2 February 2022
Good Morning Everyone!
Today some in North America will be checking out to see if there are shadows that scare the groundhogs back into their hole. It is Ground Hog Day! Did you know that this particular belief comes to us from a very old Pennsylvania Dutch notion that if a groundhog comes out of his burrow and sees its shadow, it will be frightened and go back in for another more six weeks. If, however, the groundhog does not see its shadow – spring will be early!
It has sort of ‘warmed up’ on the Canadian Prairies. It is now 2345 on Wednesday and it is -18 C outside with winds gusting to 26 km/h. That translates into an extreme cold warning with ‘Dangerous wind chill values below -40 C tonight’. In other words, the skin on your face could get wind burn if it was exposed for 30 seconds. Frost bite. Death from the cold. It is not good to be outside. Next Monday, things will be much nicer – with temperatures around -7 C. The Polar Vortex will have moved elsewhere. So wherever you are, stay warm, stay inside, prepare ahead. Do not go out if it is not necessary. And for those of you having extreme heat, you must stay hydrated and cool.
In the News:
The second Kakapo to hatch in 2022 has been named.
It feels so good to read about an eagle being released from rehab! Soar high!
Looking at ways to prevent bycatch can vary from area to area. BirdLife is examining the area around the Mediterranean Sea and, specifically Malta in this article. It is a good read and helps us to understand that everything has to be balanced. You cannot just remove all the turtles and hope that the eco system will survive.
Tori lines have proven to be helpful if the right line is used.
More eagles being admitted with lead poisoning. I wonder how many there are in a day across the US?
At the Nests:
Are you missing Mr President and Lotus? like me you haven’t seen them at the National Arboretum nest? There is an explanation. It looks like they might be moving house – er’ nest – just like Akecheta and Thunder.
No worries. Zoe and Indigo are still around. Indigo has not been seen in the scrape but …here he is! Screaming up a storm.
Indigo, you sure are handsome! Hi there. Nice to have you back in the scrape…we missed you.
Gabby and V3 were said to have a ‘dust up’ over a squirrel around 0730 on the morning of Wednesday, 1 February. Gabby got her talon stuck in the squirrel and could not get it out and V3 wasn’t letting go either. They are definitely back to loving one another!
They were back working on the nest afterwards. These images are from 0850.
In other areas, Wednesday was a soggy day. The eaglets in Louisiana have been fed but word is coming from Paul White that neither Ringo or Boots have been fed earlier today because of the hard rain. It has stopped and at 1055 there was a feeding. Ringo ate. Even got out of the egg cup to stretch its neck. Boots made no effort to eat but, as you will see from a later posting, Boots had already eaten. He did, however, have only one meal yesterday. It is amazing how well eaglets can cope on so little.
People reacted to the feeding and also to the possibility that Boots cannot free its right leg – it is stuck in the nest. Let us please hope that this little one can get free. Send all of your positive energy. In order to bed fed, this mother is wanting those chicks up at the table and out of the bowl so Boots has to engage. He has had some food as you can see in the image below he has a bit of a crop.
It has been cold in and around the Houston area just like it has been in Louisiana with rain. hanks, ‘J’ for drawing that to my attention. It will not begin warming up until Thursday but it isn’t going to be hot, hot then. So no issues with dehydration from the heat, just lack of food because it appears Boots has been stuck in the nest for some days. There are certainly discussions about getting someone to the nest to release little Boots because that is possibly fishing line around its leg. Send good energy.
Anna, sensing the weather, was up feeding E03 several times before the storms hit including first light.
It is also cold – 36 degrees F – and rain.
Alex brought in a fish to go with the Coot and Valentine and 02 were fed early, just like E03.
Little E03 can still fit under Anna but, Valentine and 02 are having issues trying to get under Andria.
Either Tico or Pearl sent off a ‘ps’ that has caused the camera to be coated again at Superbeaks. Oh, goodness. Let us collectively wish for rain to clean that lens so we can see these two fledge…it is awhile but…Thankfully the ps is at the side!
Connick is adorable. There was a time when I wondered if this little eaglet was going to make it to this stage…we can see his ears! Connick has a mohawk, his beak is shiny ebony at the tip, his eyes are clear, and he is eating well and moving too much on the nest for comfort.
The birds seem to be doing fine. There are eggs being laid, birds incubating, raptors thinking about eggs, the temperature of the South getting warmer as we move through February.
Holly Parsons is long associated with the Peregrine Falcons at Orange. She runs the FB group there and also runs the Albatross Lovers FB Group. I admire Holly. Look her up and read her bio. A film that she posted a link to today in her Albatross Lovers Group is one of the most beautiful documentaries on the Laysan Albatross. The images are amazing – so close up. The story is detailed and thought provoking. It is inspiring and bittersweet. The film is about an hour and a half long. You might want to watch it with your popcorn on a Friday night or watch it in sections or just sit quietly and see the whole thing. It is difficult seeing what all the plastic that we use does…but, we need to watch this. It is a beautiful wake up call. We will all thank Holly collectively. It is a really good look at the life of these amazing sea birds on the Midway Atoll —-and the challenges these birds face because of us.
http://www.albatrossthefilm.com
There is the trailer but on the right a tab says, Albatross the Film. That is what you are looking for.
Zoe is on the move again. She has been to an isolated bay where Osprey have been seen catching fish. Go girl! I hope our girl has turned out to be a good fisher.
Bonnie looks so pretty in that nest on the Kansas farm of Farmer Derek. After observing the GHOs run off the Bald Eagle couple, I found myself completely fascinated watching Clyde bring in rats and mice and other critters for Bonnie at dusk and dawn. And then the two owlets…so cute. So we will keep an eye on this GHO. (I have to admit that after causing such pain to Harriet and M15, I am not too thrilled about the relationship between the GHOs and the other raptors).
Thank you so much for being with me today. It is so nice to have you with us. This was a bit of a round up with some nests that are doing splendidly not mentioned. We will wait to see what will be the next Florida Osprey nest to have eggs – will it be Achieva or Captiva? Take care everyone! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, their posts, announcements, videos, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Kakapo Recover, Tamarack Wildlife Centre, Birdlife Malta, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, AEF, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Elain and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, NEFl-AEF, Paul White and the Webster Texas Eagle Watchers, KNF-E3, KNF-E1, Superbeaks, Window to Wildlife, Port Lincoln Osprey, Farmer Derek, Holly Parsons and the Albatross Lovers Group plus The Midway Project film, The Albatross, by Chris Jordan.