Tag Archives: MN-DNR Eagles

Early Saturday in Bird World

30 April 2022

UPDATE 2: My very reliable eagle source just sent me the following information. Nancy hunted on Wed when Harry didn’t show up. Nancy brought in a monster fish and another later. Both chicks fed and had huge crops. On Thursday there was an adult intruder. Nancy could not go far and yesterday people searching for Harry and intruder. Today, more people by the nest and raining most of the morning. Thank you ‘P’. As we all know the female will protect the chicks if there are avian or human intruders about. Let us hope that the rain stops and they find E2 and the nest can become quiet so Nancy can hunt more. She is perfectly capable like the Decorah Mum in doing so. The search area for Harry extended 3 miles and the team did not find him. This does remind me of Bella.

UPDATE: Terrible turn of events. The youngest eaglet was pushed off of the MN-DNR nest by the eldest. This was a second attempt and it was successful. It is possible that there will be a search for it and for Harry. Meanwhile, Nancy is feeding the eldest.

It is rainy, grey, damp, dreary in the garden this morning but, it could be worse! The rain is not torrential and the wee birds are not scurrying to get under the eaves to hang on to the vines. What a miserable spring ‘welcome home’ they are having!

Bird World news today includes some items from late Friday, also.

As I mentioned yesterday, Harry has been missing from the MN-DNR nest since late Tuesday. Things appear not to be going well. As Paul Kolnik mentioned on Eagles 101 FB page, there is a duck pond right below the nest. I don’t like seeing waterfowl on a nest these days due to H5N1 but it is better than having starving chicks.

Yesterday, the nest was volatile with the biggest trying to push the youngest off the nest. Nancy flew up and saved the day. I remember – was it Ma Decorah – that quickly went into action feeding her eaglets and they thrived and fledged- after the dad went missing. These are older chicks. Nancy can hunt! Get going, Nancy!

Nancy sits in the tree and there are more attacks this morning. The chicks – if they have not eaten since Tuesday – are in dire straits. I use the word ‘if’ because I have not seen a feeding, you might have. #1 continues its attack on #2. These two have had problems all season but now it is entirely worse. This is another form of siblicide – pushing sibling off the nest to their death and of course the attacks.

#2 chick might just want to jump off the nest to save its life. This was also this morning. Nancy is up in the tree. I am shocked if she has not brought food to the nest. Nests can turn on a dime. If you have seen Nancy bring prey, please let me know. TY.

Big Red looked tired last year with the Ks but she looks healthy and energized this year. It must have been a good year for prey for her during the non-breeding season. As ‘W’ put it, Arthur looks like he is in ‘shock’. Add one more eaglet and the work seems to be so much more strenuous. The pantry is full and L4 is eating fine. Big Red will not let her kids go hungry!!!!!!! Right now she needs Arthur because the hawklets are so young. They still have their fuzzy white down and need to be brooded. I giggled. No one thought Arthur could get the hawklets under him – well, he did this morning early when BR took a much needed break.

Arthur looks down at some of the Ls with the same loving eyes as Big Red.

You can still see the crop on the hawklet as Arthur gets up to let Big Red feed the gang —- you will always hear that Big Red does not like her kids to be hungry. She doesn’t. At 19 years old, she knows that to get them to quiet down they have to be full to the brim and then some!

Arthur is a great provider and mate. Big Red really picked a good one when she bonded with Arthur before he even had his red tail.

The nest cup is nice and deep and it is getting more and more fur lined. That would certainly make for not only a warm nest but a comfortable one for Big Red and Arthur. Imagine twisting and turning with babies under you and getting poked by sharp sticks.

L4 is on the left and is being fed.

Full and settled for the moment!

The two hawklets in the Presidio nest in San Francisco are doing great! Both are losing their soft fluffy down. You can see a few dandelions that will be gone soon. The white down on the head seems to be the last thing to change. They will be preening a lot to help with the itch but also they are learning to keep their feathers in tip top condition.

Mark your calendars for May 5-6 which is the hatch watch for Annie, Alden, and Grinnell’s eggs at The Campanile on the grounds of UC-Berkeley.

When Jasper and Rocket were younger, Rocket was the champion for snatch and grab because Jasper was dominant. After fledging – and some time prior – Jasper started getting really good at stealing the prey. After fledging, Jasper continued to perfect this to the detriment of Rocket who might be much more hungry. So yesterday when Rocket got the big fish and ate the entire thing – horking down the tail so we could see it on camera – it simply felt good! Way to go Rocket. Got your mojo back?

Jasper looked on in shock as Rocket grabbed the fish tail and down it went. Jasper really must have believed that Rocket was going to leave her something. No way, not today.

A massive feast landed on the Decorah North Nest of Mr North and Mrs DNF yesterday. Here is a video of that arrival and feeding. Turn down your sound!

Are you a fan of the Finnish Osprey nests? This announcement was posted this morning.

Finnish nest #4. 30 April 2022

Here is the link to Satakunnan #4 streaming cam:

There are 10 Osprey nests in Finland (this is what I was told last year). Here is the female on nest #5.

In the information section on YouTube, you will find the links to all of the cameras that are currently live in Finland. I am including only two here this morning.

Here is the link to Satakunnan Saakset #5:

At the Captiva nest in Florida, Andy has brought in Middle (LittleO’s) lunch.

Middle or Little O is the male of the fledglings. Little or MiniO is the female and Lori Covert, the owner of the property, has observed Little or MiniO diving for their own fish. Isn’t that wonderful? Lori does not know if Little or MiniO, the last to fledge, has been successful with their fishing but she is sure out there perfecting her survival skills.

I know that many watch the Osprey nest in Bremen, Maine. The adults this year are Steve and Calli. Steve brought the breakfast fish and Calli took off with it this morning. No eggs yet.

Here is the link to Steve and Callie’s Osprey cam – especially for those of you that are having withdrawal symptoms from Captiva!

I just wonder how many are watching the UK Osprey nests? I would definitely encourage you. (Unless there are severe weather issues, all of the nests below are excellent! There are many Pacific NW Osprey nests that I do not recommend such as Cowlings PUD, etc). Mary Kerr compiled a listing of the hatch watch dates for several of the nests in the UK. I know that she will not mind my sharing them while at the same time giving her credit for all the math – I did manage a B+ in Advanced Trigonometry in Uni but I can’t add!!!!!!! LOL. Here are those dates:

  • Manton Bay at Rutland Water: Blue 33 (11) and Maya: 7 May
  • Loch of the Lowes: Laddie LM12 and Blue NC0: 19 May
  • Dyfi: Idris and Telyn: 23 May
  • Glaslyn: Aran and Mrs G: 26 May
  • Loch Arkaig: Louis and Dorcha: 31 May

At the Pont Cresor nest in Glaslyn, Aeron Z2 and Blue O14 laid their first egg yesterday, 29 April so they are going to be much later than the nests mentioned above. I have said many times ‘why’ I prefer the UK Osprey nests but there really is something good about not allowing humans to have motor boats racing around and fishing – the silence of the lochs and the fish for the birds makes for good conditions. I just hope the nests avoid the terrible storms that have been coming to the UK.

Thank you for joining me today. Take care everyone. Please send your positive wishes to the MN-DNR. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Cornell RTH, Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife, Audubon and Explore.org, Explore.org, Bald Eagles 101, MN-DNR, NEFlorida-AEF, Cal Falcons, Presidio Trust, Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus), and Lounais Suomen Saakset.

Friday Morning in Bird World

29 April 2022

Good Morning everyone. The sun is trying to shine in southern Manitoba and the sky is light blue grey. Everyone is preparing for the onslaught of more rain headed our way — will it really be 50mm? That is close to 2 inches.

Mother Goose waiting for the all clear to leap from the Decorah nest. 28 April 2022

First up. I have received a number of letters about the 5th gosling of Mother Goose at the Decorah, Iowa nest. As many of you know, three goslings were with Mother and Father Goose after they jumped out of the nest and two were not. Boots on the ground found 4 and got it with Mum and Dad. Volunteers of the Raptor Resource Project and Mother and Father Goose continued to look and call for the 5th. Sadly, it was found dead. According to the following official release, it was not the youngest that died.

This is the statement released by the Raptor Research Project on their FB page:

“The goslings jumped today! We’ll have video tomorrow, but for now, we know that: Four of five goslings survived and were last seen swimming happily in Trout Creek, foraging along the bank, and following their parents up and down the small pool below the nest. One of the four went the wrong way after jumping! We managed to reunite it with its family after some mad scrambling through the brush, a low crawl across the river bank, and a little rock jumping. This gosling seemed determined to stay with new Papa. David Kester: it took two tries to get it back where it belonged! One gosling died. We initially thought it might have been the last to jump, since it was younger and smaller than its siblings and took a while to follow them out of the nest. But the gosling we reunited with its family was smaller than the one we found dead. We suspect (but don’t know for sure), that the reunited gosling was the last gosling, and the gosling that died was gosling number two. One, three, and four joined their parents quickly, but we don’t think we saw two after it jumped.”

The ‘sad’ part of all of this is that Mother Goose is still looking for her 5th gosling. She was at the nest this morning.

The Cape Wildlife Centre taught us much last season about Canada Geese – if we did not already know. When Arnold had his digit bitten off by a snapping turtle in their pond, Amelia looked and looked for him. She waited on the porch knowing he was inside the clinic (their pond is on the grounds of the clinic). The staff helped them to be together, for her to watch Arnold’s recovery, for them to share meals, and then finally to be outside. The take away from that is that Canada Geese are intelligent and sentinel. Was the dead gosling shown to the parents? And in asking that question I am not criticizing what was done yesterday at Mother Goose’s nest. Just asking a question. If not, perhaps in the future this should be done and also, when one goose is taken into care, that the other one go along, too! They really are bonded!!!!!!

L4 at the Cornell Red0-tail Hawk nest did survive what felt like a 72 hour pip and hatch. It completed its hatch at 23:08 on the 28th of April. Here is the video of Big Red and Arthur and their four Ls! Congratulations Big Red and Arthur!!!!!! This is going to be fun. Big Red will be in her glory – 4. It is, as far as is known, a first for her.

L4 will be substantially smaller than L1 which is a week older. But, see all that prey on the nest. There is plenty of food and there is no reason not to believe that L4 will not thrive. The beaking only occurs in falcons and hawks because 1) their eyes have to become clear and focused and 2) every black beak with pink inside is potentially food. Normally subsides after a week. As far as my understanding goes, siblicide is extremely rare in hawks and falcons unlike eagles and ospreys.

Yes, Arthur, there really are four of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just look at the prey pantry in this nest. Arthur is so excited it will be filled to the brim with all sorts of critters. No one will go hungry. In the image below, Big Red is checking each beak to make sure none of the Ls want any more squirrel before she quits feeding. She is a pro at taking care of chicks and Big Red loves being a Mum.

There are a couple of Bald Eagle nests that I continue to check. One of those is the National Arboretum nest in Washington, DC. Mr President and Lotus have a gorgeous eaglet who is just losing the last of the dandelions on the top of its head. However, this eaglet has been fed duck and I worry a little when waterfowl are consumed because of H5N1.

The remaining two Osplets at the UFlorida-Gainesville nest on the light stand are doing fine.

Both of the eaglets at the MN-DNR nest are doing fine this morning also. They have had some waterfowl so I continually check on them like the NADC-AEF nest.

The two eaglets on the Dale Hollow nest continue to thrive also. They are gorgeous birds and today they are (counting hatch day) 61 days old. Soon!

I know that almost everyone is a fan of Harriet and M15 at Fort Myers. It appears that E19 might have left the territory yesterday. Lady Hawk made a video of those final interactions and moments.

There is good news. Janika returned safely to her nest with Jan yesterday at 16:15. There had been a fight with an intruder and Mum is now home safely after some worry. Jan and Janika have 6 eggs in their nest in Jogeva County, Estonia. They were laid on April 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, and 25. The last time I checked on this nest – shame on me – we were waiting for Janika to return from migration! Hopefully no more intruders!

If you watch this nest – and storks are absolutely lovely with all their rituals – you must be prepared for the parents to ‘sort’ the chicks. A clutch of six is surely too many to feed – but we will find out.

The celebration is still going on in Poole Harbour. Ospreys CJ7 and Blue 022 are making history. CJ7 laid her third egg at 08:57 on the 29th of April. Will she stop at three? Oh, I hope so. Remember, these are the first osprey eggs laid for 200 years and then – the first fledges in 200 years. I can hear the ‘happiness’ for all those involved in the Osprey restoration/relocation project to Poole.

It was the tail movement that gave it all away. CJ7 should begin hard incubation now.

Want to watch history being made? Here is the link to the streaming cam at Poole Harbour.

In Latvia, at the nest of Anna and Andris in a Spruce tree in the Zemgale region, Andris brought a very small snack to his mate. So far, the Lesser Spotted Eagles have only one egg which was laid on the 26th of April. Perhaps it will hold at one!

Karl II and Kaia now have three eggs in their Black Stork nest. That nest is in Karula National Park in the very south of Estonia. Kaia is Karl’s new mate as of 2020. Their first clutch was not successful. In 2021, they fledged three! This year, Karl II returned from migration on 8 April with Kaia arriving on the 12th. I am very fond of this nest and this couple! Third season.

There is Karl II with his band and his tracker. You can follow him all the way back to the Sudan and Chad when he migrates in the fall.

Here is the link to Karl II and Kaia’s streaming cam in Estonia:

As we wait anxiously for the Peregrine Falcon nests to begin hatching – and I am really anxious for Annie and Alden – there are four eyases in the scrape in Utrecht. Each is doing very well.

Here is a video of the snack feeding a few hours ago:

Here is the link to the falcon cam in Utrecht with those four gorgeous little ones.

Here is a link to a peregrine falcon scrape cam in Belgium where there are also four little falcons.

This nest in Belgium also has a great entrance cam!

For those of us wanting an international ban on sticky glue traps, England has now banned their use. Excellent news. Here is the announcement that came yesterday, “The Glue Traps (Offences) Act, introduced by Jane Stevenson MP, bans the use of inhumane glue traps which are a widely available method of rodent control but can cause immense suffering. Animals can remain alive for 24 hours or more, eventually dying of stress, exhaustion, dehydration or self-inflicted injuries”.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10759059/Inhumane-glue-traps-mice-rats-set-BANNED-England.html

With the exception of the one gosling not surviving the jump at Decorah, everything seems to be fine in Bird World on Friday morning the 29th of April. Thank you so much for joining me. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: The Latvian Fund for Nature, The Eagle Club of Estonia, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Explore.org, NADC-AEF, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Oudenaarde Falcon Cam, Raptor Research Project, DHEC, MN-DNR, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, and LFC Utrecht.

Saturday in Bird World

23 April 2022

UPDATE: All of the Denton Homes nestlings are now deceased. Sending positive energy that the parents do not also die from Avian Flu as well as the other nests in the area. Condolences to all at Denton Homes on the loss of these three precious eaglets.

Thoughts go out to all of the nests in the area including Mother Goose on the abandoned eagle nest and Mr and Mrs North at Decorah North and their two eaglets.

The three eaglets of Thunder and Akecheta still cause us to hold our breath when they go near the edge of the nest. In their discussions yesterday, Sean Peterson and Lynn Scofield of Cal Falcons said that there is no Avian Flu present on the West coast (yet).

Thunder and Akecheta brought in 9 small fish for the trio yesterday. They have all learned how to ‘hork’ – eating the prey whole almost choking it down! I hope they continue to bring in fish to the nest – no more Coots!

Baby has a full crop and is getting shade from the adult on the nest of Chase and Cholyn at Two Harbours. Blink and the wee fuzzy one turned into an eaglet!!!!!!!! with thermal down. Gosh.

Middle (Little) had a fish tail and a pin fish this morning. He is on the nest being extremely vocal about wanting more food.

Little or MiniO fledged on the 22nd of April at 06:46:14. It is not clear if this was intentional or the wind gust took her off the nest. She has not been seen since fledging. The moderator of the chat said that Lori Covert intends to look for Little MiniO when she returns (I do not know when that is).

The hatch of L2 at the nest of Big Red and Arthur is proceeding nicely. This image is now about 3 hours old. That little one is almost out then. A good shove to the shell might do it. Earlier it appeared that a third egg might have a pip.

Arthur is keeping the pantry stocked.

The arrival of a Robin prompted Big Red to get up and eat a bit. You can see the crop on L1. Both L2 and L3 are now hatching. You can see the progress in the front two eggs. This nest is going to get super busy – and exciting – as these chicks hatch. Notice the bright yellow cere on L1. How gorgeous. The cere is the fleshy covering at the base of the upper beak.

L1 can hear its sibling and is mesmerized by that beak chipping away at the shell. If you look lower L2 has cracked its way around the egg. It will not be long.

There is some exciting news (for me anyway) coming out of the UK. Mrs G and Aran’s 2017 third hatch, Z8, was spotted at Loch Gruinart.

Z8 hatched just before midnight at the Glaslyn nest on the 29th of May 2017. He fledged at the age of 54 days on the 22nd of July 2017. This is the first official sighting of him! Excellent. I hope that we hear more about Z8 now that he has been spotted in Islay. He was a third hatch osprey!

Here is the FB announcement:

Other good news is that chick 3 who had remained in the crumbling eagle nest and nicknamed ‘Velcro’ has been reunited with chick 2 in the temporary nest in Illinois. These folks worked long and hard for these amazing eaglets who have not fledged but are the size of a Canada Goose. Congratulations to everyone at the Illinois Raptor Centre for this incredible effort.

To read about this journey, please go to the FB page of the Illinois Raptor Centre and scroll down – read from the bottom up – from when the nest collapsed.

The two Dale Hollow Eaglets have done so well. The sibling rivalry or food competition is all over between Big and Middle. They are now 55 days old and one of them is standing on the rim of the nest today.

They may have had some lean days but today was feast day and both have eaten so well and have such filled crops that they are ignoring a fish on the nest! Does it get more wonderful than that?

Everything seems to be fine other than being damp and getting potentially more rain later at the MN-DNR nest of Harry and Nancy.

It is 15:04 on the UFlorida Osprey nest. Little Bit continues to cry for food. The older siblings have no crops. It is very hot on the nest and all are food crying now. Wish for a miracle! That is what it is going to take – a miracle. The pattern has been for only one more fish to come in before bed and the two big ones are already ravenous.

As I wrap this up we are still waiting for fish to drop from the sky on the UFlorida Osprey nest, a hatch at Cornell (or two), and Little or MiniO to return to the Captiva Osprey Nest. Some believe they might have heard her calling. Send positive wishes to all the wildlife struggling on the Canadian Prairies with the torrential downpours and the flooding.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages: Loch Garden and Other Ospreys FB, Illinois Raptor Centre, Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, UFlorida-Gainesvlle Ospreys, MN-DNR, DHEC, and Explore.org.

Late Friday in Bird World

22 April 2022

There is so much news in Bird World. I simply cannot keep up. At the same time, most of it is all wonderful! That is a good thing. My report will be short. Many things to do after listening to the wonder session with Cal Falcons.

Jackie and Shadow are amazing. While we have rain warnings here on the Canadian Prairies, our beautiful Eagle family in the Big Bear Valley had a horrific snow/ice storm.

Here is a video clip of Jackie and Spirit. What a great Mum Jackie is!!!!!!

This image was taken at 13:45 and things are much improved.

Cal Falcons. Mark May 5-6 as hatch days. Gosh, the Q & A with Sean Peterson and Lynn Schofield was really and truly informative. I learned so much! And I am posting it for you so you can listen if you wish. There were a couple of takeaways from this session that I found quite interesting. The first was that Alden was known to both Annie and Grinnell and was accepted by Annie and Grinnell. He had been seen for 1 or 2 months. Neither of them ever tried to chase Alden off the Campanile. On at least one occasion, Alden brought a prey delivery to Annie while Grinnell was alive. Again, no action by Grinnell. There is speculation that Alden was going to be a ‘nest helper’ for Annie and Grinnell and that is why neither of them were antagonistic or aggressive to him. The second was that a falcon has super eye sight for about a mile. They can spot a prey item. Grinnell was killed within a mile of The Campanile. Annie might have seen Grinnell being killed and that would contribute to her bonding with Alden so quickly.

Here is the link to this session.

Another fish came to the UFlorida-Gainesville at 16:11:37. The feeding finished at 16:47:55. Little Bit got nothing. The problem is that the two big siblings are now requiring more and more food and both are intimidating the wee babe. If another extremely large fish comes on board before night, finger’s crossed. I am not hopeful, however.

In part, one of the biggest issues is how the female stands to feed the chicks. If she would point her head at the rim so that Little Bit could get between her legs or on the opposite side, he might have a chance of some food.

Lena has been calling for a fish delivery. I wonder if she is hoping she can get Little (MiniO) who fledged this morning back up to the nest for some food.

There is absolutely nothing more beautiful than Big Red looking down at her new baby and it looking up to its wonderful Mum.

Iris has been spending time today at the nest just like she seems to do every afternoon.

The winds are roaring around the Channel Islands Bald Eagle nests. Everyone at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta are holding on!

It is not nearly as breezy but the wind is blowing and it is wet and dreary at the MN-DNR nest of Nancy and Harry and their two eaglets.

Big and Middle shared a fish at 09:38. These two are looking really good and there is absolutely no rivalry. It is truly wonderful – even when there are not a lot of prey items.

It is Earth Day and this is a very good reminder from Rosie and Richmond!

Wishing Everyone a Very Happy Earth Day. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I grabbed my screen captures: SF Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, DHEC, Friends of Big Bear Valley, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, MN-DNR, Cornell Bird Lab and Montana Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wldlife, Explore.org, and Cal Falcons.

Thursday morning in Bird World

21 April 2022

The snow that was forecast did not materialize in southern Manitoba and Winnipeg. That is wonderful! We needed a break from the last storm to melt the snow and to be outside. The birds needed a break in the weather, too. Sadly, there is another special weather advisory for the southern part of Manitoba starting tomorrow morning through Sunday. Perhaps we will only get the wintery rain. Oh, the poor Wood Ducks. They have just arrived.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: The Q & A session on Cal Falcons is at noon in Berkeley! When you go to the YouTube site and set the alarm reminder, it will confirm your local time – hence the confusion. Thanks ‘B’ and ‘S’.

You can tell by Big Red’s demeanour that ‘something’ is happening. She does a little wiggle and then you catch her with this focused look as if she can see the eyas advancing in its pecking. Of course, she can hear it cheeping and, apparently, so can the other three. Some believe that this encourages them to hatch faster so they can join their sibling. That would be grand.

Arthur revealed the progress of the hatch when there was a shift change.

Hatching!

The White-tailed eagle nest of Tula and Borek in the Tuchola Forest had three eggs. The eaglets hatched on 8, 12, and 14th of April. There are only two surviving eaglets today. Siblicide is not as widespread in White-tail Eagle populations as it is in Golden Eagles. That said, when the third eaglet hatched the eldest at this nest began immediately to beak it. There was 6 days difference in their age and size. I believe the two surviving are hatches 1 and 2. I will refer to them as Big Bob and Middle Bob to try and keep things straight.

Today, Middle was clever and crawled up leaning half in and half way out of the nest cup so it could get some food. This is a very determined youngster. The eldest had eaten and so the youngest was not tormented. I hope that these two survive just like the two oldest hatches at the Dale Hollow Nest.

The nest is 25 metres above ground on a 140-year-old pine tree. The White-tailed eagles have been using the nest for four years. At another place in the forest, eagles had been nesting since the late 1990s on a 160-year-old pine near to one of the fish lakes. So for 25 years eagles, at some location in Tuchola Forest, WTE have been breeding. There is a year round protection area around the nests extending 200 metres in any direction.

The nest is located in this large, 46 sq kilometres, nature reserve in northern Poland. The two main types of trees are the Pine and the Oak Bartek. It is the oldest oak tree in Poland believed to be 686 years in age.

“Polek i Bartek w jednym lesie stali” by Polek is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

The park is full of rabbits, deer, and 80 species of birds. There are also nearby rivers for fish. It is anticipated that there should be plenty of food for the adults and both of the chicks.

There are about 1200-1500 pairs of White-tailed Eagles in Poland. Their conservation status is ‘very scarce breeding bird’. Most of the eagles live in the northern areas of Poland.

Here is a link to this White-tailed Eagle nest in Poland:

Both eaglets were being fed well Thursday morning:

Idris and Telyn were watching the train go past the Dyfi Nest in Wales. Two eggs. We will be watching for the third tomorrow.

Little (or Mini) is still on the nest with Lena and has not fledged yet. Middle (Little) took off this morning about 10:05 for a flight and is perched on some greenery near the nest. He is probably going to watch for when Dad delivers a fish. This morning Lena has also had to chase away an intruder, another Osprey.

It looks like the MN-DNR nest is getting a bit of sun this morning. It will help dry out the nest of Harry and Nancy but will they get some of that snow and rain that is coming?

What is enfluffeling?

Jackie and Shadow’s 2022 eaglet, Spirit, sure loves it when the wind blows hard through the nest. She is working those wings today!

For all us worrying aunties and uncles, the cam operator did Zoom out and there are three eaglets on the West End nest. Relief. When the camera is in the normal position, you might only see two.

This is the view of the Glacier Gardens Nest this morning. Oh, it is beautiful. Liberty and Freedom should be returning soon.

It is a bright sunny day for Chase, Cholyn, and the little one at the Two Harbours nest.

The Redding Eagles are asking for you to vote for your favourite name for Liberty and Guardians 2022 hatches. Here is the announcement:

Friends of the Redding Eagles​ NAMING: Step 2: Vote for your favorite pair of names, just ONCE please. Click here to vote- https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA…

Jasper and Rocket from Samson and Gabby’s NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest have both fledged. They have also returned to the nest. Yahoo. Today they were perched on a branch of the nest tree looking out. I wonder if they might do some tandem flying?

Mum flew in with a hunk of fish at 09:22 at the UFlorida Osprey nest. Look where where that one osplet is positioned for the feed! I believe this to be either Big or Middle. It is not Little Bit.

That chick got a lots of nice big fish bites while the other two were fighting at the back of Mum. It is difficult to tell who is who and the dark shadow is not helping. I first thought it was Little Bit on the rim of the nest but I believe that Little Bit is getting hammered by Big while it is Middle eating. But that is not a 100% certain ID.

The chicks are really, really hungry. Clever of that one to get up there to be fed. It walked away and fell into food coma. Smiling. Ah, is he playing possum? He looked up to see the other two eating. Wonder if he will return for some more fish?

That osplet would certainly like some more fish.

Sadly it looks like Little Bit is lodged between Big and Middle. This is not good especially with less fish coming on the nest and the hot weather dehydrating the little guys.

Little Bit cannot seem to get around the bigger sibling. He will be getting tired and dehydrated.

At 10:00 the Big sibling was laying on top of Little Bit.

I do not believe Little Bit did get any fish. The feeding was over and Mum went to brood the chicks.

I will monitor the UFlorida nest on and off today. What looked good a few days ago has now turned. Let us all hope that another big chunk of fish gets on that nest quickly so Little Bit can have some food.

This is the latest on the hatch for Big Red and Arthur. The image was shot in a change over from Arthur to Big Red. I am really hoping that is blood from a prey item.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Take care everyone. I will be back with what I hope is good news on Little Bit later today along with hatch news from Cornell. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Explore.org, Tuchoskie Forest Eagle Cam, NEFlorida and the AEF, Redding Eagles, MN-DNR, Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife, Cal Falcons, Glacier Gardens, and Dyfi Osprey Project.

Late Sunday in Bird World

10 April 2022

I have had several letters asking about the three little ospreys in Gainsville, Florida, what is happening at the Venice Nest, and do I watch the Pink Shell Osprey Nest in Florida. The last one is easy. No, I don’t watch the Pink Shell Nest. I am aware of what has happened and what is happening at that nest. Tragic.

OK. Let’s move on to the University of Florida Osprey Nest on the light stand in the ballpark at Gainesville. In fact, there is a ball game going on today. The Dad has also been spending a lot of time on the nest while the female would like him to go fishing. So far there are still three little Ospreys with us. Of course, anything can happen.

If you are watching this nest, please note that the youngest one will eat much less fish than the eldest. We just want the eldest to leave it alone, let it have its few bites, and grow big and strong.

Here are some images from today. They are not in chronological order but the time stamps are on most of them at the top right corner.

That certainly is a lovely nest with a deep nest bowl.

They sure are cute. Let’s hope Big Bob is nice.

Turn around Little Bob!

The third chick at the Venice Golf and Country Club has had a private feeding today and a fish has just come in. There continues to be bonking from the eldest but, chick three is not starving nor is it being beaked to death. Lots of fish need to come on the nest and hopefully things will all calm down in a week. I am cautiously hopeful.

The third hatch was having a private feeding. Fantastic. Oldest sibling did try to stop this feedng but, instead goes into a food coma. The time is 19:29. Little Bob wanted more fish when the feeding was over but…it did get fish and that is important.

Harriet is so beautiful in the soft glow of the sun as it sets on the nest on the King George River. Harriet has been re-arranging some of the toys Jack has brought in.

Jack has arrived to see if Harriet would like a break before night sets in.

The second egg has pipped at the Denmark White-tail eagle nest! Excellent news.

Cal Falcons posted a video of the ‘New Guy’ bringing Annie a daytime prey gift. Annie was very happen to accept it and New Guy promptly went to incubate! What a guy!

Lotus and Mr President make really cute eaglets!

Meanwhile at the Northeast Florida eagle nest of Gabby and Samson, Jasper and Rocket are still with us! The camera is either foggy or has suffered from a PS being washed off by the rain.

Jasper hatched on 23 January followed by Rocket on the 25th. Jasper is 77 days old today if you count hatch date with Rocket being 75 days old. Beautiful babies.

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Rhett and Scarlett are wanting their nest back in Savannah. Or is it Rhett? Can’t tell but it seems Little Grey just sat and watched. Not sure what the GHOW adults will think but hopefully it will all work out with Little Grey moving to another tree.

The Majestics at the Denton Homes Bald Eagle Nest have their first hatch.

There has been a bit of angst between the oldest eaglet and the youngest on the MN-DNR nest. They had some bad weather and being only 8 hours from where I live, they could get the heavy snow that is coming. I hope Harry keeps that nest full of fish for Nancy and the kids.

Little Bob getting a nice feeding today.

The storks in Europe are beginning to work on their nests. Here is Florentine delivering materials to his nest in the oak forest near Lodz, Poland today. What a beautiful bird.

Iris, the Queen of American Ospreys, believed to be the oldest osprey in the world looks down at her nest before the light snow begins in Missoula, Montana. She might wish she had stayed in her winter home for a few more weeks! This has been a long hard winter.

That is a very quick round up for some of the nests. There is so much happening with the return of the Ospreys in the UK. In fact, there are only a handful of UK ospreys that have not returned. They include Aeron Z2’s mate, Blue 04: Louis at Loch Arkaig and his mate from last year; Tegid Z1’s mate at Welsh nest ON4, and a couple at Kielder Forest.

My blog will be late on Monday – probably late afternoon or early evening. Thank you for joining me today. It is lovely to have you here with the birds. Take care!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: UFL Ospreys, VGCCO, Dahlgren Ospreys, NADC-AEF, NEFlorida and the AEF, Denton Homes, MN-DNR, and Cornell Bird Lab and Montana Osprey Project.

Late Thursday and Friday in Bird World

07-08 April 2022

I know that many of you watch the White-bellied Sea Eagle nest in the Sydney Olympic Park of Lady and Dad. Last year, WBSE 27 fledged and was taken into care twice. The second time she went into care the wildlife rehabbers said she would receive flight and hunting training. She has been in care for a number of months now and yesterday, she was released into the wild. Congratulations to everyone and thank you to all you cared for this magnificent bird. Isn’t she stunning? Fly high, live long.

This is the announcement:

It is always a big sigh of relief when our feathered friends return from their winter migration to their spring and summer homes. They travel thousands of kilometers to get home amid numerous challenges including sand storms from the Sahara. Today, there are only a few UK Ospreys that are not home on the monitored nests. Notable of the missing is Aran, the mate of Mrs G at the Glaslyn Nest.

Yesterday, we celebrated by tearing up and staring at her beautiful face – the arrival of Iris to her nest at Hellgate Canyon in Missoula, Montana. No doubt Dr. Ericke Green and his team were positively spell bound as they watched the monitors today – her favourite day to arrive – and then there, at 16:09 she was landing on the nest.

Gosh, Iris, you look so beautiful. She immediately tended to those obnoxious sticks on her nest. Iris has one of the nicest nests around. When she lost her mate Stanley, Louis came around but he has a family with Starr at the Baseball Park and insists on still claiming Iris – and often wanting the nice fish she catches – for himself. Louis and Iris fledged their one and only chick in 2018. Many hope that Iris will get a new mate but Louis thwarts that. I always think it is nice if she just has a rest, a summer holiday, too. She raised many chicks and tending to them is hard work. That said, if Dunrovin’s Congo were to appear again this year, perhaps, he could run Louis off!

Tomorrow, it is hoped that the same joyful tears will roll down cheeks in Estonia for the arrival of Karl II, the Black Stork. I just checked – 10:52 in Canada and the camera is not up BUT the first Black Stork has arrived in Latvia! So happy for everyone! This is the nest of Grafs and Grafina and it is Grafs that is home. The nest is so narrow. I always worried that the storklets would fall off but…they didn’t.

Grafs waiting for his mate, Grafina to return in 2022, 8 April.

Here is the link to this Black Stork camera:

As many of you know, I love all the birds but some tweak my heart a little bit of a higher note. The small hawks and falcons stole my heart first and then the Ospreys. The long project that I am working on has to do with Ospreys and, in particular, the nests with three and how the third survives. There are times when the happenings on the nest break my heart. Still. we continue on.

Yesterday I posted one of the favourite Osprey nests of my friend ‘S’ in Hawaii. That was the Dunrovin Osprey nest. Today, I received a note from ‘S’ telling me about the one Osprey nest in Latvia. It is the home of Teo, the male, and Vita, the female. Like Iris and most of the UK Ospreys, Teo is back on the nest on the 7th of April, too. Congratulations.

‘S’ provided me with some fantastic background material for me to share with you. The nest is located in the Kurzme-Saldus region of Latvia. This is the westernmost province of Latvia. Ospreys have been nesting here and raising their young since 1989. After having some bad luck with tree nests, Aigars IKalvans installed an artificial nest in a pine tree in 2007. Three years later, Ospreys liked what they saw and started using that nest. 8 fledged between 2012 and 2017. In 2018, the current male, Teo and his then mate, Tija, laid 3 eggs. The camera system was damaged that year during a thunderstorm and it is not known what happened with the ospreys and the eggs. Teo had a new female but they were not successful in 2019. In 2020, Teo and Vita again had 3 eggs in the nest. Two hatched on 31 May and 1 June. They thrived and were banded and named Pipars (male) and Poga (female). Sadly, before they could fledge a goshawk snatched them out of the nest on 9 July and then the second on 11 July. This was surely unimaginable and tragic events to happen.

Teo and Vita are loved because of their wonderful personalities and are an absolute pleasure to watch. Teo is known for his unique behaviour that you can observe here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMIaJjh3MPs and his loving attitude towards his female (sometimes feeding her while she’s incubating the eggs). Teo returned home yesterday, the 7th of April.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-51GChc8M4. Hopefully, we will see Vita at the nest soon. Here are the links to the camera for Teo and Vita and the discussions.

This is the Latvian Nature Fund channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/LatvijasDabasfondsOnline

The current live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UvwkaT_AII

Estonian forum documenting this Latvian nest: https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/viewtopic.php?t=965

Of the US Ospreys, Richmond and Rosie are a solid team. You aren’t going to shed any tears at this nest although you might laugh with tears at Richmond who is such a comedian. He got to see his first egg on the 6th of April (and I missed it so I am making up for that today)!

One of my UK favourites nests is the Dyfi Nest in Wales. The fish for the family are caught at the River Dyfi in Montgomeryshire. Does the name sound familiar? Yes, this is Monty’s old nest! Monty is the hero of Wales in terms of Ospreys. A magnificent bird who fathered many chicks who have returned including one of my favourites, Tegid Z1 who hatched in 2016. Aeron Z2 is Tegid’s brother that hatched in 2017 is on the Pont Cresor nest. He fathered a chick in 2021 with Blue 014. Aerobn is keeping Mrs G company until Aran arrives (hopefully soon!).

This is Tegid. What a magnificent bird. He makes my heart throb.

One of my all time favourite hatches of Monty. He is at the ON4 nest in Wales.

The nest is now occupied by Idris (unringed) and Telyn Blue 3J. Idris is known from bringing in Whoppers to the nest. The couple fledged three chicks in 2020 and in the wet cold and stormy 2021, their two gorgeous chicks, Dysynni and Ystwyth, fledged. It is a very successful nest.

This is the link to their camera:

Catching up on a few of the US nests today. The only eaglet of Mr President and Lotus at the National Arboretum nest continues to thrive.

US Steel had their second egg and last one, USS5, hatch today! Congratulations everyone at the Irwin Plant. So cute! You can see the difference from week 1 moving to week 2 looking at the NADC chick and the two below at US Steel easily.

Mum and Dad at the Pittsburgh Hayes Bald Eagle nest sure know how to raise three healthy eaglets! Just look at how big they are! They hatched on the 21, 22, and 25th of March. No problem with triplets – ever – at this nest.

Harry and Nancy still have snow on their nest in Minnesota. Harry is keeping the pantry stocked and Nancy is making sure that both of those eaglets are tucked under the brooding patch tight.

Still some snow and chilly weather at the Decorah North nest in Iowa of Mr North and Mrs DNF and their two eaglets.

A little breezy for Big Red and Arthur this morning. Oh, goodness. In three weeks time all you will be hearing about are hawks!!!!!!!!!! Love this couple up in Ithaca.

I do not know of any current issues at any of the US nests that we have been watching. Little Middle at Dale Hollow had a good feed this morning and there is no perceivable monofilament line lingering to harm the eaglets. Look how Little Middle’s plumage is changing. He is right up there to have some of River’s nice fish! Big seems unbothered.

It is sunny with a beautiful blue sky on the Canadian Prairies. It will get up to 7 C today and 9 C tomorrow. I am off to check on Tundra Swans. Have a great day everyone. Thank you for joining me today. Take care.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: DHEC, Dyfi Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Pix Cams, NADC-AEF, MN-DNR, Latvian Fund for Nature, Montana Osprey Project, and the Sydney Sea Eagles Eagle Cam.

Late Tuesday in Bird World

05 April 2022

Good Afternoon Everyone. It does not feel like spring on the Canadian Prairies. The sky is snow white, the snow is melting, and it reminds me of the first winter I spent in the United Kingdom when I was cold to the bone and came to appreciate heavy wool sweaters and a warm fire! Canada Geese continue to fly into the city while fears of a flood are mounting. The river is rising and rising and rising some more.

I want to thank those individuals – in addition to each of you – that stepped up to help Little Middle or to help me find people to help: Keith Buch (falconer), Ron Magill (Miami Zoo Goodwill Ambassador and Communications Director who retrieved the monofilament line from R2 in the WRDC nest), Resee Collins (Eagle & Rehabilitation Permit Coordinator, Migratory Birds & Science Applications, USFWS Interior Regions 2 – 4), Rusty Boles, Al Cerere, founder of the AEF, and Jessica Halls with the American Eagle Foundation.

As of yesterday, Jessica Halls was awaiting permission from the Army to enter their property; the nest is on their land. It came to my attention that a video showing River removing monofilament line was posted yesterday. I shared that knowledge with Jessica. I have not seen the footage. If the line is off the nest, great! Jessica is in charge and is working to verify if that is true. I have every faith in each of these individuals – their only concern, as is ours, is the health and well being of the eaglets. I want to give them a big shout out for stepping up and helping in any way they could. Little Middle and the Dale Hollow nest are now in their expert hands.

At 09:342 this morning it appears that DH15 or Little Middle still could have some monofilament line around that left foot area. It seems to move. I took an overall image showing the date and time stamp and then blew up the area with Little Middle.

Jessica will certainly ascertain if that is fishing line. We have done our due diligence and hope for a happy ending for Little Middle. He has eaten well today! He is more mobile than earlier. And with the rain, the nest and the eaglets will be turning into soggy little birds.

At 12:21 there is an image of a wet Big walking over to River to eat. Does Big have fishing line over its back? or is it nesting material? I don’t want to be the person that sees monofilament line where it isn’t. There is enough real line along the shores of the two rivers that impact my City and our wildlife.

River is staying in the nest with the eaglets – too big to fit under Mum unless she wants to pop the umbrella for them.

I had a wonderful note from ‘MR’ from New York who wants me to mention the Peregrine Falcon nest in Utica, New York. So many of you adore the falcons and would like to see more ‘good’ nests. The couple are Astrid and Ares. Astrid laid her third egg on the 4th of April.

The group is really organized. They have an excellent web page with both current and historic information. There is also daily information so be sure to check out the ‘latest news’ section. There are six – yes, 6 – cameras. Here is the fish eye view:

You can find everything you needed to know on the website including access to the six cameras. Here is the link:

The first egg of 2024 has arrived!!

They also have a FB group called Watch Utica. Why not check them out?

The first egg is hatching at the US Steel Bald Eagle nest. The chick is making excellent progress and appears strong. Here is a short video of that action:

There is another hatch in progress as of 09:43 nest time at Two Harbours. Chase and Cholyn are getting ready to welcome a sibling for Thunder over at the West End nest!

Here is the link to their camera:

Kincaid from the KNF nest in Louisiana and the second eaglet of Anna and Louis fledged yesterday morning. It happened at 08:17. Congratulations to Cody, Steve, and everyone at the Kisatchie National Forest. It was a great year. This is a wonderful eagle nest to watch. Cody and Steve are always working on improving the camera and the sound and are often on chat to answer questions. The mod is also wonderful – Eagles at Work.

This is an image from today. Unlike Kisatchie who fledged last year and never returned to the nest, Kincaid has been lured back by his/her love of fish. S/He had the opportunity to eat three fish so far today. Fantastic. As we all know, the fledglings that return to the nest, get better at flying and learn how to hunt/fish have a much better chance at survival. Hopefully we will be able to see more of Kincaid over the next 2 or 3 weeks. S/he is a gorgeous fledgling.

Life continues to be good at the West End nest of Thunder, Akecheta, and the triplets. They are so big now and have all of their thermal down. There is a hint of feathers coming!

The naming contest for Jackie and Shadow’s only eaglet this year is set to be announced. The deadline was 4 April. The children from the grade three class of a local school pick the name from randomly drawn submissions. Can’t wait. Baby is getting quite big!!!

The two nestlings at the Decorah North nest of Mr North and Mrs DNF are thriving. Aren’t they cute? And seemingly well behaved.

The two eaglets of Harry and Nancy are also thriving. Harry continues to load the nest with prey.

No worries for the triplets at the Pittsburgh-Hayes nest. They are all growing and doing quite well, transitioning from wee white fuzzy babes to getting their thermal down.

There is really good news at the Dyfi Osprey nest in Wales. Idris is home!!!!! He is often called Daddy Long Legs and no matter short or long, welcome home. Telyn has been waiting for you.

Dr Bast at the CROW Clinic has issued a statement on the death of the eldest osprey on the Captiva Nest. The chick died suddenly on the 15th of March. There were, of course, worries that it was the highly pathogenic Avian Flu, H5N1, that is spreading through the region. However, the other two osplets continued to thrive. Here is that announcement:

I am so grateful for all the wildlife rehabbers who work tirelessly – and through donations – to care for injured wildlife or in this case to rush to retrieve a dead chick to find out the cause of death. Thank you CROW.

It is that time of years. Birds are returning, local counts are being undertaken, and everyone with a camera is out trying to get that ‘great’ shot or to fill in their ‘Life List’ of birds. Cornell posted these guidelines for the photographers. Even if you don’t take pictures, it is always good to respect the space of our friends – feather, furred, or scaled.

https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/photography/how-to-photograph-birds/an-expert-photographers-advice-on-bird-photography-ethics/?fbclid=IwAR2WfnduKUY-ca7SommdVF1aWF54fveZmQGIzB3zTzj4iDLknVxwMjuZe9w

The tributes continue to come in for our dear Grinnell. It is so wonderful that a falcon could bring such joy to so very, very many. The role that birds play in enriching our lives should never be underestimated. Many who write to me feel closer to their bird friends than to humans. They find great solace in watching their lives and the care they give to their families. Grinnell certainly did all of that!

https://www.dailycal.org/2022/04/04/devastated-and-heartbroken-grinnells-death-rocks-campus-community/

The ‘New Guy’ continues to bring Annie prey late at night, to help her protect the nest, and incubate the eggs. He is certainly rising to the occasion.

Karl II’s transmission for today has not come in. He was in Belarus yesterday having made it through the Ukraine without a problem.

I want to close today with a few images of the Canada Geese that I have been out counting for the past several days and for the rest of the week. As I said, I adore them! Some absolutely do not.

The local nature centre puts up wonderful nests and provides the straw – if the geese want to use them. This one did. Her mate is on the boardwalk and has decided that I will not walk through! I did turn around.

I remember when the geese used to arrive the middle of April. Now it is in March and we continue to have snow, rain, and melting snow. It is hard to find food.

The geese scour everywhere hoping to find a morsel of grass – green or dry. It doesn’t seem to matter.

There are geese everywhere!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much for joining me today. Take care of yourself. I look forward to seeing you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and FB pages where I took my screen captures: CROW, Pix Cams, Explore.org, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Dale Hollow Eagle Cam, Dyfi Osprey Nest, MN-DNR, KNF, and Utica Falcons.