Tag Archives: Minnesota Bald Eagles

Sunday in Bird World

24 April 2022

You can count on the little eyases of Big Red and Arthur to put a smile on your face.

Arthur has certainly been busy filling up that pantry. I wonder if it is going to be a fur-lined nest this year??? L3 is currently hatching and there is a pip in L4.

Big and Middle at the Dale Hollow nest are incredibly beautiful. Hatched on 28 February and counting that day, they are 56 days old today. They will be with us for a couple of weeks longer. Take some time to check in on their nest before they fledge.

Hopefully they will continue to come to the nest so we can catch a glimpse of them like B15 at the Berry College nest who is 100 days old today. She popped in for a few minutes this morning and then off!

The two nestlings at the US Steel Bald Eagle Nest hatched on the 5th and 8th of April. They seem to be doing just fine. Thermal down is almost all in but the tops of their fluffy white ‘dandelion’ heads.

It is hot on that nest!

The pair are dreaming of fish – so is Mum!

All three chicks are on the rock and doing great at the West End Bald Eagle nest. Fantastic. They are still giving us reason to pause as they gaze over the edge to thee world that will be theirs way before we are ready for them to leave.

At the Redding Eagle nest, the list of name pairings has been short listed to three pairs. You must vote by 5pm the 26th (Tuesday) of April Pacific Time. The results will be announced that evening at 8pm Pacific Time.

It is free. Here is the link to vote so you can help name Liberty and Guardian’s two chicks who now weight between 5.5-5.7 lbs and are about a foot or 30 cm tall. Not quite the Canada Goose size of Spirit but they will be there soon enough!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfALw3bIOzxbd80fhFA0BnbfvMwdrdJhVdRo8ZHUgZAJ79vIg/viewform?fbzx=874659261762970805

They are gorgeous. It seems it was only yesterday that we were on pip watch at this nest!

I am shocked. I just checked on Little Bit at the UFlorida-Gainesville nest. He was still alive but being abused by Big at 13:18. This wee babe has gone through so much. It has an amazing will to live. Would love to see this nest turn around but Big has been after Middle all morning when there is food. It is a tough nest and there is definitely not enough food. Mum did get some off the last delivery. It is hot and she needs food too. I wonder what is causing the lack of fish?

Spirit who I mentioned is the size of a Canada Goose stands next to her proud Mum Jackie this morning.

The juvenile feathers are coming in on Harry and Nancy’s duo at the MN-DNR nest.

It is all good at the Two Harbour nest of Chase and Cholyn.

The two eaglets and the parents at the Decorah North nest are going well. Scary times in Iowa. If you live there the CDC has recommended taking down all bird feeders til the end of May.

And still smiling, the Pittsburgh-Hayes nest trio are good.

Mr President and Lotus’s Only Child is growing and doing well, too. Gosh, it is nice to run through the nest finding the chicks have eaten and are alive.

One of the fledglings at the Northeast Florida Bald Eagle nest of Samson and Gabby was on a branch this morning. Samson flew in with a fish later and there was no one on the nest. Samson ate a bit and left the rest. Later, one of the fledglings (I cannot tell which one) arrived for lunch! Excellent.

So beautiful in the light before IR camera turns off.

They grew up so fast. I remember when Rocket learned to self-feed before Jasper. Oh, I wish I could tell them apart now!

My earlier post had been sad. I hope that all of the nests continue to do well. I hope that Little Bit is released from its suffering. My next report will look at the UK Ospreys, the Storks, and all those falcons plus, of course, Big Red. But – I want to end with a really heart warming story of an Eagle family in the heat in Oregon who, with the help of a wonderful human and other helpers, saved it! Get a tissue. I needed this to end my day’s report!

https://www.oregonmetro.gov/news/bald-eagle-family-fights-save-chick?fbclid=IwAR2ezxrD_J4SYwoQP03ZpUNuIMncjKkbS8tIM3FLN5ju591dXh50TpV6bxY

Thank you for joining me today. Please take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab RTH, DHEC, Berry College, Explore.org, Redding Eagles, Friends of Big Bear Valley, MN-DNR, Pix Cam, NADC-AEF, and NEFlorida Eagles-AEF.

Friday the 19th in Bird World

It has been a bit of a day in the bird and wildlife world. Coming hot on the heels of the banning of trail hunting on Natural Resources Wales land and the National Trust properties in the UK, the State of Washington in the US has suspending bear hunting. It was well known that the adults were killed right when they came out of hibernation leaving cubs to fend for themselves, often dying. People, like you and me, called for these archaic practices to halt. The government listened. Remember that because every person can make a difference! You want hunting suspended in your state or province, phone and find out who to talk to. Write an informed letter. Demand change. Ask like-minded people to join you.

I am not going to start off with the streaming cams just yet. It was a grey damp day – with a little sunshine at times – on the Canadian prairies. The garden was full of birds, mostly sparrows and some Starlings. Mr Blue Jay came and went quickly. He does not seem to like the frozen corn cob. And, of course, there was Dyson & Company, along with Little Red.

All these years I have pondered the sheer amount of ‘bird’ seed that we go through in a week. It is true that there are normally 250-300 birds singing and eating daily but, how much can they eat? It appears that not all that new seed – seedless chipped sunflower and peanuts – is going to birds!

Dyson didn’t like the frozen corn either and didn’t bother to even take it for later. He has discovered how to vacuum out that new bird seed. I think I now know who broke my other feeder. Dyson has no shame. He lives to eat.

Dyson looks a little thinner in the image above but the one below is more of a likeness of this little one. Dyson brings us so much joy that we are thrilled he is healthy going into what might be a very bad winter.

With Dyson occupied on the sunflower/peanut feeder, it meant that Little Red could sneak on the tray feeder and eat all the cashews, fruit, Brazil nuts, and peanuts. If you are wondering, yes, the birds and animals possibly eat better than I do! Little Red is so cute.

Little Red lives in the penthouse. It is a ‘shed’ the size of a garage that is taxed like it is a new garage by our City. We haven’t had the heart to evict the little fellow even thought he fills everything up with Maple seeds and knocks everything off its hooks and generally makes a complete mess of the space.

There were a few European Starlings still in the garden. They will migrate returning next April but they are lingering just like some of the ducks and the Northern Cardinals. Who knows? Maybe they know what winter will be like better than anyone. They certainly have enjoyed eating the suet cylinder.

Others felt like Black Oil Seed today.

Isn’t she cute with her rosey legs and slightly pink tinted beak? Female house sparrows get short shift in the bird guides. It is a pity. They are quite lovely.

Last year I planted Scarlett Runner Beans and at the end of the summer the sparrows went wild shredding all of them and eating the greenery. What you are looking at below is a Flame Willow shrub. In winter the branches are red – super beautiful in a world of grey, white, and beige. There is some little vine or plant growing on that shrub. The sparrows have discovered it and they are doing the same thing – shredding and eating. Has anyone seen this behaviour?

And now back to the streaming cams for a quick update.

Port Lincoln Osprey Barge: By 09:30, three fish had been delivered to the nest. Bazza initially got the first fish when it arrived at 06:23. Ervie took it away from him. Bazza did nothing to try and get it back. Falkey got the 06:49:38 fish. The third fish arrived at 09:11:09 and Falkey got it, too. Ervie had a huge crop. He wasn’t bothered. Yesterday Cilla Kinross of the Orange Peregrine Falcons said that “Shrinking violets will not last long in the real world.” Bazza is hungry and he needs to challenge his brothers despite that he might be fearful of another incident like he had with Ervie.

Falkey has the fish. Bazza is crying to Mum and Ervie with his big crop is looking out to sea on the right. Will Mum take the fish and feed Bazza?

The White Tailed Eagle Nest in Durbe, Latvia. Milda and Mr L were at the nest working on more renovations. It was getting ready to rain and the image is a little ‘foggy’. Sorry about that. It is nice to see Milda. I hope that this will be a successful year for her after the tragedy of spring 2020.

The Minnesota DNR has turned on its Bald Eagle cam. Here is a video of that amazing couple – the sub-adult male who fathered his first chicks at the age of four last year – and the older female. This video was made on 18 November. It looks like Dad has his adult plumage this year! How wonderful. He will have turned 5.

Cornell Red Tail Hawk Cam at Ithaca. The camera has been frozen for awhile. I wrote to the Cornell Bird Lab to inform them and to also ask them if there have been any confirmed sightings of Big Red since the last one on 16 October. I will keep you informed.

Annie and Grinnell. I have not seen any updates. As well, nothing on the WBSE juvenile.

You might remember Tiny Little Bob from the Foulshaw Moss Osprey nest in Cumbria. That little one is a fine example of a third hatch so tiny everyone thought it would die and well, she became the dominant bird on the nest. Her number is Blue 463. I am watching all of the announcements for her arrival in warmer climates. Today, however, the 2016 hatch from Foulshaw Moss, male Blue V8, was spotted in Tanji Marsh in The Gambia. He was seen there in January 2021 and was in Cumbria during the summer of 2021. This is the good news you want to hear. Survival.

And on that wonderful sighting, I will close. Take care everyone. Enjoy the end of the week and the beginning of the weekend. Stay safe. Thank you so very much for joining me.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, The Latvian Fund for Nature, Charles Sturt University at Orange and Cilla Kinross, and to Lady Hawk for her video on the arrival of the two Bald Eagles to the MN DNR nest.