30 August 2026
Hello Everyone,
Wow. It got up to 28 C today. There are supposed to be thunderstorms tonight but, there was a breeze and it was a nice day for some walks with Toby. Autumn is definitely feeling a long way away but, from the leaves on the trees, it is coming!
This is the story of the day – and it is about a raptor!
“a little change from plants- hen harrier looking for dinner.” by island deborah- New Book ‘Song of the Sparrow’ vig is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
A single male hen harrier successfully reared a chick to fledgling status in Germany’s Zülpicher Börde region for the first time in 135 years, performing parenting duties previously undocumented for the species.
The Historic Event
- Location: The Zülpicher Börde, an agricultural plain southwest of Cologne and Bonn in the Rhineland, Germany.
- Timeline: The milestone occurred in mid-summer 2026, marking the first successful hen harrier fledging in the region since 1891.
- The Situation: Shortly after two chicks hatched in a local wheat field, the mother mysteriously vanished.
Unusual Single-Father Behavior
- Normal Behavior: Male harriers typically only hunt and drop off food, leaving brooding and direct feeding strictly to the females.
- The Exception: Captured on nest camera, the single father took over full-time parenting out of pure instinct. He protected the surviving chick from extreme summer heat and cold nights while directly feeding it.
- Human Support: Officers from the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) assisted by dropping extra mice near the nest, while local farmers cordoned off the area during the wheat harvest to keep the site safe
That is fantastic!
The RSPB describes the Hen Harrier thus:
“The Hen Harrier is the most intensely persecuted of all the UK’s birds of prey. It once preyed on free-range fowl, which gave it its present name. But, in recent times, its effect on the number of grouse available to shoot has lead to conflict and a threat to its survival in some parts of the UK. It’s most at risk on the driven grouse moors of England and Scotland. While males are a pale grey colour, females and young birds are brown with a white rump and a striped tail which give them the name ‘ringtail’. They fly with wings held in a shallow ‘V’, gliding low in search of food, which mainly consists of Meadow Pipits and voles. The Orkney population is famous for being polygynous, with males sometimes mating with multiple females on the island. They are listed as a Schedule 1 species under The Wildlife and Countryside Act.”
It has been an unusual year because many of the female ospreys have had to provide the fish for the osplets. This is what is happening at the Osprey Environment Centre in Australia and it is challenging for the chick to get fed. What is going on?
Teifi is still feeding a fledgling at Glaslyn.
Juveniles still at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. A nice hawk would like to share their dinner, maybe.
SK Hideaways captures Mum at 367 Collins Street laying the 4th egg! Good thing there are lots of pigeons in the CBD in Melbourne! https://youtu.be/3lP6i-JjETw?
This is very short but I really wanted to let you know about that miracle in Germany.
Two updates. Don was alert today, and his appetite is back. He asked for a sandwich before I arrived at the hospital, then ate his lunch (I fed him) while I read to him. I do not know what the future holds – it is one day at a time. His brain scans show that he did not have a stroke; he has no swelling, no fracture, and no tumour. His infections are improving with antibiotics.
Toby has proven just ‘why’ he is such a good therapy dog.
My daughter and grandson, Carter, came to visit and had curry dinner. While they were here, my neighbours showed up with gifts from the entire street – wonderful sourdough bread, soups, and big confetti cookies. I always say that I live on the most amazing street in my city! Their kindness warmed my soul and tummy!
Take care everyone. We hope to have you with us again soon.
Thank you to OpenVerse, UK Osprey Information, those who posted on FB and posted information, and SK Hideaways for their video about the Collins Street Falcons. I am grateful to the owners of the streaming cams that allow us to glimpse into the lives of these amazing birds.