29 September 2023
Good Morning Everyone,
Thank you for all your wonderful ‘get well’ notes.
Thursday was worse. I thought things would be better, but the day started much worse. I am doing what the doctor orders – drinking lots of water or tea and sleeping as much as possible. Thankfully, there is not much happening in Bird World. In Winnipeg, the Snow Geese are arriving! The Canada Geese are leaving. The Robins continue to fly through. Migration is going both ways.
The hardest thing about being sick is seeing Calico watching me from the glass door, wanting more stories! Oh, that kitten – she still is a kitten (hard to believe with what she has been through), and she loves to curl up on my lap and listen to a good book. You can tell which ones she likes. It must be the author’s words – she prefers one to another. We have now finished five books in the last month. Today marks a month and three days that Calico has lived in the house. On 2 October, Hope will have been with us for a month. She listens to the stories but prefers to play. It is lovely. Cannot imagine life without the four of them, 16 legs and how many bags of litter a month? And I’m not too fond of cat food. It is just too funny. Hope loves sardines. One good thing about having Covid is I cannot smell them.
It rained, and the wind was blowing leaves everywhere. The Blue Jays were in the garden along with Dyson and Little Red. Hope and Calico spend time atop their ‘tent’ enclosure. Hope enjoys looking at what is happening outside. Missey and Calico have a truce, and there is no more animosity at the glass door. Even Lewis has calmed down. As soon as I am up to it, they will all be inside the main part of the house together.
‘L’ asked me how I taught Hope to do the High 5s. I didn’t. She taught me!
Hope’s eyes remind me of Missey’s!
Hope is so healthy. Look at those fat little legs. Calico still lets her nurse. You might be able to tell, but dear Calico is putting on a little weight. She no longer looks starving and sunken in with her bones being the most significant thing you first see.
Lewis is a big boy. He doesn’t know it, but he will get a new toy – a reward – if he can be gentle when Calico enters the living area with Hope in a few days.
No more growling or hissing at the door between Calico, Missey, or Lewis. It is lovely.
Calico is a gentle soul. I cannot imagine anyone dumping this wonderful kitten in the cold of winter.
Hope, Calico, Missey and Lewis have decided that instead of making pumpkin pie with our little pumpkin, we will put peanut butter in holes and leave it out for the squirrels. Want to join us? You could do this with your children or you could do it after you have your Halloween pumpkin. Just load up a bunch of holes with peanut butter!
I have been so sick or busy that I missed it. Voting time for The Guardian’s favourite Australian Bird. The Peregrine Falcon is in 8th place so far. Check it out; pick your favourite. You can vote every day! You do not have to be Australia, but there are funds to help with conservation, so please go and vote.
This will just warm your hearts. SE31 and 32 join in the morning duet with Mum and Dad. Oh, I used to love to sit and watch SE26. 26 loved to sing the duet. It was so beautiful.
Watching these two and this beautiful family is so bitter sweet. I wish there was so solution to the Currawongs.
They are becoming very interested in what is happening outside the nest.
It doesn’t get much sicker than this. The migrating birds are not protected in places like Malta because of politics. So, vote with your wallet. Refuse to travel to countries where there are laws to protect migrating birds and those laws are flippantly disobeyed by the hunters. Malta. Lebanon. There are others but those are on the top of my list today.
I wept for my friends in Latvia. They work so hard to try and build the small numbers of birds in their country to something significant, and then to have that beautiful fledgling of this year blown out of the sky for no reason other than someone could aim a gun and pull a trigger for fun. It makes my blood boil.
The end of the season at the Royal Albatross Colony as only 4 are left to take off to the skies and the open sea. Cornell did a short you tube video on what you can expect for September-October.
The Snow Geese might be flying over Minnesota to get to Canada and further north but Dad is still at the Landscape Arboretum in Minnesota bringing fish to Lil’ Arb.
Look who was home today! Jackie and Shadow. What a delight to see these two working on their nest together. It is such a relief to see mated pairs return together to their nests uninjured.
Cali Condor has it in a video.
At the Pritchett Farm, M15 and the new female continue to bond and work on their nest. The season looks promising. Please send out positive energy so that these two can start their lives together in peace.
Things continue to ‘feel’ unsettled at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest. There have been visitors to the Northeast Bald Eagle nest. Unconfirmed. V3 did not visit the nest on Thursday. Gabby was briefly there. Unknown was on the nest later.
Gabby is not happy. Has your heart dropped down to your ankles yet? Will this be a repeat of 2022?
We all love the underdogs that survive, and Flaco is one of those. This Eurasian Owl escaped from its cage at the Central Park Zoo and is now enjoying a life of freedom. Bruce Yolton follows him for us daily as he finds food and survives in the wilds of New York City! Bruce has recently posted some good (and short) videos about Flake’s activities. I hope you are enjoying them.
New York City has hired specialists to help deal with its rat problem, especially since the pandemic. The worry has been the use of rodenticides. We must all remember that Raptors are the solution – the answer to problems with rats and mice. Falco loves this great big rat (it looks like that to me because of the tail).
Well, we are nearly there. It can take as long as 72 hours from a the sighting of the first pip (little chip in the egg) to the eyas being fully hatched. All eyes are on Orange!
At Port Lincoln, Mum gets off the eggs, very excited. Dad2 is flying in with the second fish of the morning – a headless offering which will give Mum a nice round crop. We get a good look at the eggs!
I am holding my breath. This nest has broken our hearts more than once. Will there be a change with the new lad? Will he be a sufficient provider for all the chicks to survive? We wait.
For those new to watching Ospreys develop, the Manitoba Osprey Project put together an informative and concise sheet on what to expect. It will help you as you watch these adorable little dinosaurs. You can click on any of the tabs for the Montana file below to find out other information.
Remember. The Port Lincoln Ospreys are Eastern Ospreys. The Montana Ospreys are Western. Eastern Ospreys do not migrate. Western Ospreys do (for the most part – exceptions are in the warmer climates of the southern US). Western Ospreys vary in their dates for fledging, but many studies indicate a date of 52.8 days after hatch (51-54 days). The average fledge date in Australia is 69 days (Kangaroo Island studies).
Mum looks pretty comfortable at 367 Collins Street. It is nearing noon on Thursday, and she does not seem heat-stressed. This is good. We should be able to enjoy the Orange hatchlings for a bit before focusing on the white fluff balls hatching on this ledge high over the CBD in Melbourne.
Last, let us check on the status of migration for Karl II and his family. This year’s fledgling, Kalvi, is in Bulgaria on the 28th.
Waba (2022 fledgling) is in Romania fishing at the Danube River.
Karl II is in Turkey!
Kaia is also in Turkey!
Thank you so much for being with me today. Please keep your eyes on the scrape of Diamond and Xavier at Orange! Pip watch is soon. Take care.
Thank you to the following for their notes, articles, videos, posts, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘Geemeff’, The Guardian, SK Hideaways and Sydney Sea Eagles, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, Birdlife Malta, Cornell Bird Lab, MN Landscape Arboretum, Cali Condor and FOBBV, FOBBV, Saunders Real Life Photography, NEFL-AEF, Bruce Yolton, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, PLO, University of Montana, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, and the Looduskalender Forum.