Tag Archives: Missoula

Does Iris have a suitor?…late Friday in Bird World

10 April 2026

Hello Everyone,

I hope that the week has been good to you and that you are planning to be outside this weekend so that you can hear some birdsong. With migration well underway throughout the middle US, we are expecting more and more species to be arriving in Manitoba. Many ospreys are making their way home especially to the nests in Nova Scotia. We wait for the last of the streaming cam stars to arrive in the UK and northern Europe.

Thank you so much for your lovely notes. I really appreciate them, and this week they warmed my heart so much. I have been unwell, passing kidney stones the old-fashioned way. Life with Don did not permit me to be in the hospital taking advantage of modern methods of blasting these excruciatingly painful little blobs!!!!!!! I am, however, feeling much better as I write this. Don has been going to bed early for the past few nights, and this has given me a wee bit of time to sit and sip tea in the silence. Ironically, both Toby and Don ‘understood’ that I was ‘sick’ and each helped in their own way. I wish you could see my smile. It is also warming up and tomorrow Don and Ann will be out exploring and over the weekend, we should see temperatures around 10 C.

In terms of ‘escape proofing’ the house and property, the hardware is ready for installation next Thursday. The goal was to find a convenient time for them to come. The other day, I might have said that the locksmiths, the bathing lady, and her supervisor hit the front porch at precisely the same time. I don’t like ‘chaos’ anymore. One event per day is what Don’s doctor recommends, and I agree – it keeps my mind calm. The last things to do are to install a tall gate that can be locked at the front and a proper lock on the rear gate. So, I am getting there.

With spring arriving, all of us are starting to think about the garden. A young man has been hired to come and deal with all the birdseed remnants! It looks like there is about a ton of shells! I am serious. Some of it will be used to level off the back area – it would be grand if it all could be raked over. It does make the best compost. The plan is to toss in a lot of wildflower seeds. There will be a few plants specifically for the birds and the bees, including Don’s beloved hummingbirds. I have four trellis pyramids (not sure of their proper name) that will be devoted to climbing beans and tomatoes. Peony supports have been ordered – enough for the six plants put in last year. There are other plans – staining the old deck and building a bit of solid fence to meet up with the fence that was built a few years ago. That is to keep Toby’s eyes in the garden and passersby eyes on what they are doing.

Today, ‘pyjama day’ was very quiet, just as I planned for Thursdays (except or next week when PJ day becomes Monday). Few e-mails exchanged, no housework, etc. What we did do was put together a small indoor garden box with lights to grow salad fixings and herbs. At the current price in the shops, it will not take long to pay for it, and I don’t have to worry about running out of cilantro. So far, only Hugo Yugo has taken an interest. I hope she stays out of it! That little ginger cat can cause more trouble than a dozen other cats.

Now to the birds…

I am happy to say that the fortunes at both Brevard County and Achieva changed somewhat on Thursday with the arrival of several fish. I was afraid that if the poor weather at Brevard continued, all the chicks would be lost. As it was, Mum was just as starving. The little second hath at Achieva finally had a crop! I was happy to receive the following note from ‘MP’ who watches this nest with ‘eagle eyes’. “I’ve watched the Achieva nest continually, and I can say everyone needs more food in the raptor world. Jack has started to show the female how to feed the chicks as he has started feeding them with smaller bites than she gives. The female watched him intently. Jack did try to get her to letting him feed her, but she wouldn’t go for it. She just walked over and grabbed the fish he had. The younger osplet appears to be aggressive toward the older one. Just sayin.

I believe the female is a new mom. She appears to be more interested in her hunger pains. With Jack being a bird who likes stashing fish around whether he does it for safety or a penchant, he does bring in fish. It may be old and decomposing fish, but it does fill their stomachs. I would prefer fresh, since it has more moisture giving the osplets fluids. 

I think Jack could do better, but maybe he can’t. I only hope the chicks aren’t knocked down through the drain holes. You know better than I how quickly a nest can turn around. “

The other good news is that there is a male that has landed on Iris’s nest.

A series of images. At once when I saw the ‘snake eyes’ I really thought this male was Louis but I am told it is not. So we will see.

An osprey sitting in its nest made of branches, overlooking a parking lot with several parked vehicles in the background.
Two ospreys sitting on a nest made of sticks, with a parking lot and buildings in the background.
Close-up of an osprey perched on a branch with a parking lot in the background.
Osprey sitting on a nest made of sticks, with a parking lot in the background.
An osprey takes flight from its nest, which is built from twigs and branches, with a parking lot and trees visible in the background.

More hopeful signs early this morning. Now please bring Iris a nice big fish and treat her like the Queen she is!

Two ospreys sitting in a nest made of sticks, with a parking lot and greenery in the background. The time is displayed as 08:59, showing an observation related to their mating behavior.

There is a young male at the Charlo Montana nest. Lola is calling for fish and he is just leisurely munching away on the pole. I don’t think this behaviour is going to win any hearts and minds.

Two ospreys perched on a nest overlooking a scenic landscape with mountains in the background and a winding path through fields.
Two ospreys are perched on wooden posts in a grassy field, one facing down and the other looking to the side.

The first egg has been laid at the Bassenthwaite nest.

Osprey sitting on a nest with the first egg at Bassenthwaite Lake, surrounded by trees.

Herr Rauer returned to his nest in Norway on Thursday. Fru Rauer is on her way home, according to her satellite tracking.

An osprey stands on a nest near a river, with calm water and distant hills in the background.

Both ospreys are home at the Emma Osprey platform in the Pitkin County Trails, Colorado. They have been back for a little more than a fortnight. Wonder if we will have eggs soon?

Two ospreys perched on their nest made of twigs and branches, with a green, grassy landscape in the background.

There are reports that we also have a first egg at Port of Ridgefield yesterday! The first egg in 2025 was laid on the 26th of April – gosh, seventeen days early. I wonder if these ospreys are trying to beat the heat that might be coming.

Teifi is the male in charge of the Glaslyn nest. Aran appears to have retired to his patch that he enjoyed last summer after relinquishing his nest to Teifi and Elen (no chicks – it was chaotic). Elen has not been seen and her fate is unknown. It has been six days since she flew off the nest. I hope she found another one! She was a good Mum.

A post about the Glaslyn Ospreys, detailing the territory of KC6/Teifi, interactions with two females, and updates on other ospreys like Aran and Elen.
Two ospreys in a nest made of twigs and branches, with one bird appearing to dig in the nest.

Geemeff reminds me that Louis lands in the evening. I sure hope to see him tonight or tomorrow.

Everyone has Louis on their mind. That is because he is much loved.

A young osprey sitting in its nest surrounded by twigs and branches, with a scenic view of hills and forests in the background.

Latest news from Knepp Farm and its rewilding project. Will they finally be bringing bison back to the UK?

Knepp news bison on the horizon the Bird WhispererDownload

Birdlife Malta keeps us up to date on illegal trappings and declines in bird populations.

Spring is here but so are the challenges April NewsDownload

The latest from Geemeff and the Woodland Trust:

Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Thursday 9th April 2026

Things were more settled on the nests today as the three key players, Dorcha, Garry LV0 and Aurora 536, stayed on their own nests, although Dorcha did mantle at an intruder Osprey who flew too close to her nest, but not close enough to see who it was.  Dorcha caught her own fish and attempted to eat it on Nest Two while the intruder was nearby, and Garry brought two fish to Nest One for Aurora which clearly convinced her he is mate material as she not only allowed him to mount her on several occasions, but also lifted her tail. Although early stages, it’s looking good for chicks on Nest One this season, which is ironic as Dorcha is still waiting for Louis, spending time on the nest looking around constantly, even arriving in darkness this morning and perching quietly for hours – will we have chicks on Nest Two this year? There is still time for Louis to return, he is 13 or 14 this year, having first turned up ten years ago in 2017 as a 3- or 4-year old, which makes him a mature but not an old Osprey.

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/PGgwLnbf0iw N2 Dorcha arrives in darkness to wait for Louis 05.38.20

https://youtu.be/VgiPgyyZuTw N1 Aurora grabs her early lunch and flies off with it 11.51.18

https://youtu.be/lB3VOQO7NXE N2 Dorcha brings a fish but an intruder interrupts her 14.07.15 

https://youtu.be/YPJLLjcjL90 N1 Is this a successful mating for Garry & Aurora? 17.18.36 (zoom)

Bonus read: Garry the bachelor finally pulls a bird in his love nest (West Coast Today article*): 

https://www.westcoasttoday.co.uk/news/garry-the-bachelor-finally-pulls-a-bird-in-his-love-nest

Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

https://youtu.be/urAbbtSOcC8  N1 Fishy frolics and fumbles 2020

https://youtu.be/v-D7efdAnrQ  N1 The Stranger aka Young Pretender returns 2021

https://youtu.be/42CrOP5m8UE  N2 Night storm 2022 (Artistic Ospreys)

https://youtu.be/6R0DNlZfH9  N1 Chaffinch visits Nest One 2023

https://youtu.be/0kFa_ghXf7k  N2 Welcome home Dorcha! 2023

https://youtu.be/0iCP59ypmps  N2 Intruder Osprey does a flyby watched by Louis & Dorcha 2024 (slo-mo zoom) 

https://youtu.be/D02DTNcDNdM  N1 Welcome home Garry! LV0 arrives on Nest One 2024 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/0WR_9m9lGZY N2 Arkaig Ospreys: a sticky situation (quick-time Classic Ospreys: Saint-Saëns) 2024

https://youtu.be/sq0iW1T36zg N1 Welcome home Garry LV0! 2025

https://youtu.be/c7sOtUoE2Kc N2 Ringed male intrudes on Dorcha – who is it? 2025

https://youtu.be/lfaawh1jB7c N1 A Buzzard visits 2025

https://youtu.be/r6g_6__zaxs N1 Affric gets a fish from Garry LV0 2025

* Please note, this article is behind a paywall. However, you can register for free which gives you one free article per week.

Why not come and join the lively community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s friendly, free and everyone’s welcome:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

Thank you so much for being with us. I will, of course, send out a note if Louis arrives! Take care. Get outside. That is where I am headed with Toby. Don is at the zoo with Ann. It is a beautiful +5 C day on the Canadian prairies – blue sky, sunshine and all.

Thank you to absolutely everyone for their articles, their posts, and their letters. I am grateful to ‘MP’ for their comment on Achieva. Heidi is monitoring that nest, and I peek in once in a while, but not as often as I should. Thank you to Geemeff and everyone else for their summaries, and to the owners of the streaming cams, we are always ever so grateful. Without you, we would have little idea of what is happening in Bird World.

Has Iris landed?

6 April 2026

Hello Everyone,

Let’s get on with the great news. No confirmation yet but first thing I checked was Iris’s nest and look what I found.

An osprey sitting on a nest made of twigs, with a parking lot and trees visible in the background.

There was sad news coming out of Florida late Sunday. The little third hatch, Nod, that had captured so many hearts died from starvation caused by siblicide.

Earlier in the day.

An adult osprey stands watch over three young chicks in a nest, with a serene lake and greenery in the background.
Three young ospreys sitting in their nest, surrounded by sticks and greenery, with a calm water body in the background.

It is difficult raising three – it is extraordinary to fledge four but there have been osprey families that have done it repeatedly. Maya and Blue 33 and, as of late, CJ7 and Blue 022 seem to be setting some kind of record.

When a little one dies, I always think of two nests where the tiny one did not die. The first that comes to mind is Tiny Tot Tumbles (2021) at Achieva. We held our breath—79 hours without food. That little babe searched the nest and ate bones. It learned to ride the rails to sneak a bite and attacked the older sibling because it had nothing to lose. Diane noticed this chick wanted to live. When the older ones were asleep, and it was dark, she flew in with one of her catfish. Tiny Tot Tumbles, who was on the verge of death in March and April, survived and thrived. She defended the nest with Jack against an intruder during the third week of June after Diane had left the area. Tiny Tot was still on the nest later in the summer. She was extraordinary. I have always wondered what happened to her, and that is the problem with the US lack of ringing. The chicks on the streaming cam nests need to be ringed – and, yes, that goes for Big Red’s hawklets on the Cornell campus. Surely the folks at Cornell Bird Lab understand that knowing the dispersal area of Big Red’s babies could be important!

The second nest was Foulshaw Moss. White YW is an extraordinary male, and Blue 35 is a great Mum. The two older siblings in 2021 were much, much larger compared to the tiny third hatch. Blue 35 was clever! She managed to fill up the older ones, and once she flew off with the fish, they fell asleep. She returned with the fish and fed the tiny, tiny one. It was a brilliant strategy. I wish I could find my notes. I believe that, once ringed, the osplet was Blue 465. I really hope that Blue 35 returns this year. I am watching and waiting and so is her mate, White YW, who has been home for some days.

At the Glaslyn nest, Aran had a visitor, Blue 019. She is from the Fron nest. Elen was no where to be seen.

A young osprey chick sitting in a nest alongside an adult osprey, with a lush green landscape visible in the background.

Geemeff reports that Dorcha spent an hour on the Loch Arkaig nest 1, an unusual event. She has stopped in over the previous years, but never stayed this long. Geemeff believes that Dorcha flew in right before Storm Dave hit, while the other migrating ospreys are going to wait til the storm leaves. We are all looking forward to Louis’s arrival.

Geemeff sends us the daily summary:

Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Sunday 5th April 2026

The weather continued to be poor with snow and ice, and Louis hasn’t yet returned. Dorcha however turned up not only on her own nest, but paid a visit of over an hour to Nest One. She has visited Nest One before but only a couple of fleeting visits. Looking forward to the return of Louis and the Nest One residents, probably when Storm Dave passes and the weather settles – in previous years, Louis has arrived as late as 11th April.

Today’s video:

https://youtu.be/jwSZFrPoQRM  N1 Dorcha visits and perches for an hour 10.28.32

Blast from the past – this day in previous years:

https://youtu.be/000ExVIHdTk N1 He’s back! Louis returns 2020

https://youtu.be/s45fByu5-ZE N2 Louis swoops around before landing with a fish 2023

https://youtu.be/_tcny1NvSfs N2 Louis is heard sky dancing at dawn 2024

https://youtu.be/onRZQMzzFec N2 Did Dorcha catch a fish or did Louis give it to her off-nest? 2024

https://youtu.be/15LM_bVIrGk N2 Comedy with a sticky situation (Classic Ospreys – Mozart) 2025

https://youtu.be/HPXA4EJ5uQc N2 The dulcet tones of a hungry female! 2025

Why not come and join the lively community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s friendly, free and everyone’s welcome:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

At Loch of the Lowes, there are ospreys but not Blue NC0. It is rumoured that she has been seen at another nest. Wherever she winds up, I hope she has a good mate and raises some healthy osplets. We all loved Laddie LM12, her late mate, and feel sorry for these ‘singles’ that are left and have to leave their former homes.

Take care…chek those cutie pie eaglets out at Big Bear and the babies at Achieva.

See you soon!

Thank you to ‘PB’ for her messages and to the streaming cams that let us see these wonderful birds in all their glory and saddness.

First egg at UK Osprey platform

5 April 2026

Good Afternoon Everyone,

First. A reminder if you haven’t already marked it on your calendar. Iris’s favourite day to return to Missoula is 7 April. We are less than 48 hours away.

They are returning from migration but the osprey season officially kicked off today (IMHO) with the arrival of the first egg.

It was Maya (unringed) and Blue 33’s first egg of 2026 and it happened around 1805.

Close-up view of an osprey in its nest made of twigs and branches, with a water backdrop.

Blue 33 flies in to have a good look.

A bird, possibly an osprey, is seen in a nest made of twigs and branches, near a body of water. The setting is peaceful and natural.

There are two cameras. The rails are so high on the nest this year we might only see little heads for some time.

Wide-angle view of Manton Bay with an osprey nest made of twigs in the foreground, surrounded by water and a blue sky with clouds.

On the Canadian prairies, it was raining and then it started snowing a bit and everything is brown and grey. No beautiful sunshine. Toby was so filthy from our walk that he had another bath – he is so good in the tub. Tomorrow he will have a mobile nail trimmer arrive to shorten those claws. In the meantime, it is damp to the bone weather here in Winnipeg. I hope it is much nicer where you are.

Check out the darling bobble heads at Big Bear and Achieva. Wink has brought in a huge fish to share with Peanut, who has repeatedly defended itself and the nest against that persistent owl. Storks are returning to Europe. One was on the nest at Mlady Buky the last time I checked. Remember, Milda is on eggs, and by the end of the month, I hope to see the cutest little white-tailed eaglets on that nest in Latvia. Fort St Vrain has a second hatch happening with pip watch on the third and only egg remaining (first two broke) going on for the ND-LEEF eagles in South Bend, Indiana.

FSV56 looking at Mum. What a beautiful sight.

A bald eagle tending to its nest, with a chick visible, surrounded by sticks and straw.

Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the owners of the streaming cams – without them we would not be able to look into the lives of these birds and witness these little bobblehead miracles!

Blue 022 arrives at Poole!

26 March 2026

Good Morning,

Well, CJ7 must be over the moon. Her great mate Blue 022 arrived back at Poole today – just one day behind her.

Here is Geemeff’s video of the delivery of a huge bass to CJ7 first thing: https://youtu.be/S1aPMGrQFa8?

Heidi reports that a GHO is taking interest in the Farm Field nest. This is not good.

Beau and Gabby’s second hatch, Kai, fledged yesterday and returned to the nest. Remember males often fledge earlier than females!

If I failed to mention it, Louis’s mate, Starr, returned to the Baseball Park osprey platform in Missoula, Montana. She is a good Mum – and well, we know about Louis.

Our daughter and grandson are coming today so I will not be checking in on the birds again until either late or Friday morning. Some of our regular contributors are travelling to see birds – enjoy those of you that are! And for the rest of us, take care. I will see you soon.

Thank you to Geemeff for the video of Blue 022 and CJ7, to Heidi for her report as well as Erick Greene. Always grateful for osprey news!