4-5 July 2022
Good Morning Everyone. It isn’t raining!!! The weather forecast was entirely wrong (so far). The sun is shining bright and it looks like it is going to be a fantastic day on the Canadian Prairies.
I mention Daisy the Duck quite often. It was Daisy that got me into loving ducks — despite the fact that I had a pet duck as a toddler – as an adult. She tried so hard – against the odds of a forest full of Crows and Ravens – to raise those little ones. I think it is why I am always out checking on the ducks at our local parks. But, today, I found a very interesting streaming cam and I thought I would share it with you. A female Wood Duck (oh, those females are so cute and sweet) has taken over an owl box and is sitting on eggs! Here is the link:
Fireworks. No one will ever invite me to their party! When we had our Canada Day celebrations there were fireworks set off 3 blocks away from the Peregrine Falcon scrape. I was equally upset and vocal locally – my comments could apply to any City.
Tonight, ‘B’ sent me a note about the fireworks and poor Takoda. 45 minutes later, they are still going off but are closer to the nest in the National Arboretum. Takoda is not the only wildlife impacted – every bird, every animal, every pet – and even humans – could have their hearing and/or breathing compromised. Tonight, I am ‘Miss Stick in the Mud’. At the same time I also wonder how much these big displays cost and how those funds could be used elsewhere. The US Government Accountability Office said that the display cost 19 million in 2019. Wow.
These are not silent fireworks either…just in case you were wondering. No, as ‘B’ said – it sounded like a battle zone. They started at 2109 on either side of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and I still have screen captures near to 2200.
Someone may ask you ‘What is the importance of Raptors or Birds of Prey anyway?’ In 2013, the British Columbia government did a study on raptors titled, Guidelines for Raptor Conservation in Urban and Rural Land Development. Section 4.2 lists the benefits that raptors have for all of us – not just the residents of British Columbia. Indeed, there is a lot of wisdom in these 151 pages. Do look at section 4.2. It is quite interesting and not so long.
Checking in on the Black Stork intervention by Urmas, Kaia was caught on the camera finding the fish basket today. She returned and fed the four storklets who are growing and growing. Bonus appears to be fully integrated into the family.
You are doing great, Kaia. Look at those beautiful babies with those gorgeous black feathers. Just imagine. These four will take to the skies and fly all the way to the centre of Africa – and hopefully, return to Estonia.
The two chicks of Mr and Mrs AX6 at Llyn Brenig were ringed yesterday. One is showing off its new bling. Were we not just worried about these two in the cold rain last week and they were so tiny? Ringers think it is one female and one male. That gives the Welsh Osprey nests 6 females and 5 males so far.
Idris and Telyn have three big girls to feed and get off the ground. Some of the running jokes is that they are too heavy to fly! Pedran, Padarn, and Paith will do just fine. They will return in two years time looking for a Scottish mate, perhaps, or maybe they will check out any Rutland males that are about.
Aran and Mrs G have been keeping close watch over their territory today as it appears there are intruders about.
All of the nests seem to be doing very well. Dylan has brought a fish in and the three Bobs at Llyn Clywedog are being fed by Seren. It is a good way to keep one of them from taking over the fish – at least at the moment.
It looks like Blue NC0 has a nice crop – she looks so tiny compared to the two big chicks. So grateful that everything is going well on this nest after losing Little Bob. Should be two successful fledges soon.
Does everyone know Iris? the oldest Osprey in the world? She is, I believe 29 years old this year. Her nest is in Missoula, Montana and just look at that nest. Iris no longer has chicks. Her partner, Louis, since her devoted mate Stanley did not return, also has another nest in the baseball park with Star. Louis takes care of Star and her chicks. Every year Iris lays eggs and because one parent can’t do it all, the Crows or Ravens get them. Iris then spends the summer fishing, working on the nest, and taking care of herself. With the toll that chick raising takes on the female, this could be part of the secret to Iris’s longevity.
This morning Louis joined her early to keep intruders at bay but what interested me the most was how much work Iris has done on her nest. Just look at the amount of twigs! I wonder if Dr Green is going to gather up twigs from under the nest and have pens made as a fundraiser? The two I purchased from last year are beautiful and you can easily buy refills which makes them very sustainable.
Iris is a great fisher. Just look how strong she is. She has been working on this nest every day and it is so nice because we get to see her!
There is a lot of new nesting material arriving on the Mispillion Harbour Osprey nest in Delaware. The kids were hoping for a nice big fish but it looks like new straw. Is Mum going to weave a basket?
I was interested in this image because of the dark bands on the tail. For Red-tail Hawks, you check to make sure that there are 5 dark bands. It is a simple trick to see if the chicks are near fledging. It seems to also apply to Osprey. These two are getting very close to being able to fly. Whether or not they will want to is another story.
At the Boathouse Osprey platform on Hog Island, everyone seems very happy with the morning feeding. Dory did a crack up job making sure all three were absolutely full – including Little Bob.
‘H’ sent a screen capture – so happy that the wee one had a bit of a private feeding filling up its crop. Yeah for Dory our first time Mum. Thanks so much for this great image, ‘H’. — Look at those little fat bottoms.
At the Osoyoos Osprey nest, it looks a little drier this morning. The kids have already had a small fish for their breakfast and are cuddled under Mum.
I don’t remember a pair of Cal Falcon fledglings that have loved to spend so much time together. It is such a delight to see Lindsay and Grinnell Jr play together – and what a welcome to relief to catch them on the camera of The Campanile.
Thank you so much for joining me today. Everything ‘appears’ to be quite fine in the nests that we have been watching. Fingers all crossed and toes, too, that it stays that way. Take care everyone — stay safe.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: NADC-AEF, Eagle Club of Estonia and Looduskalender Forum, Llyn Brenig Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyXWild, Friends of the Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Montana Osprey Project and Cornell, Mispillion Osprey Project, Audubon, Osoyoos Ospreys, and Cal Falcons.