!

Is this to be the day that at least one of the 367 Collins Street Four fledges? They slept on the ledge last night. Will they fly off together?

Yurruga had a lot of prey items yesterday. She sported a nice crop and is doing really well with her self-feeding. What a lovely independent eyas. In one instance, Xavier came in with a Rosella. Even with a crop Yurruga seemed to want to have some of it – they must be very tasty. Someone told me they are the equivalent to the pigeons in the city – parrots everywhere – but I have no idea if that is true. In the end, watch and see what happens. Oh, and before I forget. Diamond’s limp is still there but it is improving every day.

There is an updating on WBSE 27 by Judy Harrington. This is what she posted: “SE27 is doing well, gaining strength and is feeding by itself. It has moved to a larger raptor cage to allow it to exercise and recover.
The treating vets have advised that SE27 will be in care for a few weeks while it recovers and will be released back into the wild as soon as it’s well enough. Healing takes time so please be patient. Updates will follow when possible. BTW, we hear fish and mice have been on the menu!
It is unlikely any photos will be issued while in captivity.
There are no reported sightings of SE28.” That is good news for this beautiful sea eaglet, WBSE 27.

It is really windy down in Ft Myers, Florida. M15 has been bringing his mate, Harriet, some nice treats in the last few days. The other day it was a Cattle Egret. She was delighted. The pair continue to work on their nest. Wonder when the first egg will appear?

Harriet being blown a bit by the wind. 6 November 2021

It is stormy over in Jacksonville, Florida. Still Samson and Gabby were both on the nest in the wind and rain preparing it for this season. Oh, goodness, this couple just warms my heart! (Yes, we all have our favourites. I admit it).

The weather out in Colorado is perfect and the Bald Eagle couple on the Fort St. Vrain Bald Eagle Nest are busy working, too. Last year they raised one chick. Wonder if they will make it two this year?

There is one eagle, at this very moment, working on the nest in the Kisatchie National Forest. I do not know if it is Anna or Louis. This is their second season together. So glad to see the couple returned. Last year was the first since 2013 that an eaglet had hatched and fledged in this nest. Nice to see the young family here. That is a great image on the two cameras and the sound is excellent this year. Cody and Steve have really been working on the set up. (Thank you!)

I am afraid that I could go on checking Bald Eagle nests and we would see the same image – one or both adults working on the nest. The eagles have really come back from nearly being wiped out. I hope there are enough big trees for them for nests!

It is going to be awhile til the PLO chicks are ringed and, believe it or not, it is 14 degrees C on the Canadian Prairies. Summer weather. Well, this is what our summers used to be like: 14-17 degrees C. Now you can double that. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and so far, Dyson is leaving Mr Blue Jay’s corn cob alone. It is a great day for a walk. See you later. Take care everyone.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: X-Cel Energy, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, 367 Collins Street Falcons by Mirvac, SWFlorida Eagle Cam and the Pritchett Family, NEFlorida Eagle Cam and the AEF, the KNF Bald Eagle Nest, and Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross.

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.