Tag Archives: Pittsburgh-Hays Bald Eagles

Late Wednesday in Bird World

20 April 2022

If you have been checking on the three osplets in the University of Florida-Gainesville nest today, you might have become quite distressed. The first fish did not arrive until 11:11:41 and Big made it known – after Little Bit – made a couple of beaks – that it would eat first. The beaking continued by Big and then Mum got them all lined up and fed peacefully by moving the fish.

There has been no more fish deliveries. It is 24 or 75.2 degrees with winds of 21 kph or 13 miles per hour. It is, of course, hotter up on that high nest with the light reflecting off the shiny metal of the lights.

Big is hot and cranky and very hungry as are the other two siblings and Mum. Hopefully this is not going to set a pattern for the future. If fish deliveries can get more normalized it would be very helpful.

Mum has left the nest. Has she gone fishing?

At 17:40:11, Mum landed on the nest with a fish with a head on it. I am going to presume that in the time she was away from the nest she caught this fish. My reasoning? This dad always brings in headless fish to the nest. I had hopes that the feeding would go smoothly but because it is slow going starting with the head, bedlam broke out with Big taking its frustration out on everyone. So sad that this is happening.

At 18:06 almost an hour after the fish landed on the nest, Little Bit moved up and is being fed. Relief.

There is enough fish left to fill Little Bit up! Mom is pulling the flesh off the skin for Little Middle. She has eaten some along the way and she will eat the skin and the tail for sure. It would be really nice if Dad brought in a second fish. Wonder where he is?

I can tell Little Bit is being fed by the way his body is moving. He sort of spreads his wings out sometimes too. Mum is also feeding Middle at the same time. They will all go to bed with some fish in their tummy.

Give Mum a great big round of applause. She was still feeding Middle and Little Bit at 18:18! I am impressed. Middle got full and moved and Mum was still finding flakes for Little Bit at 18:27. Bravo.

Further chaos evolved when Mum decided she wanted to brood all three of them! Good night little ones. Happy Fish Dreams.

In other Bird World news.

At 14:25 you could see the little beak of L1 chipping away at the egg wanting to hatch!

The Smithsonian Magazine has put out an article about the impact of Avian Flu on the Bald Eagles (US). In Manitoba, we have two confirmed cases of Avian Flu – a Bald Eagle that just migrated and a Snow Goose.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bald-eagles-are-dying-from-bird-flu-180979940/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=socialmedia&fbclid=IwAR3Wy_W34__Cku-WBlorCTIXX-uidhaLIkZ6Rd5L_CqS2Phz-IJuMgzc14c

I would not want to get in the way of any of the Eagle parents. They caught the female at the Pittsburgh-Hayes nest protecting her three eaglets from an intruder.

Not only are the hawks and falcons laying four eggs but there is an Osprey nest in the Kielder Forest that now has four osprey eggs. Oh, geez. Can you tell already I don’t want that 4th egg to hatch?? It is at Kielder Nest 1A.

@ Forestry England

The Kielder Web site says, “It is the fifth time in total that there have been four eggs on their nest. 2016 was the first occasion and the pair raised them to fledging, but sadly the eldest was never seen after that. On the more recent occasions a chick has died young or hatches failed. Weather is a key factor, but disruption by intruders can also cause problems.”

No eggs yet at Poole Harbour but Blue 022 did bring CJ7 a nice fish today! Fantastic.

A reminder about the Cal Falcons Q & A. I just had one large laugh when I saw a comment by ‘B’ about the time. ‘B’s’ question is: Can I assume that this is noon Pacific time and not 2pm? Here is the posting! And that is a great question. Did the system automatically set the time for CDT not Berkeley time? I plan to ask and will get back to everyone as soon as hear. The nice thing is that Sean always posts the whole discussion after. The sad thing is that you miss submitting questions. This should be a very informative chat after all that has happened.

It has just been a lovely day and I am going to try and navigate the snowy sidewalks and go for a bit of a walk. There are apparently Wood Ducks back in the City and Canada Geese have been making nests on beaver dams because of the snow. It is rather crazy out there. The snow last night did not materialize. Thank goodness.

Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me today. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or web pages where I took my screen captures: Kielder Forest, Cal Falcons, Cornell Bird Lab, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, and Poole Harbour Ospreys.

Big continues her attack at Dale Hollow and other stories in Bird World on Sunday

27 March 2022

Jack brings in yet more toys for the kids as Harriet lays the third and, hopefully, final egg today at the Dahlgren Osprey Nest on the King George V River.

Not to be out done by the Cornell Red tail hawks with their four eggs, the female at the Syracuse Red tail Hawk nest has now laid four eggs! Goodness. While we might want to think that this is a prey rich summer, I had a conversation about Avian Flu with someone who is involved in that research. They said that Avian Flu H5N1, the highly pathogenic strain, is spreading like wild fire. Could the extra egg be part of a natural reaction to this? The general consensus is that 1 out of 3 fledglings survive. Are the hawks laying 4 eggs with the hope now that 1 in 4 survives this year with the spread of the flu? It reminded me of a quote on the Looduskalender Forum byIrene Ripperberg: “Clearly animals know more than we think and think more than we know.”

I had hoped that the afternoon would be a good one for Middle Little. While Little Middle did eat, those feedings did not come without enduring the wrath of Big. At 12:06:54 a parents flies in with a piece of fish. Big immediately goes after Little Middle who will get nothing of that prey drop. At 14:19:13 there is a large fish and a small piece left from earlier on the nest. Little Middle moves and Big goes on the attack. LM watches as Big is fed. By 14:26:47, Little Middle is at the rim of the nest moving cautiously. Little Middle gets a bite at 14:29:00 and a few more bites. Big gets up and Little Middle goes into submission. Big ate the rest of the fish and the tail. Little Middle did have a crop, part of which was left from the morning. Obey flew in with another fish at 15:28:58. Middle was where he landed. He gave Little Middle some bites which LM snatched and grabbed til Obey flew off at 15:32:39. At 17:52:47 River moves the large fish Obey brought in earlier and begins to feed Big. Little Middle moves over by Dad who has arrived at 17:54:24 hoping he has some more food. He doesn’t. Little Middle moves over to the rim and cautiously up to River who gives him some bites.

Big appears to be sleeping. At 18:15:27 – only three minutes later- Big goes into an attack. Oh, how I wish that Big would have just slept. There is hardly any food left – it ate an entire fish!

She tries to get Little Middle’s head to inflict the most damage which despite a large crop she does. Little Middle appears to be quite frightened. Big moves up to eat again. Middle Little must move – Big goes on the attack again at 18:16:11 in spite of having a big crop. Big positions herself so that she can grab Little Middle’s head and she twists it.

I had hoped that the beaking was going to slow down. It certainly does not appear to have anything to do with whether Big is full of not. One of our readers ‘BG’ observed that Big has a much more difficult time attacking Little Middle if she has a big crop which she does in the image below. It is hard for her to go over the top of the back anymore. That said, she was surely determined today and shifted to the side so that she could grab Middle’s head and neck which she shook.

While Little Middle is getting bigger and Big is often so full she can’t do anything, Little Middle must be cautious. And we have to hope that much more food comes on this nest. As it happens what is being brought in is enough for Big but barely enough for Little to have lots which it needs now. Both eaglets are 27 days old today – 28 if you count hatch day.

In the image below, Big is trying to go down to the head on the side at a slightly different angle than the image above. She has strong legs and, in fact, could, if she got wild enough, push Little Middle out of the nest. Despite being full, she simply could not sand that River would feed Middle Little a few bites of scrap fish.

Big is huge compared to Little middle. Look at her legs!

River feeds Big as he pushes Little Middle from the back. Little Middle raises its head and Bit goes at it again at 18:16:25.

Little Middle tries to get away by moving up close to River. River feeds Big. Nothing for Little Middle.

I am putting the image below in as a comparison of the size of the two. There remain many ways that Big can harm Little Middle but let us look at the positive. Despite not getting lots of food and cheeping wanting more, Little Middle did eat and did have a crop. He also had a really good PS this afternoon.

I am continually checking on Karl II and his movements curious as to if he can ‘smell’ or ‘sense’ war and not go to his normal watering hole in the Ukraine.

One of the British that travel to The Gambia to monitor Ospreys, Chris Wood, notes that many of the Ospreys arrive and go right to the same tree that they have done in many years previous. Will this also be the case for Karl II that he will, nonetheless, go to his normal spots despite the war?

Karl II is through Bulgaria, almost. Will he continue through Poland up to Latvia? We wait for the transmissions.

The people of Mlady Buky, The Czech Republic, are awaiting the arrival of their two White Storks. This community is the one who saved the father and the three storklets (originally four but Dad selected) by providing food for them last year.

Are you fond of Goshawks? The Goshawk nest at Riga, Latvia has its first egg today.

For any of the Latvian nests, I urge you to subscribe to The Latvian Fund for Nature’s streaming cams. There is no charge. You can do a search on YouTube and then select the nests you wish to watch. You will get a notice if something happens! There you will also find all of the videos of Milda the White-tailed Eagle at Durbe, her trials and joys.

There is a lovely little video of the adults at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest doing a tandem feeding. Oh, I just love this when the parents work together to make sure their chicks survive – if at all possible.

I love Red tail hawks and A Place Called Hope posted this today. I wanted to share it with you. If I were a raptor and needed rehab, I would really like to find myself at APCH.

The second egg for Mr President and Lotus at the National Arboretum Nest in DC is 35 days old. I so hope that this one hatches and the chick survives to fledge. It would be wonderful for this new pair. This is 18:13 this evening. Lotus is being very careful when she rolls that egg!

The following was posted a few hours ago. It looks like there is an internal pip happening. Please send your warmest wishes to Mr President and Lotus for a successful hatch for DC9.

R2 was returned to the nest by Ron Magill at the Miami Zoo. The remaining monofilament was removed successfully from its foot. These images were posted on Ron Magill’s FB page:

How wonderful! So happy for R2. He is sleeping on the rim of the nest tonight.

Everything is fine on the Captiva Osprey Nest of Andy and Lena in Florida. The beautiful juvenile plumage is coming in on both Middle and Little. They are growing so fast! Still no news on what killed Big.

Today, Grinnell protected the egg at the Peregrine Falcon scrape in The Campanile while Annie chased off the intruder. Here is a short video clip of that action.

Cal Falcons just posted another. The couple have been busy with intruders.

And before I close, a quick look at the West End Bald eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta where the trio of eaglets continues to thrive and grow without a second of discord. Remarkable parenting at this nest!

Look at how big they are. This just brings tears to my eyes. Two parents working together got this fantastic result for Thunder and Akecheta.

It looks like Ervie went out to the water. I hope he caught a nice fish! His tracker continues to work and he remains around Port Lincoln. Joy. Now if we only had news of Falky and Bazza.

Life is good at the nests!

Thank you so much for joining me. My blog may not be out til late on Monday. Hopefully the news will be good at Dale Hollow. Take care all. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB or Forum: Looduskalender, Latvian Fund for Nature, Mlady Buky Stork cam, Captiva Osprey Cam, Ron Magill, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, Cal Falcons, Dahlgren Osprey Nest, Pix Cams, Port Lincoln Ospreys, A Place Called Hope, and WRDC Bald Eagles.

Late Sunday and early Monday in Bird World

20-21 March 2022

Correction: Abby and Blazer’s chicks hatched on the 11th and 14th of February not March! Argggh. Thanks, ‘S’.

The atmosphere at the Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagle nest of River and Obey has been so good for the past 36 hours that, well, I am still smiling and can’t settle down. When that happens I start watching nests!

Mum and Dad met at the nest on the Port Lincoln Osprey barge around 11:49-11:59 on the 21st. How nice it is to see them! They get a chance to rest, relax, and enjoy the quiet. Do you remember how loud Ervie was calling for fish all the time once Bazza and Falky had literally flown the coop? Mum and Dad needed ear plugs!

Xavier and Diamond have been hanging around the scrape box. Xavier brought Diamond a gift – a Starling. Now Diamond doesn’t like Starling but she grabbed it and went flying away ready to enjoy the meal.

Besides those delicious prey drops for Diamond, the couple have been bonding inside the scrape box. Life is good at Orange!

It may be good with no confusion at Orange, Australia but Grinnell has problems! That young female juvenile that brought a pigeon to the ledge of The Campanile just won’t go away. Grinnell and Annie have been mating and Annie has been in the scrape — and Grinnell needs this other female to leave! It is a good thing that Grinnell didn’t let all this female attention go to his head.

Annie is so beautiful. She has been staying close to the scrape today. I sure hope Grinnell brings in some juicy prey for her.

Thunder and Akecheta are ending the day with a very unique way of tandem feeding. Akecheta is passing bites of food for Thunder to feed the Little Baby while he feeds the two big ones. Another brilliant strategy to keep this nest calm and to quiet any inklings of food competition and rivalry.

At the nest of Liberty and Guardian, Guardian has brought in a huge fish. Their first egg pipped 12 hours ago. In the next 12 hours there should be a Bobble head.

Guardian got up to eat some fish but she is not giving away any hints as to the stage of the pip.

Eagle 1 at Redding hatched at 21:14 on the 20th of March!

No hints coming out of Pittsburgh-Hayes either. But, if all is going well, there should be Bobbleheads at both nests by 09:00 tomorrow morning, the 21st of March, the first official day of spring.

Mum and Dad were present when the first chick popped off the top of the egg at Pittsburgh-Hayes. They both stood in awe watching. It was pretty amazing. That chick fully hatched at 08:16 and there is a pip in the second egg. Squint and go right below beak of adult to see that the top if cracked all around.

Welcome both of the new eaglets. Congratulations to Liberty and Guardian at Redding and to Mum and Dad at Pittsburgh-Hayes!

Andy had a nice big fish on the nest at Captiva Ospreys at 07:57:24.

Both ate until their crops were full and there was fish left for Lena! All is well on this nest. Still no official word on the cause of Big’s death.

Wow. Arthur has had most of the incubation duties for Monday morning at the Cornell Red-tail hawk nest. Big Red who normally doesn’t give him much time on the nest got off for her morning break, left Arthur for more than an hour, she returned for a short while and gave Arthur incubation duty back. Fantastic. He is a great mate and really needs to be involved more now that he has proven himself. Also, wouldn’t you get really stiff sitting on eggs all day??

Arthur is such a little cutie.

Big Red is back on deck.

I am writing a separate report on the happenings at Dale Hollow and it should be finished in about two hours. There were some amazing things this morning and it is good to look at them separately.

Thank you for joining me this morning. There is so much happening. Pipping, hatching, fledging or branching. It should be a lively week in Bird World. Oh, and don’t forget about all of the Ospreys returning! Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Redding Bald Eagles, Pix Cam, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Cal Falcons, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife, and Charles Sturt University at Orange Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross.

Valentine’s Day in Bird World

It’s cold and there was more snow yesterday and some blowing wind last night!

There is good news today.

Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagles have two eggs as of today at 16:07. The reveal came at 16:34. Congratulations Pittsburgh!!!!!!!!

Eagle Country had its second hatch today. My goodness these nests are going to keep everyone busy! Two precious bobble heads – a complete Eagle family for Valentine’s Day!

Dad’s got a bunny on the nest in celebration. Congratulations Eagle Country!

Mum isn’t even in the picture. I think Ervie hollers so loud she wanted some peace and quiet. There is Ervie and Dad just hanging out in the shed together. They look perfectly at home!

Ervie, we still love you. You are everyone’s Valentine.

Sadly the competition on the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest has continued today. In addition, I am not seeing a lot of food in the pantry on this nest like there was earlier. Certainly the Eagles begin to slow down on deliveries but it seems a little early at this nest. NE26 is certainly not treating NE27 nicely.

Those images of that feeding were at 11:14 this morning. Thirty minutes later they are a cuddle puddle.

Neither chick has a big crop. NE26 is clearly much larger than 27. If you were going by size now you would say Big sister and Little Brother.

A fish was fed at 16:00. NE26 ate. I could not see any evidence of 27 eating. It was in submission on the side all the while. I am certainly not liking what I am seeing in this nest. I wish that Samson would get on the nest and feed 27 while Gabby feeds 26 just like Harriet and M15 do in situations like this.

NE26 passes out in a food coma. Little Bit is up looking to see if there is any scrapes on the nest.

27 found a few flakes and then aroused 26 to look up to see what 27 was doing. Note the very nice crop on 26. If there had been enough fish, I am certain that 27 could have had its share once 26 was asleep.

A few minutes later an adult lands on the nest. NE27 opens its beak at 26. It is Samson and there is no good. The adults have been on alert for several days because of intruders.

There has been no more food brought to the nest or feedings since 16:00. NE26 is also hungry. I sure hope there is a whopper of a fish brought in late. As I mentioned, Gabby and Samson have been on high alert because of intruders and that will account for less food on the nest. Protecting their territory is their first priority. The eaglets are last. NE27 had a full crop last night and it will be fine – just hungry. Let us hope that 26 gets full and passes out so 27 can have a meal. I have to say that I am more than disappointed – and I hope that the intrusions stop so this nest can get back to normal. As I often say, the fortunes of the birds can turn on a dime. It can be intruders or bad weather or the heat of summer. Send all good wishes out to them.

This is the video of that great dinner yesterday when both Gabby and Samson were on the nest with the two chicks. Samson fed NE27 til he was super full. Tears.

Come on guys – let’s do that again tonight!

There is great news up in Minnesota. The first egg of the 2022 season was laid by Nancy on 12 February. This is the nest of Nancy and Harry. It is one of my favourites. Last year Harry was only 4 years old when he fledged two super eaglets! Congratulations Nancy and Harry.

Here is the link to their streaming cam:

And here is the video of that first egg of the season laid on 12 February. We will be on egg watch for #2 tomorrow.

Send all your warm wishes to the NEFlorida Nest. I really hope that 27 gets a good feed tonight. Make no mistake, this eaglet is not starving to death. But regular and sufficient feedings really help keep the babies healthy and stress-free.

Thank you for joining me. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: MN DNR Eagle Nest, NEFlorida and the AEF, Port Lincoln Osprey Cam, Eagle Country, and Pix Cams.

Late Friday and early Saturday in Bird World

It is fantastic that the camera at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge is up and running again. We can see the comings and goings of Dad and – of course, our dear Ervie. Saturday morning (Australian time) both were in the shed.

Ervie and Dad both flew off together a 09:13:07. At the time, I did not know what has caused them to be frightened.

Then there it was – a motorboat!

Ervie returned to the barge – four hours alter – at 13:47.

Ervie flew off the nest again. He returned at 14:03:34. It looks like he has been in the water. I wonder if he was caught anything? He has certainly tried. I did not see a fish delivery but am told that Dad did, indeed, bring in a fish for his boy. Fantastic.

How lucky we are to still be able to watch the trials and tribulations of our Ervie! He was gone for nearly four hours during the time the boat scared him and Dad off the barge. Then the returned, left again, and is back. I do hope they post the information from his tracker for that 4 hour period. Wonder where he went?

Are you a fan of Eagle Country? If so, you will be delighted to know that Abby and Blazer had their first hatch today. Congratulations!

While Eagle Country has a hatch, Pittsburgh-Hays has their first egg of the season. It arrived at 18:22:43. Gosh, things are really starting to happen quickly.

At the Redding California Bald Eagle nest of Liberty and Guardian, we will be on egg watch for Saturday the 12th! Liberty laid her first egg on 9 February at 15:19:43.

It looks like the first tour to see the nest of Anna, Louis, and Kincaid at the Kisatchie National Forest was a success. The Rangers are really trying to raise awareness about the Bald Eagles and next year they plan to have another camera with the couple in another area of the forest.

https://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2022/02/11/meet-kincaid-kisatchie-national-forests-new-eagle-camera-tour-webcam-bald-bird-baby-louisiana-watch/6743594001/?fbclid=IwAR02RCbsl09kGU4AwhlvnT0eGBl1CsdMsM1EBREPQlSHPmT4NkWj-SiGgYM

Kincaid hatched on 12 January. This eaglet is growing fast. Lots of gorgeous thermal down and juvenile feathering appearing. Kincaid has tried to brood and the poor ‘big thing’ can’t get under Mum any longer. Awww.

We are on egg watch at the Redding Bald Eagle nest of Liberty and Guardian.

It is hatch watch at the Captiva Osprey Nest of Andy and Lena on Santibel Island. No pips yet.

R1 and R2 are really getting their juvenile feathers. These two are beauties at the WRDC nest. When they sit up light R1 is doing, some people see a big frog – others see a Buddha. R2 is busy looking over the edge of the nest. So far this human made nest has worked really well for this family. Well done Ron Magill of the Miami Zoo.

The eaglet at the Osceola Bald Eagle nest is self-feeding and doing a great job of it!

What a majestic bird.

Yesterday, I posted information on what happens during week 3 for the little eaglets. B15, the chick on Pa Berry and Missy’s nest at Berry College in Mt Berry, Georgia, is right there. B15 has really grown. Look at the crop, the big feet, and the mohawk. Perfect development for its age.

The fans of Ma Berry did not take to Missy at first but she has proven herself to be an enthusiastic and responsible Mum this year to B15.

[Just a note. Ma Berry has been seen having baths in Alabama. She seems to be well – and easily identified by her deformed foot.]

Adorable B15. Love the hair do!!!!!!!

Gustave Axelson wrote an engaging article about his family trip from New York to Algonquin Park near Toronto to see the Canada Jay whose population is declining. When they returned home, his teenage son- who had no interest in birds prior to the trip – was posting bird images on his Instagram feed. Apparently, according to Axelson, birdwatching is now considered ‘cool’. I can’t think of a better way to help the birds than to engage your children and friends with them. It is how to raise their awareness but also, when they care and have empathy with these amazing creatures, it helps to secure the future for them. Everyone can help!

The title of the article is “The Magic of Birds” and it is in the NYTimes. I hope that you can open it. It is a really uplighting read.

Let’s all do our part. Introduce someone to the love of birds that you have this spring. Then ask them to pass it along to another person. Soon…there are huge numbers of people loving and protected our feathered friends!

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: Berry College Bald Eagles, KNF Bald Eagles, Redding Bald Eagles, Captiva Osprey Cam, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, WRDC Bald Eagles, Osceola Bald Eagles, and Eagle Country.

Please not: This is a static post. Updates on eggs laid, nestlings hatching, will come in subsequent blogs. I will not update this particular page. Thanks!

Late Wednesday in Bird World

Ever since our big storm with all the snow and -35 temperatures the number of birds visiting the garden feeders has decreased. The European Starlings that once graced the Lilac Bushes and all the neighbouring trees are down to a handful from a record number of 58. The regulars are here along with about 40 Sparrows. That is also a huge decline. I wonder what is going on?? It is -9 and the wind has ranged from 23 kph to now 16 kph. It was the first time that my fingers felt like they were freezing when I was on my walk. One bird and lots of squirrels running around, a few people walking dogs. The garden was so peaceful.

Diane at the Achieva Osprey Nest laid her third egg this morning, 9 February, at 07:36. She has been incubating the other two eggs since the second was laid. 37 days is the average for hatching to begin. So the middle of March there should be bobbleheads on this nest. My intention will be to stock up on all manner of ‘calming’ teas should sibling 1 turn out to the brute that it was last year.

The third hatch survived only by its sheer determination not to die many times over and finally, Diane recognizing this and she began to go and catch catfish and made sure it ate. Chatters dubbed #3 ‘Tumbles’ because it was tripping over its feet. I called it Tiny Tot and then merged the two names together. Turns out that Tiny Tot Tumbles became the most formidable chick on the nest, taking over control and staying to even help Jack defend the nest. She was an incredible bird.

The nest is located in a parking lot of an Achieva Credit Union in St Petersburg, Florida. There is a chat connected with the streaming cam but there has been no moderator. Here is the link to the Achieva Camera:

This morning Big Red and Arthur paid another visit to the Fernow Tower Light Stand. This has been Big Red’s nest choice for the past few years. The nest is on the grounds of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The hawks live on their campus territory year round.

The couple will continue to refurbish this nest for at least another 5 weeks. The earliest Big Red has laid her eggs as on 13 March and she did that only once. She laid the first egg on 14 March once and the 16th twice. I tend to think of her as laying on average around the 23rd but, the birds are surprising everyone this year.

Arthur flew in with a stick at 09:56:36.

Getting the right placement of the twigs on the nest is important as Big Red is very particular.

Here comes Big Red to join Arthur with her own big stick.

Oh, there is our beautiful Big Red, the Queen of all Red-tail Hawks, in good form landing on her nest. She is 19 years old. Hatched in 2003 in Brooktondale, NY, just down the road from Ithaca. Banded on 10 October of that same year. Arthur is from a nest adjacent to Big Red’s territory. Arthur is 7 years old this year. Big Red and Arthur became a bonded couple after Big Red’s first mate, Ezra, was killed in 2017. This will be the 5th breeding season for Big Red and Arthur! Can’t wait.

Both are carefully looking at what needs to be done to whip this nest into shape for this season.

If you look carefully, Arthur has already had breakfast. The evidence is on his talons. Oh, I hope this is a good year for chipmunks for the Ls. Yes, they will be the Ls.

Arthur flies off to get more twigs and Big Red settles in to work on that nest cup.

And here is Arthur. Big Red has flown off and he is giving this nest cup a once over, too. Look at that magnificent tail. That is what makes the Red-tail Hawks ‘red tails’. The hawks do not get their red tails until they are a year old. Until then they have to settle with two colours of grey stripes. In fact, when Big Red picked Arthur out of other possible mates, he did not yet have his red tail! That tail is almost like a badge of honour. If you survive your first year, you get the mark of the red tail. In reality, only 1 out of 3 eyasses survive their first year. The challenges for the youngsters are enormous.

I am going to start marking the days on my calendar. There are two cameras and a dedicated team of moderators on the chat. You will learn everything you wanted to know about hawks and more. Once the chicks fledge there are birders on the ground (BOGs) that submit photos and videos so that we can keep up with them til they leave the territory.

Here is the link to one of the cameras:

Sadly, the streaming cam to the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge is still off line. Oh, I wonder how Ervie and Mum and Dad are doing.

The Netherlands is reporting the third White-tail Eagle killed by a wind turbine. This is 3 out of 15 specially banded birds. There is an easy fix for the birds – install bird alarm systems and/or paint one of the blades black so that the birds can ‘see’ the moving blade. It is well known that this really helps in diminishing the numbers of birds deaths. As we build more and more wind farms, measures must be taken to protect all of the birds, not just eagles. Painting one blade black is a cheap easy fix that can be done in the factory that has been known about for a number of years. So why isn’t this being done?

There was another ground search for Bella at the NCTC Bald Eagle Nest with no luck in finding her. Meanwhile, Smitty and the new female have been working on the nest and mating. I hope that Bella is somewhere recovering from her injuries.

Harriet and M15s eaglets continue to change into juveniles right before our eyes. They sure love to eat! And they have gorgeous juvenile plumage with only a few dandelions lurking about. The top image is E20. What a crop. Don’t need to worry about this one getting its share anymore.

Harriet and M15 keeping the babies full.

Things are going alright on the WRDC in Miami. Both R1 and R2 are progressing in their feather development. Both are getting much more steady on their feet and there is a nice big fish on the nest for dinner. R2 has survived. Worry time is past (for me anyway).

NE26 and 27 are doing great. They survived all the torrential downpours in Jacksonville two days ago. Gabby was such a trooper keeping those kids dry and fed. I was ever so impressed.

Still on egg watch at the Pittsburgh-Hays nest. The adults are busy watching a train pass on the upper tracks at the moment.

Here is a link to their streaming cam:

There is egg watch for Liberty and Guardian at the Redding, California nest. My goodness the wind is just blowing and howling there.

Here is the link to their streaming cam. Also watch out for those very informative videos by Gary.

This coming weekend it is hatch watch for Lena and Andy at the Captiva Osprey Nest on Santibel Island, Florida. I cannot find that streaming cam live anymore. The owner of the property said that he would cut the power once the eggs hatched so maybe it is just offline. I will check again later and report back if i find it operative tomorrow.

Everything is just fine at the Kistachie National Forest nest in Louisiana. The pantry has food and Kincaid is growing like crazy. This is the best set up to actually hear Eagles chitter with one another. Yesterday little Kincaid joined in. It was precious. Highly recommended. There is not a lot of action since the feedings are spread out but it is a great nest ‘to listen’ when the parents are about on and off the tree.

This is not even a dent into all the on line nests. B15 at Berry College is doing great as are the pair of eaglets at Hilton Head. Jackie and Shadow continue to incubate their eggs. So far so good. The same with Thunder and Cheta. While we wait for Big Red to get her clutch started, the wait is also on for the return of all the European birds from African to their spring and summer homes in Europe and the UK. In addition, Lady and Dad have been visiting their nest in the Sydney Olympic Park. Expect eggs around the beginning of June. Wow. Time melts.

Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me today. I am so happy to have you here with me and the birds.

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Achieva Credit Union, SWFlorida Bald Eagles and D Pritchett, WRDC, KNF, Pix Cameras, and Redding Eagles.

Late Thursday in Bird World

There are lots of things that have not gone to plan. Put an expensive tracker on an Osprey named Ervie and you have high hopes that he is going to break world speed records and wind up in Sydney! So where is Ervie today?

He’s hanging out with Dad. I wonder if Dad enjoys the company? Yesterday, Dad brought three fish in for his lad – at 15:44, 16:30, and 18:06. Maybe it isn’t such a bad strategy! Will Ervie ever leave home? I hope not. It is sure fun to watch the changing dynamics on this Osprey barge.

Cody and Steve of the US Forestry Service for Kistachie National Forest thought that the on line counter to name the eaglet was working fine – until it wasn’t! The counting stopped today at noon, not on the 9th of February. As it happens I was watching when all of this was discovered. The % of votes for each of the three names has stayed consistent since the start of voting. With that in mind and 447 people voting in a single day, the eaglet is named Kincaid. Personally I am thrilled. It fits with the names of the parents and the older sibling, Kistachie, who fledged last year.

Annie feeding Kincaid the fresh fish that Louis brought in earlier.

A really quick luck at what this storm system is doing.

Big Red and Arthur’s nest in Ithaca is receiving snow, as expected. If this is all the snow they get it will be amazing.

In Northwest Georgia, Missy is being the Mumbrella over B15. They are getting a torrential amount of rain there.

Poor Missy.

It is wet at Duke Farms in Hillsborough, NJ.

I expected to see snow at both the US Steel Eagles and Pittsburgh-Hayes but it has been chucking down the rain there so far.

They are on egg watch at Pittsburgh-Hayes.

This is a little later and the rain drops are still coming down. I wonder if they are going to begin to get a little icy?

It has been a nice day for R1 and R2 and their parents, Rita and Ron, at the WRDC nest in Miami. Both eaglets ate well. R2 is already passed out in a food coma.

As the sun is setting in Fort Myers, E19 and E20 are having a mice meal before bedtime. They have had a nice day, too. Both the WRDC and the SWFlorida eaglets are really getting those dark juvenile feathers. R1 continues to have the most dandelions of all!

There are food comas at NEFlorida and no rain or snow! These two are absolutely precious. Good weather for Samson and Gabby!

It was a really nice day if you were up in Big Bear today with Jackie and Shadow.

The wind is picking up slightly at The Landings, Savannah Great Horned Owl nest. No precipitation that I can see and they should not be expecting any. The storm appears to be tracking North of them.

There are lots of nests. My friends in Oklahoma tell me that the snow has come down and that there are huge storms in Missouri. The birds in Ohio and the areas where the ice is accumulating are in our thoughts. Thank you so much for joining me for a quick check in on a few of the nests. Congratulations to everyone at the Kisatchie National Forest on the naming of their eaglet – Kincaid! Just love it.

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages or both where I took my screen captures: KNF Bald Eagles,, KNF Forest Rangers FB, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Cornell Bird Lab Savannah GHOW, Duke Farms, Berry College, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Pix Camera, Explore.org, Friends of Big Bear, SWFlorida Eagle and D Pritchett, NE Florida and the AEF, and the WRDC.