Oh, it is a gorgeous autumn day on the Canadian prairies. Technically, it is still summer, but it feels like fall. We have had our walk and Don has gone with Ann to get a blood collection (he also has hemachromatosis) and a walk in the park. Toby and I cleaned up the laundry room, cleaned the bird baths, and made sure the birdfood was filled. There are so many! Last night we were shocked when, after sitting on the deck for at least half an hour, a hawk flew out of the huge prairie rose bushes! He had been sitting hoping for some dinner. I think we ruined those plans when Toby when down the steps.
This is the time in Bird World when we have a bit of a lull. The newest babies are the little sea eaglets at the Olympic Park nest in Sydney. Iris, Clarke, and Wensi are still at Hellgate Canyon. Blue 33 is the only osprey at Manton Bay, I believe. C22 and Charlie were fishing at Roger’s Place. Beau waits for Gabby’s arrival.
She is a beauty just like her great-grandmother, Maya, mate to Blue 33 at the Manton Bay nest at Rutland.
Even Geemeff’s reports for the Woodland Trust are getting shorter and shorter as the ospreys disperse.
Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Tuesday 25th August 2026
The RAF sent five aircraft flying down the loch, they were nearly as noisy as Juniper, whose voice seems to get more strident by the day. That will stand her in good stead when she has her own nest, for fish calling and warning intruders away from her chicks. Louis brought her two fish today, taking the Nest Two tally to four hundred and sixty, and she managed to protect both of them from the marauding Hoodies, one of whom was bold enough to nip her tail feathers. The weather was mostly dry and settled today with sunny spells and it should be dry and calm overnight with a low of 13°C continuing bright and clear tomorrow with a high of 22°C.
Second egg at 367 Collins Street as we await the arrival of the first egg at Orange. SK Hideaways has it: https://youtu.be/kRjyyXG3krA?
Osprey babies are being rescued worldwide as they struggle to find food and stay healthy.
#2 at Boulder County is a beauty and she is heading south. Great image, Holly!
Hope and George are not getting any breaks this year. Now dangerous fishing gear – . Needs to be removed from that nest!
I love this tribute to the Usk Valley male osprey in Wales.
Thanks so much for being with us today. It is ‘Dog Day’ and I cannot tell you how much I adore my Toby. He came as a tiny little puppy and has grown and grown. He is the light of my life and the beat of my heart.
With his much loved and chewed Lamb Chop!
Take care all. See you soon.
Thank you to Geemeff and SK Hideaways for their summaries and videos, to those who posted information on FB with or without images, to Raptor Persecution UK, and to the owners of the streaming cams that let us watch these amazing birds.
We are having another cool day. It is fantastic! We hope that you are as well.
Heidi is meticulous in keeping data records for all the osprey nests that she monitors and she has been doing this or the International Osprey Data Project (my long term study in osprey mortality) for the past three/four years. Heidi posted this detailed information about a few of the nests that she has observed and documented this year. You will learn a lot from reading this.
“Keep in mind, there is a great deal of older osprey educational material available in print and online. The older materials present a typical osprey family lifestyle as being similar to old TV shows like Ozzie and Harriet, Father Knows Best, The Donna Reed Show, and Leave It To Beaver. The dads worked, and the moms stayed at home. I have watched dozens of osprey nest cams for a few years, and that has rarely been the case. An osprey nest where the female never fishes is uncommon, in my experience. If you do your research online, artificial intelligence will glean information from the out-dated articles as well as some newer information.
First, we shouldn’t assume that Miles has ‘succumbed’ to anything or became injured or died. That’s a bridge too far. Since we only know what we see on cams, it is important not to go too far in our ‘what if’ theories. We do know that there is a shortage of fish, primarily due to menhaden overfishing.
It is not unusual for both parents to fish. Many females do typically start to fish for the family to supplement the male’s contributions, when the chicks get older. That’s what Hennie did. The females are not necessarily supposed to provide most or all of the fish, but that is what I have been seeing at many nests. However, don’t forget that the males can also become preoccupied at times with defending the nest and surrounding area against intruders, and then they will spend less time fishing. When fishing becomes poor for our on-cam osprey families, it becomes poor for all of the fish-eating birds in the area, like other ospreys and eagles. This may result in a greater chance of one of ‘our’ osprey’s catch being stolen by other hungry birds. It stands to reason, that kleptoparasitism would increase in times of fish shortages. You can imagine for example, Miles spending a lot of time trying to catch a fish, he finally catches one and then it is stolen. He later catches another fish, and he eats it because he is expending a lot of energy and he is starving. Miles (and all the other males and fishing females) may have also had to travel further away to find better fishing than what they were finding at their usual local fishing spot. That would mean more energy expended just to get to the new fishing area, and then to fly home with the fish. The male can try to do this all day long, and the end result may be that the male has brought very few if any fish to the nest that day for his family.
Osprey nest ground monitors have been noticing that many females are abandoning nests earlier in their nesting season than in previous years, and that some males have been leaving early also. From what I have seen on cams, many of the males are leaving before the females. Leaving does not mean migrating. It could mean that they simply have reached their own maximum degree of malnutrition and exhaustion that they can tolerate, and they simply had to become self-focused to save their own lives.
What I have seen on nest cams this season:
For some nests, the ‘food stress’ for the ospreys presented itself early enough in the season that the eggs were abandoned. The male ospreys stopped coming to the nest with fish for the females, so the females had to leave to fish for themselves. This was not the first year we have seen this. We noticed this at the Severna Park, MD nest two years ago, last year the cam was down, and this year Oscar and Olivia abandoned their eggs again due to lack of fish.
Last season at the Forsythe, NJ nest, the male could not support the female by bringing her enough fish, so she abandoned their eggs. This season, the food stress presented itself much later, and two chicks hatched. The male, Oscar, stopped coming to the nest several days prior to the female finally giving up on the chicks. Opal had a long history of being a fishing osprey mom. But, unlike several years in the past, the she did not bring any fish to the nest for her chicks this season. She did however, spend many hours off cam and would return with a crop and empty talons. One would assume that she fished to save her own life, but probably also tried to fish for her family, and she simply wasn’t able to do so. How far did she have to fly to find fish? Opal finally abandoned the chicks and they perished. Both parents were seen at the nest a few times in the days after their chicks died.
Last year at the South Cape May nest, Hera abandoned her eggs when Zeus had been unable to provide enough fish to her. This season, Hera was last seen at the nest when Uno was only 38 days old. There had been a significant slowdown in fish deliveries to the nest. Hera had already been fishing for a couple weeks, and was providing 1/3 to 1/2 of the daily fish totals to the nest. After Hera’s departure, Zeus continued to support Uno for several days by delivering fish, mostly very small menhaden. July 26, was the last day that Zeus was seen at the nest. On 7/28 the cam was turned off and NCNJ began to place fish on the nest for Uno.
The Wetlands nest is a special case. Their only chick would not allow mom to feed it, repeatedly attacking her very severely, and attacking the dad as well. However, the male continued to make fish drops, and Rascal learned to self feed. But, fish counts were down significantly compared to earlier in the season. In the end, both parents abandoned the nest altogether, and Rascal passed away.
At Dewey Beach last year, both parents abandoned their only chick and it died at 50 days old. Dad left several days before Mom did. We did see the mom on the nest a few times after her chick passed. This season they had a new female, and she started fishing when Sassy was young. The last couple weeks of their season, Mom was catching most of the fish, and it was almost entirely small menhaden. Dewey Dad stopped coming to the nest when Sassy was 54 days old. Mom continued to provide for Sassy for four days after Sassy fledged. Mom was last seen on 7/17. We saw Dad again on 7/18 with a fish, Sassy flew in to take the fish, but Dad flew off with it. Mom has not been seen since 7/17, but I continue to see Dad at the nest, guarding against intruders. I last saw him on 7/30. Sassy has not been seen since 7/19.
The Cape Henlopen nest: Miles was last seen at the nest on 7/28 at 10:28 when he delivered a small menhaden. The fish count had been way down from a few days earlier. I believe that Miles had reached a breaking point where his body told him that he had to take care of himself. He was probably exhausted from trying to fish, fighting off kleptos trying to steal his fish, and trying to guard the area from intruders. In addition, Miles may have been flying further away to try to find fish, using up even more energy. He may have only been able to eat a couple tiny menhaden a day, or a dogfish, which wasn’t enough to support his energy requirements. I think it is possible that Miles may have left to find better fishing at a different location, so that he could regain his weight and strength. The adults also know that they have to migrate in a month or so. Starting from a depleted physical state, they know they have to begin to rest and fatten up before undertaking the immense challenges of migration.
Hennie had begun fishing fairly early in the season, and her contributions were very significant. There were no fish brought to the nest on 7/29 and 7/30. Hennie arrived in the evening on those days with a crop. The fact that she had eaten but not brought a fish to her youngster was quite shocking to some viewers. It was similar to what Opal had been doing at Forsythe, arriving with a crop but no fish. I believe that Hennie had tried to bring fish to her youngster, but it simply didn’t work out with the challenges of finding fish and surviving fish thieves. Hennie brought three fish to Chick1 on 7/31. On 8/1 Hennie brought a small menhaden to the nest for Chick1 at 11:14. It was approaching too late in the evening to expect another fish, so I knew Chick1 would not have another fish that day. The eagle took Chick1 that evening. We heard Hennie alarming from a nearby tree during the eagle attack. Hennie never abandoned her chick, and Chick1 was not dying. See the videos of the chick being active throughout the day on 8/1. I counted several very good ps’s by Chick1 on 8/1. But, Chick1 needed more fish, and if the eagle predation had not occurred, I don’t know if Hennie would have been able to catch enough fish for herself and her chick, so that Chick1 could fledge. We will never know. I do know the last few days that Hennie was seen on camera, she looked very thin, tired and depleted.
There are those that have said if Hennie or Miles had been at the nest the eagle attack would not have happened. That is not necessarily true. If Hennie had been on the perch, it may have deterred the eagle, or it might not have. In 2021 on an osprey live cam in Washington state, a bald eagle swooped down on an osprey nest and took two osplets at once. The osprey parents were both at the nest at the time.
Fish: I have monitored fish at many regional on-cam nests this season. The catch has overwhelmingly been small menhaden. Menhaden comprise the bulk of an osprey’s diet along the mid-Atlantic coast, and the northeast coast. Large adult menhaden have a very dense caloric content due to their high concentration of omega fatty acids. Small menhaden, while still food, lack the nutritional value of larger menhaden. They are not old enough to have accumulated and stored the high concentrations of omega oils. Other fish I have seen at the nests include lots of bluefish earlier in the season (very few later in the season), a lot of dogfish, a few croaker, scup, spot, mackerel, and even one black sea bass from Miles. Zeus at Cape May, brought several fresh water species to the nest this season (bass, sunfish varieties). We thought that would be a boon for that nest, since Zeus had an alternate location to fish. But, in reality, it pointed to the fact that their primary food source, menhaden, was missing. I have only seen a few large menhaden this season at Wetlands, Dewey Beach, Cape Henlopen, and South Cape May. Due to overfishing by an industrial reduction fishing fleet, the adult menhaden along the east coast have been almost entirely wiped out.
The photo is from June 13.”
In the Tweed Valley in the UK, one of the osplets was being attacked by its older sibling who had made sure the younger one did not eat. It was rescued so that it could survive. This is the latest update:
There is more news from Tweed:
In Australia, George and Hope are raising their three osplets alone this year – without their older sister helping!
People make a difference and this is a marvellous change to a very long standing tradition. This year Gannet chicks will not be clubbed to death.
Please remember that collectively we can make change – and I am hoping that one of those changes will be the absolute elimination of the industrial fishing for Menhaden that is causing an entire ecosystem to collapse and the death of our dear ospreys (amongst other wildlife).
People are helping ospreys in trouble. It warmsmy heart.
Geemeff Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Tuesday 4th August 2026 Plenty of drama today – Dorcha saw off a persistent intruder Osprey who kept over-flying Nest Two, then intruded on Nest One herself, and was swiftly chased off by Aurora 536. Less than ten minutes after Aurora drove her away, she returned to Nest Two bringing a fish! Early in the season before Louis returned, Dorcha had brought two fish to the nest. She’s now doubled that total with her delivery of a trout yesterday and another today. The chicks were on and off the nest throughout the day competing for fish, and while attempting to keep her fish away from her sister, Amber accidentally achieved a milestone and flew with her fish for the first time. However, she still needs to perfect the other half of that skill, which is to keep hold of it, as on returning to the nest, she crashed through the branches at the side, and landed with empty talons. Garry brought one fish for Aurora, taking the Nest One tally to one hundred and ninety two, and the Nest Two tally rises to three hundred and seventy five with five fish from Louis and one fish from Dorcha today. As forecast, there were heavy rain showers and strong gusts of wind during the day and the wet weather is set to continue with light rain showers and a low of 14°C overnight, changing to thundery showers and a yellow warning for thunderstorms tomorrow, with a high of 17°C.
There was a fledge this morning at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest. Gosh what a good nest to watch this year with new adults!
Heidi reports “Oyster Bay is having a good day. Mom had not been seen for 2 days, but she’s back. Five fish so far (3 Dad, 2 Mom), both chicks have been eating.”
The update on Colonial Beach chick that was electrocuted and taken into care. It is able to stand up but did not eat well yesterday. Send your good wishes, please, to this baby.
At Hellgate Canyon, Wensi is really working his or her wings and well, there could be a fledge any time. Proud Mama Iris watches every move. Iris is looking a little rough. I sure hope she is able to spend the next month fattening up and getting into good condition for migration.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care. I will be back with you on Friday. Taking a day off tomorrow (Thursday).
Thank you to everyone who sent me information, to Heidi for that great synopsis of some of the nests she is watching, to Geemeff for her videos and summary, Cornell Bird Lab, all who post on FB and the streaming cam owners who allow us to watch these amazing birds.
It is Sunday, and the sky is hazy. It is 27 C at 1730. Sorry for the mantra, but 27 C is nearly as hot as St. George’s Grenada, WI, which is 29 C. Tomorrow is forecast to be 30 C, then 28, and again 30 C on Wednesday. Please let me know if I am wrong, but this is exceptional heat this time of year for Winnipeg. Fort Myers, home to M15 and F23, is 31 C, while it is a cool 13 in Port Lincoln, 10 in Orange, and 12 C in Melbourne. One of the hot spots is Osoyoos, home to Soo and Olsen, which is 34 C. I have yet to see anyone on the nest there, and I hope they have begun their migration. The temperatures are important. We witnessed what heat can do to raptors this summer. The Bald Eagles feeding here in Manitoba (one of the coldest places on the planet in the winter, according to many sources) would stay during the winter if there were food. Several remain in Winnipeg – one lives on the roof of one of our major hospitals. The other couple did live at Ft. Whyte Alive. There is plenty of prey in the winter. Some were seen pecking at ice, trying to get fish at Lake Winnipeg.
The birdfeeders and the feral cat station were filled early Sunday morning. We have a raccoon who is visiting some nights. It makes a huge mess of everything. Tips the lower bird bath over and dumps and eats all the food for either the community cats or the Crows. It ate an entire chicken carcass one night! I am sitting watching Little Red and one of Dyson’s kits alternate gathering peanuts along with the Blue Jays.
They are taking them away, storing them somewhere. I do hope not in or on the bark of a tree destined to be cut. There are House Wrens and House Sparrows around, too. The cheesy dog bowl is full and Mr Crow has finally arrived. It is 1022. Baby Hope is eating hard food, and Calico is staring at the other cat dishes, wondering what happened to all the wet food. Missey ate it and cleaned up all the extra. So now they wait until 1700 – vet rules. While we want some fat on our ospreys, the vet wants the cats ‘more lean’ than ‘pleasantly plump’. Calico has done well on her diet, and her playfulness is a testament to how weight can impact their behaviour.
‘The Girls’ are fine. They are enjoying having more songbirds in the garden to watch and all the squirrels scurrying around.
Hugo Yugo curled up in the house of the cat tree, sleeping after dinner. It seems cats go into food comas, too!
Missey used to sleep in the plant pots with Lewis after they were watered. She barely fits now.
Everyone would like to sleep in the little basket! Hope is waiting patiently. It is impossible for both to sleep together, not enough room. Hugo Yugo is small, but Hope is nearly the size of Calico.
Hope is busy checking out one of the Blue Jays. I must have startled Hugo Yugo! She had been busy watching the Jays flit around eating cheesy dogs, trying not to get stung by the wasps that had invaded the space.
We have several visitors to the feral cat feeder now. There is ‘The Boyfriend’ who has been coming for over 18 months, the other black cat with an entire bowtie moustache and now a young solid black kitten and a ginger male. We know that the ginger male belongs to a neighbour who insists on leaving him out. We hope that he does not get hit by any of the cars that use the streets like they are race tracks.
Calico was very interested in the younger solid black cat. She watched it moving back and forth from the door to the small cat tree. It is really sweet and I will post its image in our neighbourhood FB group tonight.
Gosh. Sunday was just the most beautiful day. Perfect weather. We need rain, but I am thankful for these days. Let it rain at night!
In Bird World, Gabby has been seen mating with ‘the visitor’ – not Beau. Are we destined to have another year of males fighting over Gabby with no eaglets produced?
Every talon is checked and the folks at the AEF are busy trying to identify the necrotic male. Is it A1 from last year?
There is conflicting information, and I cannot see the eagle’s feet to the left. AEF said that Gabby and Beau were at the nest. Their moderator further stated that Gabby and Beau flew off later, and Beau returned to the nest. Gabby did not return. Others have posted that it was ‘the visitor with the necrotic feet’ on the branch next to Gabby, noting that Gabby and Beau hardly ever perched next to one another. We will have to wait and see how this season’s drama unfolds.
The AEF confirms that this is Beau in the tree. He arrived just at 1150.
Then Gabby returned and the couple worked on their nest before heavy rains began.
Beau is still at the nest (confirmed by AEF). He shakes the rain off and looks out over the horizon from the Lookout Tree.
Send good energy that Beau is up to be a great mate AND Dad this year and that all the others leave this couple alone!!!!!!
At Hellgate Canyon, Finnegan delivered the breakfast fish to Antali who, after taking a few bites, flew off the nest with his fish. No sign of Sum-eh at the nest fighting for fish and everyone thinks that she has now left the area. Iris normally departs on the 8th of September. Will she stay longer? or will we see her one last time on Sunday?
Antali certainly went to sleep with an enormous crop.
Beaumont and Hope were on the nest bringing fish to the two juveniles on Sunday so everyone is home at Snow Lane in Newfoundland.
Fish deliveries continue to happen at Sandpoint.
Charlie is still delivering fish to the Charlo Montana nest for C16.
Big Bear and the diamonds. No Jackie or Shadow.
‘J’ writes that Bowen’s body has been removed from the Boundary Bay Nest by the Hancock Wildlife Foundation in the hopes that they might be able to determine what caused the eaglet to die.
There are ospreys know not to return to their natal nest area. Researchers are curious about why this is the case. Gregorius Joris Tooen (he worked with the translocation project of ospreys to Ireland) posted some information and thoughts on this phenomena that I believe will interest you.
In Wales, LJ2, the male at Llyn Brenig, partner of Blue 372, is believed to have left the nest and begun his migration after the last of the chicks departed.
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Wooden Trust.
Daily summary Sunday 8th September 2024
No activity today, other than magnificent scenery on the nests this morning when the promised fog materialised. The weather did brighten up but heavy rain is forecast, and tomorrow will be a good day to end these summaries and close the season by posting my unofficial season highlights video. Woodland Trust will be posting the official highlights and closing this comments page soon, but the livestreams will be available on YouTube, links below, plus previous seasons and plenty of interesting content on Woodland Trust’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/@woodlandtrust/videos
The only surviving osprey chick at the Osprey Environment Centre in Queensland is growing and thriving. The other chick, the smallest one, died on the 12th of August after severe weather, poor fish deliveries, and according to the centre, some bullying from the oldest sibling.
The end of season summary from Dyfi Osprey Project in Wales. They are truly proud of Idris and Telyn pulling off ‘another hat trick’. Thanks, Dyfi. I wish that every streaming cam in the world would produce an end of year detailed summary such as this!
Frankie is still at Fenwick Island still bringing fish to his juvenile, Fen.
The Royal Cam chick (hardly a chick anymore!) has gorgeous wings and has been hoping around and hovering. Soon, very soon, this beauty will take to the skies.
In Bulgaria, the Greater Flamingo has been residing there, but they have never nested and bred. Now they have.
Friends of Sth Australia Ospreys (our Port Lincoln friends) need a treasurer. Do you know someone qualified to help? (This is the biggest I can cut and paste, apologies).
Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care all. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, J, PB’, NEFL-AEF, Montana Osprey Project, Newfoundland Power, Charlo Montana, Sandpoint Ospreys, FOBBV, Gregorious Joris Toonen, Llyn Brenig Osprey Project, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Osprey House Environmental Centre, Dyfi Osprey Project, Birds of South Jersey, Judy Harrington and Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, SK Hideaways, Heidi McGrue, NZ DOC, BirdGuides, and Fran Solly and Friends of Osprey.
Good Morning to all of you. We are just two weeks and a day away from a brand new year – and sometime, between now and then, I hope that we have two healthy hatches at the SW Florida Eagle nest of M15 and F23. They could be the first successful nest of the year with two eaglets.
Before we move on to the other birds and the scant news, I have some more information about Hugo. When you adopt a kitten in Winnipeg, you should be given a file folder of information. That was missing when Hugo was picked up. It came in the post today. So, here are some things that were gleaned.
Hugo was born at the beginning of September. The folder says 5 September, but other information on line said 2 September, and my vet thought that because of her size and teeth development that this had to be the beginning of October. From what I understand, the original family wrote down 5 September as the date the stray cat they took in had her kittens. This original foster family took in a very malnourished stray cat, a Tortie, on the Peguis Reserve north of Winnipeg so that the cat would have a safe place to have her kittens. The family named the cat Grace and she had seven kittens. It is unknown if this was her first litter, but she was very tiny. Hugo had trouble eating. The kittens were surrendered to the adoption agency on the 11th of November. All were very tiny for their age.
It is not clear what health issues the original situation with the Mum will have on Hugo’s development, overall health, or life expectancy. Right now Hugo is enjoying eating her kitten food, the kitten kibble, and loves the thick kitten milk. She loves to play and is sleeping on one of her favourite teaser toys. She likes being wrapped tight in a blanket and held close. Like all the others, I would not give her up for anything. Today she weighed 1384 grams before her evening meal. On Thursday, she weighed 860 grams so that is a gain of 524 grams or more than a pound. She looks like she might be long. Her eyes are still a little drippy so more Polysporin for Pink Eye. She will have her second round of vaccinations on 28 December and be spayed on the 15th of March -. The vet might be in for a surprise since all the paperwork still indicates that Hugo is a ‘he’ and that ‘he’ will be neutered.
Hope watching Hugo play with the red pom-pom on the tunnel.
It was Hope that first took over Missey’s basket with the little granny square blanket she was given when she was adopted. Now it is Hugo that is moving in on Hope’s territory! I did say that little Hugo is fearless, right?
Missey sits on the back of the sofa or on the wicker and watches them all. More than half the time she is now playing with Hope and Hugo. So nice to see her back to her normal self.
Hugo looking outside to ‘The Boyfriend’ who came for breakfast.
Beautiful Calico. I tear up every time I think about what she went through and how healthy little Hope was. What a miracle.
It was +4 today and what a nice day for a short brisk walk at the nature centre. The squirrels were running everywhere and watching them made me think that they thought spring had arrived. The chickadees were out at the feeders along with a male and female Downy Woodpecker and a White-breasted Nuthatch. The entire place feels empty without the ducks and the geese, though.
There is good news coming from the Sydney Olympic Forest area for our WBSE family – Mum, Dad, and one fledgling presumed to be SE31.
“December 13: Early morning, both adults were seen at River Roost and SE31 was seen going into the mangroves and heard calling. Then again, at 07:45, SE31 was heard but not seen. Then at last, just after 9am, an adult was seen catching a large fish – grabbing it with one foot – in front of River Roost. SE31 flew out to claim it with loud squeeing, then all three were out of sight in the mangroves. No further observations during the day.
December 14: Early morning, SE31 was spotted at Mangrove Island – then moving to River roost. This seems to be her home patch now, moving back and forth and sheltering in the mangroves lining the river. It has been a really hot day again. We have no more observations for today – hopefully, our eagles were keeping as cool as they can by the river.”
And the last report from Sydney: ”December 15: Early morning report at 07:30 of SE31 and one adult at the water’s edge at River Roost, then joined by the other adult. Then, at around 09:20, SE31 was seen flying over the wetlands, venturing further and flying right up high, before returning to River Roost – feeling her wings for sure. At around 4pm in the afternoon, SE31 was seen at River Roost, a parent arrived, then shortly after she flew to Mangrove Island. Later, she was seen flying high again, before returning to the River Roost mudflats.”
At Orange, Diamond still is not too pleased that the scrape box was cleaned. Wonder what the rush was? Does anyone know if Marri has returned to the scrape since the cleaning?
At Port Lincoln, it is Gil and Brad on the nest. Both now have names. It has been such a good year at Port Lincoln thanks in full to the foresight and tenacity of Janet, Bazz, and Fran who insisted on an intervention. We can all agree that the research coming off this nest opens up new avenues for thinking when it comes to Ospreys. Give them an international round of applause. For my friend ‘A’, she is overjoyed at the success of this nest. In the past she was hesitant to even go on line to check on the osprey family. Today she wrote, “I just adore this pair SO much. Goliath in particular is wingercising with great concentration. He has been getting air, with some impressive hovering yesterday. I know it’s a wonderful achievement and I should be pleased, and it is and I am, but I will miss these two. I do hope that they do an Ervie and hang around Port Lincoln at least sometimes. I still wonder what on earth caused Zoe to head inland into the desert. It made no sense. But then, much of her behaviour made no sense.”
At the time I am writing, Dad has delivered a partial fish to Mum and the boys. That is fantastic.
They are gorgeous – Gil and Brad.
These are the comparison weights provided by the observation board, Bart M for the PLO chicks:
Giliath (male) – 1445 grams
Bradley (male – 1390 grams
In comparison:
Zoe (female – 1700 g
Ervie (male) – 1380 g
Bazza (male) – 1280 g
Falky (male) – 1230 g
At Osprey House, George has delivered two fish – one for each fledgling!
‘H’ reports: ”Broken shell overnight first noticed around 0310 (very poor visibility). Muhlady appeared to move the shell. When cam view improved, it was evident. No eaglet seen. Maybe they will reclutch. They have been mating.”
The question is this: why are these shells breaking? Is it humidity? were they viable to begin with?
We should watch for Connie and Clive at Captiva Bald Eagle nest. The wind is picking up. Storms with heavy rain are expected over the weekend on the Barrier Islands in Florida. Let us hope that there is no hatch during this time. Renee posted this information on chat: “PIP WATCH: Starts Saturday Dec. 16, 2023. Due to some delayed incubation, we may not see a PIP until Sunday 17th or Monday 18th.” I would like for this to wait until nice weather not during a thunderstorm.
There are many nests without any eggs yet. Duke Farms is one of those. Dad went missing in the spring, and there is a new male.
The other is NE Florida, ‘The Hamlet’ home to Gabby and V3. These two were busy working on the nest and alerting against intruders.
Indeed, of the streaming cams, there are so many without eggs yet. We might enjoy the spacing this year and get to see those little bobbleheads developing at all stages.
Anna and Louis laid their first egg on the 9th of December. There has not been a second egg. It would have been laid on the 12th. Fingers crossed that this egg is good – especially because of Andria’s death and the loss of the two eggs at KNF-E-1.
Alex continues to incubate his and Andria’s eggs. The female continues to bury them, and he digs them up. My heart aches for him. At the same time, please do not let these eggs hatch. The only way these eaglets could survive would be if the female visitor fully embraced motherhood. Remember, Harriet and M15’s chicks were at month old when Harriet disappeared last February at the SW Florida Bald Eagle nest.
Suzanne Arnold Horning is always looking out for Big Red and Arthur. This spring, Big Red will be 21 years young.
Plans to genetically engineer the Dodo back to life! Location: Mauritius.
Bird Guides announces, “An audacious plan between geneticists and conservationists to bring back the extinct Dodo has been announced.
Attempts to bring the species back to its former habitat in Mauritius are set to be led by US-based biotechnology and genetic engineering company, Colossal Biosciences, which is pursuing the ‘de-extinction’ of various other species.”
If you missed the latest Condor Chat with Ventana Wildlife, here you go!
Could you fish in these conditions? Albatross do it every day in the roaring Southern Ocean.
Thank you so very much for being with me today. Take care. See you on Saturday!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’A, H, J, L’, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, Karen Long, PLO, Bart M, Heidi Mc, Osprey House, Superbeaks, Window to Wildlife, Ann Penury, Duke, NE Florida-AEF, KNF E-1, KNF E-3, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Bird Guides, Ventana Wildlife Society, and Holly Parsons.
