There is definitely snow and more snow and it is either still coming down or blowing like it is! Goodness.
Both Mr and Mrs Chickadee were flitting around on the vines under the eaves trying to find a place to get out of the wind. The Starlings are waiting for the Butter Bark feeder to be filled and dozens of House Sparrows are eating snow. It is a ghastly day for them. And for people. I think my appointment for a hair cut is once again cursed. Wish me luck though. I am going to try and make it!!!!!!!!
In all the flurry of the storm news, I missed the quick change over at the Royal Albatross Quarry Track Nest. No sooner had YRK returned to relief OGK and he was back – in a day! Oh, the foraging must have been really good. That is fantastic.
There is the Royal Cam dad, OGK, first thing in the morning looking so content.
Someone is sleeping on the nest on the deck of the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge. Is it Ervie? Sleeping in the nest seems ‘odd’ for the adults. What do you think? Is that a sat-pak on the back of that Osprey?
The winter storm warning for the US appears that it will be hitting Oklahoma around 21:00 tonight and moving eastward. I wonder what some of the nests will look like tomorrow?
The eaglet-without-a-name-but-soon-to-have-one is really getting its thermal down! Changing every day. There is another duck delivery and a bird with white feathers was slipped in some time when I wasn’t watching. Wind and some slight rain at the nest currently.
It is a bright sunny day at Big Red and Arthur’s nest. The snow and ice has not reached there yet.
It is still nice and sunny and clear in Hillsboro, New Jersey where our Mum at Duke Farms is incubating two eggs.
It still looks alright at Berry College. B15 is also getting its thermal down and it is such a cute little baby. Pa Berry and Missy must be proud.
R1 and R2 are doing great. You can see what full coverage of that thick thermal down looks like when you look at them and then look up at the little eaglet at Berry where the thermal down is just coming in.
R2 is the one at the front holding on to the fish that it will continue to nibble on. These two can be real comedians.
NE26 and 27 are doing grand as well, the youngest of the eaglets now. If you want soft, cute, and cuddly that is the place to watch – NEFlorida with Gabby and Samson!
This has been a quick check on some nests. So far all looks great. The system that is moving through the US is going to impact lots of birds and wildlife as it pushes its way through. Hopefully nests with chicks on them or eggs will be spared the worst of it.
Thank you for joining me today. Stay safe. Stay warm.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: KNF Bald Eagles, NEFlorida and the AEF, NZ DOC, Berry College Bald Eagles, WRDC, Cornell Bird Lab, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, and Duke Farms.
What a Saturday afternoon and night. It was such a huge relief to find Anna on the Bald Eagle nest in the Kistachie National Forest and that there had been either a misidentification or that Anna and Louis switched places at dawn. Whatever happened- Anna is alright. Both birds were stressed on Saturday. It is unclear what was the cause or was it a multitude of things together – humans, gun shots, other intruding birds or animals.
I just love the image below. Everyone is so happy and relaxed this morning.
If you are watching the KNF nest, listen for the ‘laughing’ frogs. They are actually called Southern Leopold frogs but because of the sound they make, they are nicknamed laughing frogs. I hope to goodness that is the only sound that the nest has to hear besides eagles today!
The eaglet is enjoying some of the duck that was delivered earlier.
Eaglet is in food coma. Hopefully by this time next week, this baby will have a name!
The Wildlife Biologist says this afternoon that Anna and Louis would not have made their nest in a place if they were bothered by humans being around. Yesterday was, however, different from any other time that I have watched this nest – last year and this.
I know that many of you are stork lovers. Did you know that there is a live streaming cam with storks at Dreisamtal, about 10 kilometres east of Freiburg, Germany? A pair of storks make their nest on the roof of the Church of St. Gallus. Normally the couple arrive in February but this year, they returned on New Year’s Eve 2021.
The couple come and go for foraging. They sleep on the nest at night. Here is the link to this camera to calm all of your longing-for-storks-to-return!
What gorgeous plumage these Storks have. Incredibly beautiful!
Ervie had a full crop and was being blessed by diamonds all around. Oh, our glorious boy! He has quite the crop in that image. While there are few fish deliveries captured on the streaming cam, it is now believed that Ervie is catching almost all of his fish himself.
Dad does still continue to deliver a fish on occasion when Ervie is crying on the nest. Ervie loves being an ‘only child’.
The other day a word showed up in respect to Ervie – extreme philopatry. Yes, it is possible that Ervie is tied as tight as he can, more than others, to this very nest and that he will not wander too far afield like Falky has done. Indeed, one day we might see Ervie as the adult male on the barge with his own family.
Look a Ervie’s crop! Our young man is doing well. It is a relief to imagine that Ervie is an excellent fisher now.
At the Achieva Osprey nest in St Petersburg, Florida, everyone is waiting for the first egg to be laid this breeding season.
Of course, we are also waiting for Big Red and Arthur to begin working on their nest. It is, actually, awhile still. Last year Big Red laid her eggs on 26 and 29 March and 1 April! So we have about 7 weeks and a few days til our beloved Red-tail Hawk is incubating.
About the time Big Red is laying eggs, Iris will be returning from her winter migration. It is a snowy cold day in Missoula. I hope Iris is enjoying the warmth of her winter home.
At this very same time – as Big Red lays her eggs and we are on watch for Iris to land on her nest, Milda will be laying eggs on the White-tailed eagle nest in Durbe.
When I looked at my calendar and saw those three events – Big Red, Iris, and Milda – there was a big exclamation mark. Of course, all of the Ospreys and Storks will be returning from their winter homes to breed in the UK and Europe! It is going to get really, really busy.
For now, I will turn my attention back to the Bald Eagles. I don’t think NE26 is being an angel but it appears that s/he is not a ruthless brute either to NE27 – that is all good. Samson continues to have the pantry full and the fuzz balls nothing short of adorable.
In the image below, NE 26, the tallest, was trying to peck at 27. 27 did a pretty good job of standing up to its big sib. Bravo!
NE27 still has quite a dominant egg tooth. Sweet little babe with the golden glow of the morning sun shining on it.
A banana leaf was brought on to the WRDC nest. R1 thinks it makes quite a comfortable bed! So cute. It kinda’ fits with having a Papadam Chair for a nest.
R1 and R2 with their charcoal thermal down are growing and growing. Both are eating well and Ron has just brought a nice big fish on to the nest. It will not be long til these two eaglets are walking with ease around the nest. Just look at how big R1 is – looks like Hulk.
The eaglet at Berry College is wanting to have an afternoon snack and is looking intently at what the adult is plucking on the nest. This little one is a real little sweetie. Look at that lovely soft down head. You can see the thermal down coming in on the body of the eaglet. In a couple of days that soft light grey down will be nothing but dandelions!
And, last for today, if you are a Thunder and Akecheta fan, Thunder laid her first egg at the Channel Islands Bald Eagle Nest at 16:54 on 29 January! This is Cheta’s third breeding season and he no longer minds incubating the eggs. Last year the Ravens (or Crows?) got the eggs so this year, hopefully, neither adult will leave them alone!
Here is the link to the Channel Islands streaming cam:
Whew. All is well at the nests. Thankfully. It is supposed to warm up and start snowing on the Canadian Prairies in a short time. It is a good day for a walk out in the fresh air!
Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone and just breathe a sigh of relief. Anna is fine.
Thanks to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: KNF Bald Eagle Nest, Berry College, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, NEFlorida and the AEF, WRDC, Explore.org, Latvian Fund for Nature, Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab, Achieva Credit Union, and Storks Nest Live Stream.
Yesterday I took a walk in the English and the Leo Mol Sculpture Gardens. They are part of the larger Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg. In the summer, these areas are full of people walking and looking at the flowers, of people clamouring to see the latest hummingbird arrival, or me – sitting on a bench hoping to see the juvenile Cooper’s Hawks again.
There was not a single bird in this area of the park yesterday. The wind was bitter against your face. The only remnants of the birds were the nests, sometimes two to a tree. As I looked for nests I also notice this colossal Blue Spruce.
And another one full of Spruce cones. We planted a Blue Spruce in our garden. I am hoping that one day it will be full of cones like this for the Red Squirrels to eat.
There are a few snow flakes falling in the garden. Dyson & Co were up early eating off the suet cylinders and the square hanging feeder. Each had a spot – 3 civilized squirrels all having breakfast. Close your eyes and imagine it! By the time I had the charged battery in the camera they were off, chasing one another in the Lilac bushes.
I checked on Ervie first. The camera has been on and off at Port Lincoln due to the storm. One of the chatters posted a fish arrival time stamp for Ervie yesterday afternoon and thankfully, I could still rewind and find our beautiful boy.
Dad arrives with a nice fish. Here he is flying off. Ervie has it in his talons.
Ervie spends the next hour eating that fish – it was a nice sized one.
I wonder what has happened to Ervie’s feathers on his left wing?
It was just so nice to see Ervie and see him eating that I could have stopped checking on the birds right then! How much longer will we see this incredible Osprey on the barge? Every day is a gift.
It is good to see Port Lincoln posting updates. That means that they survived the big storm as well. Here is the latest tracking for Ervie from yesterday. Yes, he is traveling further afield! So glad he has a tracker!
Port Lincoln also posted information on Calypso. 2019 hatch. Here she is! What a beautiful Osprey!!!!!!
The little chick at Berry College is so adorable. You can see the dark thermal down coming in replacing the soft light grey natal down. Soon our wee one will be able to thermoregulate its own temperature. For today, however, it wants to be close to Mum to stay warm.
A great comparison is the plumage of E19 and E20 yesterday but first, look at that crop. Harriet and M15 have been keeping these two full and I have not seen any of the rivalry when I have been watching them that we did in early days. (Feel free to correct me!)
The thermal down layer now covers E19 and E20. There are a few dandelions of the natal fluff left. You can now see their contour and flight feathers coming in.
The image below shows the juvenile Bald Eagle at the Osceola Florida nest. Notice that it is a dark espresso brown/black. It will not be that long and E19 and E20 will look like this beautiful only Eagle.
The little eaglet is growing and growing at the KNF nest. It is out of its ‘hole’ that Anna had made for it and is up sleeping by the eleven fish and the turtle that Louis has in the nest. The pair have been busy moving Spanish Moss around covering much of the pantry at times.
Look at the size of that leg! You can see the thermal down coming in on the Anna’s baby. Soon there will be only dandelions, faint hints of it as a wee babe. It seems like it has doubled in size overnight.
The eaglets really grow fast. Samson and Gabby’s wee babes are some of the only ones now with natal down. They are darling. Samson seems to have been in some kind of contest with the number of fish on the nest with Louis. As someone reminded me, Samson has 2 to feed, not 1. Regardless, Louis and Samson are two of the best prey providers. Incredible what they bring to the nest.
These two appear to be getting along. They are both doing very well.
The two are not really that much difference in size. The camera angle and 26 having its neck pulled all the way out makes it look much bigger. Gosh they are cute.
The nicest thing about this year in terms of hatching is that the nests vary so much in the age of their nestlings. It is fantastic to see all the stages of development including their plumage!
It was reassuring to check on the WRDC nest and see that R2 (in front) and R1 (eating) both have crops albeit R1 is going to have the larger. The wind is very brisk at the nest. In fact, there is a wind advisory for Miami with a temperature of 13 C (or as you see on screen at 57 F).
There is a cold front moving through all of the Eastern US.
It is much colder in Ithaca. Indeed, Ithaca is -11 C which is precisely the same temperature as we have in Winnipeg today. Crazy. It is difficult to imagine that in less than 8 weeks we could have Big Red incubating eggs on this nest!
Except for the extreme wind and cold temperatures, everything seems to be just fine with all of the nests. Most of all it was wonderful to get a good look at Ervie and know that he has eaten in the midst of all the horrific weather in South Australia the other day. Good news continues to come out of Senegal. The Osprey count along the coast for the month of January was 1206. That is simply amazing Jean-Marie Dupart.
Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I will see you tomorrow!
Thanks to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, KNF Bald Eagles, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, SWFlorida Bald Eagles and D Pritchett, Berry College Bald Eagles, WRDC, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, and the Osceola Bald Eagle Nest.
I am just home from a wonderful day outside. Did not see a single bird! Yes, seriously. I did spot a lot of nests and it was just nice to be outside in the fresh air on a beautiful sunny day.
The image below is the nest of Anna and Louis in the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana.
What caught my eye was an invitation by the Wildlife Biologists Steve Shively and Cody Austell of the US Forestry Service at the Kistachie National Forest for people to come and get up close to the Bald Eagles, Anna and Louis. OK. Not that close. They have a great eagle viewing area set up with spotting scopes and they will be giving private tours.
If you live near Central Louisiana and are free at 10 am on either February 10, 17, or 19 at 10 am, give them a shout to sign up. The e-mail is visitKNFeagle@gmail.com
I am also super excited. Cody and Steve will be setting up another camera stream with the same super sound they have for Anna and Louis for the other Bald Eagle family in the forest. Last year there were three nests. Sadly, both adults in area 2, were found dead. They had been shot. At any rate, there will be two different streams watching both nests next season. Fantastic. I wonder if the male on the nest is as great a fisher as Louis? There were 10 new fish on the nest today. The duck and the Coot have been eaten and I am not sure where the turtle is.
Just a couple of quick comments about happenings in Bird World. The camera is now back on in Port Lincoln on the Osprey barge. Ervie had been there earlier so he is fine. A huge storm ripped through the area and did tonnes of damage. Just waiting to see how everything is with the hearts that beat and run Port Lincoln Osprey Project. There is not an egg yet on the Achieva Osprey Nest even though Diane has been on the nest for long periods.
The winds and rain seem to have subsided at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle Nest of Samson and Gabby. I have not been home long enough to see how NE26 and 27 are behaving but there are at least five fish in the pantry so food is not an issue!
They look like they are getting along. Fingers crossed!
OGK is busy being a great dad down in New Zealand at Taiaroa Head. This little Royal Cam chick is going to gain lots of grams! Sooooooo very sweet.
Lots of beautiful water birds were out on the Mississippi Flyway this morning.
If you like Roseate Spoonbills as much as I do, you need to check out this streaming cam in St Augustine Florida. Spoonbills forage in shallow water. This is an adult in the nest. The juveniles are a pale pink while the adults have that bring cherry red/pink on the wings. Their head is bare and is a yellow-green colour. Their name comes from the flattened beak that looks like a spoon!
B15 at Berry College seems to be doing just fine, too. The worry over an injury to the wing is gone. It is a really sweet little eaglet.
So if you are anywhere near to Central Louisiana and want a personal tour to see the Bald Eagles nesting in the Kisatchie National Forest, please do get in touch with Steve or Cody. I would love to go on one of their tours. They are so knowledgable and – need help identifying prey on a nest – they are great at answering those questions. I have learned all about turtles this year! Send all your positive and warm wishes to all the nests (and people) who are going to get really low temperatures in areas that do not normally have them!
Thank you for joining me today. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the KNF FB Page, Berry College, NE Florida and the AEF, Explore.org, Achieva Credit Union, Cornell Bird Lab and NZ DOC, and KNF Bald Eagle Cam for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures.
Have you ever sat and watched a female Bald Eagle go through the pantry, choose what is for dinner, eat away all the while the chicks are watching and waiting? For days now I have watched Anna on the Kistachie Forest Nest go after her mate, Louis, when he comes to the nest and wants to have dinner with the family. Anna likes to eat! She is a great mother but it is a bit of a giggle. Today, Gabby was tearing into the fish eating the nice tender cheeks while the two chicks looked on waiting their turn.
Samson is security guard while Gabby broods NE26 and NE27. The pantry is full.
Samson is getting a turn to feed his chicks.
These little ones are absolutely adorable. During the times that I watched the feedings only once did I see even the slightest notion of pecking and that was NE27 going after 26s fluff on its head. 27 needs its eyes to focus better and his head a little more stable. Otherwise that would not have happened.
We are getting close to the announcement of the top three names for the Kisatchie National Forest Bald eaglet. Louis delivered a Coot today and Anna was delighted. Anna is so funny. Any food that lands on the nest is – to her – the property of her and the eaglet/s. Louis is not supposed to eat it. Interesting.
Just look at the difference between the two chicks above and the little eaglet below. The KNF eaglet is 14 days old today. Thermal down and feathers are growing in.
Louis might have wanted some of that nice Coot but he was having a difficult time getting permission to eat the fish tail! The eaglet was so full he was getting ready to fall asleep while Mum and Dad discussed meal sharing.
Missy and B15 continued to work on the hare that Pa Berry brought to the nest yesterday. B15 is growing just as much as the KNF eaglet is – they are in a big growth spurt period! And they are losing that ‘cute little eaglet’ look that NE 26 and 27 have.
I don’t always check on Ron and Rita’s two eaglets at the WRDC Nest. It was good today to find them both fed and again to see R2 over chewing on a piece of fish.
R1 is stretching its wings and getting its muscles stronger.
R1 has finished eating and R2 is being fed.
R1 is on the far right. R2 is close to Rita.
R1 is in a food coma. The parent is up on the branches and R2 is going after the fish like it did yesterday!
There have been storms, then good weather, and the camera is currently off line at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. At 13:00 Ervie was on the nest calling for fish! It was sunny and there was no rain.
I took the afternoon off from the streaming cams. Everyone is doing fabulous! No worries. We went out to our local landfill to try and find the Bald Eagle hanging out there and then for a long walk at one of the nature centres in our City. The Bald Eagle was not to be seen. Just a murder of crows and a hawk in the distance. At the nature centre, I was blessed with a sweet little Black capped Chickadee, a White-Breasted Nuthatch, and a female Downy Woodpecker.
No one wanted to pose for me. The Chickadee would take the black oil seed and either break it on the feeder or fly over to a nearby tree and crack it on the branch.
I really wanted to see this cute little woodpecker sharing the feeder with the Chickadee.
Oh, when she turned around I realized she has a disease on her beak. I have seen this before and it looks like trichomoniasis. “Trichomononsis (also commonly known as trichomoniasis, canker, or frounce) is an infectious disease among many species of birds caused by the microscopic parasite Trichomonas gallinae.” I realized that the woodpecker was lucky to have the seed feeder as it appears it would not be able to peck hard into a tree to eat. However, the presence of the infection causes issues for the other songbirds eating at the feeders. It was reported and hopefully someone who knows more about these things will check out the little woodpecker.
The White-Breasted Nuthatch is so funny. Everything is the opposite even eating off a suet feeder.
The paths are nicely groomed for walking, cross country skiing and snow shoeing.
It was a beautiful day to be out in the forest.
There were quite a number of wasp nests – each different than the one near to where I live.
Then there were these large globular nests. They were all spherical in shape and were completely enclosed except for a very small opening near the top on the side of the nest.
I wonder who they belong to? Must find out!
When we got home we were greeted by Scraggle Tail, Dyson’s little sister. Oh, it was so nice to see her.
Dyson was here, too. He was up on the feeder. It made me giggle. Maybe Dyson was brushing off some seeds to rain down on his little sister!
It was simply a beautiful day to be outside knowing that all of our friends in Bird World are doing well. Thank you for joining me today. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, Berry College, KNF, and the WRDC.
All of the eaglets are doing well. It is a great Tuesday. It is seriously a great Tuesday with the hatch of 27 and the sighting of JJ7 in Senegal.
NE27 is only a little over 13 hours old and it is right up there with big sib having some fish. 27 looks almost as big as 26. Hopefully they will both hold their own and be nice to one another. Samson is not letting the pantry even think about getting low on stock! Gosh, I adore this Bald Eagle couple – Samson and Gabby.
These two are going to keep Gabby and Samson on their toes! That is 27 with its beak wide open calling for food despite the fact that it could live on the yolk of the egg for some hours, up to 24.
Pa Berry brought in a rabbit for the Tuesday nest feast at Berry College. B15 seemed to really enjoy it! It was caught on video and is impossible for me to replicate the joy in Missy at the rabbit’s arrival. Notice how B15 pancakes it as Pa lands.
Bless-Her-Heart Anna did the Mumbrella for more than 7 hours straight last night and early this morning so her baby would stay warm and dry in the torrential downpours in the Kisatchie Forest.
Anna and the nest were soaking.
When the rains stopped and things began to dry out, Anna started digging up the nest to aerate it. Her little eaglet isn’t so little anymore and was sitting up straight with its big clown feet today enjoying some fish. According to the rangers, the eagles have not eaten the turtle yet.
To be named shortly eaglet was doing a lot of preening with those itchy feathers coming in. This is the cutest little one. Anna certainly makes sure it is never hungry. The eagles have been bringing in pine to help with the insect problems and all that fish. The eaglet is 13 days old today.
Ervie woke up to thick fog this morning. By the time it had cleared, Ervie had flown off in search of fish.
Got a good look in the nest of Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear. No second egg yet but soon. What we can see is that the eagles have found some soft material to line that egg cup. It is not just sticks and twigs. Thanks cam operator!
Something very interesting is happening at the WRDC nest of Rita and Ron. R2 has discovered self-feeding and s/he is not giving up trying to eat that fish. I think this is absolutely brilliant. R2 is the one that often doesn’t get fed until R1 is stuffed. This is a solution. Feed yourself. This is definitely the sign of a survivor.
A little earlier both eaglets had nice crops which you can see in the image below. Just hold on and take a deep breath. They love getting to the edge and looking over.
At the SWFlorida Bald Eagle nest of Harriet and M15, both parents were feeding and both E19 and E20 had huge crops.
Indeed, it appears that someone has put a beach ball in their crops! What you are looking at is that wonderful thermal down that will remain under the feathers to help the eagles regulate their temperature. If you look carefully you can see the feathers coming in on the wing tips of the one closest to the bottom of the screen.
For the fans of Honour and Liberty at Redding, nestorations are underway!
And if the Redding Bald Eagle nest is not on your list, here is the link:
And last but never least, we are coming up to egg watch for Jack and Diane at the Achieva Credit Union Osprey nest in St Petersburg, Florida. They fledged three chicks last year….one of a handful of nests world wide on streaming cam to do so. It is a dreary rainy day and at least one adult, looks like Jack, has come and gone.
Look at that gorgeous bark!
Here is the link to the streaming cam.
Life is good. Everyone is happy. All have eaten. What more could we want?
Thank you for joining me today. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Achieva Credit Union, Port Lincoln Osprey, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, SWFlorida Bald Eagles and D Pritchett, Friends of Big Bear, WRDC, and Redding California Eagles.
Is there a better way to spend a snowy Sunday than to watch little eaglets being fed in their nests?
Gabby and Samson’s NE26 hatched at 03:04 on the 23rd of January. It was caught in an image that Pascale Ragon posted on FB. What an adorable little eaglet! It is also very strong, holding its head up high and not bobbing along so much!
The image of this sweetie below shows clearly the very sharp egg-tooth that was used to break out of that shell. It looks like 26 has already caught on to the latest in eye liner styles!
This ‘new born’ is also eating large flakes of fish. I could not believe it. Oh, what a sweet little tongue.
Gabby and 26 have this all worked out. Mom tilts her big beak 90 degrees and baby brings its beak straight up the middle. Bingo! I cannot tell you how impressed I was with what was going on at this nest today — but mind you, Samson and Gabby are always at the top of my list for Baldie parents.
Look at this sweet one looking up to Mum. That is simply adorable.
Hi there.
I feel like a new grandparent showing off pictures — I could seriously have cut and pasted so many you would be bored to tears. It is hard to take your eyes off a 12 hour eaglet!
The eaglet at the Kisatchie National Forest Bald Eagle nest had 10 feedings today, again. They began at 06:47 and ended at 17:40. I compares the times from one day to another. So, on Friday, the first feeding was at 06:52 and the last one at 17:41. There was a similar pattern for Saturday. Does Anna have an app that tings at the same time each day? Or are the feedings linked to dusk and dawn? Bald Eagles are diurnal. They hunt and eat during the daylight hours. The little eaglets are trained and treated as such from the time they hatch.
You can see that this eaglet -who is 11 days old today- is beginning to change. The light grey fluffy down is giving way to the darker thermal down. This will mean that once that thermal down is all in, Anna will not have to brood the eaglet so much.
Today, Anna let the eaglet have quite a bit of warm, not hot, sunshine. Both her and Louis were close but they let the little one have some air!
In the image below, the ‘baby face’ is also disappearing. The beak is growing longer and the egg tooth is almost totally gone. If you look at the wings you can see little black lines. Can you believe feathers are coming??
I have had the Big Sur condors on my mind and was very thankful when Ventana Wildlife Society posted this message on their FB page today. What a relief! Little Iniko 1031 was only released back into the wild six weeks ago, on 4 December 2021, after being caught in the Dolan Fire and having a long rehabilitation.
The Kakapo Recovery are also very happy. This is the ‘white board score board’ for the eggs. It looks like it could be a really super year if they all hatch and the chicks survive.
Each time I went to check on Ervie, the nest was either empty or there were pigeons doing clean up.
Then, all of a sudden, at 13:00:51 Ervie comes flying in. He was sure putting on the breaks. Just look at those magnificent wings. Oh, Ervie, you are so special.
Ervie must have a motion detector for when Dad is coming to the nest with a fish! It was 13:01:09. Ervie arrived 15 seconds before Dad!
That timing is not a coincidence. So where did Ervie see Dad with the fish? Was Ervie on the old barge while Dad was fishing?
It was a really nice fish and Ervie will enjoy every morsel!
Ervie spends several minutes mantling and alarming before he digs into his lunch.
Ah, thank you Port Lincoln! Ervie is a beautiful bird.
Two hours later and Ervie is screaming for more fish!!!!!!!!! I bet they could hear him across the bay!!!!!! No wonder Mum and Dad don’t stay on the barge when Ervie is about.
R1 and R2 were well fed today. This is the coldest day Miami has experienced this season. It is currently 16 C – which on the Canadian Prairies would be considered a nice summer day! But, if you live in Miami, everyone would be cold.
Rita was making sure that everyone was eating.
Both eaglets had nice crops before Rita informed them it was bedtime!
Rita tucked both eaglets in as best she could to keep them warm from the wind and what would be to her, the cold temperatures.
There has been a bit of concern by the watchers of the Berry College Bald Eagle Cam. Missy stepped on the left wing of the eaglet. Something startled Missy about 20:12 and she got up abruptly. Is it hurt? I do not know. We will have to wait and see how it is doing tomorrow.
The eaglet was moving its wings fine at the time of the image below.
All is quiet now and then something startles Missy.
She gets up, looks to her right and stumbles around the baby.
Send warm wishes to this little one that everything is alright. They are so fragile at this stage and B15 is doing so well. Something startled Missy about an hour later, too. Everyone is tucked in now and we wait to see how the baby is doing tomorrow.
I will leave you with a nice shot of Ervie with his crop. What a handsome osprey you are, Ervie.
Thank you so very much for joining me today. With the exception of the worry at Berry College, Bird World is looking good. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen shots: The Kakapo Recovery, Ventana Wildlife Society, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Berry College Bald Eagle Cam, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, and the WRDC Bald Eagle Cam.
NE26 is here! There are so many hatch times posted that it is unclear when NE26 was officially out of that shell. Does it matter? The AEF is showing 07:28:38 but the eaglet is fully dry and fluffy so I think Gabby was hiding that hatchling, keeping it warm. It is noon and it is still only 7 degrees C or 44.6 F. Chilly for Florida!
By 11:30, NE26 was holding its head up and looking straight at you! Notice that the inside of the shell was, in part, a beautiful blue.
What a cutie pie! Hello.
I wonder if you will be strong and sassy like your big sibling, Legacy????
Samson just brought in a nice fish to the nest – and its got its head on! He is so excited about the little furry one and wants to make sure that Gabby and it are well fed.
Gabby checks to see if the baby wants to eat. That pantry is so far from the nest cup. Remember Legacy last year crawling up the bowl to get over to it? Sure made NE24 strong.
You are so precious with that big egg tooth!
Tired.
Gabby was hungry! And the little one needs to figure out which way to face the pantry! Not the grass! Gabby keeps checking to see if N26 wants to eat some fresh fish.
Proud Mama Gabby!
The growing eaglet in the Kisatchie National Forest Bald Eagle nest has already had 5 feedings between 06:47 and 11:45. I thought Anna might be slowing down but no…the feedings are just getting longer!
What a little cutie looking up at one of the parents on the branch above the nest. If you are looking for the turtle, it is still there amongst all manner of large fish and a beautiful Eagle feather.
A nice family portrait!
B15 at Berry College is doing well.
B15 peeking out between Mum and Dad.
At the WRDC nest of Ron and Rita in Miami-Dade, R2 has figured out to let R1 get full and then get up to eat. Once R1 is full, it doesn’t care what R2 is doing. So around noon, R2 started eating and it is getting really full. Whew!
For all who are teachers, the Raptor Resource Project can help you, from K through high school, from art to science. Why not teach about raptors?
It is a great Sunday. Everyone is doing well. There are big snowflakes starting to fall on the Canadian Prairies. They are swirling and are quite beautiful. But, please, no more snow! We are 50 days away from the arrival of the first Ospreys in the UK for breeding season! Do you have a favourite nest? I can’t decide but I am awfully keen to see some little osplets in the nest of CJ7. Hopefully she will return to Poole Harbour along with her hopeful partner, Blue 22. For those of you that might have missed it – Jackie and Shadow have their first egg as of yesterday and YRK has flown in to relieve OGK on the Royal Cam nest in New Zealand. It looks like it will be Mum on the nest this year when the hatchling is returned. The egg is in the incubator hatching right now! E19 and E20 are doing great at SWFlorida and Ervie has been sleeping on the perch at Port Lincoln all night – so all is well with the world.
Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me today. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: NEFlorida and the AEF, KNF, Berry College, and the WRDC.
There were certainly tears flowing and hands clapping around the world as the identification of the juvenile Osprey that flew 350 km from its natal nest in a week was confirmed as Falky, the 2021 hatch at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. This is simply incredible and Falky has now changed the understanding of how far male Ospreys travel from their natal nest. Yes, indeed, it is a game changer for sure. Now we can start looking for Bazza, DEW, and Star with the mindset that just because no one sees them around the area of the barge, it doesn’t mean they are not out there. They could be near Adelaide or north of Eba Anchorage or even farther afield. Perhaps a South Australian contest to spot the raptors would be appropriate. Get everyone looking while, at the same time educating them to the challenges the declining number of Osprey face in Australia.
Speaking of threats to raptors, my friend ‘S’ sent me a link this morning because I have mentioned the growing concerns over Avian flu. Thank you, S. It is a great list of the threats to the birds regardless of their geographical location and a good reminder to us all. Have a read:
Today, the eaglet in the Kisatchie National Forest is one week old, according to the rangers. To celebrate, Louis brought in a Razor Backed Turtle. It is a delicacy and quite the favourite of Bald Eagles.
You can just see it above Anna’s back. The temperature is 3 C (37.4 F) and dropping at the site of the nest to -2 C as that cold front moves through the region. Stay warm everyone!
That baby might like a taste of that turtle! Will Anna save it for herself??
Louis continues to stock the pantry and I am thrilled because it means there is always food! Good thing we don’t have to have the smell with the sound and visuals from the nest. Whew.
The KNF nest is just beginning to dry out after last night’s torrential rains.
Before the thunderstorms hit, Anna filled up the eaglet to the brim. As she has done for several days, Anna had the eaglet stretch its neck to get the food. All of this helps to strengthen the little one’s muscles.
Within minutes of finishing, the rains came down. Anna was a fantastic Mumbrella. She held that pose just like she was a statue.
The storm passed earlier than forecast. Anna might have been soaked but just look at that little one. It is dry and fluffy. Thank you, Anna! You are a fantastic Mum.
Yesterday, the camera zoomed in on Ervie at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. He had been fishing and is preening and drying off his feathers.
Ervie had three fish deliveries yesterday – 06:37, 07:41, and 14:02 which was a huge fish. Ervie still had a nice crop hours later!
For the fans of Jack and Diane at the Achieva Osprey Nest in St Petersburg, Florida, Jack delivered a fish to Diane. Here is a video clip of that offering this morning. I wonder when we should be expecting some eggs at this nest???? Fish offerings remind me that the time is drawing close. It is 22 degrees C at Jack and Diane’s nest – a nice day, not too hot.
That little eagle needs to stay under Pa Berry and Missy. The temperatures have dropped and it is 4 C or 40 F at the nest at the moment.
B15 is energetic and happy. Quite the handful! And like the eaglet at the KNF nest, it has the cutest little tail.
E19 and E20 both had good sized crops after the noon feeding on the SWFlorida nest of Harriet and M15. We can relax. All seems to be going well. It is 24 degrees C – another nice day in a Florida winter!
I wish I could say the same for Big Red and Arthur up in Ithaca. At the present time it is -8 C. There are a few flakes of snow and what was on the ground is not melting. So why is this temperature bad for Big Red and Arthur if there aren’t any eggs to worry about? It is the prey. When it gets cold, those voles, mice, chippies, squirrels, etc hunker down and go to sleep. The hawks go hungry. I wish I could deliver them a care package!
It is a good day in Bird World albeit a cold one. Send warming wishes to all of the nests. These winter storms in the US are not over yet! But the tears of joy for Falky and the implications of that distance in searching for the other birds continue to fall.
Thank you so much for joining me today. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or their FB pages where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab RTH, KNF Bald Eagles, Berry College, Port Lincoln Osprey, Achieva Credit Union FB, and SWFlorida Eagles and D Pritchett.
It has turned out to be a really good day for both the garden birds and E20 and R2. The blowing snow and wind yesterday kept the birds away from the feeders in my City but, all of the reports this morning are that the birds are back in full force. That is wonderful. I have an onslaught of European Starlings while others have a yard full of Redpolls. I would love to switch with them just for a couple of hours. Outside of the City the Snowy Owls are rather abundant and when it is warmer than -25 I really hope to get out to see them and take some photos to share.
In my last blog, I hoped that M15 would step in and feed E20. Well, he did! Maybe each of you wished that too. It is amazing what positive energy can do. The two just finished a different feeding about an hour or so ago. E20 waited and then was fed and both have enormous crops.
That is E20 at the top. E19 is in food coma at the bottom. Relief. Eagles do not have to eat every day. Indeed, in the wild, it is often the case that there is feast or famine. However, growing eaglets certainly do better and have no feather stress if feedings/food deliveries are stable. Harriet and M15 have never lost a chick to siblicide and I don’t think they are going to now. It is, however, difficult to watch – the bonking or beaking.
I did peek at the WRDC nest. R2 had been fed twice. I have no idea how many times R1 had eaten but when I checked, R1 was eating and eating and eating. R2 was keeping its head down and out of the way. It tried to squeeze in to get close to Mum but it seems the fish was eaten. Still R2 had a crop, not nearly as big as 20s but a crop nonetheless.
R1 is the eaglet eating. You can see R2s crop as he looks out of the nest to the world beyond.
40 minutes later, R1 is full to its beak but it does not like R2 trying to move in close to Mum. Too bad that R2 didn’t start pecking away at that fish he was on in the image above. Maybe he will become very clever and do that!
B15 is doing great. Both Pa Berry and Missy have been feeding and feeding that cheeky little eaglet. Squirrel and fish were on the menu this morning. The adults have also been cleaning up the nest cup, making it soft and nice for the eaglet.
This eaglet is seriously sweet.
At less than a week old, B15 can make its way around the egg cup quite well. This morning it had its eyes and beak focused on that fish.
The winds have been terrible in the Kisatchie National Forest. One big gust blew Anna right onto the baby! Right now it is 23 degrees C and the nest is in the area of a severe thunderstorm watch until 19:00.
Cheeky (and hot) baby trying to get out from under Dad!
Louis is on the nest. The sound is so good you can hear Anna out in the forest ‘talking’ to something. There is so much food on the nest. No worries if rain comes. Let us just hope the strong winds stay away from this nest at the top of a Loblolly Pine.
And everything is definitely alright with the world when Ervie is on the Port Lincoln Nest screaming his lungs off (???) wanting breakfast!!!!!!
What everyone really wants is for the Erv to see a fish in the water while he is on the nest and dive in and bring it back and eat it. That would just be like the best present everyone could get.
As we get close to the hatching of the Royal Cam chick, the NZ DOC has provided us with a document telling us what to expect. I hope that you can open it. Hatch watch 27 January – yes, that is 6 days away. (You might have to cut and paste).
It is very windy and there are Albies flying around everywhere. OGK does some stretches and seems perfectly content incubating his egg. I wonder if YRK will blow in today? She might if her foraging has gone well but, it is early days to expect her return.
Having a chat with his egg. Precious.
What a peaceful nest to close this newsletter. If you want to watch the action as we approach hatch in New Zealand, here is the camera link:
There has been a sighting of an Osprey with a yellow leg band at Port Augusta which is 350 km north of Port Lincoln. Both Falky and Star have yellow bands but opposite legs. We wait to confirm which leg it is. All I can say is Wow. That is further than Solly who was on the opposite side of Eyre Peninsula at Streaky Bay and up to Eba Anchorage.
Oh, it is a good day. Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Berry College Bald Eagles, WRDC, SWFlorida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab and the NZ DOC, and the KNF Bald Eagle Cam.
