No more than Daisy laid her 5th egg at 06:32:55 and got comfortable, you could hear the ‘caw’ of the Ravens in the distance. At 07:32:04 those calls are loud!
Daisy is frightened. She knows they are on the branches above her nest. Look at her eye!
There are two Ravens on the nest attacking Daisy! They were relentless.
At 07:39:17 the Ravens are gone. Daisy held them off for 13 minutes. My goodness this little Pacific Black Duck is brave.
Our brave little duck puffed herself up to look larger than she is. She stretched her neck and was fearless in trying to keep the Ravens away from her and those precious five eggs.
It appears that Daisy has thwarted the Ravens for the time being. This is one brave little duck. It is now 08:02 and our little Daisy seems to be alright. I cannot hear any Ravens in the distance only the nectar and plant eating birds of the forest.
Laura Culley has always said that worrying means that the outcome has already established itself, wrongly, in our minds. Still Daisy has a very difficult situation. There was one raven visiting the nest sniffing about on day 4. Two came today. Now the ravens know that there is an egg cup there. What does Daisy do? She has no mate to help her with security. Will she cover the eggs and leave today? We don’t as yet know how many eggs she will lay.
It is 08:09 and I can hear the Rainbow Lorikeets on the nest even though the cam operator is not showing them. Perhaps the Ravens are off elsewhere? For the moment?
Are they trying to tell Daisy something?
Daisy appears relieved, more relaxed, with her friends surrounding her.
The Lorikeets should alert Daisy to the arrival of those birds that would do her or her eggs harm. They are still about Daisy and the tree at 08:20.
I wonder if Daisy tried to lay her eggs elsewhere and predators came and then she rushed on Day 1 to lay her egg in the WBSE nest? It is curious. This might mean that Daisy might not lay any more eggs. I guess time will reveal the answer to that question and to whether or not Daisy can leave the nest during the day without the Ravens consuming her eggs. It has certainly been a harrowing morning for our beautiful Daisy.
At 08:29 Daisy begins to gather leaves. Then she settles back down. Normally she would leave about 2 hours after laying her egg. Today that would be around 08:32. Let’s see if she does.
At 08:35 Daisy rolls eggs and begins to gather leaves. She is still on the eggs at 08:45. Much later than normal.
I will bring updates later tonight or – if everything goes well for Daisy’s eggs the rest of the day – you will not hear from me til Day 6. You can watch Daisy here:
In other Bird World News: If you watched the new Bald Eagle couple, Anna and Louis, at their nest in the Kisatachie National Forest, you will be excited to learn that Anna laid egg 1 for the 2021-22 season on 5 December at 20:44:51. All of the lads were fed at least one fish yesterday at the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge. They continue to thrive. Gabby and Samson have had a sub-adult female on their nest this morning. Gabby escorted her out of the neighborhood! The Bald Eagles at the Wildlife Rescue of Dad County now have three eggs. The female at Berry College has also laid her first egg of the season. Oh, it is going to be really busy towards the end of December and January with all the Bald Eagle eggs hatching.
Thank you for joining me. Please send your most positive energy to our brave little Duck! Take care everyone. Stay safe.
Thank you to the Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.
Daisy, that little Pacific Black Duck, arrived at the old Ironwood Tree deep in the Sydney Olympic Forest at 05:10:31 on 7 December. She is due to lay her fifth egg today.
Little is Daisy aware that a Raven came to the nest on Day 4, yesterday, and became curious. It did not, however, disturb the eggs. I am led to believe that this is because they cannot smell them. So if Daisy is able to gather more leaves – these are large eggs – she will be able to thwart the Ravens until such time she runs out of leaves and twigs and must use her down.
Also unknown to Daisy is the fact that Lady and Dad have returned to their River Roost from Goat Island. The streaming cam picked them up today roosting. Will Day fly into the nest to check today? He often does a quick security run.
See the two white dots on the tree in the middle. That is Lady and Dad.
The camera could not focus in on them but it is definitely the White-Bellied Sea Eagle couple that own this nest!
Last year Dad broke one of the eggs and ate it. He did not like the taste. Neither sea eagle likes the down – it sticks to their beak. They simply do not understand it – it is foreign to them. They were curious as to who was using the nest and Dad understood that eggs are not bothered. Indeed, one time I thought Dad was going to incubate those eggs of Daisy’s!
Daisy arrived at 05:10:31. Once again she was very cautious approaching her eggs.
Look who has come to see Daisy! Last year 8 or 9 Rainbow Lorikeets would come and visit Daisy every morning. They were all over the tree surrounding her. It was simply beautiful.
The bird coming down on the top right is called a Noisy Miner. Noisy Miners are members of the Honeyeater family. They are grey with a black head, a yellow-orange beak and feet with a light yellow patch behind the eye. There are also white tips on the tail feathers. They will not hurt Daisy or her eggs. They are curious but it is possible that they could draw the attention of other birds, like the Ravens, that could predate Daisy’s eggs.
The Lorikeets seemed to come every morning like they were saying hello to Daisy. And here they are today. The one must have told the others that their friend, the little Duck, was back in the nest of the sea eagles.
I don’t know about you but I had to run and get a tissue.
No words necessary as the Lorikeets continue to gather around Daisy.
We are nearing the time that Daisy laid her egg yesterday. I can still hear the Lorikeets and the Noisy Miner.
Oh, how grand it was to see the Lorikeets come to welcome Daisy!
Yesterday Daisy laid her 4th egg at 06:19:36. Egg 3 was laid at 06:55:07. I am hoping that it is earlier for Daisy today so that she can wait for the egg to harden, cover the eggs well, and get away from the nest before the Raven or the Sea Eagles arrive. Fingers crossed they stay away!
Daisy began gathering leaves around 06:23.
With the Sea Eagles back at the River Roost, I am so nervous for Daisy. Last year Dad visited often – curious to find out who was using his nest. I do not believe they would harm Daisy but Daisy and Dad certainly played tag with one another. I hope it is more peaceful for our little duck this year but who knows! Wonder when Dad will come and check on this nest?
It is 06:28 nest time. Daisy hasn’t laid her 5th egg. You can still hear the Lorikeets in the tree. Last year they seemed to be around when the larger predators weren’t. Come on Daisy, hurry! Lay your egg and get out of the forest.
At 06:32:55, Daisy lays her 5th egg!
Daisy moves around in the nest bowl clockwise.
She is moving the eggs about but she appears also to be using her paddle feet to enlarge the egg cup. How smart is that?! She needs those eggs to sink down low especially if she is going to lay several more. Notice how big those eggs are. It takes a lot of nutrients out of Daisy’s system to lay all those eggs.
Daisy has settled down lower than on previous days. She has also brought in some more leaves closer to the egg cup.
Daisy is trying to rest. If today, follows what has happened on the previous four days, Daisy will stay on the eggs for about 2 hours, cover them and depart. Let us hope that she is not disturbed and has time to get those leaves over so that nothing seems out of place if Dad or the Raven come calling.
At 06:42, there was only one Sea Eagle at River Roost. Is Dad fishing? or is he coming to the forest? We wait.
Daisy is way down on the eggs, her head tucked in. So far no Sea Eagle coming. Sometimes last year Daisy just got away in the nick of time. She needs to cover those eggs well though and not be in a rush.
Thank you for joining me today. I will continue to monitor Daisy until she departs and check on the nest throughout the day. If anything happens, I will let you know. Take care. Keep sending your positive wishes to our little duck, Daisy!
Thank you to the Sea Eagle@BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took these screen captures.
Our beautiful little Pacific Black Duck, Daisy, laid her 4th egg in the old Ironbark Tree in Sydney’s Olympic Forest at 06:19:36. She was more nervous today than usual. Something had caused her to be overly cautious today. Still, the little duck worked with as many leaves as she could find to cover her eggs and stayed for almost the entire 2 hours that she has done on previous days. She flew off at 08:15:17.
Daisy covered the nest really well— as best she could bringing in leaves from behind her this morning. There is no indication that she has used any of her down and that is a good thing. The predators would smell it and find the eggs!
Did the Raven see Daisy on the nest? or did he just happen by and was curious?
The Raven lands on the nest at 09:29:30. He actually looks like one of the Crows we have that come to our garden as opposed to a Raven in North America. I know that it is difficult to identify between the Australian Raven and Crow. It is not a Pied Currawong – there is no white.
Whatever – a very dangerous bird has landed on Daisy’s nest of the variety that consumed her eggs last year.
The Raven looks right at the nest cup but cannot see anything. Daisy did do a good job covering those four eggs.
The Raven almost steps on the nest cup! But he doesn’t, thankfully.
He jumps over to the rim of the old Sea Eagle nest.
All the while the Raven is on the nest it is making very strange calls.
I wonder if it was calling the other members of its family. Last year several arrived but not today.
He stares but obviously cannot smell those eggs and he certainly cannot see them. Oh, Daisy, you little Duck. You did do a great job covering them.
It simply felt like he was going to tear that nest up but he moves over to the parent branch of the tree where the juvenile sea eagles often branch.
And then he is gone. I think my heart sunk to my toes. It is too early for the predators to be sniffing around Daisy’s nest. —— Any day is too early until the ducklings hatch and jump!
At 09:31 ‘something’ chased ‘something’ out of the forest from the top centre to the lower left side. It happened very fast and I could not decipher what it was. I wonder if our little Duck chased that Raven? Has Daisy been watching?
I hope that Daisy only lays one more egg. If there are fewer she will be able to cover them adequately or maybe a big wind would come and rain down leaves on that nest. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
Everyone send all your good wishes to our little Pacific Black Duck, Daisy. She needs all the positive energy she can get as she continues to try and keep her eggs safe.
Other Bird World News: There is no further news on Yurruga. Ervie picked off the first fish of the day at 06:33. If you watch Jackie and Shadow, the Bald Eagles at Big Bend, they have been working on the nest. Yesterday Connie at Captiva laid her first egg at 05:55:37.
There have been two welcome visitors to our garden. Hedwig, the short tailed Cottontail Rabbit, has been photographed.
Shortly after lunch, Sharpie, the Sharp-shinned Hawk dropped by.
The European Starlings, the Black capped Chickadee, and numerous varieties of Sparrows, mostly House Sparrows, filled up the feeders. I think that each of them knew that there was a weather advisory out and that they would be hunkered down by snow and blowing snow with little visibility in the late afternoon.
Oh, I hope that Raven forgets about Daisy and her eggs!
Take care everyone. Thank you for stopping by to check on the birds. It is nice having you with us.
Thank you to the Sea Eagles @ BirdLife Australia Discover Centre for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots.
Going back to Day 3, Daisy duly stayed on the three eggs for a bit. The third egg was laid at 06:55:06. Daisy began preparing to depart, moving leaves and twigs over the eggs at 08:17. Within two minutes, she was gone — after checking that no one was around watching.
Oh, she is such a beautiful brave little duck!
This programme seems to have put the images backwards! The top row and one on the second shows Daisy covering up her precious eggs.
Day 4: 6 December 2021
Everyone’s favourite duck, the Pacific Black Duck, Daisy, flew into the nest at 05:21:51. You might be able to see her fluttering and flying up in the image below. She is the blurry mark above ‘2021’.
Daisy landed on the nest a second later.
Daisy seemed a tad more nervous this morning. She is extremely cautious taking almost two minutes before she waddles over to the egg cup.
I wonder what sounds from the forest Daisy is hearing that are making are nervous? Are Lady and Dad back from Goat Island? Has Daisy seen them?
Daisy was still nervous after she settled. She did not remove the leaves. She laid down on them and used her paddle feet to stir them around and the eggs.
At precisely 06:19:36, Daisy laid her first egg – about half an hour earlier than the day prior.
There it is. You can see that it is wet and shiny. It will need to harden and Daisy will hope that predators stay away so that she can cover up her clutch of four eggs completely today.
Daisy is allowing the air to harden the egg as she stands over her clutch. If she follows the same routine of previous days, she will remain on the nest for not quite two hours.
So far Daisy’s luck has held. We hope that the Sea Eagles remain on Goat Island. And Daisy may resist putting down with the eggs until there is hard incubation so as not to attract the Ring-tailed Possums who have made a nest also in the sea eagles’s tree.
Good Luck today, Daisy! Cover the eggs really well. You have hundreds of people watching you and sending you much love and luck!!!!!!
Thank you for joining me today. I will bring updates for other nests later today that will include a final check in on Daisy. Take care all.
Thank you to the Sea Eagle@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.
We are going to start off with a check on what is happening in San Francisco – before moving on to Daisy.
An absolutely adorable 4 min 16 sec radio discussion on The Love Story in the Sky at The Campanile.
Did you know that Peregrine Falcons were virtually wiped out in California? In the late 1970 there were only two nesting pairs? This was the result of DDT. There is lots of literature but reading Rachel Carsons, Silent Spring, is a very good start.
DDT might have been banned after the revelations of Rachel Carson and others but it remains in the soil in various places. One of those is Big Bear California where DDT was sprayed on Big Bear Lake to kill the mosquitoes. It is still a contributing factor in thin egg shells which may be part of the problem with Jackie and Shadow, the Bald Eagles that have their nest at Big Bear.
Daisy the Duck did not spend the night on the White-Bellied Sea Eagle nest.
She arrived before sunrise to check on the nest. No one else was there. Daisy will be very cautious. She does not want to draw attention to the egg cup where her first egg was laid.
She goes over to where her egg is and checks. It is still there. Safe.
We can see where Daisy’s egg is because we know it is there but it is nicely covered with leaves and nest material so the predators cannot find it.
Daisy leaves right as the sun is rising and the forest is waking up.
Daisy carefully waits on a branch when she returns an hour and a half later. Can you see her?
She is checking and rolling her egg.
Daisy is very still. When she is in labour, her tail will move up and down.
There are now two eggs! Look you can see them both. Daisy is holding herself up so as not to break the second egg. When the eggs are laid they are soft. The air will dry off the surface and make them hard.
Daisy has settled on the eggs nicely. She is having a rest. Daisy will not do hard incubation until all of the eggs are laid. That is so they will hatch at the same time.
This last image of Daisy was taken a few minutes ago. It is nearly 08:30 in Sydney, Australia.
So far Daisy has been lucky. Lady and Dad did visit the nest tree a week ago and then on the day that WBSE 27 was released from care, they were not at the River Roost. They will often go to Goat Island if there are no eaglets to look after. Still, we know that they do come to check the nest.
Someone asked me why Daisy does not stay on the eggs now all the time. If she did they would not all hatch on the same day. Secondly, she is a very smart little duck. Her presence on the nest makes all of the other forest animals and birds curious. Last January they had never seen a duck on the big sea eagle nest — and neither had anyone else! I think Daisy will try and protect her eggs really well this year from the Ravens. She is almost a year older and she is ‘wiser’ now. Her breeding and the laying of eggs normally coincides with plenty of food and water. Her mate, who came to inspect the nest last year, only takes part in the mating ritual. The rest is up to Daisy. That is why she is so vulnerable. Only 20% of Pacific Black Ducks live to be 2 years old. Indeed, the average life span is only about two years. Oh, I so hope that she is successful this year! There are so many people hoping for Daisy!
You can join in and become a real Daisy fan. She needs all the love and positive energy we can all send her. Soon the name of the streaming cam will be changed from Sea-Eagle to Duck Cam! Here is the link to the streaming cam. Daisy arrives about 13:15 CDT or around 05:15 Australian Time. I am not expecting her to stay all day but she might surprise me.
Once Daisy lays all of her eggs (there could be 11), she will begin her hard incubation. Incubation will last for 29 days after the laying of the last egg. This is the difficult time. Daisy still has to eat and have some relaxing time. Last year she even went out during the night. It is then that the eggs are vulnerable. As long as she is incubating them, the Ravens seem not to bother. Our fears of the sea eagles proved to be nothing. They could behave differently this year but they were not a threat last save for the fact that scattering the down nesting material allowed the eggs to be seen. Fingers crossed.
Thanks for joining me. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the Sydney Sea Eagle @ Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.
This is a Kansas City Bald Eagle nest but this isn’t an eagle incubating eggs. No, it is a Great Horned Owl (GHO). She is brooding at least one egg. The egg cup is deep and there are probably more. GHOs typically have their nests in trees. Sometimes they will nest on deserted buildings and even on the ledges of cliffs. They have also been know to make their nests on platforms constructed by humans like the ones made for Osprey. Some have even been known to lay their eggs close to the ground, just like our Daisy Duck would have usually done. So, like Daisy the Duck, this owl has ‘borrowed’ a Bald Eagle’s nest for its eggs! And like Daisy, this own might pull downy feathers from his breast to line the egg cup. The farmer that owns the land where this eagle’s nest is located calls the mated pair of owls, Bonnie and Clyde after the notorious bank robbers. Normally, it would be Willie and Marie, the BE here. All of this happened about a week ago and it is believed that is when the GHO laid her egg.
Eagle fighting with GHO for the nest. Both are mantling.
The nest is high up in this tree. You can just see the Bald Eagle flying out after the fight with the owl.
Here you can see the eagle flying from the nest.
So far, the GHO is still in possession of this nest. Oh, my. This reminds me of the drama we had when Daisy the Pacific Black Duck laid her eggs on the White-Bellied Sea Eagles nest. So far, the owl is still there.
GHO sleeping, 12 February 2021.
When her mate brings her food, he leaves it on a tree branch and then does the beautiful hoot to her. So cute. As with the Pacific Black duck, I think we are going to learn a lot about Great Horned Owls.
It occurs to me that if there are not enough big tall trees left for the eagles to build their nest in, what about big trees for owls? Maybe they are also having a problem and needing to ‘borrow’. The farmer that owns the land says the Bald Eagles are OK and still in the area. I will keep you posted. Wonder if there is a possible eviction in the offing?
Out in the world of the other birds who do have nests, here are some quick updates:
SWFL Eagle Nest: Harriet, M15, E18 and E17
E18 might have gone to bed with a small crop but right now its crop is bursting. The menu has included rabbit and fish but E18 was fed an entire rat. I am really hoping that rat hadn’t eaten rodenticide! I always worry about that when I see those on a nest. So, no worries. Both of these eagles are fed well and it is hot.
Big Bear: Shadow and Jackie, 2 eggs under incubation
You can’t see it but the winds are so strong they are just shaking the nest out in California. Eagles love the wind so Jackie is only suffering because it is a very cold and the wind is bringing that cold off the water.
NEFL: Samson and Gabby, E24
E24 is feisty! Look at that little one. It climbed even further and got entirely out of the nest bowl to get some of that fresh fish. What a cutie pie. Looks like a fluffy snowman with arms. It has been raining on their nest. Always brings in the flying critters. Hope that dissipates soon. And so hot and sticky.
Duke Farms Eagle Cam: 2 adults and 3 eggs under incubation
And wow, what a difference from Florida. The eagles here still have cold and snow.
The Trio over near Fulton, Illinois: Starr, Valor I and II.
The three were rumoured to have been working on the nest this morning. This is a shot from this afternoon. The temperatures are still rather frigid.
Royal Albatross, Taiaroa Head, NZ: LGL and LGK plus chick
Isn’t this the most beautiful lavender pink morning with the sun coming up over the peninsula where the Northern Royal Albatross have their nests. LGL is still on the nest with the ever growing chick. All is well way down south.
Solly, the Port Lincoln Osprey, 147 days old still seems to be at Eba Anchorage and Eba Island today.
It looks like there is going to be another adventure on a Bald Eagle nest. Who would have thought that in two months we would see a Pacific Black Duck and now a Great Horned Owl take over those beautiful big nests of the eagles?
Thank you to Derek Farmer and the streaming cam of the eagle nest at Kansas City, the American Eagle Federation for NEFL eagle cam and Big Bear, AEF and D Pritchett for the SWFL cam, the Stewards of the Mississippi for the streaming cam of the Trio, Port Lincoln Osprey and the researchers for the tracking information on Solly, Cornell and NZ DOC for the Royal Albatross, Duke Farms for their Eagle cam.
It is a soggy day in Sydney, Australia. Rain is falling and the temperature is 20 degrees C. What a change from a few days ago! Wish I knew if Daisy liked it cooler or hotter. Do ducks have a preference? They certainly don’t mind water and their down nest would get wet if Daisy built in on the ground.
Australian Raven
For those of you dropping in but who haven’t been able to catch up with Miss Daisy’s news, I want to focus, for a bit, on the impact of the showers and WBSE Lady’s tearing the down off Daisy’s nest. Daisy doesn’t look like she is sitting on that lovely fluffy nest any longer. Daisy has collected all of the tossed down that she could – which was a lot – and has brought it back onto her nest. Just as quickly as it dries, it rains again. Then the eiderdown gets soaked and turns into a soaking blob. The heat from Daisy’s body will eventually dry it but the forecast is for four more days of rain and cool weather.
There is that saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. I am a very visual person as I imagine many of you are. So I am posting two images in order for you to easily see the impact that rain has on the eiderdown that Daisy has plucked off her breast to line her nest. The top one shows Daisy on her nest when it is dry. Notice how thick and fluffy the eiderdown is. Daisy looks like she is brooding on a cloud.
Fluffy nest with dry down.
The image below is not focused but you will still be able to see the impact of the rain on the insulating down. The down is no longer fluffy. The wetter it gets the more it loses its volume. You can also see that the eggs can no longer be covered leaving them vulnerable to predators. Daisy does try hard to move other plant material on top. She has only so many leaves to use. If you think about it, she has not pulled any twigs over her eggs. She might intuitively know that those sticks of wood could break her eggs.
Matted wet eiderdown
It is right after noon on the nest and it has been a relatively quiet morning for Daisy. She did have several visits from Ravens that sent her hunkering down on her eggs. They flew back and forth around the nest tree and into the forest and back again for about fifteen minutes. They were not chasing the sea eagles but when Daisy hears their caw she really pays attention.
Daisy going into defensive mode.Daisy relaxed ater ravens leave.
After the Ravens had their turn disturbing Daisy, the Butcher Birds came to the nest tree. Butcher Birds are songbirds. They are similar to Magpies. The grey ones only live in Australia. They have a dark mask or an eye stripe just like Daisy! It is thought that these black stripes or masks help to block the sun for the birds so they can hunt or dabble better. If you know about American football, you might have seen the players smearing a black substance under their eyes. That also helps with the glare and I bet, a long time ago, humans learned that trick from birds. They have brown eyes and legs. The pointed beak, with a hook, is also grey. They can be very aggressive. They live in forests and mangroves feeding on insects and small mammals, fruits and seeds. They are known to also eat lizards or other small reptiles.
Butcherbird
Daisy waits to go dabbling and to the bathroom. Around 15:31, she begins to gather the leaves and tuck in the down to try and cover her eggs as best she can.
Daisy begins to cover her nest.Daisy pulling down and leaves with bill.
She is in no rush. The ravens and the sea eagles are not about. She can take her time. Because it is cool, she will want to try and get as much insulation as she can over the eggs along with the leaves that she has been pulling toward her all day.
Daisy leaves her nest at 15:31:45.
Daisy leaving to go forage.
Despite the down being somewhat soggy in places, Daisy does a really good job concealing her eggs. Notice the two identical leaves across from one another. Daisy has done a marvellous job at decorating her temporary nest with the terracotta covered foliage.
Eggs are concealed with down and leaves.
So far, except for the anxiety produced by the Ravens’ visit, Daisy has had a relatively quiet day. She has waited til later today to go hunting for food. It is now 21 degrees C and 100% humidity with rain. Sun set is around 20:04. That is four and a half hours away. It is certainly safer for Daisy to go foraging as late as she can because she would miss the sea eagles if they came right before dusk. However, WBSE Dad has been known to show up around 17:00 on several occasions. Let us hope that no one comes, the eggs stay covered, and Daisy returns in about an hour and a half. Hopefully those eggs will still be warm. It is too bad we can’t somehow slip a little electric or solar blanket in that nest for them!
Thank you for stopping in to check and see how Daisy is doing. It is currently day 17 of incubation. The hatch window opens on day 26. So many did not believe that Daisy would still have a nest or any eggs. No one knew how the sea eagles would react. Many thoughts the ravens would force Daisy off the nest and they would then devour the eggs. But so far, none of that has happened. The sea eagles have been confused and have not harmed the eggs other than the one dad ate. So, there could be hope for some of the eggs to be viable. Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful to see the little fuzz balls jump off the old Ironbark Tree nest? Ducklings born in a big sea eagle nest. Puts a smile on your face!
Thank you again for joining us to find out what is happening with the brave little duck whose nest is in an old Ironbark Tree in the Sydney Olympic Park forest. We are so glad you stopped by.
Thank you to Sea Eagle cam, BirdLife Australia, and the Discovery Centre for the streaming cameras where I captured my screen shots.
Daisy had no more than returned from her dabbling at 16:18:07 and settled in for a wee bit of a rest when the ravens sounded an alarm at 17:55:58. Daisy stretched her neck to listen.
In the image below, Daisy is alerted by the sound of the ravens approaching. Remember that the ravens often follow the White-Bellied sea eagles into the forest.
Daisy stretches her neck. The distance from the river roost of the sea eagles is only about 1.2 kilometres to the nest in the forest of the Sydney Olympic Park.
The sea eagles fly really fast and there is no time for Daisy to cover up her nest. She hurries off to the left of the nest tree tree. Daisy is just a blur in the image below.
You may remember that it has been raining and that the sea eagles have come to the nest sometimes tearing off the down. Lady made a mess the other day and Daisy took her time and moved all of the eiderdown back onto her nest. But this evening she did not have time to cover the eggs and it is cool in the forest, only around 21.8 degrees C.
You might also remember that wet down. Look how fluffy it is now. The temperature from Daisy’s body and the wind as well as the rain stopping have fluffed up the down again so it now has its insulating values back. This is so good!
The sea eagles are still mystified about the little nest holding seven eggs right in the centre of their big nest. Dad arrives and looks. He can see the eggs instantly but no Daisy! He stands and stares at them. What are these eggs doing in my nest? I sometimes giggle because it reminds me of a story that I my mother and grandmother read to me when I was little and, in turn, I read it to my children: Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Do you know that children’s story?
WBSE Dad moves cautiously towards the eggs.
Dad leans down to take a closer look. The only eggs that he has ever know are those of his eaglets that Lady lays. But these are not Lady’s eggs! but they are in my nest!
Again, ever so slowly he moves towards Daisy’s nest just staring into that beautiful nest cup.
And then he sticks his beak in! Oh, no. Is he going to try and roll out an egg to eat it like he did before?
In the same amount of time that Dad took to closely inspect those big white eggs, he raises his head and looks off the nest. Does he know that the owner of the eggs is watching him? does Dad think they are a threat? does Dad associate Daisy with these eggs, a little innocent Pacific Black Duck?
And then he looks down again. Each time Dad looks into the nest cup he rolls the eggs for Daisy! Thank you, Dad sea eagle.
The Dad raises his head and looks off in the other direction. You will remember that Daisy flew around the nest quacking the last time both sea eagles visited the nest. She was very frightened but also, as much as she was scared, she knew she needed to get back to her single focus, incubating her eggs.
The behaviour of the sea eagles towards the little duck’s nest is of great interest to anyone wanting to learn about bird behaviour. No one that I know of has had a close look at the interaction between the largest birds in Australia and a tiny little duck that doesn’t belong in the forest.
Dad simply is stumped. He stands for the longest time staring at the eggs. Then he rolls them one more time and turns around and gets back on a branch of the nest tree.
Dad stands on what is called the parent branch looking around. When Dad and Lady raise their little eaglets in this nest, this is the branch that they roost on to protect the little ones. It is also the first branch that the eaglets attempt to walk and fly to as they get ready for their fledge.
Is Dad looking for Daisy? is he looking for a bigger bird? He flies off the parent branch and back towards his roost on the Parramatta River at 18:06. His visit lasted four minutes. Doesn’t seem like he is too concerned, does it?
Daisy might have taken the opportunity to go and forage some more. She does not return to her eggs until 19:27, an hour and nineteen minutes after Dad has flown out of the forest.
Still she is ever so cautious. In fact, Dad could be lurking off camera hoping to catch her. She stops and looks this way and that.
The rain started between the time Dad left and Daisy returned. Her beautiful fluffy down is all wet again! Let’s hope that her eggs did not cool down too quickly. That would be just so sad for our brave little duck.
And then she stops and listens. Dad was on the nest remember for four minutes and Daisy takes four minutes to make certain that he is no longer a threat.
Daisy slowly lowers herself onto her wet nest to warm her eggs. Remember that eggs need to be held at 37.5 degrees to hatch.
The sun has set and the light on the soggy nest has changed. Daisy knows that the sea eagles will not be back again tonight. Except for BooBook Owl, Daisy can rest. And we know Boo is just curious about Daisy. He is not going to hurt her.
Indeed, I often wonder what the other animals in the forest are thinking when they see the sea eagles coming and going and Daisy returning to her eggs time after time. Daisy is afraid of them but not enough to keep her from brooding. Her hormones and instincts and her entire self are tied to the hatching of the eggs now. She is ‘hard wired’ for incubation.
Thank goodness. Daisy had a very quiet night. It is now just before dawn. Because the sea eagles could have spent the night at the river roost, Daisy is being very careful to listen for the vocalizations of the other birds. She can tell which ones mean the eagles are coming. Daisy has learned much about the forest.
It’s after 7:30 and the sea eagles have not shown up today. It is rainy. The area around where Daisy has her egg cup is soaked with water.
Daisy has a visitor. Can you see the little grey and white bird with the black mask and yellow beak peeking down to see Daisy? Look carefully in the top right corner. They are grey with a black head, an orange or yellow beak and yellow feet. There are white tips on the tail feathers.
It is a Noisy Miner. These birds are loud and create all kinds of havoc in the forest. They like to chase other birds away. They eat insects but are also opportunist especially in cities. They are called ‘honeyeaters’.
The Noisy Miner is a nuisance to Daisy because it can be so loud but it is not such a threat that I am aware of, certainly not like the Ravens and the Currawongs. I am not even sure the sea eagles are a threat anymore. It is really that they keep Daisy off the nest and away from her incubating duties and her eggs are exposed and could get too cool to hatch.
The golden glow of the morning is moving across the nest.
It is going to be a cool day for Daisy and her eggs. The morning temperature is 19.4 degrees C. It is not supposed to get higher than 20 C with rain again for today. It sure is a change from when it was 40 degrees C a few days ago. Then we were worried about the eggs getting too hot. Today we worry about exposure and cold.
Everyone send Daisy your positive energy. Our brave little duck sitting on the big sea eagle nest needs all of it. Daisy is grateful to all her friends who check in to see how she is doing. From around the world – from Canada and the United States, Mexico, Brazil to Australia, Singapore, Australia, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Poland, Denmark, Germany, and France – each of you has joined to wish Daisy good luck. Thank you!
An update on Daisy’s Day in about nine hours. Please check back.
Thank you also to the Sea Eagle cam, BirdLife Australia, and the Discovery Centre for the camera that provides the feed for me to take my scaps.
