Tag Archives: raptors

Late Wednesday in Bird World

30 March 2022

I definitely needed a diversion today – away from the problem of monofilament line – and, in this instance, the line on the foot of Little Middle at Dale Hollow. Little Middle is only one. How many birds ranging from the largest eagles to the smallest duck – wind up in rehabilitation or dead because of fishing line! Every day there are reports of how deadly that thin fishing line is. It is horrible. Of course, the other elephants in the closet are lead in hunting and fishing equipment. Indeed, the biggest cause of fatalities in Bald Eagles could be from lead, according to most of the wildlife rehabbers that post on FB. Lead can be replaced with stainless steel or copper. Rodenticide is another. Soccer nets are another – ones left out over night. Mesh fruit bags. Imagine trying to remove the tiniest leg of a songbird caught in one of those openings in the bag? I suspect that every person reading this knows all of that. I suspect that many of you use your scissors to cut those plastic tabs on bread bags in half so that a bird doesn’t get one over its bill. There are so many, many things we can do to help them.

The three eaglets at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest are corkers. My dad used that term to mean ‘getting into mischief’. One is already out of the nest bowl, another is beaking its sibling, and everyone of them has way too much energy — and they are decidedly full of cuteness.

Cute moments at the National Arboretum Nest of Mr President and Lotus. How do you measure cute? These little fur balls at PH and here are so adorable.

If you haven’t watched this nest, you might want to give it a try. This is the first chick in four years for Mr President. One of my readers observed Mr President wanting Lotus to show him the new baby. She wasn’t budging. This is what ‘L’ wrote, “Last night, when DC9 had just hatched and Lotus was barely giving anyone a peak, Mr. P showed up on the nest. It must have been around 2am. He wanted so much to see the chick, but Lotus wasn’t moving, so hilariously he started aerating the nest right next to her, I mean literally next to her and moving all around her as close as he could get. She kept trying to tuck and then was awakened by his persistence of trying to get her to move. Eventually he gave up but I laughed and even shed a tear because this wonderful eagle, who hasn’t had a Little on his nest in 4 seasons, so wanted to see his chick. Warms my heart. Love Mr. P.” ——- How sweet! If the number and size of fish on that nest are any indication of how Mr President intends to stock the pantry from now until fledge, this little one is going to need help getting lift off!!!!!! It is a precious little one. This is the nest that had the intervention when the eaglet’s foot got stuck. I don’t think we have to worry about not being able to get help if needed!

Gosh, there is something wonderful about the colour green. On the Canadian prairies we look for the snow to melt, the trees in the distance to get that hint of green, and the Crocuses to push up from under the snow. The other marker for the return of spring are the Canadian Geese…but it is the colour green. The nest of Liberty and Guardian in Redding, California is just bursting with the most beautiful green leaves! Gorgeous.

Harry and Nancy at the MN-DNR nest might some of that California sunshine. Their two little ones are doing great and Harry is proving himself, once again, to be a fabulous hunter. There is so much prey piled up at the end of the nest this couple could easily feed 3 or 4 – although I would not wish that on them!

Nancy is working really hard to keep the nestlings warm and dry. The weather has been miserable there – rain and snow and then more.

Eagles do not mind the cold but it is not good for little hatchlings.

Cute!

Look at the little one above and then look at the trio at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta. Blink. Those wee ones above will be as big as those at WE.

Each of the nests above are doing fabulous! What a wonderful relief. Just look at the three at the West End. The triplets at Pittsburgh Hayes will grow big and strong like these!

One last giggle. Everyone thought that Mother Goose on the old unused Decorah Eagle nest was finished laying eggs with the 4th. No! She laid her 5th today.

Father Goose is up there helping protect the nest. Gosh, golly. I sure wish Daisy the Duck who laid her eggs on the White-Bellied Sea Eagle nest had a mate that incubated and stood guard! We might have seen some little Pacific Black ducks – this is a nice change for an unused nest and for each of us. A bit of fun.

Like all of the raptors you can sometimes tell when the egg is coming. The female will puff up and her tail will go up and down as she pushes the egg out. The egg will be wet and soft and will need to be allowed to air dry before the female covers it.

It is night and Little Middle is asleep on the nest. He has eaten really well today. Someone might even want to ask what is wrong with Big? Hopefully it is just their ages and all of that is passed. Keep sending good wishes. There could well be no intervention so let us hope that the piece of monofilament line comes loose and gets buried in the nest never to harm anyone again.

Thank you for joining me and for all of your notes. Take care!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Pix Cams, Redding Bald Eagles, NADC-AEF, West End Eagles, MN-DNR, and Explore.org

Fishing Line wrapped around Little Middle’s leg/s at Dale Hollow: updated

A big thank you to Carol Moore of Wildlife Matters in Kentucky. She responded to my note about Little Middle. She has reached out to the Raptor Centre who will contact the US Fish and Wildlife Service. A permit is required and they are normally given quickly in a human caused instance. It was within hours for the Captiva Bald Eagles that had fishing line that CROW removed. Let us hope that something can be done to help Little Middle, DH15.

30 March 2022

If you happened to tune in to chat at the Dale Hollow nest after 10:36 when River brought a big fish on to the nest, you will have noticed the moderators talking about the fish hook and line. The hook was in the side of the fish with a long line that ultimately became wrapped around Little Bit’s leg!!!!!!!!!! My hurt sunk to my toes.

What got me was the statements being made that ‘no one would do anything’. According to the moderators the nest actually belongs to the Army Corp of Engineers. But the statements – again made by chatters – included if they go up there to take out the line the parents will not take care of the eaglets anymore. Wildlife rehabbers are often great tree climbers and get to nests that are completely inaccessible by machine. Perhaps there is no one in the area to do this? If you can maintain the camera, though is there not a way to the nest? I am curious why there is not a plan in place should something like this happen. It is a perfectly legal cause to go to the nest.

River has broken the line and taken away the hook but Little Middle is still tangled in line.

How many of you can name an intervention that took place this week that was caused by fishing line? to a nest with eaglets that could fledge? was that intervention successful? If you said Ron Magill at the WRDC nest with R2 you would be correct. R2 fledged, broke the line but still had line. R2 was retrieved and the line removed. Here is the video of its return to the nest.

How many of you can name a non-human caused intervention where the nestlings were away for nearly a week and the parents returned immediately to care for them when they were returned to the nest?

Can you name an Osprey nest in Florida where CROW went up and removed a hook and fishing line last year? Just see how quick it was!

Does anyone remember the two individuals who went out and rescued the adopted chick placed in a nest who subsequently fell into the water? If you said Patuxent in Maryland you would be correct. There are interventions everywhere every day. Fishing line was removed from one of the Alberta osprey nests last summer – I have forgotten which one. The Montana Osprey Project was busy removing baling twine last year from osplets. There are also nests in the wild that have tragedies that we will never know about.

Eagles and Ospreys fall under the same rules. Human caused interventions are allowed but require permission. In terms of fishing line it should be easy. It is a quick fix to save an eaglet’s life. Ask Ron Magill if you don’t believe me!

You probably know of a number of sites where you have seen an intervention. Let me know.

River is staring at the fishing line that is wrapped around Little Middle.

River is clearly aware that these things should not be in the nest. Will she be able to save Little Middle? so its legs are not injured. Send your positive wishes. If you happen to live in the area of Dale Hollow Lake and know the wildlife rehabbers there, you might want to give them a call and see if it is possible for them to intervene.

Last year many of us phoned Patuxent amongst other sites. It was those calls that got action and saved the Osprey in Maryland. II don’t actually ‘get’ the inaction amongst the Dale Hollow group. I am hoping that they just don’t know about the other interventions and what could happen here to help Little Middle.

Late Monday and Tuesday news in Bird World

28-29 March 2022

This is actually more a quick glimpse of late Monday activities in Bird World up to noon on Tuesday.

At 20:57:27 Monday night, you could see an eaglet with the two halves of the egg acting as book marks at the National Arboretum Bald Eagle nest in DC. It is home of Mr President and Lotus. They lost their first eaglet to a tragic accident during pipping so it looks like once the AEF officially announcements the hatch, it is congratulations!

At 07:07, you can get a good luck of the dried fluffy baby. Congratulations Mr President and Lotus. This is wonderful news. May DC9 stay healthy! This is now the historic moment of having a hatchling in the DC nest for the first time in four years.

Oh, you are cute and you are blessed. You will be an only eaglet like Jackie and Shadow’s baby.

Here is a really short video of that hatch.

Jackie and Shadow have certainly had a terrible day with the strong winds, rain and ice pellets.

There is snow on the Big Bear nest this morning but the winds have lessened. Thank goodness. Everyone is just fine!

What a gorgeous landscape!

Samson made the egg cup quite deep the other day knowing that the baby would be snug as a bug when the storm hit. Lovely family.

Amanda777 made a short video of Jackie feeding the baby in the snow.

The rain and the winds stopped on Monday for the West End eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta. This morning it is beautiful. Someone who knows fish species told me that the red flesh fish that are brought to the nest are Alders. They are apparently quite good if you like to smoke your fish.

How many stared at Annie in the scrape watching for every moment? CalFalcons predicted around 20:10. I hung on waiting for a little longer only to get up later and, thankfully, to a note from ‘B’ discovered that second precious egg of her and Grinnell’s had been laid around 21:18:37. Thank you! Both were clearly visible at 21:41:17 when Annie rose up to display those beautiful deep red eggs.

CalFalcons made a quick video of Annie laying that second egg.

Here are the two eggs this morning! Good thing egg collectors have learned that their actions almost made many bird species extinct in the late 19th century and early 20th. They are beautiful! We will look forward to them being fuzzy white eyases in 33-35 days.

While I was watching Annie I was also checking on Karl II. Oh, bless that Black Stork’s heart! Now if he will continue his north westerly route avoiding the area of The Ukraine…Fingers crossed. Looking forward to having him back on his nest at the Karula National Forest in Estonia.

He spent the night in Motoseni, Romania.

My happiness at Karl II’s route was matched by Obey flying into the Dale Hollow nest at 18:02:32 with a small fish last evening. At 18:02:51 Little Middle went into submission.

Big had finished at least a fish and a half, if not two, one hour earlier. Big could not be hungry!

Watching and watching and listening, Little Middle gets to the rim, head down.

He sits up and looks over hoping, perhaps, that Big wouldn’t finish that small fish! Big did not attack.

Little Middle moves around the nest. Big doesn’t do anything. Is there any fish left?

He gets up there, beside Big.

Little Middle gets his first bite at 18:09:22.

Little Middle got the remainder of the fish thanks to Obey. The tail was gone at 18:14:12. Not a long feeding and not a lot of fish but Little Middle had a crop. Oh, I would love to see this wee one get to eat an entire fish by itself! Talk about a growth spirt.

I loved this image of Little Middle looking up at his Dad. Obey has done some nice feedings for the wee one, holding back, going slower, moving the fish. It is nice to know that Little Middle went to bed with a full tummy.

This morning a really large fish on to the Dale Hollow nest. I cannot comment on what happened prior to 08:14 on the feed as it will not rewind beyond this and I could not check this nest earlier. It appears that the two eaglets were fed half of the large fish with half remaining on the nest. There is no discord between them after 08:14 so maybe there wasn’t any! I live with hope.

It appears that Big ate first and Middle moved in later. That would be my guess based on past experience.

Big is obviously full.

The parent turns the other way to feed Little Middle. Big has moved away already having consumed 1/3 of the big fish. There will still be fish left when Middle finishes eating.

I have included the three images below. It is hard to get a sense of the true difference in size or even the actual size of the eaglets.

It is nice to see them looking out at the big world together. Big has almost lost her dandelions and, of course, Middle Little had his pulled off so he is ahead with that regard.

Little Middle is surely growing and has some nice blood feathers at the tip of its wings coming in. Big has quite a few. Both are doing a lot of preening. Hopefully more fish will come in today – surely there will be!

Everything continues to go well for Andy and Lena and the two Osplets at the Captiva Osprey nest in Florida. Both are healthy and continue to eat well and grow in their juvenile plumage.

Every once in awhile you can get a glimpse of all the triplets at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest. It can be tricky though. I have waited and waited with no luck!

The two eaglets of Liberty and Guardian seem to be going through the bobbling head phase. One had a great PS this morning while the other stood up and watched it. Cute. Their rain has stopped and they are drying out.

There was a Great Horned Owl that landed below the nest in the middle of the night. Hope it stays away!!!!!

There are so many nests to cover and Ospreys arriving or not. It is difficult now to keep track of all that is going on. I have not seen any announcements of any of the monitored nest Ospreys returning in the UK since Telyn arrived at Dyfi late Monday. I will continue to monitor that situation.

Thank you for joining me this morning for a bit of a hop, skip, and jump through the nests. We are expecting rain and then 100% chance of more snow – just when we thought spring was coming!!!!!!! I recall actually having snow on the 15th of May one year. Hopefully it will not be that late in 2022. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures and video clips: Friends of Big Bear Valley, Dale Hollow Eagles, Cal Falcons, Pix Cam, Redding Bald Eagles, Captiva Ospreys, Looduskalender Forum, West End Eagles and the Institute of Wildlife Studies, and the NADC-AEF.

Late Monday news in Bird World

28 Monday 2022

A wonderful lady from Poland who rescued a Crow and took care of it for 5 months so it could return to the wild asked me how I could stay ‘distant’ and not get involved emotionally in the nests. That was perhaps two years ago now. I hope she still joins us here with the birds. The truth is I often scream at the screen, get upset, yell at particular birds as if I know better than then, can’t sleep at night if a bird is encased in ice, etc.

Most of the time the nests are brilliant but sometimes you meet up with one that simply doesn’t make sense the way the others do. For me, this year, that is Dale Hollow.

At 17:02:41 today, River returns to the nest having been there earlier. She has decided it is time to feed the eaglets even if they are sleeping. Immediately Big gets up – has a leftover crop from the 11:52:51 feeding. Big attacks Little Middle just to make sure it didn’t move up to eat. Even then Big hangs back close to Little Middle so he won’t move up near to the food. Middle Little tucks its head in way under and he stays that way.

In the middle part of the feeding, there is another attempt at intimidation. It is clear from the first part that Middle can still get up to Little Middle’s head.

In the third part, Middle begins to move, finally. River reaches out and gives it a bite of food. Why did she not slow the feeding? Why did she not turn with her head to the rim? It is an easy thing to do – after all, she has done it before. Little Middle could have eaten but it was too frightened. I find this nest to be so sad. Even with 6 fish coming in yesterday nothing stopped Big’s wrath.

Thankfully the weather has cleared at the West End Bald Eagles nest. Thunder, Akecheta, and the three babies are fine! In the image below, Dad is drying off his wings. The babies are in front of him sound asleep.

Everyone is fed.

I yelled at Akecheta last year about his refusal to guard the nest. He was 5 years old and figuring out slowly – very slowly – what his role was. Thunder had faith in him and it has surely been rewarded this year. Cheta wouldn’t let anyone touch those kids of his – and everyone eats. Not one of them has been hungry, left out, or bonked and the little one is 4 days younger than the oldest! They are also very healthy and growing strong. No fear or intimidation just trying to corral curious kids with wooden blockades!

Look at how big and tall the oldest is. Beautiful. Looking out over the sea where she will be flying one day. Too soon.

There is your power couple.

There was a prey drop and a bit of a ritual bonding in the scrape of Annie and Grinnell at The Campanile on the campus of UC Berkeley. Here is a video clip of this ritual….BTW. We are expecting Annie to lay the 3rd egg this evening. Cal Falcons predicts it will be 20:10 scrape time.

Look carefully and you can see the pip progressing in the egg at the National Arboretum Bald Eagle Nest. They say you can hear it peeping now. Mr President and Lotus are not giving a thing away.

It is just miserable at the nest of Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear. The icy snow has turned into rain for now. The nest and adults are soaked to the core.

Poor Jackie. The weather is so bad. Shadow filled up the nest with food, bless his heart. You can see the stacks of fish behind Jackie. Hopefully there is a break to feed the baby who should have a name soon! One of my readers, ‘A’, a teacher who wants to ensure her students are empathetic with wildlife sent in the name ‘Hope’. It is so fitting for this time. I did not mention this while the contest was open but it is certainly what we all must have – Hope.

It is definitely a busy day on the nests. I am going to bring this blog to a close with a look at the female star of the Dyfi Osprey nest in Wales, Telyn, the mate of Idris! These two are so close to my heart. Telyn arrives and doesn’t sit on the nest waiting for Idris to bring her a fish – and he is truly the king of bringing in huge fish. No, she goes off and gets it herself. I sure hope her mate and the others we are missing are home soon. Welcome back, Telyn, Blue 3J. Eat and rest!

Thanks so much for joining me today. You couldn’t hear me yelling at River to turn herself around. It is hard to see one eaglet with a crop eat a fish and a half and the other get a single bite. But…At any rate, take care. It feels like there is going to be lots of news tomorrow. See you soon!

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures and video clips today: Cal Falcons, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute of Wildlife Studies, Friends of Big Bear, National Arboretum Eagles and the AEF, and Dyfi ospreys.

Winter Storm beginning in Big Bear Valley

27 March 2022

There is a winter storm warning in effect for the Big Bear Valley area. Heavy snow fall and winds are expected. It is to peak, according to the weather forecast, tomorrow tapering off on Tuesday.

Samson loaded up the nest wish fish. This is their home and has been for many years. The adults are certainly accustomed to the wind and snow in the mountains east of Los Angeles. The trio will be fine. Jackie and Shadow are standing guard over the little one in the nest this evening.

The first two images are from earlier today. You can see the fish in the pantry.

As the storm begins, both Jackie and Shadow are at the nest.

It is nearing 21:00 and the winds are beginning to pick up. They are supposed to be quite gusty at 45 mph. You can currently hear what sounds like hail on the camera. It is really starting to blow. The baby is hunkered down in the nest. Hang on Mum and Dad!

You will notice how carefully they move around the nest in the winds. Get your head down little one!

The winds will continue to pick up in velocity. Here is a glimpse of what is happening at the nest around 21:00 the 27th of March.

Please send your good wishes to these amazing parents and this little one as they ride out the winds and the heavy wet snow that will be coming. I will include a review of the happenings at Big Bear but you can also watch them here:

The nest is at the top of the tallest tree, a tree that has know so many storms.

I know that many of you adore Jackie and Shadow, as I do. You might not know that the weather is going to bet increasingly challenging in Big Bear Valley. Again send your positive wishes to this beautiful family of three. Thank you! Take care.

Thank you to the Friends of Big Bear Valley’s streaming cams where I took my screen shots and video capture.

Late Saturday and early Sunday in Bird World

26-27 March 2022

It seemed that Saturday started out to be a rather good day. And then it didn’t. The little hatchling at the National Arboretum Nest has died. There is one other egg for Mr President and Lotus. Perhaps it will survive. This is a very detailed explanation of the uncommon tragic accident that happened to this chick trying to hatch.

Big and Middle had the fish that had been left on the nest overnight and then Obey brought in another sucker. That second fish was finished by 11:30ish. Both Big and Little Middle had big crops. No other prey came to the nest during the afternoon. When River arrived -like an alarm clock – at 19:02:13 – she was empty taloned. Not good. Big began to attack Middle Little for no apparent reason at 07:03:12. Little Middle went into submissive mode. Neither eaglet was fed and there is no food on the nest. The eaglets are 26 days old.

At the Big Bear Valley nest of Jackie and Shadow, the eaglet is 23 days old. If you look at it physically you can see the resemblance to the developmental stage of the Dale Hollow eaglets.

The body is covered with thermal down almost completely but the head and a few dandelions on the neck and wing.

Jackie and Shadow’s feeding schedule until 15:20 today, the 26th of March, as posted on the rolling camera chat. There will be at least two more today but if those didn’t happen, there would have still been six feedings beginning at dawn.

Like children, nests need stability and regularity for security. It is Sunday morning. Obey brought a squirrel in prior to 08:00. The feeding was continuing when I opened up the streaming cam. Little Middle got none of that first prey item that I could see. Big had a crop.

A sucker came in at 08:46:16. It is a nice sized fish.

Big attacks Little Middle at 08:46:44 despite having eaten the squirrel and having a crop.

The parent begins to feed Big with Little Middle into submission.

At 08:51:02 Little Middle has moved to the other side of the parent and is being fed. Yeah Little Middle!!!!!

Little Middle got to eat until 08:56:46 when the parent abruptly flew off – perhaps to get rid of an intruder.

Little Middle is very hungry and pecks at the flesh of the fish watched by Big.

There is lots of fish left. Little Middle goes to the rim of the nest.

River returns to the nest at 10:19 alerting. Little Middle is cheeping and moves up to eat when River goes to fish. At the onset Big did not bother. Then at 10:25:28 it wants to go and eat. Big attacked Little Middle at 10:25:30. Little Middle moved to rim of nest. Big was still eating at 10:31.

Big just can’t stop with the beaking.

Little Middle had a crop but being clever, he is watching and waiting.

At 10:33, knowing Big has moved, Little Middle goes back to the fish. River begins feeding her youngest.

At the end of this feeding, Middle is going to have a bigger crop! It is now 10:36 and he is still eating! This is fantastic. Little Middle, despite the dominance posturing and some beaking, is getting quicker at its return to the feeding. Well done Little Middle!

Little Middle ate well. Look at this beautiful crop. Life is good!

There was a chat open at the Dale Hollow nest this morning. Because of that I was able to find out some information that would really be helpful under the streaming cam. The original nest of River and Obey was discovered in 2009. It fell with the two fledglings in 2020. Both survived. Prior to this year, River and Obey fledged 24 chicks. The nest on the cam is now one year old. There are 28 Bald Eagle nests around Dale Hollow Lake.

Akecheta continues to be ‘Super Dad’ at the West End nest that he shares with his mate Thunder and the triplets. They are doing incredibly well! There is still no discord between any of the three. They are well fed, sometimes tandem fed, and shaded during the heat of the day. It is nothing short of a fabulous nest to watch.

Here is a very short video of the four eaglets of Lisa and Oliver being fed at the PA Farm nest on 26 March. Warms your heart. These parents are going to be extremely busy!

Parents are doing a tandem feed at the PA Farm nest to ensure that the smallest one of the four gets fed. This is Saturday at noon.

You may remember that there was to be a rescue attempt at the WRDC nest in the Miami Zoo to retrieve R2 to remove the fishing line that the eaglet had tangled around its leg. As the rescuers were there, R2 fledged. Luckily it broke the fishing line. There is apparently a small bit of fishing line on its toe.

Sadly, this is why intervention is not normally done at this late stage unless the eaglet is ill or cannot fly away. They are hoping that R2 will return to the nest and with good fortune the remainder of the fishing line removed. There is an update by Ron Magill. He was able to get R2. The rest of the monofilament has been removed. R2 is fine other than having some flea lice. Great news!

There are more osprey arrivals in the UK. Blue 5F Seren arrived at the Llyn Clywedog Nest. Look at that nice fish she has brought in and look at that beautiful landscape – a perfect place to raise Ospreys. Seren shares this nest with her mate Dylan. They fledged one osprey – the largest male Osprey hatched ever in Wales last season.

Seren has to be strong. That is a huge fish. There is no footage of her getting it out of the lake but there is a video of the haul into the nest!

The Canada Goose on the Decorah unused Bald Eagle nest has laid her third egg!

There is also a pip at the Decorah North nest in egg for DN16. That was at 09:52 this morning.

The two sweet babies at the Redding Bald Eagle nest of Liberty and Guardian are just getting fed as I close this blog. How adorable.

Life feels rather good as I close this blog. Little Middle is getting much more clever and quicker to get down and eat so the parent doesn’t leave thinking they are not hungry. Big has turned its beak on Little Middle at least twice this morning but nothing like the violence on the 23rd of March. Little Middle continues to grow! As far as I can tell all of the other nests are doing OK today. There are some significant ospreys that have yet to arrive including two of my favourites Idris and Telyn at the Dyfi Nest. We are also waiting for Aran, Louis, and the Foulshaw Moss couple plus CJ7 and Blue 022 if he returns to Poole Harbour. Hopefully there will be more to arrives this evening.

Thank you for joining me this morning. I hope that you have a beautiful Sunday. Take care! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures: CarnyxWild, Explore.org, Dale Hollow Lake Eagles, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Redding Eagles, WRDC, PA Game Commission, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, and the NAE FB Page.

Annie lays her first egg and happiness at Dale Hollow…

26 March 2022

Just as I am starting to check all of the nests, there is an intervention happening on the WRDC Bald Eagle nest in the Miami Zoo. R2 got entangled in fishing line. The camera is down and let us all hope that there are no injuries to this amazing eaglet.

The big news of the morning came as a subject line a couple of minutes ago from ‘B’. “Annie has an egg!” Wow. Thank you ‘B’. (I was very busy watching Dale Hollow).

We have all been wondering how the soap opera with Annie and Grinnell was working out. This says it all. It looks like the egg arrived about 08:30:17 nest time in San Francisco. So happy…..wonder if Annie is going to join the ‘4 egg club’ for this year?

Annie is having a nest rest. She should sleep as much as she can. Once the eggs are all laid she will get a reprieve of 33-35 days and then there will be no rest! So, so happy!!!!!!!!!!! This really is turning out to be a joyous morning.

Cal Falcons just posted a video of this wonderful event.

It started out as a promising morning at the Dale Hollow nest. River and Obey had a big fish left on the nest overnight. Because of this, there was no waiting for breakfast and Big did not get herself into a ‘mood’. River was on the nest and at 09:04 she went over to the fish and lifted it up. Big went up to eat first. Little Middle stayed behind watching. Little Middle moved up to the feeding spot at 09:09:54. In other words, Little Middle let Big eat for about three minutes while listening and watching. It all worked out. River fed both chicks together up at the table. There was no intimidation by Big. Oh, joy!!!!!!!

Smart Little Middle. Test the temperature of Big before moving up. That said, Little Middle duly recognized Big as the dominant allowing her to eat first. Perfect.

Little Middle moves up and River stretches to give some great bites to her youngest.

Little Middle’s crop was flat at the start of the feeding. Now look! And also have a look at the size of Little Middle’s feet——– this kiddo is growing. Yippeeeeeeee.

What a wonderful start to the day at Dale Hollow.

River and Obey have found a stash of corn stalks and they are using them to create new railings around the nest. Smart. Big and Little Middle are going to need them. Several times I thought Little Middle was going to fall out of that nest.

By 10:00 the parents are away perhaps retrieving more rails. Meanwhile, the two eaglets are resting and the sucker Obey brought in is hidden.

At 10:50:30 River removes the Sucker from the centre of the nest to the rim where she can feed the eaglets. Little Middle watches and listens but does not go up to River and the fish allowing Big to be there first.

At 10:54:57 Big drops a bite, River holds it up and Little Middle does the snatch and grab!

Big was not happy and attacks Little Middle. Little Middle immediately goes into submission and moves away from the feeding to the rim of the nest.

I could hardly believe my eyes. River stopped and turned so that she could feed Little Middle at 11:01:20. This is quite the change!!!! Wow.

The wind almost blew her off the nest. It is so windy that River is going to have to go back to being parallel with the rim of the nest.

This gives the feeding advantage to Big.

By 11:08 Little Middle has moved up to get some fish.

By 11:17:18 Little Middle has a nice crop that has built up. The feeding finishes at 11:18. There is little to no fish left! This has been a good morning for Little Middle. Some intimidation but nothing that would have harmed him. Just reminders to remain cautious.

The Canada Goose at the unused Bald Eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa laid her second egg last night. She is using the twigs from the former eagle nest to cover them.

The sun rising over the Decorah Eagle nest home to a Canada Goose now!

It is a Cormorant food fest at the West End Bald Eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta. In the image below they are enjoying the one that Thunder brought in yesterday. Dad Akecheta’s performance at feeding is excellent. Look at all three of them lined up. No problems. Nothing. Serene and solace. There is a new Cormorant behind the big stick that appears to have been brought in today. By the time the season is over will there be any Cormorants left in the Channel Islands?!

At the Two Harbour’s Bald Eagle nest of Chase and Cholyn, Thunder’s parents, Cholyn is incubating. Pip watch should be soon.

The parents at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest are feeding their three now!

Everything seems to be going well at the National Arboretum nest of Mr President and Lotus. The eaglet hatched at 14:55 on the 25th and is the first hatch at this nest in four years. Well done!

Wonder where that gold fish came from????

All cuddled up next to what could be a younger sibling.

The two eaglets at the Redding nest of Guardian and Liberty have been enjoying a lot of Coot for their first feedings. The oldest hatched on 20 March with the youngest three days later on 23 March.

Liberty is 23 years old and Guardian is 8 years old. Another nest where the female is much older. Liberty has fledged four sets of triplets – in 2009,. 2010, 2015, and last year, in 2021. It is a nice eaglet nest to watch and here is the link:

If you missed it, Mrs G arrived back at Glaslyn today. She is waiting for Aran and in the meantime, she is enjoying a fresh fish that she caught herself!

It has just been a pretty good day all around the nests. I am off to check on the arrival of geese and ducks here on the Canadian Prairie.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Dale Hollow Lake Eagle Cam, Cal Falcons, Redding Bald Eagles, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, National Arboretum Bald Eagles and the AEF, Pix Cams, and Explore.org

Late Friday in Bird World and all is well

25 March 2022

Viewers of the Decorah North Bald Eagle nest of Mr North and Mrs DNF were frightened today when 47 mph gusts hit the nest. Those winds will continue until tomorrow. Hatching is never planned and that little one is making keen progress from its pip this afternoon at 12:46. It is being rocked and kept warm.

In 2018 this nest collapsed. It was rebuilt and re-enforced so despite the winds, everything should be fine. Hope.

And then it snowed at Decorah North! The baby is hatching. Dad has come in to take over so Mum can have a break.

It is still unclear what is happening at the Sauces Bald Eagle nest on Santa Cruz in the Channel Islands. This is the nest of Jak and Audacity.

View of the egg this morning. It is getting more possible that the egg is non-viable. Too bad they couldn’t have one of of the 4 and one out of several triplet nests that have hatched.

If you missed it, the big news today is the discovery that there are four eaglets on the nest at the PA Farm Bald Eagles. This is extremely rare. I knew about 1000 Islands in Wisconsin last year. Someone wrote that Norfolk had four eaglets in 2011.

Congratulations to to Mr President and Lotus and the National Arboretum Bald Eagle nest. First hatch after 3 bare seasons. Here is the announcement.

Congratulations Mr President and Lotus. Meet the newly hatched DC8!

Thunder has been bringing in crib railing to the West End nest and wow, it is working in one area of the nest. Thunder watches to see if these three lively eaglets will remain contained!

Sometimes but not when Dad Akecheta wants to feed them the Cormorant that Mum brought in today. Sweet babies. Seriously sweet babies.

We are all going to have to get our worry beads out. These kids of Thunder and Akecheta’s do not sit still!

Sorry for all the videos. The wind doesn’t really show in the stills and it is nice to see the four eaglets bobble. In this last one for the day, put out by Cal Falcons, Annie and Grinnell get down to business. Eggs tomorrow? Sunday? Gosh, I hope the romance drama has settled out on The Campanile.

Since the last feeding right after 12 noon when Little Middle had a huge crop, a fish head was brought in at 12:59:56. River fed Big until 13:08:18 and stopped. Little Middle did not bother to go up. It was more than full and why set off Big? River moves up to the fish head at 15:01:11.

River steps on Little Middle’s head and he pulls back, frightened.

Little Middle looks up at the feeding at 15:16.

Little Middle isn’t quite sure what to do. He has looked eyes with Big. (Often never a good idea as it sets the larger sibling off).

At 15:16:48, River pulls the fish head between the two eaglets. It is now closer so she can feed Little Middle.

A bite to Big and then a bite to Little Middle.

Same again, one for Big and one for Little Middle.

Then several more bites for Little Middle. More for Big and then the feeding stops by 15:30. It was slow. Not much fish on the head. But slow is good. Big gets full faster!

At 16:50;56 River flies in with a teaser fish?? Like a 3 or 4 bite fish??

She offers the first bite to Little Middle who was the closest at 16:51:31. I am watching this live and have no idea how well that gesture is going to play out with Big.

At 16:53:59 Little Middle moves cautiously and with head down away from the feeding. Big has done nothing that I can see – other than her sheer presence – to frighten the little one. I cannot imagine what it is like being that so frightened.

River obviously likes this species of fish. She is taking big bites and eating them herself. I wonder what it is?

Big gets full at 16:55:59 and River begins feeding Little Middle off the fish head.

Little is still being fed at 17:10. Life is good. River returns to clean up scraps around 18:00. Feeds Big a few bites. Little Middle doesn’t bother.

I checked on Estonian Black Stork Karl II’s progress and note that he has flown west. I wish that he would fly a little more west and head to his home in the Karula National Forest through Romania.

On the 23rd of March, Karl was feeding at the north end of the Beysehir Lake in Turkey. I so wanted him to turn west and not go straight north to the nature reserves around Odessa in the Ukraine. He left that feeding area and flew NW! 285 km

Today, he flew 308 km. He is west of Istanbul, west of the Black Sea.

Here is another map. Will Karl II turn to feed along the shores of the Black Sea or will he continue to fly north away from the war in the Ukraine? If he continues to fly west away from the conflict this is quite wonderful. How did he know?

The sun is setting on another good day at the Captiva Osprey nest in Florida. Lena and Andy have done well. Both Middle and Little are getting beautiful juvenile feathering. So happy for them. There continues to be no word from the second lab on what suddenly killed Big on the 15th of March in the morning. You can clearly rule out some physical cause such as choking on a pellet. I believe you can rule out Avian Flu, too as the UGA Vet School would have been able to test for that.

Mum and Dad at the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge have been making more and more frequent appearances there. Both were on the barge today and on the 23rd I did get a shot of Mum eating a fish. Would love to see our Ervie again. He is staying close to home. Here is Ervie’s latest tracking.

It is a good day in Bird World (except for Sauces, sadly). Little Middle is going to sleep full even if nothing else appears on the nest. Big settled during the afternoon but Little Middle remains scared. That is probably for the best. He recovers faster than last week and has eaten almost all day.

Thank you for joining me. Take care everyone. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Explore.org, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Looduskalender, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, Cal Falcons, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife Studiews, AEF NADC, and the PA Game Commission.

It’s Sweet Eaglet Dreams at Dale Hollow and…other news in Bird World

24 March 2022

The image below pretty much says how the day has gone for Little Middle (notice my new nickname for DH15) at the Dale Hollow Bald Eagle nest. I do not have the time stamp but it was mid-afternoon. River had fed the kiddos all of the food on the nest. You can almost hear the two siblings comparing their crops – Little Middle insisting that his is ultimately larger because he is so much smaller than Big!

It has not been a day without its troubles, without Middle Little striking the submission pose to protect its head when Big would get up to eat. But, so far, it has been nothing like yesterday at all.

At 16:56 Obey? arrives with a fish. Big and Middle Little are too full to even think about having any bites of that fish.

Obey takes the time to aerate more of the nest.

Obey? begins calling and flies off. River? returns with a small Sucker.

At 17:11:46 s/he tries to feed Big.

Nope. Too full. Little Middle turns to face parent for a feeding but, ultimately, he is too full. Big does not even acknowledge that Little Middle is moving by the fish. Talk about a 360 degree turn.

Parent begins to bury the fish in the nest. By 17:24:25 Little Middle is ‘thinking’ about fish and drops its crop a bit. But Little Middle is just thinking and not eating. At 17:43:52 Little Middle moves over by the fish and does a couple of pecks at it.

It is now 18:09. The nest is calm.

There are two fish (Suckers) on the nest and whatever else River has hidden. Neither of the two eaglets are interested in eating. So, how to have a happy nest? how to stop intimidation? Keep the fish coming in for several days in a row. Are we beginning to turn the corner at the Dale Hollow nest? Gosh, I sure hope so!

River is looking at them and she knows bedtime is coming. Will she try to feed the pair again?

Yes. At 18:36:51, River unzips the large Sucker at the top right of the nest.

At 18:37:07 River offers the first bite to Little Middle. Is this a mistake?

Little Middle wants to move around to the other side of River. Good move. River feeds Big.

Smart. If Big gets mad, Little Middle is protected by being on the other side of Mum.

At 18:48:25 Little Middle takes a chance and moves up between Mum and Big. What is he thinking???!!!!!!

Goodness. Little Middle gets some bites and also reaches down and eats some of the flakes of fish off the nest. Talk about brave! Whoooooaaaa.

Wow. That worked out. Little Middle is totally stuffed and walks away from the feeding area at 18:53.

You could set an alarm by Obey’s regular 19:00 visit to check on the nest. He must be happy with what he sees – two full healthy eaglets.

The feeding is over. There is one fish hidden and half of the large sucker remaining for tomorrow morning. Sweet eaglet dreams everyone. It has been a good day at Dale Hollow.

Other Nests: There is a pip in the first egg at Decorah North for Mr North and Mrs DNF. That pip started at 12:46. Just after I was thinking that the Cal Falcon scrape of Annie and Grinnell was secure, Annie flies off to hunt or something and Grinnell entertains one of the five juvenile females that are trying to entice him. Grinnell, behave yourself! BTW. This is not normal behaviour and ‘B’ suggested today that Grinnell has not been the same since his injury 29 October. I agree. This scrape is certainly better than the old soap operas that used to be on the telly that my Grandmother watched!!!!!! There is also a pip in the second egg at the MN DNR nest of Harry and Nancy.

Parents at Pittsburgh Hayes are doing great with their two wee ones. Dad hauled in a massive fish after the following video was posted.

Jasper and Rocket at the NEFlorida nest of Samson and Gabby are still home, still self-feeding, and still adorable.

The two little ones of Liberty and Guardian on the Redding Bald Eagle nest need a bath! It is not clear if it was a coot or a duck but they are now being fed one of the organs. They have not injured one another – it is just the feeding!

Thunder brought in a really nice fish to the West End Bald eagle nest. The trio lined up nice and straight and very polite for their feeding.

At the Captiva Osprey Nest Lena is using her peripheral vision and is really hoping that Middle doesn’t hit her with a PS.

Lena has moved over because she knows that Andy is incoming with dinner. The kids are excited to see a fish on the nest.

Martin has at least 5, perhaps more, super large fish on his nest with Rosa at Dulles-Greenaway. Wish he could courier a couple of those over to Dale Harbour.

And if you want to imagine a spread in hatch days, these are the dates for Big Red’s eggs: March 14, 17, 20, and 23. Yes, the difference from egg 1 to 4 is 9 days.

Arthur would really like Big Red to move so he could have a turn incubating those precious eggs.

It has been a good day! Thank you so much for being here with me. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Dale Hollow Eagle Cam, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute of Wildlife, MN DNR, Pix Cams, Dulles-Greenaway Eagles, Redding Eagle Cam, Captiva Ospreys, and NE Florida Bald Eagles.

Thursday Morning at Dale Hollow and other news in Bird World

24 March 2022

Please pardon any spelling or grammar issues today. I have not had time to proof this report, unfortunately. Thank you!

So far it is a pretty good morning even at Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagle nest on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky in the US. I turned on my computer just as a small fish was brought in my River, with its head, at 08:11:14.

Big goes to intimidate Middle at 08:23:49 but it is not the level of frenzy that Middle experienced late on the 23rd. Big ate all of the fish that came in. It was finished at 08:35:16. Then River moved over to the piece of Sucker that was still on the nest at 08:36:29.

I was encouraged by River’s actions as she clearly seemed to have feeding Middle in her mind. Middle turned to River to eat at 08:37:23 and then Big entered the picture pushing herself between River and Middle after she had a PS.

It was evident that both Big and Middle had eaten earlier as Middle had a nice crop.

River began feeding Middle at 08:38:25.

Eight minutes later, at 08:46:15, Big decides it wants to eat and starts intimidation. It ate a few bites.

River tries again to feed Middle at 08:47:33. River stops feeding at 08:47:25. There is still a piece of the sucker left. The nest is quiet of any animosity. At 09:03:38 Big turns and towers over Middle and does nothing! River returns to the nest. She is aerating the area by the small piece of remaining sucker. Big moves down at 10:01:20 and River feeds Big all the Sucker.

By 10:11:40 Middle is up at the top of the nest on the left being fed the rest of the old fish tail (not much on it). Big ignores the whole thing! Both eaglets are full. It is just after 10:15 on the nest.

Despite the modest attempts of intimidation, Middle ate this morning and has a nice crop when I stop watching. Big also has a crop. Hopefully more larger fish will come on the nest. Indeed, I hope that obey knows where to find more suckers! We can be joyful. This morning has been good for Middle!

River returns to the nest later to aerate. It is now 11:35. No more food items but not expected. Both Middle and Big have big crops still!

Middle had a really healthy PS at 11:32:41.

There is Big’s Crop. Because Big is such a large bird – no doubt she is a she – her food requirements are probably twice that of Middl now. Continue to send positive wishes for this nest. We are not out of the woods yet but I sure hope we are in a week. Both chicks cast pellets this morning and both had at least one PS. Enjoy this morning. It has been a good one at Dale Hollow.

Here is the first view of the newly hatched chick at Harry and Nancy’s MN DNR (hatched yesterday).

I have received word from ‘S’ in Latvia that a female interloper White-tailed eagle has destroyed the two eggs that Milda had laid on her nest in Durbe County. This is what ‘S’ conveyed: “Just a quick update. Yesterday evening a ringed strange female came to the nest and destroyed/ate Milda’s eggs while Milda was away feeding. Voldis did not stop her. It’s clear Voldis is not in any nesting mode yet, since his incubation skills also did not improve significantly. The intruder female is a Latvian WTE who was ringed in Latvia, near Jaunpils in 2016.”

Here is a video summary of the events:

As ‘S’ points out, many of the experienced watchers of Milda’s nest believe this to be better as it is clear that the situation could have gotten worse – no care for hatchlings, lack of prey to nest, etc.

‘S’ also included a message sent out by the Ornithologist, Jan Kuze:

“Today we have witnessed a very interesting turn of events – at least I am not aware of any other such cases. The role was played by the fact that the male is young and inexperienced, its connection with the territory and this partner is not sufficiently strong yet. The female continues to incubate due to inertia, but it cannot be ruled out that another egg will be laid in this nest, the next week or two will show.

I ringed the egg-eating female bird in the vicinity of Jaunpils on 25.05.2016. It is a young female who has reached the nesting age and is looking for a nesting area, it cannot be ruled out that we will continue to see her here and that some conflicts will continue.”

In Montana, members of the Raptor Resource Project are installing some ‘goose exclusion’ mechanisms to the Osprey nests. Here is the message from Dr Ericke Green:

It is not an Osprey nest but an unused Bald Eagle nest at Decorah, Iowa. The Canada Goose that has been checking out this nest has now laid her first egg. This is going to be a terrific nest to watch as long as there are is no predation. Imagine all those little goslings jumping off the sides.

The goose laid the egg and then covers it. Did you watch Daisy on the WBSE nest? If so, you might remember that the goose or duck will lay their eggs and then begin to add down from their breast to make the soft nest. After 24 hours, the goslings will all jump down! They have quite a ways to go but video has been taken of goslings jumping 106 m or 350 feet. They bounce! It is really exciting. They will then follow their Mother to water where they will begin eating. Ducklings and goslings are precocial – covered in feathers and able to eat on their own after hatch. Amazing.

On the Cornell Campus yesterday, 19 year old Big Red surprised everyone when she laid a 4th egg! Perhaps most surprised was her 6 year old mate, Arthur. Cornell called it “unprecedented” on Twitter. Red tail Hawks can lay up to 5 eggs. Since the camera became operative in 2012, Big Red has consistently laid 3 eggs. It is not know how many she laid in years prior.

I will alert all of you as pip approaches for Big Red and Arthur as well as for the Peregrine Falcon couple, Annie and Grinnell. If you are used to watching eagles, it is very educational to observe the smaller raptors and how they manage larger clutches.

Speaking of Falcons, it is not time for any egg laying by the Australian falcons at CBD 367 Collins Street or Xavier and Diamond at Orange. That will come in late summer. For now, there are several nests. That said, I am playing close attention to Annie and Grinnell (as much as Dale Hollow allows for). This morning Grinnell was in the scrape at 06:44:05 calling Annie. I sure hope he had her breakfast! In terms of hunting, Peregrine Falcons, the fastest birds in the world flying up to 370 kph, capture their prey when flying. That prey can range from parrots, doves, pigeons, Starlings, to geese and herons depending on the falcons location.

For those just starting/thinking about observing this scrape, there is one quick difference between Grinnell and Annie. Grinnell has a black ID on his left leg and a standard silver band on the right. I would also like to draw your attention to the hue of Grinnell’s legs, cere (the yellow part above the beak), and the yellow around his eyes. Notice how the colour appears to be an orange-yellow. This deep colour indicates that Grinnell is extremely healthy.

At 08:48 Annie returns to the scrape. Peregrine Falcons may have first laid their eggs in twig nests but, if they did, they evolved to using cliffs with sand or pebbles. It is believed that this allows for few, if any, diseases unlike Eagle nests that constantly have to be aerated.

The eggs that Annie will lay are some of the most beautiful in the avian world with their rich red-brown colour. Indeed, because of their beauty and size they became the target of egg collectors. Once Annie begins hard incubation, her and Grinnell will take turns for 33-35 days. On occasion, as at the CBD Collins Street Nest in 2021, all three of their eggs hatched within a few hours. It helps to avoid the issues that we have seen at Dale Hollow and with Eagles and Ospreys in general. Once hatched, it is 5 to 6 weeks til fledge. The parents will then train the eyases to hunt and feed them for about another month. On occasion, the fledglings return to the nest area.

I sure hope Grinnell had a good breakfast for her. Annie appears to be ‘thinking’ about laying eggs. We wait.

Here is a recap by CalFalcons of the 2021 year. You might want to turn the sound down a little – the music is quite loud (or maybe not). It compresses the season from mating to banding to fledge.

At the Berry College nest of Pa Berry and Missy, B15 is one sweet and energetic eaglet! The nest has become a launch pad for ever higher jumping. B15 loves the wind between its wings. This morning he was up checking out the DVR. Fledge could come any day now. It has been a terrific year for this nest.

About four hours ago, Harriet at the Dahlgren Osprey nest laid her second egg. Jack continues to bring in toys. Oh, dear. Last year an egg got lost in all the items on this nest. Poor Harriet.

As we wait for Richmond and Rosie to finish their nest and the arrival of Iris in Montana, the Ospreys heading to Europe are on the move. A couple of days ago there were 51 on a site in Senegal and today only 10.

I want to check on Karl II, the male at the Karula National Forest Black Stork nest who is making his way home for the spring and summer breeding season in Estonia. Yesterday, 23 March, Karl was making good progress and was feeding at Lake Beysehir in Isparta Province in Turkey.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Karl II would normally be heading for an area around Odessa in the Ukraine on the Black Sea. Is it possible that he might revert and fly slightly West? We wait.

The day is half over on the Dale Hollow nest and I would suggest that it was a good start. River is currently on the nest shading the eaglets.

Thank you so much for joining me. I have skipped around checking on other Bird news this morning. All of the other nests are doing well and there is a lot going on. A storm is heading to Captiva that might put fishing off for Andy because the air pressure drives the fish deeper in the Water. Jackie and Shadow have been dealing with intruders. I may not get to all of those today. It could be a very late report. Take care everyone!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab and the Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Dale Hollow Eagle Cam, Cal Falcons, Berry College Eagles, Looduskalender, Google Maps, Dahlgren Ospreys, and Explore.Org. I know that there are more pressing concerns in the Balkans but I am extremely grateful to ‘S’ who took the time to alert me about Milda’s eggs being predated. Thank you ‘S’, I know the birds are your solace right now.