15 September 2026
Good Evening Everyone,
We’ll all have empty nest syndrome soon. Most of the ospreys have flown to their winter homes and left us to watch the peregrine falcons, the WBSE, and the Bald Eagles! I don’t know about you but watching Mum at Port Lincoln incubate eggs isn’t all that exciting but I do love seeing Dad bring her a fish in the morning.
2026 osprey breeding performance was the worst ever recorded for the Chesapeake Bay is published:
More and more organizations and people are supporting the reduction of the amount or the entire stopping of industrial fishing of Menhaden.
I am so pleased.
The takeaway from the report: “The 2026 breeding season was the worst productivity year ever recorded for osprey in the Chesapeake Bay. Average productivity in waters above 5 parts per thousand (ppt) salinity (N = 769) was 0.25 young/pair. On a global scale, the annual breeding performance required to maintain a stable population ranges from 0.8 to 1.3 young/pair. Only pairs nesting within tidal fresh waters (N = 168 nests producing 1.04 young/pair) exceeded the breeding performance threshold required for population maintenance. Eighty-one percent of all pairs nesting in waters above 5 ppt failed to fledge any young. Of pairs that did produce young, 70% were single-chick broods. The 2026 results extend the ongoing trend of productivity decline throughout saltier regions of the Bay.”
Unless something is done, ospreys will go extinct in the region.
A few of the nests that still have ospreys:
C22 and Charlie are still at Charlo with Charlie delivering fish. Mostly at Roger’s Place.
I really haven’t reported on the nest of Bruce and Naha at Seaside much this season. Bruce is still there bringing fish to one of the fledglings.
Wensi has not been seen since 6 September at the Hellgate Canyon nest or owl Pole. Iris still appears to be in the area.
Photo of fledgling Elsi starting her migration from the Dyfi osprey nest. Thanks so much! She is gorgeous.
Aran may still be at Glaslyn today. He was there yesterday. It was raining, not a good day to fly!
Dad was still at Boulder County Fairgrounds.
In Australia, SE38 is still doing well! Look at that crop. SK Hideaways has the feeding on video. It was an eel! https://youtu.be/qMUP6PbcjOg?
We woke up to a rainy, cold 8°C day. We needed to turn on the heating last evening. Toby certainly doesn’t mind going out to do all that ‘business ‘, but I found bundling up to go for a walk a little daunting after such hot weather only a few days ago.
We spent part of our afternoon at the hospital. Don moves so fast in the wheelchair that they are considering putting a seatbelt on him so he doesn’t hit something and fall out. The team at the hospital (his doctor, nurse, physiotherapist and social worker) are starting to formulate a plan for Donald. They are good and quite considerate of everything, including safety, which is paramount. For us, he now requires two strong people to lift him. If that continues, he would not be able to come home and would have to go into long-term care. If, however, he were to need only one person to lift him, they would provide me with a care worker for a 12-hour period, including getting Don to bed and getting him up in the morning, giving medications and giving him a nightly shower. I can sleep and not worry about him! We would also get one of those fancy hospital beds with a warning system that lowers and rises and goes up and down every which way. A nurse would come weekly to check on his bladder issues. This would be ideal. I am prepared for either scenario.
Thank you so much for being with us. Take care. I will be back in a couple of days.
Thank you to SK Hideaways, everyone who posted information and images on FB, and the owners of the streaming cams that let us watch our bird families. I am, as are my readers, forever grateful.