Tag Archives: New Zealand

John Bunker Sands Eagles have first hatch, hunger at the WRDC…Saturday in Bird World

27 January 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Yesterday, the 26th, I ate a very special cake for my late Dad. It is his birthday. He had two favourite cakes – a fresh Coconut and, the other, a fresh Orange Cake. Some who live in the Southern US might be familiar with these – a nice white layer cake (sturdy and only handmade) filled with either freshly grated coconut with a buttercream frosting or freshly grated oranges mixed with some sugar, spread liberally between 5 or 6 layers, and let to sit.  If anyone is responsible for my feelings for abandoned animals, it is certainly him. Happy Birthday, Dad.

Hugo Yugo would have loved to have some of that cake. My goodness that little cat can get into the most trouble without even trying. She is sooooo curious. This coming week, she goes back to Dr Greene for her check-up. I think the vet will be pleased. 

Watching bird videos with Hope.

Hope is very patient with her little sister.

‘The Boyfriend’ enjoyed the Friday evening feast of organic roast chicken. The neighbourhood rallied around and showed their love for him – and the others – when it appeared that one individual would call the pound. I am joyful and grateful to live in an area with such compassion for animals.

Congratulations to the John Bunker Sands Wetland eagles on their first hatch of the season!

‘M’ sent me the video of Mum joyously calling Dad to tell him about the egg.

Jackie has been taking good care of the first egg at Big Bear laid on Thursday the 25th. Shadow brings his gal a nice fish lunch at 11:01. Mark your calendars for a Leap Year pip/hatch. Shadow actually brought in three fish on Friday for Jackie. Way to go….the reason nearly 10,000 people love this couple and wish them success this season. They are adorable.

If Gabby’s egg is to be the miracle of the breeding season, it should show signs of a pip Friday and hatch on Saturday or Sunday.

There seems to be a prey problem at the WRDC nest. For unknown reasons hunting seems to be difficult. Ron has not brought prey for a week, and Rose seems to be having a prey drought the past couple of days herself.  Both parents seem healthy, but I’m sure they are hungry.  We have not seen Rose with a crop, and Ron ate some of the fish on the nest yesterday.  They have run out of scraps for Rose to feed R6. The eaglet ate well Thursday, and had a small crop after a morning scrap feeding early Friday. PS are still okay.

Late afternoon on Friday. There is still no food delivery and everyone is getting worried, even if they are not saying it. Something is very much amiss here. 

Rose flew in after dumpster hunting with a child’s pull-up nappy and what appeared to be a piece of red meat (an organ) attached. R6 was fed. We must remember that eagles are carrion eaters. Their stomachs are made to digest the most horrible dead, maggot-eaten prey. Hopefully, this will keep R6 from starving, but imagine that the eagles have to eat garbage in one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in Florida. Rose was plucking the plastic off the nappy. Then Ron flew in with a partial fish at 1730. What a relief. It was left on the nest and rightfully so – Rose doesn’t know when the next meal will come and R6 did eat – whatever it was.

We all need to learn something from Port Lincoln. They dared to provide fish for the family during the crucial period when one or both of the osplets might have perished. Their plan worked. It did not stop the adults from bringing fish to the nest. Five fish have been arriving daily, on average, for the fledglings, Gil and Brad. Three individuals with big hearts realised that it was time to help – so I say to those who are the administrators of the WRDC nest: the feral cats in my neighbourhood have more empathy and food than these beautiful eagles at the WRDC. Tonight ‘The Boyfriend’ had his normal organic chicken dinner. So, please, Help the eagles! Get them over the hump.

When we know there is a crisis, it is our duty, if we can in any way, to help the animals through the rough patch. Weather, overfishing, loss of habitat and thus loss of prey can now be linked to humans. There is your cause for intervention.

Rose appears to be feeding R6 some of the fish. Remember – these parents are hungry, too. They will protect the territory, feed themselves, and then feed the eaglets. Let us hope that tomorrow is a much better day and that the wind, or someone, gets this nappy and its plastic off this nest.

Here is the incident in question in video.

It appeared that R6 ate some of the plastic from the nappy…those stomach acids should do the trick. At the same time, the darling almost choked. 

We know that our beautiful birds around the world hunt in landfills. The storks of Western Europe, the General Adjutants in Assam, etc. What a testament to our mismanagement of the land that the animals and fish they need to survive are not abundant. One of the big threats to all of our birds, eagles included, is the growing abundance of plastic – as trash, as microplastics, fishing lines, etc. and now nappies.

The live stream went down at 2050 Friday night and returned at 0915 Saturday morning. The plastic has been removed from the nest with permission from USFWS. I hope that some fish were delivered as well. 

It appears that Ron has been able to deliver a fish Saturday morning. Let us hope that the dry spelling in prey at this nest is over. And then Rose brought in a big fish. Lovely!

Royal cam chick is being fed and weighed. 

Unfortunately, the amount of food the Royal Cam chick is getting is not sufficient and the Rangers – doing great diligence – have switched chicks with another family. They do amazing work, the NZ DOC rangers – everything they do is to ensure that these chicks survive to fledge. Swooping chicks, supplemental feeding, misting, you name it, they do it. Let us hope this attention to the care of these endangered seabirds spreads to other nests throughout the world.

The Royal cam chick was returned to the nest!

No shortage, so far, of prey items at SW Florida. E23 does get impatient and wishes Mum would get those bites a bit quicker to its beak!

Clive keeps the fish coming in at Captiva. These two are adorable, Cal and Lusa. Some think the plumage patterns on their backs look like turtle shells while others see them as bulls eyes.

Do you know what Doris Mager’s contributions to Bald Eagles was? If you do not know the name, have a read – and even if you do, refresh your memory!

The-Lady-Who-Lived-in-an-Eagles-Nest-The-Saturday-Evening-PostDownload

Here is Condor Chat in case you missed it on Thursday. The missing birds will be added to the Memorial Page for 2023 in the new few days.

Dr Sharpe is out fixing cameras at the Channel Islands nests! Retired? Doesn’t seem so.

Please join various wildlife groups – such as Cornell and Audubon – for the great Bird Count on the 16th of February. The more that count, the more we know about the declines and gains in bird populations.

Bird Count is on this weekend in the UK and will there be winners such as the Waxwing? We wait to see.

Spot-the-punk-rockers-hope-for-waxwing-boost-in-annual-UK-bird-count-RSPB-Big-Garden-Birdwatch-Download

Concern for the population of seabirds in the United Kingdom is growing.

Inter-Research-MEPS-v725-p121-140Download

Want to know more about the winter bird visitors to Scotland and their migration? Have a read!

Scotlands-winter-visitors-why-and-how-do-they-migrate-BTO-British-Trust-for-OrnithologyDownload

We are 7 weeks and counting til the Ospreys return to the UK.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please send positive wishes for a good prey day at the WRDC and if you can produce a miracle for Gabby and Beau, please do so! Take care everyone. See you soon.

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Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, zoom chats, photographs, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, M’, John Bunker Sands Wetlands, FOBBV, Marylu Pitcher, WRDC, Eagle Goddess, NZ DOC, Lady Hawk, Sharon Dunne, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, Saturday Evening Post, Audubon Magazine, Ventana Wildlife Society Condor Chat, Gracie Shepherd, National Audubon Society, and The Guardian.

Second hatch for Alex and Andria…it is Thursday in Bird World

29 December 2022

With the warm weather, the garden has been a busy place. The European Starlings do not like the butter bark suet cylinders when they are frozen. They sure don’t know Canadian winter weather! Today, with the warm weather they softened up and the Starlings, the Crows, the Blue Jays, and the squirrels were out in full force filling up in case it gets really cold again soon. The weather says it is going to be a mild -8 or -9 as a high with -10 to -21 as lows for the next five or six days. Splendid.

I did manage to get some images of the garden animals to share while Lewis was on the table watching. Now, Lewis read the manual: when your mother makes that certain sound, turn and look cute! Missy is still reading the chapter in the Maine Coon manual about ‘affectionate and loving’. She certainly doesn’t like to pose for me today!

Lewis wants you to know that his nose is not dirty. His big sister likes to scratch the sides of his nose and the lines are from her nails. Ouch.

Mr Blue Jay was all puffed up today and so happy to have peanuts in the shell.

Little Red found a stash of peanuts in the snow and was enjoying them. Look how healthy he is and that beautiful red chestnut colour on his tail lined with the black. He is coming and going from the insulated boxes that we fitted in with the wood in the big wood storage unit. I think it is possible he has moved in. That would be brilliant. I have felt exceptionally guilty since his penthouse in the garden shed was torn down to make way for the conservatory this summer. But..he looks good. Beautiful ear tuffs. He is here every day foraging as well.

Elain’s wonderful video summaries of the adventures of Indigo! Be sure to have the sound loud so you can hear Indigo’s prey calling.

The AEF seems to feel that it is V3 that has been in and around the nest today and for the last 3 or 4 days and nights. He flew in with a big fish (after bringing in other prey items including a squirrel one day). Of course, how frustrating is it when you make the effort and despite calls, Gabby doesn’t show up? I hope he doesn’t give up on our girl (whichever V you are).

It is a big fish and it still has its head!

The male calls and calls. Eventually he gives up and eats the fish.

Gabby on the left. The male V on the right.

They flew in together – landing on the nest seconds apart – Wednesday evening at 1744. They did some restorations and went off to their own branches. Looking more like a couple – Gabby and V3 (who has an injury according to the AEF but it will heal).

There is any question down in Miami. Rose seems to have used all her feminine powers and won Ron over. She will be a good mate for him. I am assuming she is young with a few of the feathers in her head needing to turn white. Please yell at me if this is wrong!

It does seem to me that they need to get a little more nesting material in this nest if there will be eggs this breeding season. Maybe there won’t be – perhaps next year. We wait to see.

It is absolutely silly. Ron has a duck in his talon for breakfast. If you watch, he flies in from the bottom left corner to the back and around to land on the nest with Rose chasing him.

They need a good rain on the camera at Superbeaks! That would help with the view. The eaglets are now large enough that we could easily see them during feeding times when they are stretching their necks.

They are sure cute and there is still some soft dandelion fluff on their heads.

Pepe has just flown in and is getting a good look at the two eaglets. They have just finished a nice fish dinner.

Jackie and Shadow were working on their nest right before 1100 Wednesday morning.

Here is a video of their efforts even as the winds are increasing and a storm is approaching.

Alex continues to bring in the fish to the E3 nest. You can see them and many are buried underneath the nesting material. It looks like it is causing a lot of flies. Poor little E3-1.

The second egg at the E3 nest has hatched! Let us hope that the first hatch is a little darling to this one! 02:07:03.

The morning feeding at the Kisatchie E3 Bald Eagle nest on Lake Kincaid. Strong eaglets.

There was a posting that there was a pip at the Captiva Bald Eagle nest but that cannot be right. If you go to the Captiva Eagle cam, they have a clock counting the days from the egg is laid. Egg 1 is only 25 days old as I write this blog meaning that there is at least 10 days remaining if not more. Bald Eagle eggs take 35-40 days to hatch with many coming in on the 37-38th day.

Let’s all give a shout out to all these great Bald Eagle Mums. Here is Liberty – of Liberty and Guardian at the Redding Eagle nest in California – flying high. She is 24 years old. How many other female eagles can you think of that are in their late 20s? Harriet at SWFlorida for one. Cholyn at Two Harbours for another. Any more?

Meanwhile, the ospreys continue to visit the new platform nest on Lori Covert’s property on Captiva, one of the barrier islands just off the coast of southwest Florida.

If you are wondering, the Port Lincoln camera on the barge is offline. I do not know if it has been turned off intentionally, if there is maintenance, or if it is a technical or weather issue.

More and more eagles are being taken into rehabilitation for lead poisoning. It is simply outrageous that this is still an issue – one that can be easily solved by the simple outlawing of the manufacturing and sale of lead for any hunting and fishing equipment. There are alternatives.

Most of us are familiar with the Bald Eagle nest of Mr President and Lotus at the National Arboretum in Washington, DC. The staff have discovered another nest. Is it another couple? or have Mr President and Lotus built a second nest? We wait to see.

It looks like L4 has a squirrel this morning at Cornell. Did Arthur deliver it? or did L4 catch it? My money is on L4 catching it since this was the first fledgling at Cornell to catch prey after fledging.

It is a shout out to the NZ DOC who take excellent care of the Royal Albatross at Taiaroa Head in New Zealand. It has been scorching hot in the south of Australia and in NZ and the rangers have set up misters for the nesting birds. Wow. How many of us wold like to see this type of ‘intervention’ on those scorcher days at the Osprey nests in the PNW and western Canada???

If you have been wondering about Annie and the ‘new guy’, he has been bringing prey into the scrape area. Is it for Annie? It is anyone’s guess but if he wants to win our Annie’s heart, he best be able to be a good provider!

Thank you so much for being with us this morning, Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their videos, their posts, their tweets, and their streaming cam where I took my screen captures: Elain and the Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, NEFL-AEF, WRDC, Superbeaks, FOBBV, KNF-E3, Window to Wildlife, Redding Eagles, Ventura Wildlife Society, @CornellHawks, Sharon Dunne and the Royal Cam Albatross Group NZ, SK Hideaways and Cal Falcons.

Sparrows, Samson, Rita and more in Bird World

23 December 2022

Oh, good morning to everyone!

What a blistery week it has been. The garden animals are all poofed trying to keep warm in the chill winds and -21 degree C temperatures. It has gotten a little warmer!!! And by next week, it will be absolutely balmy at -2 on Wednesday. Crazy. We can adjust our clothing and footwear. These poor babies.

We have called Dyson the ‘monk’ for a long time. When she comes to the window with her little paws folded, it is a sign that all of the food for her is gone. Time to refill! No pressure, right? Just look at that sweet face.

I continue to be impressed with the book, Slow Birding. The chapter on House Sparrows really opened my eyes. They live where we live and the first sentence of the chapter asks, ‘Who Doesn’t Love House Sparrows’? I surely do and get quite irked at those who try specifically to feed other prettier birds (to them) and thwart the sparrows. Like falcons, they exist on every continent but, Antarctica. There are fossils dating back 400,000 years in the Middle East where the sparrows followed the progress of agriculture. They would eat the seeds left in the plowed fields. Today, the planting seasons have turned topsy turvy and they are on The Red List. They were traditionally planted in the fall not in the spring and that single change would help the birds survive in the UK. To add to that, the cessation of using pesticides and herbicides would benefit the ability of the parents to feed their young. No insects, no food for the little ones. Did you know that once they hatch, the chicks need 3000 to 4000 thousand insects to eat til they fledge. This is approximately 200 to 300 trips a day, in and out of the nest, to feed the wee ones. This will continue for two weeks. Today, in North America we are lucky to have them and their beautiful songs in our gardens. Feed them! And don’t use chemicals on your lawn. Promote insects by leaving your leaves in the fall. Help these wee ones out whenever you can!

I know that many of you will remember that one or the other of Diamond and Xavier have brought in a Green Parrot to the scrape at Orange. Here is an interesting story from The Guardian about them and the numbers that have flown to Tasmania for breeding season.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/20/record-numbers-of-critically-endangered-orange-bellied-parrots-in-tasmania-for-breeding-season?CMP=share_btn_link

Please do not think that birds are ‘bird brained’! Just trying getting a Rowanberry from one of the lovely and fierce Redwings.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/22/country-diary-the-redwing-is-bird-brained-but-far-from-stupid?CMP=share_btn_link

Today, Samson would be nine years old ——way too early to be gone ——and a YouTube video honouring his hatch day is making the rounds. Thanks ‘J’ for bringing it to my attention.

It is so difficult to catch a peek of the two little eaglets at Superbeaks but, that said, everything seems to be going just fine. Food is plentiful and both parents, PePe and Muhlady, are extremely attentive.

Glad to have a final and definitive word on the status of Rita. Things get carried away in chats and on FB. Terry Carman gives us the latest:

Always so happy to have one of Elain’s videos of the Orange Peregrine Falcon scrape to share:

A brief look at one of the Audubon Center’s Ambassadors who lived their life in car for 31 years. Incredible. And still going strong. If you ever get near enough to Maitland, Florida – on the west coast near Fort Myers – stop in and visit the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey. You will sadly not see Smedley but you could see Bailey, his long term Osprey mate. You might also see many of the other ambassadors.

So here is Francis from a wee nestling in care to being all grown up. Oh, I miss those little eaglets. Can’t wait for Harriet and M15’s two to hatch. Let the beaking begin!!!!!!! And it will. There is no doubt about it but, it will stop.

Oh, what a delight. Andor and Cruz were on the Fraser Point nest today. You might remember that these are the parents of Victor who went into care and Lillibet from 2022. So good to see you!

They refused to pose nicely but who cares. So lovely to see both of them together at the nest!

With that luck, I thought I would check on Thunder and Akecheta and there they were together! What a great day with our Channel Islands Bald Eagles. There they are, sitting together, looking out over the water into the sunshine on that high cliff to the left. I believe it is called Tor.

I ran out of luck at Two Harbours. No Chase or Cholyn when I checked.

The cams came back up at the Northeast Florida nest. V9 flew in and chortled but no Gabby. He waited for ten minutes and flew off. I wonder if they will both return to the nest tonight? We wait. Lady Hawk caught V9 flying in.

Gabby has been at the nest and she has brought some new greenery in. We wait, watch, and hope for our girl.

‘A’ sends word that there has been a changeover at the Taiaroa Head Royal Albatross nest. These two are doing so well. The sky calls are like nothing else. Oh, how I loved the little ones doing sky calls with OGK. Tears.

Zoe is certainly developing her diving skills and it is only a matter of time before an unlucky fish comes along and she snaps it up. It would be fantastic to see her bring one in to the nest that she caught right from the natal barge. Her love of fish will certainly be a motivator!

Speaking of fish, Dad is doing an amazing job feeding Zoe. Today she had no more than finished one fish than he flew in with another quite nice one. Her crop will pop!

You can see Zoe’s crop. I sure hope that Dad is eating himself!!!!!! He is really taking excellent care of his ‘little’ girl.

Thank you so very much for being with me today. Please take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, their videos, their posts, and their streaming cams that make up my screen captures: ‘J’ and ‘A’, Port Lincoln Osprey, NZ DOC and Cornell Bird Lab, NEFL-AEF, Institute for Wildlife Studies and Explore.org, Audubon Center for Birds of Prey, Elain and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Superbeaks, Bald Eagles Live Nest Cam and News and Terry Carman, and The Guardian.

Zoe flies more, rare Albatross incubate their egg…and more news in Bird World

24 November 2022

Good morning to everyone and the best of Thanksgiving to those celebrating in the US today.

It has been wonderfully warm on the Canadian Prairies. I do not know if it is atypical for this time of year but, it certainly feels like it. The birds in the garden had some of their feeders rearranged and thanks to a lovely friend I swopped out some old feeders for some she gave me yesterday. One of the visitors today was a beautiful Starling. It’s an immature non-breeder. Note all of the white spots on his breast and it has yet to get its oily black head. The males and the female Starlings look alike. Did you know that? One difference is that the beaks of the males are a deep blue while those of the female are a pink colour. This then looks like an immature non-breeding male.

Look closely and you can see their rose coloured legs. It is also a pair of non-breeding adults. They are really loving this soft suet.

The Starlings will not perch on the metal. I do not know why. They want to lean down from the branches to get to the suet. You can see this behaviour in the image above also. So the feeder below was moved so they could more easily reach it! Who says I am a softie?

Junior was grateful for a bowl of corn today.

One of many varieties of the Sparrow family that visit the garden. They are particularly enjoying the Butter Bark Balls on these damp days.

The kittens have had great fun watching the birds and the squirrels. They continue to find places in the house to get into mischief. And they do not always come when they are called setting in a panic that they have miraculously gotten outside in the cold. Of course, they are somewhere laughing (do cats laugh?) while I panic!

Missy has discovered a Rodney Mott sculpture that is just perfect for hiding in. Lewis is in the overturned basket not even showing a whisker.

At the Australian nests, Zoe took off for her first flight of the day at 0901. It was an absolutely perfect take off and her landing at 0907 was spot on, too. She is a very strong osplet. I do hope she gets some nice fish. It has been 24 hours since she last had some food.

While the camera was down for a couple of yours, Dad brought in fish. We are only seeing the tail of the fish but I hope that Dad had some nice fish – the entire head – and that it was big enough for Mum and Zoe to also have a good feed. This family would really enjoy a day with several deliveries but, I am grateful to know that there was a delivery mid-afternoon.

Zoe had a nice crop.

At the scrape in Orange, things were decidedly low key. Xavier and Diamond in and out of the scrape box and Diamond enjoying sleeping in the box all by herself at night. They have busy days chasing after Indigo and Rubus. Little Rubus is, apparently, doing more flying and getting much better.

This was the news from Orange: “Rubus and Indigo both seen within the last hour. Rubus is exploring the campus, going from building roofs to trees etc. He fledged on 20th November. Indigo is way ahead getting flight training from parents, visiting the box etc. He fledged on 11th November at 41 days.”

If you haven’t checked out the FalconCam site in a few days, I urge you to do so. Someone is really adding historical data and you can go back to 2007 to see earlier chicks and read about the big events at the scrape. Here is that link if you lost it.

https://science-health.csu.edu.au/falconcam/home

Oh, it is stormy up near Jacksonville. Samson and Gabby have been on the nest today working despite the wind and the bad weather that looks like it is moving in.

I put this image in not so you could peer at the fluffy bottom of a big Bald Eagle but, rather, for you to see the colour of the legs and feet of Gabby. Then look at their beaks. This is a bright chrome-yellow. This is a very healthy bird.

Harriet and M15 are sleeping at the nest and so far no eggs, just like at NEFL.

At the E-3 nest in the Kistachie National Forest, they have their second egg today. Congratulations Andria and Alex.

There is also news coming out of the Midway Atoll about a very rare pair of Albatross.

As we give thanks for all the birds that bring our lives joy, remember that we are the cause of much of their suffering. Please spread the word to anyone you know – or where you work – that there are solutions other than using rodenticide to get rid of mice and rats. Also teach them about secondary poisoning. It could be their dog or cat but, it is often one of our beautiful raptors.

At small islands in New Zealand, Dr Digby and his team care for the rare non-flying parrot, the Kakapo. In 2016, they hand-raised more than a dozen of these precious little birds. Today they continue to do that work when it is required. The work that Digby and his team do to restore the health of these birds and to keep them safe and try and increase their numbers is remarkable. So thankful.

No 13. The Red List. The Marsh Tit

At first I thought these were out Black capped Chickadees. The Marsh Tit is small, it is mainly shades of a soft grey-brown or taupe with a shiny black cast, a black bib, and a pale ivory underbelly. The bill, eye, and legs are black. They are not plain by any means, look closely at the plumage patterns. Simply lovely.

The woodlands of the United Kingdom – and elsewhere – are changing and that it causing a huge decline in the number of this very small song bird, the Marsh Tit. The woods are more fragmented now, separated by grazing pastures, a growing number of introduced deer. Marsh Tits, according to Mike Toms, “favour woodlands with a complex understory and require surprisingly large patches of suitable habitat in order to breed successfully.” And they’re like their woodlands to be “wet”. Climate change has meant that they are now laying their eggs at least ten days earlier than they were 50 years ago. This change has had a decided impact on available or peak food supplies for the chicks which is also contributing to a decline in population numbers. The Marsh Tit is also known to visit older gardens, copses, and parks, and has sometimes been seen on feeders.

“Marsh Tit” by Vine House Farm is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

They feed mostly on insects, seeds and berries, and often cache food over winter if they find a good supply. They nest in existing tree holes, rather than excavating their own, and produce seven to nine eggs.

Their song sounds like a sneeze “pitchoot”.

Here is their range.

Thank you so much for being with me today. I hope that each of you had a wonderful day no matter where you are — or will have a great day if you are just waking up reading this. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their posts and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Ospreys, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, NEFL-AEF, SWFL Eagles and D Pritchett, KNF, Friends of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, A Place Called Hope, Kakapo Recovery and Dr Digby Twitter, Openverse, and RSPB.

What’s for breakie? and other tales from Bird World

25 October 2022

Hi Everyone,

I hope that you have had a great day! I am here just checking in on the breakfast arrivals down at the nests in Australia. I wonder what is on those silver platters today?

The morning walk has reminded me of something very important. In some countries, Halloween is quickly approaching. It appears that my neighbourhood has decided to go quite fancy with the decorations but, are they aware that some of those are absolutely deadly to the birds with their tiny little legs?

This inexpensive Halloween decor can be deadly. Please pass the word. It is no different than the birds getting their legs caught in those mesh bags that companies insist using for oranges, lemons, avocadoes and other fruit.

One of the adults is awake at 367 Collins Street! The eyases, those cute little cotton ball running machines, are still sleeping, all in a puddle. Adorable.

Oh, it looks like the adult (I cannot tell which from this angle) has only a small leftover piece of pigeon. Not sure that will satisfy those ravenous eyases. Just look at them. They are so big! This new couple has done well despite our initial worries.

It is…you guessed it – a European Starling for Indigo and Rubus. I had no idea that they had such gorgeous orange beaks in Australia. They really are quite beautiful birds with their iridescent feathers. Xavier arrives with breakfast and begins giving the two chicks a plucking demonstration. It is not long until Diamond arrives. Rubus is never interested in this part. It looks like he is thinking about going over to the Cilla stones but changes his mind.

What little darlings. Indigo is getting much steadier on her legs and little Rubus wants to walk just like his big sister. He is still using his ankles but trying to walk straight up. Adorable. Look at that sweet face.

At 0648 Xavier lands on the ledge again. This time with a prepared prey that looks like a parrot of some kind. It is so hard to tell when the feathers are mostly gone. At first Indigo and Rubus just watch. Xavier would have been so happy to feed them. Diamond arrives. Indigo goes over to the other side to do a ps and returns for some of this delicious breakfast dessert.

Diamond continues to offer Indigo and Rubus occasionally taking a piece. Notice that her chest is sunken. Diamond needs a good breakfast – she needs to fill up her crop, too!

Someone has post a sweet video already! Enjoy.

Big and Middle are still waiting for their breakfast fish to arrive. It looks like there is some rain or drizzle. Their backs appear to be a little wet.

Big and Middle are still waiting but they are not showing signs of being impatient. Thankfully.

Oh, those two are so beautiful. You can see the wind is blowing. Mum’s crest is sticking right up. Stay nice you two!

As I sign off it is 0837 in Port Lincoln and no breakfast yet. They had a big late dinner last night so hopefully neither are ‘starving’.

I belong to the American Society of Ornithologists and the US Government has just issues their ‘State of the Birds’ Report for 2022. It is 17 pages long with some good graphics. It shows some encouraging news for waterfowl where wetlands are being developed but an overall trend downward in bird populations.

Here is that report if you would like to have a read. It will really help you understand the urgency in taking care of our environment for our feathered friends.

Click to access state-of-the-birds-2022-spreads.pdf

For those of you getting super excited about the beginning of Royal Albatross season, here is the latest news from Sharyn Broni. Thanks Holly Parsons for the post! Holly is the Admin for the Albatross Lovers FB Page.

Thank you so much for being with me this afternoon. Take care everyone. See you soon! Wish for fish for Big and Middle.

Thank you to Holly Parsons and the Albatross Lovers FB, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross for their posts, videos, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures.

Hey…birds down under

The 38 day old Royal Cam chick at Taiaroa Head is having some time on its own as the ‘pre guard’ stage sets in. The parents are leaving their little one alone for various short periods. The satellite trackers on both Lime-Green-Lime (LGL, mom) and Lime-Green-Black (LGK, dad) indicate that they are fishing just off the shores of this peninsula near Dunedin, New Zealand.

LGL gave a sky call as she approached her beautiful little chick. The Royal chick had a really good feeding before LGL headed out to sea to fish.

LGL gives a sky call before feeding her little one. Cornell Labs and NZ DOC streaming cam.
Nice squid shake for the little one before LGL heads to sea. Cornell Labs and NZ DOC streaming cam.

After LGL left to go fishing around 9:30 NZ time, the little one kept itself busy playing with the nest, preening, looking around, and enjoying the sprinklers at the NZ DOC bring out to keep the chicks cool. This helps the chicks to not get stressed by the 25 degree Celsius heat (77 F).

Oh, how refreshing! Cornell Labs and NZ DOC streaming cam.
NZ DOC rangers hook up the sprayers on March 3 for the little ones. Cornell Labs and NZ DOC streaming cam.
Playing with its nest. Cornell Labs and NZ DOC streaming cam.

And sometimes, when you are all alone, you have to defend your nest in case a stranger walks by! As the stranger approaches, the Royal Cam chick stands alert and begins clacking its bill mimicking precisely what its parents would do.

Chick is on alert!

And here comes Henry the Heron! Henry lives on Taiaroa Head and loves to photo bomb the Royal cam chick! Sometimes Henry even does a kind of snake dance with its neck. Henry would never hurt the little chick but he does love to come for a visit to check in on the little one. We will see him often before the fledge in September.

Have I seen you before? Cornell Labs and NZ DOC streaming cam.

Where’s Solly? Solly is the 163 day old Eastern Osprey that was born on a barge in Port Lincoln. We checked in on Solly a couple of days ago and she was heading south from Eba Anchorage back to the Streaky Bay area. Well, Solly is now back in Eba Anchorage! Solly spent the night in the same marshy area as she did on her previous visit. You can see the green pin in the satellite image below. From that central point Solly has been busy going out fishing. It is always so nice to know where the birds are. These satellite trackers are quite amazing.

Port Lincoln Osprey Project Image.

It is early March. The White Bellied Sea Eagles whose nest is in the forest of Sydney’s Olympic Park will not be actively undertaking nestorations for a few months but already they have come back to the nest to do some inspections. I wonder if Daisy the Duck making a deep hole for her eggs will cause them any extra work? Last night the bonded couple, Lady and Dad, spent their night sleeping on the ‘parent branch’ of the natal nest after checking out the condition of the nest earlier and making a list of what they needed to do.

Lady and Dad sleeping on parent branch. WBSE Streaming Cam.

The Kakapo Recovery had sad news. Uri was taken into care because he was unwell. He had lost weight and the team felt that he would improve significantly with regular food and some checkups. Uri’s blood tests looked good and he had gained weight. But Uri seriously did not like being in a building with humans. The decision was made to return him to the island and to provide supplementary feedings and check ups for him there. When the team showed up this morning to do their check up, Uri had died. Uri had no outward signs or symptoms of Aspergillosis, a fungal disease that affects Kakapo. A necroscopy will be performed to determine the precise cause of death. There are currently 205 Kakapo.

Aren’t they cute? Three little Kakapo chicks.

“Kakapo chicks” by Department of Conservation is licensed under CC BY 2.0

This is a link about the disease and the treatment that you might find interesting. The Kakapo in the video is such a sweetie as are all of these non-flying parrots. Everyone is working hard for their care and welfare.

https://www.audubon.org/news/fast-acting-kakapo-scientists-curb-fungal-disease-killed-seven-birds

Thank you so much for joining me today to check in on the birds that make our lives so interesting and joyful.

Time to check in with the birds

Wonder what Port Lincoln’s female Osprey fledgling is up to today? Solly was born on a barge tied at Port Lincoln. She is 163 days old today. For research purposes, Solly was fitted with a satellite tracking systems. You can see it on her back in the picture below taken by C. Crowder at Streaky Bay, Australia several weeks ago.

Solly at Streaky Bay. Photo by C Crowder posted on Port Lincoln Osprey FB Page.

The transmitter has worked perfectly and early on Solly’s travels away from her natal nest changed what was known about the movements of the Eastern Osprey. Solly travelled north to Streaky Bay and then further to Eba Anchorage and on to Perlubie and then on to Haslam. At that point she turned back, spent several days back in Eba Anchorage and today is back in Streaky Bay.

These are the latest satellite images of Solly’s tracking. In the images below, you can see Solly’s movements. She has a central place of interest and from there she flies out to fish.

Solly seems to love this house for some reason. @ Port Lincoln Osprey
Solly’s movements around the house at Streaky Bay. @ Port Lincoln Osprey

The most fascinating information coming from these satellite images is that Solly has chosen to stay close to people. The image below shows the house where Solly spends much of her time.

Solley loves the trees around this house! @Port Lincoln Osprey

Just think how much our knowledge of these large birds is changing with the introduction of satellite tracking devices, light weight enough to fit without harming the bird.

“Golden Eagle” by Just chaos is licensed under CC BY 2.0

In 2018, satellite trackers became part of a criminal investigation into the loss of a Golden Eagle. Raptor Persecution UK investigated a ‘highly suspicious’ disappearance of Fred, a golden eagle, in a nest in the Scottish Borders. Scotland is trying to reintroduce Golden Eagles and Fred was one of a breeding pair in that region. At the time, investigators thought that the Golden Eagle was killed and the body and its tracker dumped in the North Sea to hide the evidence. The Environment Secretary for Scotland, Roseanna Cunningham, said that they were taken this disappearance ‘very seriously.’

The Golden Eagle was in the Pentland Hills before its tag signal was lost. That signal was then picked up on 26 January 2018 off the coast of Scotland near St Andrews. The problem is this. Golden Eagles do not, of their own accord, fly out over large bodies of water. So what happened? Did someone accidentally kill the eagle and want to dispose of the evidence? was the eagle stolen and the transmitter destroyed? Both are sad possibilities.

“snowy Pentlands 02” by byronv2 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Royal Chick is too big to brood. @ NZ DOC and Cornell Labs

The Department of Conservation in New Zealand gave permission and provided two solar powered GPS satellite trackers to follow the parents of the Royal Albatross Cam Chick at Taiaroa Head, New Zealand. Those Royal Albies with the trackers are Lime-Green-Black (father, LGK) and Lime-Green-Lime (mother, LGL). The twenty gram trackers were carefully and quickly attached to the feathers on the back of these large sea birds. Like many other trackers, they will continue to operate until the Royal Albatross molts in about a year.

Lime Green Black has just had his solar powered satellite transmitter installed. @NZ DOC and Cornell Labs.

What do trackers tell us about the birds? The Department of Conservation is hoping that the tracking will help them understand more about the locations where the birds hunt for food, the legal and illegal fishing activities that attract these birds (and sadly some become bycatch), and how climate change is impacting them. It is getting hotter and hotter in the Southern Hemisphere where these lovely seabirds live. How can people and government agencies support the Albatross long term survival? That is another question the researchers want to ask. Tracking information will be shared on the FB page of the Royal Albatross group on a regular basis.

Below is an image of the last posted tracking information on Lime Green Lime, the Royal Cam chick’s mother.

@NZ Doc provides tracking images for the Royal Cam Albatross FB Page

You might enjoy the comings and goings of the Royal Albatross at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head. These are extremely social birds and the little fluff ball who will be given a Maori name before it fledges is now in the ‘pre guard’ stage. This means that the parents will leave it alone for periods of time easing it in to when both parents will go to sea to forage to feed their baby. As the chick grows so does its needs for more and more squid shakes! The Royal Cam is on twenty-four hours a day every day of the week. You can access it here:

https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/albatrosses/royal-albatross-toroa/royal-cam/meet-the-royal-family/

“Dunedin. Taiaroa Head at the end of Otago Peninsula. The buildings on the headland are the Royal Albatross Centre. The only mainland albatross nesting site in the world.” by denisbin is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

Thank you for joining me. There will be late updates today on N24 who is fighting Avian Pox. Let’s all hope its immune system is working to its fullest. N24 had a good breakfast today.

24 hours full of birth and death emotion

First, before you get anxious, Daisy the Duck managed through the high temperature of Sydney yesterday. She left the nest at 15:11:10 to forage and returned twenty minutes before sun down at 19:45. It is currently day 14 of her brooding and it is 5:43 Monday the 25th of January in Sydney. All is well in the nest. The sea eagles did not make an appearance in the evening and Daisy did not go out foraging before dawn this morning. It is due to be another hot day on the nest.

Daisy just before dawn, 25 January 2021.

I have said often that the lives of our feathered friends hang on a thread. Anything can happen at any time. Sadly, much of the time the root cause has something to do with humans and our lack of respect for the environment. Rat poison – rodenticide – contains chemicals that cause the mice and rats to bleed internally. But before they did their movements slow down. Raptors (falcons, hawks, eagles) often catch the dying animals. While it is not always lethal for the larger birds such as adult Bald Eagles, it is for the smaller hawks and falcons and their babies. Toxins in the water flushed out from industrial plants is another or the heating of the oceans causes toxic red algae. Window strike breaks their necks. Tossing any food waste onto the highways causes the birds to come and not watching, they get hit by vehicles. The mesh bags that hold oranges and other fruits along with not cutting the ties on face masks tangles up the birds as does the mesh that people and farms use to cover the trees and bushes in their orchards. And of course the glue strips that catch the birds and cause them such devastating pain trying to free their little legs. I could go on. The list would be endless. The most prominent way is through the loss of habitat.

In a short period of time, in the world of our beautiful birds, there has been intense pain and great happiness.

At Captiva Island, there was such joy when Peace and Hope were each born, within six hours of one another, on 14 December 2020.

Hope and Peace being fed fish on Christmas Day by their dad, Joe.

Fishing line was discovered in the nest with a hook on it. The American Eagle Federation got permission from the US Wildlife Service to have it removed. On or about the same day, the parents brought a rat into the nest to feed the eaglets. No one knows precisely what happened but it was observed that Peace no longer wanted to eat and was becoming dehydrated. Peace passed away. Hope continued to thrive until a couple of days ago when people started noticing that ‘something was wrong’. They didn’t know what. Many noticed tremors in her leg. Others watched as it appeared she could not cough up a pellet. (Raptors cannot process all of the food that they eat. What they can’t is formed into a pellet that is coughed up). Some saw blood on her wing and leg. She coughed and choked all day, January 23. Many think her heart gave out last night. Connie, her mother, flew to the nest as she was taking her last breaths. One of the saddest things is that prior to Hope and Peace, Joe and Connie had fledged nineteen juvenile Bald Eagles in the twelve years they have been together. In fact, people exclaimed how physically strong these two were. Hope crawled out of the nest and up to the end where the parents bring in food when she was only two days old. They were both growing and getting strong. Peace died on 13 January. A few days, Joe took her body from the nest. Many are hoping that a necroscopy can be done on Hope to determine the cause of her death.

January 20, 2021. Hope with Connie on the nest overlooking their territory.

In the image above, three days ago, you can see how Hope was getting her beautiful dark brown juvenile feathers.

Apologies. Hope is moving. 23 January 2021.

In the morning fog, the same day of her death, Hope stands talls and is jumping up and down on the nest flapping her wings.

Today, Connie is standing over the body of her daughter, Hope, shading it. From all available evidence, birds grieve just like humans when they lose a child.

Connie with the body of Hope.

There is frustration and anger and the debates continue as to whether or not intervention in the lives of these majestic birds should take place. Some argue that we are fortunate to be able to view their lives but that we should not intervene to help them unless it is clearly something a human has caused. Others state the opposite. While we are now privileged to watch the comings and goings of the birds, it is our duty to protect them so that they thrive. Unfortunately, nothing will bring back to the vibrant eaglets, Peace and Hope.

January 23 was also the day that Harriet and M15’s two eaglets hatched at Fort Myers, Florida.

E17 and E18 hatched just an hour and a half apart. What were two wet limp bodies have turned into fuzzy little bonking babies this morning!

E17 and E 18

Notice the white at the top end of their beak. That is the ‘egg tooth’. The egg tooth is a small white protuberance that helps the birds chip away at the shell so that they can hatch. By hitting on the shell, the egg tooth makes the first pip! The egg tooth disappears in a few weeks.

Bonking of bobbing into one another after hatch is a rather normal experience. The little birds cannot focus their eyes well, their heads are bigger and awkward til they get some strength in their necks, and because they know that food comes from their beak and the parent’s, you will often see them bonking back and forth. This should end after a few days but in some nests it persists as a means of establishing dominance. In some cases it can lead to siblicide, the killing of the other sibling.

And on 23 January in New Zealand, the Royal Cam Albatross chick belonging to LGL, Lime Green Lime, and LGK, Lime Green Black, hatched. New Zealand gives the albatross born at Tairoa coloured bands for identification. This couple were chosen to be the stars of the camera this year. The baby Albatross will receive a Maori name right before it fledges and we should know in a couple of weeks if it is a male or a female.

DOC Ranger Julia and LGK as he sees his baby for the first time.

I can always be found praising the New Zealand Department of Conservation. They protect their birds. Once the rangers noticed the ‘pip’ of the Royal Albatross egg of LGK and LGL, it was removed and a dummy egg was placed under the parent to continue incubating. The ‘real egg’ was placed in an incubator. The reason for this is fly strike, the infestation of fly larvae during the period that the chick is trying to hatch. This can lead to their death. Royal Albatross are a highly endangered species because of climate change and long haul fishing. The New Zealand government is taking a very proactive role in trying to keep their birds healthy and also in promoting the use of varies methods to protect bycatch, whether it is our gentle albatrosses or sea turtles.

This is a great video to introduce you to the topic of bycatch and how important it is to get international agreements in place to protect the ocean’s animals.

There is much you can do to help birds from cutting the lines to your masks and putting them in the trash, to educating people on feeding birds at feeders and ponds, to lobbying international agencies demanding the end to bycatch. If you go back through my posts you will find several dedicated to ways that you can help birds no matter what your financial status.

Daisy on her nest just after dawn breaks, 24 January 2021.

I will have a full report on Daisy’s day in about nine hours. The weather will be hot again in the Sydney Olympic Park and we hope that means that no sea eagles will come to see if they can catch Daisy!

Thank you for joining in the daily life of our favourite little Black Pacific Duck, Daisy.

And thank you to Pritchett for the camera views of Harriet and M15, Captiva Eagle Cam and the AEF for the camera views of Joe and Connie, to Cornell Bird Cams and the NZ Department of Conservation for their camera views of LGL and LGK, and to Sea Eagle Cam, Birdlife Australia, and the Discovery Centre for the camera views of Daisy.

Quite a fright

Late yesterday afternoon Daisy arrived back at the nest right before 17:00. In a split second, she saw the two WBSE on the camera tree and was able, quickly, to abort her landing. They scared Daisy. She stayed away only returning at 19:43 as the sun was beginning to set on the old Ironbark forest.

And if that wasn’t enough of a fright, in the wee hours of the night she was literally scared off by sounds coming from the nest. Daisy was so frightened she quickly flew off after listening for a few minutes. And that scared off the Ringtail Possum that was climbing up the nest peeking in at Daisy sleeping in the sea eagle nest. It seems they both scared one another.

Common Ringtail Possums are small. They are about the size of a medium domestic cat. They are grey with some white behind the eyes with a white tip on their tail. They use this tail almost like a fourth leg wrapping it around branches to help them climb. They are forest dwellers and are very familiar with the sea eagles that raise young on this nest. Many people think they have their nest at the very bottom of the sea eagle nest. Like BooBook Owl and the more threatening Common Bushtail Possum, they hunt at night. They are vegetarians feeding on plants, fruit, and flora. The little Ringtail possum is the only species of possum in Australia where the male is actually involved in caring for the young possums. They are, again, not as much a danger to Daisy as the Common Ringtail Possum.

Common Ringtail Possum. Notice the thick tail that they use to help them climb. Photo courtesty of Wikimedia Commons.

The possum that Daisy should be very fearful of is the Bushtail.

Brushtail Possum at Grampians National Park, Australia courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Brushtail possums are the most widespread marsupial in Australia. (They are also in New Zealand). They are brown and have really bushy tails with a underneath furless patch that helps them to climb trees and hang on to the branches. They hunt at night and eat leaves, flowers, fruits, insects, small animals, and eggs. They are not related to the Opossum of the Americas and they are not the benign fruit eater portrayed by many books. They pose a real problem to Daisy as they are, as noted earlier, keen egg eaters. These possums are known to have eaten parrots, keas, robins, as well as larger kiwis. Researchers believe the decline of the North Island Kokako (endemic to New Zealand) to almost extinction was caused by the Brushtail Possum. The Kokako is a large grey-blue song bird. It has a black mask and long legs. New Zealanders are working hard to restore the populations of these lovely forest birds.

North Island Kokako perched on a Branch. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

It is now past dawn in Sydney, Australia. No sign of the White-Bellied Sea Eagles. Daisy is setting serenely on her nest. You will notice that she has been bringing in some of the down that was scattered. The nest is quite fluffy now!

Daisy, after dawn, January 22

There is absolutely no telling what comings and goings will happen today. It is Day 10 of brooding!

Daisy’s beautiful layered plumage on her wings.

Dawn casts a beautiful rose-gold over all the forest.

Dawn

And just about the time Daisy settled into a quiet early morning, she heard something land on the camera tree. It is 7:18:48. Too late to get off the nest or cover the eggs, she decided the right thing to do was to freeze flat.

Daisy lays ‘frozen’ hoping that the large bird on the camera tree does not see her.

Whatever it was, it was, its shadow indicated that it was a large bird but not as large as a sea eagle. Spotters said it was white so it is likely not then the Raven who continues to come, hoping to find Daisy gone and eggs for dinner. The bird left in about ten minutes but Daisy stayed frozen like she is in the photo above. Gradually, she began to relax.

Daisy relaxing slowly.

The first threat of the morning has come and gone after the excitement of the possum who came during the early night.

Stay tuned. An updated post will come in about six hours. Stay safe. Thanks for dropping in to check on Daisy.

Thank you to Sea Eagle Cam, BirdLife and the Discovery Center for the cameras from which I took my scaps.