Tag Archives: raptors

Lindsay fledges, Little Bit 17 gets a whole fish, and other news in Bird World

17-18 June 2022

I really wish that I could send Louis and Dorcha some of our fine weather. This nest gas endured treacherous weather – horrific weather. Weather that you would never wish on your worst enemy. The only thing they haven’t had is _ _ _ _. Starts with an ‘S’ and ends with a ‘W’. I am not going to say it in case it happens. (I think they had that early on but not recently). Poor thing. Dorcha can hardly hold on and she is trying so hard to protect those precious babies.

You can’t see it in the image but the rain is pelting down and the wind is gale force. Not just blowing hard. Gale force.

The pounding rain has stopped for now at Loch Arkaig. I can hardly believe it – Louis has brought in a fish just after 0500. I hope the wind does not blow Dorcha off the nest like it has done on another occasion. She is trying hard to feed the Bobs and have some fish herself. Gracious.

Someone said they need to move to the other nest where it is more protected. Maybe they will after this year at this one!

Laddie LM12 brought in a super nice fish for Blue NC0 and the two osplets. It is early, early in the morning and this is brilliant. The day is starting off just great at the Loch of the Lowes.

Oh, it is such a nasty Saturday morning at the Dfyi nest. Idris hasn’t even left to go fishing yet. Everyone is wet – Telyn and the chicks are hoping the promised rain will not happen! It sure is beautiful and green but I would not want to visit western Scotland and Wales in June – all that rain and cold down to the bone.

Aran is away fishing. Mrs G is flying off for a break and the trio are sort of waking up. There is a fish already on the nest.

Dylan has brought Seren a fish for the family’s breakfast. It looks like it is a really rainy cold day at Llyn Clywedog. Sun please!!!!

Maya and the three Bobs at Rutland are waiting for Blue 33 to deliver breakfast! The question on everyone’s mind is: when will they ring the Bobs? Oldest Bob is 40 days old today. Ringing needs to take place before 45 days if it is just the Darvic Ring. If it is a satellite pack too, then from 40-45 days. Will they ring them on Monday?

There is good parenting DNA running through CJ7 and Blue 022. First time parents. Blue 022 shows up at 04:22 to give CJ7 a break and then he is off to get the breakfast fish. What a beautiful couple. I should note that it is incredibly foggy at Poole Harbour this morning.

The fog is lifting. Let us hope that Dad gets a fish soon.

It is a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Port Lincoln, Australia. Both Mum and Dad are on the barge. Does anyone think that they might actually lay their eggs earlier than last year? We will wait to see.

So why do you think that Lindsay doesn’t want Grinnell Jr looking out the stone work?!!!

You see Lindsay wanted to fledge first —— and that is precisely what she did! Lindsay landed on top of the library!!!!!

There was a lot of activity on the ND-LEEF nest this morning and one incident, right at the start of the morning, made all of us just drop for a few minutes. A prey delivery came in at 08:09:22. The adult flies into Little
Bit in the middle of the nest and then ND16? lands on Little Bit. All of that caused me to hold my breath for a moment ——along with anyone else watching closely at that time.

Little Bit was just minding his own business on the nest with 16 over at the rim and 15 up higher in the branches.

Adult arrives. You can see Little Bit behind and under the left wing and chest of the adult.

That is 16 on top of Little Bit. That little yellow foot on the right under 16 belongs to Little Bit.

Just look. Little Bit’s entire wing has been pulled over. Oh, gosh. My heart is sinking by now.

Gosh. Little Bit seems to have had everything that could happen – happen – to him. Here he is out sniffing around wanting to make that steal!

Little Bit gets that prey item and is still working on it when at 10:06:50 a fish is delivered. 16 gets it but walks away. 15 doesn’t even come down to eat and 17 takes that fish!

16 left the fish to moved up to the parent like it wanted the adult to feed it. Can you imagine when Little Bit looked over and saw that whole fish!!!!!!!! It is at the bottom right of the ‘1 Foot’ indicator.

Little Bit ate almost the entire fish. He walked away with a little left that 16 took.

I would say that Little Bit deserved that fish after what happened with the first delivery. He also deserved it because he has worked so bloody hard eating all the scraps off the nest and dried fish and Raccoon. What an amazing eaglet he is –so glad that he was not injured earlier.

At the Cornell Red-tail Hawk nest, L4 is on the fledge ledge. It is windy.

L4 is really getting some air.

Ospreys have been arriving and one has been moving sticks around the Cape Henlopen State Park nest that say the adults dead or disappear and the three chicks starve last weekend.

Everything looks good at the Glacier Gardens nest of Liberty and Freedom. the wee ones had their breakfast and are napping with Mum.

There was some excitement at the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. It ‘appeared’ that Star had fledged but later it was confirmed that it was Sentry flying off and then he returns chasing Liberty who arrives with a fish.

At the National Arboretum nest of Mr President and Lotus, one of the adults is keeping a close eye on Takoda who is running up and down the branch on the right hand side. It is windy. Will today be the day for Takoda to fly?

Ahote and Sky are on the natal nest this morning at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta. The adults will know where Kana’kini is and they will often now deliver prey off the nest to the fledglings if they are elsewhere.

Sky has been doing some great hovering but has yet to take that first flight.

If you haven’t voted for Richmond and Rosie’s two 2022 hatches, here is the announcement. You have 2 days to do so and it is free. Join in!

The little hawklet living with the Bald Eagles on Gabriola Island has branched! Well done!

There are so many nests to cover but that is it for this morning. We could see some more fledges Saturday afternoon. Congratulations to everyone at Cal Falcons – to Annie, Alden, an Grinnell – and to Lindsay for her first flight. It is OK to fly now Junior!!!!!

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care all. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: GROWLS, Cornell RTH, Cal Falcons, LD-NEEF, Cape Henlopen State Park Ospreys, Explore.org, SF Ospreys, NADC-AEF, Glacier Gardens, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Friends of Redding Eagles, Poole Harbour, LRWT, CarnyXWild, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dfyi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, and Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Postcode Lottery, and the Woodland Trust.

Late Friday in Bird World

17 June 2022

Oh, it is simply a gorgeous day on the Canadian Prairies. The wind is blowing gently and the temperature is perfect. The tyres in the bikes are topped off and they have had a good wash in anticipation of a ride along the trails this evening. Did I say Canadians love being outside once the snow melts? The ground is still water logged and the flooded areas are drying up.

In the garden. I have seen Dyson a couple of times. The leaves are so thick that I only catch his tail as he weaves in and out. Little Red appears to have found himself a new home in a near by tree!!! Thank goodness. The new rabbit continues to come. The little plants that he likes are under the frame that will hold the sunroom —– where I can ‘spy’ on all of them much better. I will transfer those plants for the bunny to another area of the garden. The real break through has come with Mr Crow. Two years ago I was ‘mad’ at him. He would go to the Grackles nest and take out one of their fluffy chicks and sit so I could see him wolfing it down. Not pleased. It has taken him two years to forgive me and trust me again. Several weeks now have seen him coming for nice Italian bread, cheese, and sausage with cheese in the middle – a sandwich – around 1700. He began calling me at a distance when the food was gone. Now he will come within 2 metres or 6 feet of me. I show him his dinner and walk away. Prior to yesterday he would wait a considerable time to fly down and eat. Now he knows that I am not going to hurt him so he drops down almost immediately.

He likes the little mess that has been created by Dyson & Co with the seeds!

Mr Crow has eaten the cheese first, then the bread, and now he is after the Polish sausage with the cheese in the middle. He will eat the cheese first, take a couple of bites of the sausage, and return to the pile to get another sausage.

Mr Crow has figured out that he can take two sausage pieces together to his nest. Are there babies? Maybe. Last evening a murder of Crows were together and not happy. It appears the GHOW was in the neighbourhood and it is one of their main predators.

He’s got them!

The last thing I want to share with you from the garden is a picture of the tea roses. These wild rose bushes were here when we bought the house. But they were ‘ragged’. Two plantings survived from the former 1902 house on the property – the tea climbing roses and the peony bush. So slowly, ever so slow, they have been cleared out and staked and with all the rain this year they have really taken off. I wish I could bottle the scent for everyone!

I often try to imagine the woman who planted these two flowers. Hopefully they will be here in another 120 years!

There is a really nice article about the fledging of the Pittsburgh-Hayes trio. Publicity and streaming cams along with those fabulous on line discussions educate people and hopefully, the more they know about the wildlife, the more they will respect it and its needs.

https://triblive.com/local/hays-bald-eagle-juveniles-take-flight-share-the-skies-with-young-hawk/?fbclid=IwAR22HzknCr8BaTgQk9XUO_IhwKqPBLabye24nb8xUI4qoa3daQpWvRdlwwE

One of the skills that Little Bit 17 (ND17) from the Notre-Dame nest has learned is how to eat carrion! Thank goodness for those poor raccoons that have been road kill because they have literally kept this wee third hatch alive on that nest. And they will keep him alive after he fledges!!!!! Just think. We are all talking about 17 branching before 16!!!!!! Remember those times when we ached with worry that he would not live another day? He has and he is going to fledge! Yesterday when I was watching with the chatters, 17 had one foot on the nest and one on the branch. If 15 would have moved, Little Bit would have easily branched before 16. Easily.

So today has been another Raccoon day on the nest. It arrived around 13:04. At 14:18 Little Bit 17 gets it. Two minutes later 16 takes it. Little Bit stole it again and around 14:46 Little Bit has it and is eating away.

At 14:17 Little Bit is looking at that Raccoon again and he wants it!

At 14:17:42 Little Bit has the raccoon.

The big sibling will give him a few minutes and then 16 will take it. (I think it is 16).

At 14:45 Little Bit is ready to go back and get some more raccoon. This time he let the older sibling open it up for him instead of doing all that work for them to get the benefit. That is how he will survive!

At 14:46:12, Little Bit has it again!!!!!! Way to go 17.

Little Bit is still eating on the meat of the Raccoon thirty minutes later. Oh, wow. He is going to get some good nourishment from that road kill.

At 15:22, Little Bit appears to be finished. There is not a lot left on that prey item. What are all the words we could use to describe this amazing third hatch? My money is on 17 being a survivor. He has all the skills to live out in the real world, all of them. Wouldn’t just love to set a couple of big fish right in front of him with no other eaglets around? He certainly does deserve them.

Give it up for Little Bit 17 again!!!!!! Big cheers. Adult flew in with what appeared to be a small fish at 17:53:53. Three captures. Adult in, 17 pounches on delivery, 17 horks delivery ——- right in front of 16. Way to go 17, ‘the King of the Snatch and Grab’.

Little Bit is having a rest on the nest – raccoon and a fish with the fish taken before 16 could even think about it. Sweet Eagle nap dreams, 17.

Birds are soooooooo intelligent. Tiger Mozone posted this BBC video on our FB group today and I hope that he doesn’t mind if I put it here. I want to add that there are other notorious birds that have done precisely what Henry did – Stanley, Iris’s mate, for one! I knew that but Tiger added that both Oden smashed the eggs and Red 8T just kicked them to the side of the nest. What I also found interesting was that EJ went missing for 9 days from Loch Garten in 2005 and Henry had to go get her and take her home – and when they got there, there was another couple on the nest! I continue to say that watching bird cams is much more interesting than much of what is on the streaming movie stations!!

Don’t miss watching this one. It is delightful. The BBC presenter says it is a tale of ‘revenge, jealousy, and murder’ worthy of any soap opera. Absolutely.

In total, Henry kicked out 8 eggs of EJ’s – four in 2005 and 4 again in 2007.

I want to do a couple of quick nest checks. The Loch of the Lowes lost a chick when the oldest prevented it from eating and then killed it a few days ago. How is that nest doing today?

Both had a good feed at tea time.

Dylan delivered such a large trout to Seren to feed the three Bobs at Llyn Clywedog that she was still feeding the trio an hour later!!!!!!! Those kids are going to sleep with sweet Osprey dreams for sure.

Despite the gale force winds at Loch Arkaig, Louis has been bringing in fish for Dorcha and the two chicks. Meanwhile, she tried to cover them with moss and keep hunkered down. Then they got a break. Oh, I hope they get more some good weather -nice sun and no rain – and no wind.

Louis delivered a whole trout and everyone had a really good feed. Just lovely. Time: 22:25.

Blue 33 and Maya have three big osplets!!!!!! When will they ring them?

It has been a good day at the UK Osprey nests – and it was a good day for Little Bit 17.

The White storklets at the Mlade Buky nest of Betty and Bukacek are doing marvellous. Mum Betty looks down as they wrestle with a single large fish. Then Betty gives them lots of smaller fish! All is well on this nest now. I do not believe there will be another elimination.

As I write this, Lindsay and Grinnell Jr have not flown and neither has RTH L4 at Cornell. Those are both a relief.

Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone. Smile – Little Bit is going to bed tonight quite full. So happy! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages: Capi Mlade Buky Storks, LRWT, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, CarnyXWild, Tiger Mozone and BBC.

Friday morning in Bird World

17 June 2022

The Cowlitz PUD nest losing all of its chicks just like the Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey nest is ‘catastrophic’. A reader ‘C’ wrote to me and said ‘not tragic but catastrophic’. I agree totally.

One reader wrote and thanked me for covering these events. You are all welcome. But, like you, I feel gutted and especially so with so many birds from this generation being lost in just a few weeks. It is numbing,.

We are left with adults grieving. Electra has a fish on her nest wanting to feed her babies and appearing in shock – not knowing what happened to them and where they are.

A discussion with Alan Poole and Poole Harbour about ospreys – New England population, mid-Atlantic Chesapeake Bay, and Florida Ospreys. I know that all of you will be interested when he compares the US birds with the UK Ospreys. It will be available for one month archived on YouTube.

There are some great images and if you want to learn about Ospreys – or be reminded about all things that are magnificent about our beautiful birds – you should watch this even if you have to do it in shifts. Very informative.

Just a note: Both males and females bring twigs to build the nest! I am thinking of Rosie at the SF Osprey Bay nest. She worked tirelessly helping Richmond rebuilt that destroyed nest – to human surprise they did it quickly!

Did you know that 20% of the world’s population of Ospreys live in Chesapeake Bay? There are 10,000 pairs on the channel markers in the water. Indeed, nests above water are quite safe for Ospreys (except for Bald Eagles and GHOW, if around). Did you know that fresh water fish is more nutritious than the salt fish? Do have a listen to Poole’s talk!

The Bald Eagle raising the hawklet in its nest on Gabriola Island has caught the interest of the world. Christian Sasse and David Hancock are at the nest site and are just giddy. It is considered a rare event and now twice in 5 years they have been able to witness an eagle family raising a hawklet. The first was Sydney in 2017. So here is the archived talk from yesterday and they will be live today, also. What a lucky little hawklet.

Things look better at the Loch of the Lowes. Both of the Osplets have big crops and it looks like Blue NC0 has had some fish, too. I sure hope so. Whatever was the issue at this nest with Laddie delivering food – weather, intruders, or an old eye problem or injury to the male – appears today, at least, to not be a problem. Fabulous.

The nest that is continuing to have weather difficulties is Loch Arkaig. If you check the local weather you will think that the nest should be fine but Loch Arkaig is its own microclimate and it can be terribly different from other areas close by. My heart goes out to Dorcha and Louis who have already lost their Little Bob. Louis – despite it all – gets the fish on the nest regardless. It is evening at Loch Arkaig. There are strong winds but no rain. Thankfully. Louis has brought the tea time meal for the kids. They are in the Reptilian Phase with those oily heads and beautiful coppery feathers at the back along the neck down to the shoulders. Send positive thoughts that we have two nestlings that are going to fledge here! Chase that bad weather away.

Aran brought in a lovely Sea Bass for Mrs G and the kids. He had the head for his tea – Sea Bass always welcome at the nests! Along with trout. All three Bobs at Glaslyn are fine. That is Little Bob coming up at the end getting a private feeding. Well done, Mrs G.

It looks like Idris might have brought in a trout to Telyn to feed their three Bobs at Dyfi. Again, another very happy nest.

Did you know that Telyn is the daughter of Rutland’s Maya and Green 5R (Maya’s partner before Blue 33 ousted him)? Both are fantastic females who really care for those chicks and have bonded with males that are inspirational providers.

I am becoming ever more interested in the way in which genetics plays out in the behaviour of Ospreys. The link between these two Super Moms, thus, becomes more compelling.

Dr Madis Levitis are moving the three Black Storklets to a forest nest and out of the clinic. They are doing exceptional and we have a huge thanks to this team who are working so hard to raise these three.

The smallest storklet is now standing like the older two. Great progress in its development.

The storklets hatched on the 22nd of May. They will be four weeks old on the 19th of June. You will no longer be able to see them in this clinic setting as they have been moved to an artificial nest in the forest where they will continue to be fed and can begin to climatize to the world where they will fledge in August and then make that very long trip to Africa on their first migration. This is a wonderful ending now – and we will check to see if a camera is installed in the forest so that we can watch their continued progress. Thank you Dr Leivits and staff!

Eyes are watching several nests today. One of those is Big Red and Arthur’s Redtail Hawk nest at Cornell where L4, the youngest, is ready to fledge.

Three are on the nest at 1300. It is L1 in the nest bowl, then L3, and L4. L1 is really prey calling! So loud. No fledge from L4 and I understand that there could be bad weather again so maybe they will stay on the nest.

L4 wants to go! It is windy and he is really feisty.

Star sits in the Redding Bald Eagle nest tree thinking about fledging.

Star sure is a beautiful eaglet.

L4 really wants to fly and I am going to watch him with my lunch. ND-LEEF Little Bit 17 waiting for food along with the others. He ate well yesterday so not worried.

You can watch, too!

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/red-tailed-hawks/

Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me this morning. See you soon!

Thank you to: Cornell RTH Cam, Friends of Redding Eagles, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery and the Woodland Trust, Eagle Club of Estonia, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dfyi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, and Cowlitz PUD.

Third – and last – Cowlitz PUD chick taken by Eagle

16 June 2022

It happened shortly after the Bald Eagle took the second osplet from the Cowlitz PUD nest. It returned for the third and last of the 2022 chicks.

There is something so terribly sad about seeing an Osprey couple doing well and then in the blink of an eye – three times over – to loose the eggs that they incubated for over a month, the chicks that had been fed and brooded. All gone.

We will never know if the couple had any experience dealing with intruders before – like this. We will never know if the Mum had stayed on the nest would the Osplets have been saved? or might Mum have been injured?

It has been a very sad week in Osprey world. The three osplets – older than the ones at Cowlitz starved because of other Osprey intruders – at the Cape Henlopen State Park nest in Delaware that might have killed the male and injured the female. The third hatch at the Loch of the Lowes was starved and then attacked and killed by the eldest. The third hatch at Loch Arkaig got its foot caught and couldn’t get under Dorcha and was out in the cold rain and died of hypothermia. The third hatch died at Llyn Brenig. It could not get out of the nest cup to eat. All so very, very sad.

Let us all hope that the tragedies at the nests are over.

My sincere condolences go out to the entire Cowlitz PUD family – the Ospreys and all the people behind the scenes that made it possible for us to watch their lives – the good and the bad.

My heart goes out to the wee chicks. Fly high little ones, fly high.

Little Bit 17 has a great afternoon!

16 June 2022

Hip Hip Hurray for Little Bit 17!

Little Bit 17 has gotten very good at opening up road kill and, in particular, raccoons. Today, a raccoon was delivered at 13:41:40. Little Bit 17 immediately grabbed it and mantled. At the time, 16 was on the nest and 15 was up in the branches dreaming of fledging. As some of the chatters have said on and off for a long time, 16 is lazy. She won’t fight Little Bit for the raccoon until he gets it nicely unzipped. It is simply too much work for 16 to be bothered. She has already had a fish today.

Little Bit 17 grabs the raccoon delivery at 13:41:40. He is quick.

Little Bit worked on that raccoon until 14:26 when ND16 steals it. At that point Little Bit runs over to the porch. The porch appears to be Little Bit’s security spot – away from 16.

16 is right there at the rim of the nest – waiting. Thankfully she did not attack Little Bit which fits in with her already having that salmon and also, not wanting to do the hard work.

It is difficult to know how much of the meat of the raccoon Little Bit was able to get since it takes some time to get through that fur and skin.

16 ate on the raccoon and now 15 has got it and is eating the meaty part. Little Bit 17 has come from the porch – he is not afraid of 15 – and is inching towards trying to steal some of that juicy raccoon he worked so hard to open up. — Surely 15 will leave something if 17 can’t steal it!

Neither 15 or 16 like the head of the raccoon – or at least, not to date. Normally Little Bit 17 gets to clean that up – there is a lot of fat and good nutrition in that head but it is work. Little Bit 17 is not afraid of working hard for its dinner — indeed, that is all the wee one knows. I sure hope he finds a territory that is full of nice fish! What a reward that would be.

Little Bit stole the raccoon from 15 around 15:14 and he is very busy eating up every last bit of it – fur and all!!!!!!!!!! Little Bit. You are amazing.

Everything you do on this nest is going to help you out there in the real world. Just like the little hawklet on the Bald Eagle nest, you are fast and quick. Sometimes small is not a bad thing!!!!!!

Moving over into the shade. You can see there is still some good meat on this raccoon. Little Bit is going to benefit from it all. He should have a nice crop after.

Little Bit 17 finished the raccoon and was so happy he did a great big wing flap. Oh, Little Bit if you only knew all the people that want you to have a wonderful life — with lots of big fish.

This is all that is left of that raccoon after Little Bit had it, then 16, then 15, and then Little Bit again. Still, the raptors do not let any part of the prey item go to waste, except turtle shells!!!!!!

Mum flies in at 16:13:42. At first 16 flies down thinking he might have a fish – but he doesn’t. Remember – Eagles do not waste anything. When 16 leaves, Little Bit moves up and Dad feeds him – but because 16 is on the nest, Little Bit is scared. So Little Bit 17 does the snatch and grab while Dad breaks off more raccoon pieces for him.

I thought Little Bit was going to choke on some of the bones but, no way. He got them down and got some great calcium in the process! Did I say Little Bit 17 amazes me.

The Big siblings are not interested and Little Bit 17 has relaxed even with 16 sitting on the rim. He has another bone in his beak working on getting it down.

All done. It was so nice to see Mum on the nest and to have her there to finish off that Raccoon with Little Bit. He is happy and full. Lovely. Relief. Mum is going to finish what is left.

Little Bit moved over to get some of the shade. It is 90 degrees at ground level.

And guess what? Little Bit is telling 15 to get higher up the tree…he wants to branch, too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At 16:39:27 an adult flew onto the nest with a small fish. It looks like 16 got that one and then 15 steals it. Meanwhile, Little Bit 17 is having something from Mum (fish?) or was she plucking. Whatever it is, Little Bit is getting some great bites in the process.

What a day! What a good day. Little Bit got raccoon and some fish. I got to chat with some of the chatters and that was great too. We all love Little Bit!

Wow. Just look at the three of them. Now if 15 would move up some, Little Bit could branch before 16!!!!!! That would just be perfect.

Wonder what they are watching? A flying demonstration from one of the parents trying to encourage fledging?

Gosh. It was an absolutely great day at the ND-LEEF nest. Little Bit 17 is truly a survivor and is an inspiration to us all —— never give up. Give it your bet shot always.

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

Thank you to the ND-LEEF streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

Eagle takes oldest Cowlitz osplet

16 June 2022

Sadly, my list of predations this year continues to get longer. Once Bald Eagles or GHOWs (other hawks, etc) know where there is easy prey they usually go after it until all is gone.

Sadly, the Cowlitz PUD Osprey nest lost a second chick – the oldest just a short while ago. Thank you to ‘C’ for alerting me to this incident.

Oh, this nest was doing so well this year compared to previous years. Hopefully, one parent will sit on that last chick! and not leave the nest.

Thank you to the Cowlitz PUD Osprey nest where I took my video clip.

Thursday in Bird World

16 June 2022

Wednesday came with some surprises – each of them involving a Bald Eagle. A Bald Eagle visited the Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey Nest for starters.

The way the eagle looked over and down at the nest it appeared that it understood ‘something’ had happened. The eagle did not stay long but it was a surprise to many seeing it on the Osprey nest.

Of course, the second incident with a Bald Eagle was the predation of one of the three osplets at the Cowlitz PUD nest by an eagle. Compared to former years this nest was doing really, really well this year. I believed that the youngest was to the right of Mum when she was feeding with the Middle to the left and Big behind. I have seen mention that it was the youngest taken elsewhere so it is unclear if it was Little or Middle Bob. Regardless this is very sad, indeed.

One reader ‘L’ wondered if the Bald Eagle might have been after the fish that Mum brought to the nest and was feeding the chicks.

The third is the ongoing raising of the hawklet by the Eagle family on Gabriola Island just off the coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. That is one very lucky little hawklet. It arrived on the nest on 4 June as a prey item and by that evening was being cared for and brooded by the female eagle. It looks like it is going to be a good outcome just like the Sydney nest in 2017!

GROWLS just got the funds for the streaming cam last year – and what an interesting first year it has turned out to be.

The hawklet is flapping its wings – the eaglet has also fed the hawklet so it has been fully adopted into the family. In an online discussion yesterday, Christian Sasse does not believe that the hawklet’s life is in any danger because there is plenty of food for the eagles in the area.

@GROWLS

Ferris Akel had a wonderful tour of the Cornell campus last night. It was purposefully to see Big Red, Arthur and the four hawks. He found every one of them! It is nice to be able to share some images with you.

I believe this to be L1. She was the only fledgling not on the nest but was out hunting – or sitting and watching from a lovely pine. Isn’t she gorgeous? A mini-Big Red with that amazing necklace.

Arthur was moving about. He had been with Big Red on the Bradfield Building (where they sleep on the ledge) and then moved to one of the light stands. Both parents were actively watching the Ls from a distance.

Of course, not all of the family cooperated with the lighting situation for the camera!

L4 was a sleepy baby. He kept nodding off. What a little cutie. I will never ever forget this wee babe clamouring over its big siblings to get right up front to eat. L4 was fearless!

L4 has not fledged. L2 just flew onto the nest joining L4. It seems that everyone is encouraging L4 to fledge today! We will see. It has been rainy and mention of a storm system moving in makes me want L4 to stay put. 🙂

What is with the Ls loving to run up and down the rails? This is L4 last evening around 19:30.

Like L4 at Cornell, Sky is the only eaglet not to have fledged at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta. Here he is doing a great job of hovering. Will they both fledge today?

Harriet (E1) at the MN-DNR nest of Nancy (and Harry) is now branching.

It is hard to see little Love and Peace in the Glacier Gardens nest of Liberty and Freedom. They are both still there and they are both fuzzy – sweet. Mum has a dirty beak from aerating that nest!

Osplets watching Idris as he takes off after delivering a fish to Telyn for their lunch.

Have you noticed that some of the Ospreys are leaving the greenery growing in the nests this year? It is thought to help against predation (supposedly). The lovely Mrs G and her three osplets at the Glaslyn nest – they have quite a bit of grass growing around the sides of the nest cup.

Dylan loves Brown Trout. Today at 12:12 he delivered a whole on to Seren and the three Bobs at the Llyn Clywedog nest. He didn’t even take a single bite! Oh, the family is going to love that fish.

Poor Dorcha. The wind and rain only let up for awhile it seens at the Loch Arkaig nest in Scotland. Thankfully Louis is a good fisher. The surviving two Bobs are doing well it would appear despite the cold and wet.

There has been continuing concern over the Loch of the Lowes Osprey nest of Laddie LM12 and Blue NC0. Laddie has only been bringing in twiddlers – tiny snack fish. The question was – what is going on? Some felt that Laddie had another eye injury. At any rate, we can take a breath for the moment. He brought in a substantial fish and the chicks and Mum got to eat. Well done Laddie.

Three gorgeous osplets at the Foulshaw Moss nest of White YW and Blue 35 are growing and getting those beautiful juvenile feathers. All three are almost identical in size, too!

Blue 33 is a great provider. He arrived at the nest and there was already a fish there that Maya was feeding the trio – so he had a nice lunch himself. Well deserved for sure! I have never gone to sleep at night worrying about this nest.

It looks like the two wee surviving Bobs at the Llyn Brenig nest are doing alright. Positive energy for continuing growth and success for Mr and Mrs AX6 and family.

Both up at the front of the nest looking off to the world beyond.

Wow! One of the Bobs at the Poole Harbour nest of CJ7 and Blue 22 has grown enough for us to see it!!!!!!!!! Yes.

So far, the food deliveries at the ND-LEEF Bald Eagle nest have alluded Little Bit 17. I am hoping – beyond hope – that prey arrives at the nest and our third hatch gets some food. Send positive wishes please.

The three storklets in the care of Dr Madis Leivits in Estonia are doing great. While everyone would prefer that they could have been raised successfully in the wild by a single parent, it was not possible. The three surviving storklets continue to thrive at the Vet College. Mum has been put back in place and the wee ones can sense when fish are coming! Have a look.

And here is their lunch today!

Here is their latest feeding – a few hours after lunch.

The two Eastern Imperial Eaglets ate side by side – . Fantastic. I always worry about the Golden Eagles and the Imperial ones because of siblicide. Both of these chicks look good. The feeding is quite pleasant.

Bernd-Ulrich Meyburg wrote a paper titled, “Sibling aggression and mortality amongst nesting eagles” in 2008. In that paper he states, “In certain eagle species it is not the availability of food that effects the chances of survival but the interval between hatching. If the interval between hatching is short, the second chick can develop normally and fledge.” The two below are closer in size and it is hoped that they will both thrive and fledge.

We are two days into fledge watch at the scrape of Annie and Alden in The Campanile on the campus of UCalifornia-Berkeley. Cal Falcons have provided another great growth chart on their FB page.

We continue to have some fledge watches at various nests and lots of wishes for prey items to land on the ND-LEEF nest.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, videos, and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Liz M, Cape Henlopen State Park Ospreys, GROWLS, Ferris Akel Tours, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, MN-DNR, Glacier Gardens, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, CarnyXWild, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lotttery, and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Woodland Trust, Cumbrian Wildlife Trust, LRWT, Llyn Brenig, Edith P, Eagle Club of Estonia, and Cal Falcons.

Eagle steals osplet off Cowlitz PUD Osprey Nest!

15 June 2022

I was always cautious about watching the Cowlitz PUD Osprey nest after the death of the chicks last year due to the extreme heat, siblicide, and starvation. Tonight as I was listening to Ferris Akel’s tour of the Cornell Campus to see Big Red, Arthur, and the Ls, I received word from ‘C’ that an Eagle had taken a chick at Cowlitz. That was only a few minutes ago so it was approximately 1630-1700 nest time.

We must always keep in mind that intruders can, ultimately, be deadly. We have seen this too much in the last weeks. The parents have to protect their territory and if they leave the nest, anything can happen. Additionally, they are not able to hunt or fish. Chicks starve. Siblicide occurs. It is an extremely viscous circle.

This year there were three healthy fat little osplets on this nest. The mother was busy feeding them a fresh fish when the intruder flew over head. She flew off the nest.

This is just so sad. Here is the event as it unfolded.

Thank you ‘C’ for writing to me immediately.

Thank you to the Cowlitz PUD Osprey cam where I took my screen captures and video clip.

Little Bit ND17 is still the ‘King of the Snatch and Grab’ and other news in Bird World

15 June 2022

We needed some good news in Bird World after Big Bob plummeted Little Bob at the Loch of the Lowes to death earlier this morning. That nest, by the way, is not any happier. Laddie brought in what looked like a minnow. Blue NC0 and both chicks will be quite hungry. I wonder what is up?

But, never mind! At the ND-LEEF nest there were two fish brought in before 10:00. The first was a Sucker delivered by Mum and the second was a Blue Gill brought in by Dad.

At 05:53:51, the sucker arrives. Little Bit 17 gets it first. What did I tell you. Then he loses it. Then he steals it again — twice!

At 09:45:53 Dad brings in the Blue Gill. ND15 gets it. At 10:01:03, Little Bit 17 steals it. Boy is this kid good. He grabs it, does the most amazing turn around and runs to the porch to eat it!!!!!! Wow. Is happiness spelled fish???????? It is cooler – 78F. Yesterday it was 96 F at the nest. Let us hope more fish arrive if it is to be ultra hot later.

The sucker arrives at 05:53:51. Little Bit will get it first, lose it and steal it again twice!

Little Bit 17 is very clever. He has had to be to survive on this nest with two much larger siblings and often, little prey. His head shows that he has also paid for trying to steal food to live. So, he sits and watches 15. 15 is not hostile to Little Bit like 16 is.

Little Bit watches and listens and plans its attack.

When he sees the right opportunity – meaning he can see that he can grab the prey and get out – he goes for it. He grabs. Turns back to the right like a ballet dancer doing a pirouette. Then he moves quickly to his safe spot – the porch.

ND15 raises its wing. Little Bit 17 has the rest of the fish and is getting to the porch. What is really incredible is we are talking about an event that only took seconds.

This is thought to be ND16’s first branching – at 10:06. We don’t know what happened when the camera was off. This is good. 15 has already branched and maybe 16 will be more concerned with flying than with Little Bit.

The temperature has now jumped and it is hot. Thankfully – due to his great stealing skills – Little Bit 17 has had some food and hydration.

It is week 4 at the Osprey nest of Richmond and Rosie on the Whirley Crane. San Francisco Ospreys posted their weekly update video of the family. Do we have names for these? Not yet, in a few days. Should I mention that there is no problem with fish delivery at this nest?

Congratulations to Pittsburgh Hayes 18 who fledged this morning at around 11:17. (or is it a fludge?). Upper left branch – lots of leaves and flies off from there! Well done.

We are into day 2 of fledge watch at Cal Falcons. It is hard to believe that Grinnell Jr and Lindsay are really ready to fly!

They can look through the openings to see the world outside that will soon be theirs.

L4 was on the nest with L3 this morning. Beautiful little hawks of Big Red and Arthur. There is a storm coming in on Thursday so fingers crossed that L4 decides not to fledge! What a cutie pie.

The storklets of Jan and Janika had a good feed not that long ago. They are doing extremely well. The staff and all those involved must be terribly happy so far.

We now know that Betty at the Mlade Buky White Stork nest eliminated the youngest chick, the 5th, a couple of days ago. Now Kaia, the mate of Karl II, has tried to eliminate one of the storklets. They are all big! Everything is currently normal on this nest. Kaia might perceive that there is not enough food. She does not know that Karl II has been bringing in lots and lots of food. Let us hope that all stays normal with all the chicks! Send positive wishes.

Today there will be an on line presentation and Q & A about the Bald Eagles on Gabriola Island in British Columbia that have adopted the Red tail hawklet. It was brought in as prey on 4 June and is currently being fed and cared for by the eagles as if it is their own.

Go to this YouTube site to set the reminder if you wish to be part of this discussion. I cannot tell you the time in your zone as YT automatically sets the time remaining to my specific zone which is 15:00 CDT.

There is super news coming from the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G. Aran fed his three chicks of 2022 for the first time today.

It was pitching down rain at Loch Arkaig. Poor Dorcha and the two surviving chicks. Louis was able to bring in a fish as things began to clear. Please keep this nest in your thoughts.

Seren and Dylan on the perch together with the three Bobs in the nest below. What a gorgeous family portrait and what a beautiful site in Wales for an Osprey nest. All is well here.

Telyn and Idris have been keeping intruders away from the nest. Gosh these returning two year olds can be a nuisance that can also cause harm to a nest. Reminds me of the juveniles returning to Taiaroa Head when the chicks are on the nests alone and they dance and sky call and pick on the little ones.

There has been the osprey in the image below briefly visiting the Cape Henlopen Osprey nest. I cannot identify it other than it does not appear to be the Mum because her necklace was very faint. I could not see the feathering to tell if it was the intruder female that removed all of the osplets.

Spirit spent the night with Jackie at the Big Bear Valley nest in California. How reassuring is it to see these beautiful fledglings return home – safe and sound?

I really wanted to give you the good news about ND17 so I am posting much earlier than planned. While 17 didn’t get a whole fish – and it is getting hot – he did get food and he is definitely not lethargic like the Loch of the Lowes osplet.

It is the first sunny day we have had and rain is to come again at 1800. My plan is to be outside in the garden listening to the birds! Thank you so much for being with me today. I will be posting again on Thursday morning. Take care all.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Pix Cams, ND-LEEF, Cal Falcons, Cornell Bird RTH, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery, and the Woodland Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, SF Bay Ospreys, Cape Henlopen State Park Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyXWild, GROWLS, and the Eagle Club of Estonia.

Another siblicide at Loch of the Lowes and other news in Bird World

14 June 2022

I want to start this blog off today with one of the cutest videos called ‘My Turn’. It is from one of the first – if not the first – osprey cams on Dennis Puleston’s property on Long Island. I would like to quietly show this to every third hatch osprey!!!!!!!! It always lifts my spirits when it has been a rough day in Bird World.

Dennis Puleston was a remarkable man who spotted the decline of the Osprey populations in the US due to DDT.

Sadly, the Little Bob at the Loch of the Lowes fell victim to a brutal Big sibling that refused to let him eat and who finally killed him this morning shortly after 0530. Little Bob was alive in the image below, barely, from not having eaten in at least three days.

Laddie LM12 arrives on the nest but flies away. No fish.

Big Bob brutally attacks Little Bob and kills him.

Blue NC0 stares at the body of her Little one. It has not been a good year for this wee one who, like the others, just wanted some fish. It is unclear why there is so few fish coming to this nest. It has been a discussion about the other nests and people are conflicted. Is it intruders? has the loch not got the fish? is something going on with Laddie? All of the other nests are not having difficulties. Fly high Little one, fly high.

Sadly my list of siblicide victims this year is getting longer.

Blue NC0 looks worn out and hungry. She is hardwired, like all other Osprey Mums not to interfere. She looks down at her wee little babe. So sad. I do hope that whatever is troubling this nest that it goes away so that this family can heal.

There is another nest that remains worrisome.

To the relief of everyone cheering Little Bit 17 on at the ND-LEEF nest, that camera is back working. It is unclear if 17 got any food since the camera went down but he was seen doing wingersizing according to many of the chatters who watch the camera. He is not acting like the third hatch at Loch of the Lowes. 17 seems fine. I will not presume anything but let us all hope that if it is cooler tomorrow – which they say it will be – that the fish will be flying onto this nest. — I want to be optimistic. Many third hatches benefit from the older ones fledging. It seems both 15 and 16 are branching —- and not wanting to sound nasty but it would be nice if they would take a 2 day trip to see the beautiful area where their nest is! Little Bit could eat it all!

The eaglets on this nest are the following ages. ND 15 is 76 days old, ND16 75 days old, and ND17 is 71 days old. Little Bit is not ready to fledge. His tail needs to grow more. The feathers on his head are growing longer and covering up the bald spots caused by 16’s scalpings. This Little one has worked so hard to live. I want to believe I am seeing something of a crop under his beak and that he did get some nourishment today. Hang in there Little Buddy!

The streaming cam is also back up at the Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey Platform. It was a very interesting Tuesday morning. The female intruder with the torn feathers was in the nest. Another osprey landed on the nest and she got rid of them quickly. A third bird or was it this one that landed ?? could be seen flying by the nest on several occasions to the left of the platform.

The bird that almost looks like I cute and pasted it on was quickly shooed away by the female intruder on the nest. From that behaviour we might assume that this was not a bird associated with her.

She removes the body of the oldest and largest of those beautiful chicks from the nest.

As the sun was setting on Lewes, Delaware, the female intruder has now cleared the nest of any remnants of its former occupants. It is just gut wrenching what has happened here. I do wonder if the Mum is alive and if it is her flying to the nest? No one was at the nest overnight.

I have been praising Betty on the Mlade Buky White Stork next in The Czech Republic for not eliminating the smallest, the fifth storklet. Well, she has now done so. Let us hope that all four remaining chicks thrive! (The storklet did not survive the 9 metre/30 ft drop but it was quick, not like starving to death on the nest).

There is wonderful news coming out of Cal Falcons. Laurentium is one of Annie and Grinnell’s fledglings. She has a nest on Alcatraz. She has successfully fledged chicks in years before but not it is confirmed that she has two healthy grand chicks for Annie and Grinnell again. How wonderful!

I have neglected the Foulshaw Moss nest this year despite the fact that it is one of my favourites. Last year White YW and Blue 35 successfully fledged 3 osplets including Tiny Little Bob, Blue 463. The chicks below are around the 3 week period. They are healthy and doing well! Excellent parents. I cannot say enough good things about them.

I do not like the cam. You cannot rewind so if you don’t see it, the event is gone. Or if you do see it and don’t get a screen shot it is gone, too. That style of camera is very annoying if you are trying to document events on a nest.

Congratulations to everyone at the Ithaca Peregrine Falcon scrape. They had their first fledge today. It was Percy! One more eyases to go. How exciting. Falcon Watch Utica posted this gorgeous picture of Percy taking off. Look – those legs are held tight against the body and the feathers are in perfect shape. What a wonderfully healthy fledgling!

Even before the three Bobs had their breakfast Wednesday morning, Telyn was chasing after an intruder with feather wear – perhaps a moulting bird. Emyr Evans wants him to come back so they can get a ring number and ID the bird. He is evading all of the cameras. Emyr believes it is Teifi and if so, it is Telyn and Idris’s 2020 hatch come home to the natal nest. After, Idris brings in a lovely sea bass for Telyn and the kids.

Emyr Evans posted this on the 23rd of May. I think he will be updating his number after the intruder this morning to 8. Tegid – of the white egg – is one of my favourite hatches. Lovely to see his son back!

There was an intruder at the Llyn Brenig osprey nest. LM6 just about tore the nest up when Blue 416 from the Lake District arrived. Gracious. I thought she was going to toss the two wee chicks out, too. Lots of two years old successfully returning this year (like this one) causing mischief.

Aran was up early fishing for Mrs G and the gang.

Everything seems fine on the Glaslyn nest.

Sentry returned to the Redding Bald Eagle nest on 14 June after fledging on the 11th. He was tired and spent the night with Star in the nest sleeping duckling style. Star has yet to fledge.

It is getting to be time to check in with some of the Australian nests. Dad brought Mum a very nice fish on the nest. Oh, she looks so good. Last year she took raised the Port Lincoln three – Bazza, Falky, and our dear Ervie.

Beautiful Diamond with a full crop after a prey gift from Xavier at the Charles Sturt University falcon cam in Orange, Australia.

Lady incubating the two eggs of hers and Dad’s on the WBSE nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest. If you look close, you will see Dad sleeping and protecting the nest on the parent branch.

The CBD 367 Collins Street Falcon cam will not be back on line until September. It is usually started once eggs are laid.

Fledge watch started yesterday for the Cal Falcons. Here is Grinnell Jr with his super crop last evening! Looks like he is going to fly anywhere! So cute.

Thank you for joining me. This is a very early Wednesday morning check in. I will have a later report Wednesday evening. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam and/or FB announcements where I took my screen captures: Sea Eagles@BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre, Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam, Port Lincoln Osprey, Friends of Redding Eagles, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dfyi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, ND-LEEF, Cape Henlopen State Park Ospreys, Llyn Brenig Ospreys, Emyr Evans, Falcon Watch Utica, Mlade Buky, Cumbrian Wildlife Trust, and Cal Falcons.