Tag Archives: red tail hawks

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.

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.

L3 fledges at Cornell and other news in Bird World

13 June 2022

The third hatch of Big Red and Arthur fledged at 11:29:32. One of the older siblings had just taken off after eating some lunch and L3 followed right after them.

What a great flight! Look at that take off.

Cornell put out a video of the fledge! Oh, look – get your legs up! Just beautiful.

One of the FB chatters SAH got a photo of L3 in the trees where she landed. Thank you!

Ahote and Kana’kini had been venturing out to check out their surroundings. They returned home a little while ago thinking that Thunder had brought in some lunch!!!!!

The head of Scottish Wildlife sent this out to subscribers today. Thank you to ‘S’ for forwarding this to me. It seems that they are worrying about the state of the small chick, too. These chicks are getting their juvenile feathers. All of the nonsense should have stopped. It is noted that Laddie has cut down on his fish deliveries which is causing the issue. I remember last year Blue NC0 went out and fished – she is a good fisher and really did great supplementing the male’s deliveries. Those chicks were a little older. Fingers crossed and toes for the wee one.

There is no problem with fish deliveries at the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G. It seems that Mrs G no more than gets the kids fed and Aran is taking the head off another fish! The osplets are 16, 15, and 12 days old and are right in the Reptilian Phase. They are getting the dark wooly down that will help them thermoregulate their temperatures. there is Little Bob right in the middle. Oh, how they have grown.

The two bigger ones are really exploring around the nest. Little Bob looks like he is going to climb out of that nest cup soon.

It is late and Aran has another fish that he will be bringing to the nest either for the bedtime meal or for first thing in the morning. Way to go Aran.

Life is good at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn. All three Bobs were packed with good fish before bed today. They are 19, 18, and 16 days old today.

The three Bobs at Llyn Clywedog are in their third week after hatching. They love looking out beyond the nest and thankfully the early angst over Little Bob is gone. Dylan is delivering fish regularly and life is good with Seren and the kids. They are now at the stage where predation is decreasing. Yippeee. The early signs of a Goshawk in the area were worrisome.

There are now two chicks at RSBP Loch Garten! The second arrived about 04:11 Monday morning and they were being fed at 19:38. Congratulations AX6 and Mrs AX6! It is lovely to have Ospreys at Loch Garten. Hoping for a very successful summer for all of you.

This is the link to this camera:

The Bobs at Manton Bay are now past the 35 day mark and they can be ringed anytime. It will be fabulous to find out who is a male or a female -. They have been a cuddle bundle to watch this year. Blue 33 kept them full and Maya fed them – and except for two flapping fish incidents early on – the three have survived those huge fish deliveries!

At the ND-LEEF the food has been very scarce. Little Bit had that bit of fish this morning for about a minute. Every one of the eaglets is hungry. All of them! The news this late afternoon is that ND15 has branched. Branching is when the ‘bird’ gets fully out of the nest and onto a branch. Branching normally takes place before fledging which is the first flight.

There has been more activity late in the day at the Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey Nest. The bird that I believe is a large female intruder who has taken over the nest has been poking around the chick to the left as you view the nest. She finally lifted it and because of the size, the poor dead little one fell on the side of the nest box.

She is doing the quiet peeps that she has done all weekend. Ospreys normally do not move the chicks from the nest once they are this large.

I continue to find this just super sad. ‘EJ’ informed me that on one of the FB postings a dead osprey had been found on a trail near the nest about the time the male went missing.

It is not often we get such an upfront view of a tragedy on an Osprey nest – the loss perhaps of an entire family and the intruder trying to figure out what to do with ‘what’ is on the nest. She does not appear to recognize the dead chicks like the Mum would or us – as the once vibrant babies on the nest. She is also not strong enough to carry them off the nest. I think that she is also very hungry.

In another nest twist, Lady Hawk posted a video of the hawklet being raised by the Bald Eagle family on Gabriola Island. This was 17 hours ago.

The worry over Little Bob at the Loch of the Lowes and the happenings at the Cape Henlopen nest wear on one after a bit. Then there is the worry over Little Bit 17 getting something more to eat today. It seems that this year has been anything but smooth for many of our nests. Some of you might remember the Collins Marsh nest in WI last year. Little Malin was force fledged and was found later dead on the ground. Either the adults from last year did not return from migration or they took up another nest, perhaps closer to more fish. At any rate, there are no ospreys nesting on the top of that tower this year, thankfully.

When I need a smile I think of a few of the birds that we have met this year. Ervie is one that always gives me tears of joy. What a special third hatch he has turned out to be. He has been flying around Port Lincoln staying around the hotel and the silos. PLO posted his lastest tracking and it is for the 13th of June. Always good to see that tracker moving! Mum and Dad have been on and off the barge. Oh, how I wish they would let Ervie make an appearance!

Lots will happy between now and tomorrow. Let us hope it is all good! Thank you for joining me. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for the screen cams, FB postings, and videos: Lady Hawk, Cornell Red Tail Hawks, Explore.org and Institute for Wildlife Studies, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyXwild, RSPB Loch Garten, LRWT, LD-NEEF, Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey Cam, and Port Lincoln Ospreys FB.

An ‘Almost’ Fledge and more nest news in Bird World

6 June 2022

Oh, what a day it has been. Pretty exciting stuff happening on the nests. I was just told by my friend ‘G’ that a hatch is happening at Cape May Osprey nest. If you follow that nest, check it out!

First news first. Ahote returned to the natal nest of the West End Eagles, Thunder and Akecheta at 06:54:08 this morning. Whew! He spent 4 days over on Transmission Hill. It is sure nice to see the Three Amigos back together.

Thunder and Akecheta have not delivered food. One of the eaglets has flown off the main nest. It is not clear which male it was. Kana’kini is on the branch on the ocean side. It is thought to be Ahote but no confirmation.

Ahote is back on the nest. So controlled. Oh, I hope those parents get some food on this nest. He needs a big reward for all that effort.

As many of you are aware, Urmas Sellis undertook the rescue of Jan and Janika’s storklets. He originally placed a fish basket for Janika in the hopes that she would find it and be able to feed herself and the four storklets. He also put a pail of small fishes on the nest. Janika did not find the fish table. Two days later, Urmas returned to take the storklets after cold nights without warmth, etc. Sadly, the fourth one died right before the rescue. The three surviving chicks are in incubators. There is a fundraiser. Here is the information if you feel so inclined to contribute.

Fledges are going to overlap one another once they start. At the Red-tail Hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur, the average age to fledge is 46.5 days. Today L1 is 46 days, L2 is 43, L3 is 42 and L4 is 39 days old. It is believed that to fly well, the hawklets need to have at least 5 dark bands showing. L1 has her 6th band peeking out. L2 has the 5th band peeking out while L3 has 4 dark bands and L4 has 3.

Big Red brought in some unidentified prey and some wanted to eat while others wanted to run and flap. It was rather chaotic!!!!!

The hawklets are pretty sedentary on the nest – even with all the flapping. After fledging, during the first 3 weeks, their activity level is believed to double. After 6-7 weeks, they will begin to catch small vertebrae. The parents will continue to feed them (more at first) and teach them hunting tricks until they leave the territory.

To my knowledge, Little Bit 17 at the ND-LEEF has not had prey yet today.

At the UFlorida-Gainesville nest, Middle almost fledged today. He would have if a storm had not quickly rolled in with high winds, rain, and some hail. Have a look at a couple of clips of Middle’s hovering. He is impressive!

At least twice today, Middle got the fish and Big did not! His confidence level is growing and growing.

Even soaking wet, Middle just doesn’t want to give up. Expect a fledge anytime!!!!!!! Nothing is going to stop him.

Middle is full of vinegar. Is this osplet going to fledge soaking wet?

How lovely it is going to be when Middle flies off with confidence. There was a time when it was not clear if we would get to this day. Middle has grown into a fantastic, getting more confident, healthy bird. Am I saying it twice? how nice the feathers are on these two? Mum and Dad can be proud. We lost Little Bit but will have two super fledglings when Middle takes off. I hope he finds his way back to the nest as easily as Big. OGK and YRK have been a bonded pair since 2006 – 16 years.

If you watch the Royal Albatross cam, today marks the 21st day that OGK has been away. Let us hope he returns to QT chick soon. Mum YRK is doing double duty at the nest and the NZ DOC rangers on Taiaroa Head are providing supplementary feedings for several chicks.

D

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures and video clips: Institute for Wildlife Studies and Explore.org, the Eagle Club of Estonia, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Cornell Bird Lab and NZ DOC, and UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys.

Early Monday in Bird World

6 June 2022

Liz has posted a video of Urmas and his team removing the Black Storklets from Janika’s nest in Jegova County, Estonia on 5 June. I reported earlier that a glove like a Black Stork shape had been used to place the storklets in the basket. That information is incorrect and my apologies. Bare hands were used. One storklet, sadly, died in the nest over night before the intervention. They need temperatures of 22-28 degrees C. They cannot thermoregulate their temperatures yet. In addition, it rained and well – I hope the remaining chicks survive and thrive. It will be a first for the Veterinary College to raise Black Storklets to fledging. Good luck to Urmas and his team!

Here is the video that Liz posted:

The White Storks Bukachek and Betty still have five storklets in their nest in Mlade Buky, The Czech Republic. You can see the difference in size from the oldest to the youngest known as ‘Little Finger’ by the chatters.

Bukachek (male) is making sure that the wee storklet gets food in the image below.

It has been raining on and off. The rich Red Iron in the clay makes all of the Storks look dirty. Maybe when it is not so rainy more straw will be brought to the nest! That would help.

Awhile ago I mentioned the Lesser Spotted Eagles. Andris and Anna, at their nest in Zemgale, Latvia. The camera was down for awhile but it is now back and running. In the meantime, a beautiful little Lesser Spotted eaglet has hatched!

It is so cute and fluffy! There was only one egg so this is the only chick. Had there been two eggs, the first hatch most always predates the second. So having only one is a good thing! The parents can focus on bringing food to this cutie pie.

Voldis came to the White-tailed Eagle nest that he shares with Milda near Durbe, Latvia. He arrived at 05:30 and stayed for well over an hour.

Milda has had a terrible time since her long time mate, Raimis disappeared two years ago. I hope that Milda and her mate if it is to be Voldis have a very successful next breeding season. This year the eggs were predated.

Margit hatched on 25 April and is growing by leaps and bounds with the tender care of the parents, Kalju and Helju. This Golden Eaglet’s nest is in Soomaa National Park in the southwest of Estonia.

Oh, such a beautiful eaglet. Margit is waking up. The black dot behind the eye is the ear. It will be covered over with feathers before the eaglet fledges.

Helju just brought breakfast for Margit. Liz caught it in a video:

This is the streaming cam for this nest:

What is happening with Ahote? Ahote, the youngest of the three eaglets at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta, fledged on June 2. He has spent the time since then on Transmission Rock and is getting hungry unless food was delivered. Working his way back to the nest, he got some wind on his wings and got to the nest but was blown off course. No doubt he will get there! Very determined.

In the image below you can see him directly below and slightly to the right of Kana’kini and Sky.

Checking on Osprey nests in the UK, the third chick hatched at Llyn Brenig but did not survive.

Aeron Z2 and Blue 014 have had their first hatch at the Pont Cresor nest in the Glaslyn Valley.

Laddie LM12 delivered nine – yes, 9 – to the nest for Blue NC0 to feed their three Bobs at the Loch of the Lowes.

All three Bobs seem to be doing fine at the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G. Just look at how dark Mrs G’s plumage is and that necklace.

Aran has been busy delivering fish. Little Bob is not always in the most perfect position!

I do have to admit that Idris and Telyn are my favourite Ospreys in the UK along with Blue 33 and Maya.

Telyn is feeding the two older Bobs while Bobbie Bach is asleep.

Food coma!

Oh, could that be comfortable?

There is Bobbi Bach ready for his meal while the others sleep. Poor Telyn. They are surely keeping her busy.

It looks like it is starting to dry out for Dylan and Seren at the Llyn Clywedog nest. Gosh, Seren was just so wet and hunkered down keeping the three Bobs warm and dry. Let us hope the sun comes out, too, to warm them up.

Both of the Ospreys were on the UFlorida-Gainesville nest sleeping during the night.

Both are back on the nest waiting for a breakfast delivery!

Good Morning Little Bit 17! Everyone is waiting for prey deliveries at the ND-LEEF nest. I hope that the adults will feed Little Bit like they did yesterday. That would be grand.

The scrape box at Manchester NH is getting to be quite the mess! A good wind will help clear it out. It is hard to believe but this scrape will be on fledge watch beginning on the 10th or 11th of June – this coming weekend!

Nancy is on the nest at 08:40 feeding E1. It looks like they will have a beautiful day at that Bald Eagle nest in Minnesota. Wonder when E1 is going to take to the skies? Nancy has done wonders taking care of E1 and fending off intruders.

Fledge watch is on for the three at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest. It looks like only two but 17 is up higher in the tree.

There are still two eaglets – Sentry and Star – on the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. We are on fledge watch for these two also! It could be a very busy week!!!!!!

We are definitely on fledge watch for the eyases on the nest of Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell campus. The chicks are restless and L1 is definitely ready!

Oh, the excitement of a nest of four hawks – each itching to fly including the youngest, L4. Wonder if L1 will be the first of the oldest to go? Stay tuned.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: the Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlade Buky White Storks, Latvian Fund for Nature, IWS and Explore.org, Friends of LOTL and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyXWild, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, ND-LEEF, Peregrine Networks, MN-DNR, Pix Cams, Friends of Redding Eagles, and Cornell Bird Lab RTH.

Big fledges at UFlorida-Gainesville and other brief news from Bird World

2-3 June 2022

It has been a good morning for the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest!

Big has been wanting to fly – itching to get up in the air. Thanks to ‘R’ who sent me the time stamp I was able to rewind and see her go once I woke up this morning, Friday 3 June. It was 09:03:06. Big returned and did a wee bit of a crash landing on Middle at 09:03:25. She took off for her second flight at 09:09:07. Middle is watching. He will not want to miss the fun for long!

There she goes!

She’s up!

Middle is watching!

“Big sister, you need to practice that landing!”

And she’s off for the second flight. Congratulations Big! You are a fledgling. I wonder when Middle is going to join you?

That is the headliner for Friday morning. Fantastic news for the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey group.

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Sometimes I am shocked by the passage of City By-laws but today I am applauding my City’s new ban on the use of sticky glue traps and rodenticide! (We have long had a ban on allowing cats outside). If the Province would come in and ban lead in fishing and hunting equipment that would be a giant step to help the birds that migrate here for the summer leaving in the early fall. We do not have the lead issues that the US has because the larger raptors have migrated to the South by the time hunting season comes but it certainly impacts the raptors that remain and that now includes some Bald Eagles.

I don’t like the word ‘outside’ because it implies that you can use the rodenticide and glue traps inside. Must write the City Council!

There is updated news coming out of Australia about White-Bellied Sea Eagle WBSE27.

Talk about a gorgeous bird.

One of the adults came to the ND-LEEF nest with a fish at 21:02:37. 15 got the fish. Little Bit was watching. Then 16 stole it. As Little Bit 17 went to go to the porch, 15 attacked him. Little Bit goes on the porch area where Mum feeds him ‘something’ – can’t see just the motions of feeding from the tail. Mum went to get the fish from 16 to feed Little Bit and 16 snipped at Mum. At one point, 15 stole a piece of fish from 16. Little Bit tried to steal the fish a couple of times from 16 around 21:22. 16 moved with the fish to the rim at the top and horked down the rest. Mum took the old bird away from 15 and horked it. I have a feeling that this entire family is hungry!

The fish has arrived.

It is actually a nice chunk of fish. Little Bit is over in his corner by the tree. Mum has gone to the porch.

Mum is feeding Little Bit 17 something on the porch.

Little Bit is smart. He stayed in the porch area while Mum tried to steal the fish from ND16.

Mum goes back to feeding Little Bit whatever it is on the porch. I am thinking some of the road kill.

Mum goes to see what 15 has and she takes it – the dry remains of the Rye bird from yesterday. Mum is very hungry and she horks it. Meanwhile Little Bit is reading the environment.

Little Bit went to try and snatch the fish tail from 16. He tried twice. He did not succeed but he did show his Mum that he is brave and will try to get food. This is important.

It appears that the adults and two of the chicks are very hungry. 16 has consistently taken the prey. Everyone had something but oh how nice it would be for all of them – the parents, too – if quite a load of fish came in tomorrow. Positive wishes!

Friday morning Little Bit 17 has grabbed a fish off the nest and pulled it over by the tree leading to the porch and ate it. The time was 08:36:02. It must have been 15 looking at the fish because he did not do anything to harm Little Bit.

Little Bit is eating that nice fish!

Little Bit is still working on that fish!

It is a very windy morning at the National Park at Sooma in Estonia. Mum Kalju and the female chick, Margit, are just waking up. Margit is 5 weeks and 1 day old today. She is very, very special. The adults – Helju and Kalju have been together for three breeding seasons. Margit is only the second chick to survive. If you watch you will notice how tender both Helju and Kalju are with their baby.

Just look at Mum Kalju looking at her sleeping eaglet with such loving eyes!

Here is the link to this camera in the beautiful forest area of the park.

Sadly, in one of the Black Stork nests in Estonia with five chicks, the male has been missing since 1 June – two days. It is the nest of Jan and Janika in Jegova County. Here is a picture of Jan feeding the chicks on the 27th of May.

Here is a video of the five storklets being fed on 1 June.

This is such a very bad situation. Urmas loves these Black Storks and has worked hard to find ways to save nests from tragedy in the past. This is the statement that he made today:

“I’m in touch with situation here, but don’t know more as you.
Think in course of evolution there is no solution for disappearing of one adult. But there is working probably the instinct, that other adult will not leave easily chicks alone. Up to a point, of course. Other sides, predators are around and have to use every gift provided.
I have no good solution for case if Jan will not come at all. It is possible to make nice view here and rise up the chicks artificially, but these storks will be not really wild. We do not have experiences and technical sources to make it properly. Theoretically, it is possible to provide fish for Janika and she would feed chicks well, but problematic is how to make those fish quickly findable, discoverable for Janika? We do not know, where she forages usually as territory is huge and no any glue to install a fish-basket…
There was a fish basket for three weeks since beginning of May, in less as one km from this nest, in quite open place on stream. But no storks visited it, so removed the basket and placed in another territory.”

It might be possible for volunteers to do what they did at Mlade Buky which was to supply fish directly onto the nest for the chicks and a fish table for the parents. Malde Buky in The Czech Republic was successful but that nest had easy access – right by the houses in the city.

This has been a year where there have been so many challenges but one of the main ones has been intruders killing off one of the adults at a critical time in the breeding season. Just so many this year. It is so sad.

My friend Wicky sends me book recommendations and links to articles. I was going to spending some time talking about a new book, The Hawk’s Way. Encounters with Fierce Beauty by Sy Montgomery but she has sent me another link and reminded me to post the one for you that I had found! It is so hot in India that birds are falling from the sky dead because of climate change.

ttps://www.vice.com/en/article/qjbyk5/birds-heat-stroke-deadly-heat-wave-india?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20220602&instance_id=62964&nl=the-morning&regi_id=72371317&segment_id=93971&te=1&user_id=2f9327403f41fd48179725a261b46825

Climate change is impacting all of our feathered friends in so many ways – warming of oceans, droughts, the warming of rivers and streams where Montana Ospreys used to get their fish, etc. Another thing going hand in hand with intruders – everyone wants a nest in a good territory – and the ill effects that they have on our bird families.

We are waiting for the first fledge at the nest of Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell campus. L1 is really looking like she wants to flight just like Big at UFlorida! What a beautiful morning sunrise on the four who are busy preening those feathers to keep them in tip top shape. Thursday night was the first night that Big Red did not sleep at the nest. Things are moving forward.

There is a storm brewing in Wales with the temperatures dropping. There is also hail being reported. Hang on everyone.

All of the males are busy getting fish on the nests before it hits. The nests have all done well. It is quite a different start to the breeding season so far – let’s hope that wet cold weather dissipates soon. The first egg for the Pont Cresor nest for Aeron Z2 and Blue 014 is 35 days old. Looking for hatch.

Idris is a great provider for Telyn and the chicks at the Dyfi nest. The Bobs are full and sleepy and Telyn is going to have some lunch after the most recent delivery.

Aran has delivered a whopper to Mrs G and the kids at the Glaslyn Valley nest. Just look at the size of that fish!!!!!!!! By evening that fish will be gone.

Aran looks down at his three kids with love.

The temperatures are also dropping at the Llyn Clywedog Osprey nest of Dylan and Seren. Their chicks are also doing fantastic after the early scare of Dylan missing for more than a day during bad weather.

The textures and colours of the two are interesting.

Laddie is busy being Daddy Door Dash Fish delivery person, too. The three chicks on the Loch of the Lowes nest are doing great!

It has been a really good morning for most of the nests. Hopefully that storm coming straight in to Wales will not do any damage! Those great Mums will be hunkered down over those wee chicks. Congratulations again to UFlorida-Gainesville on their first fledge. No doubt Middle is going to follow quickly. It is lovely to see Little Bit get the most of an entire fish. So happy. Jan has not returned to the Black Stork nest and Urmas is going to try a fish basket but it is possible it is too late. So sad.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Sea Eagles @ Birdlife Discovery Centre, ND-LEEF, Eagle Club of Estonia, Dyfi Osprey Project, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, CarnyXWild, and Cornell Bird Lab RTH.

Early Friday in Bird World

27 May 2022

As the sun goes down, we say soon say goodbye to the Captiva Ospreys – Lena, Andy, Middle Little, and Little Mini O. What a delight this Osprey season has been. We were sad for Big to die so quickly and mysteriously but, we all rejoiced when it was not Avian Flu and the rest of the family members were healthy. The chicks grew and grew. Middle Little’s legs are like Aran Daddy Longlegs and he had quite the loud call when he wanted Andy to deliver. Little Mini O turns out to be a big sister. Both flew and fished with the parents and we wish them a long successful life.

We will look forward to the 2023 season with you, Lena and, of course, with Daddy Door Dash, Andy. What a great parents you are! Thanks to Lori Covert for sharing her raptors with all of us.

Little Bit 17 went to sleep with a full tummy. Mum brought in a nice fish at 21:18. By 21:20:40 Little Bit 17 was up there being fed on one side while a big sibling was on the other. In fact, Mum move the fish and it helped 17. The fish was finished at 21:30. Little Bit 17 had a crop and was ready for the day to end.

Mum has brought the fish in and one of the older siblings is pecking at it. Little Bit is at 9 o’clock. Mum will take the fish and move it up to the opposite side of the nest.

It takes Little Bit 17 about 10 seconds to get himself situated in a nice spot so that he will get fed but not pecked (the older siblings have been quite good lately, generally).

Little Bit ate for a good 10 minutes. Would I have liked it to be 20? Of course! You can see he has a nice crop and he will sleep good tonight. There is forecast for a lot of rain tomorrow. Let us hope a couple of good sized fish get on the nest.

At 09:12:48 Little Bit takes his turn at the prey item on the nest this morning.

A little earlier he was sharing that unidentified object with another sibling. It is so nice this nest has turned around.

It looks like there are now four storklets on the White Stork nest of Bukachek and Betty in Mlade Buky, The Czech Republic. They are so cute!

Kana’kini has been really getting some air under her wings as the two brothers look on.

Cody at the Kistachie National Forest Bald Eagle nest put together a great video showing Kincaid at various ages throughout the 2022 season. So many memories – we forget them. Thanks, Cody. This is awesome.

Are you a fan of Xavier and Diamond, the Peregrine Falcons at Charles Sturt in Orange? The three cameras are now being integrated with the CSU web site. The first one to be integrated is the nest box. Here is the new URL: https://youtu.be/su_eumVDeBs

The two osplets of Richmond and Rosie have been eating well. Richmond has been bringing in some nice striped bass and Rosie has been catching some huge fish, too, and bringing them to the nest. Rosie is one of the few females that – at this stage – goes out to fish when the male is doing brooding. It could be the secret to the success of their nest.

The four Ls are really getting their juvenile plumage! There is little L4 who is a month old today! Big Red and Arthur have also done an amazing job. Do you remember when people thought they could not handle four eyases? Arthur is also Daddy Door Dash and he sure kept the prey on the nest even in those torrential rains.

One of the things I love about Mrs G is her long experience raising chicks. Aran is a fantastic fisher (when he is not injured) and here they are together, proud of their first healthy hatch for 2022.

Idris and Telyn are doing fantastic at the Dyfi Osprey nest. There are two chicks! It looks like the males are busy catching flounder. There was a running joke at the Glaslyn nest – Mrs G hates flounder. She will only feed it to the chicks if there is absolutely nothing else. Aran brought in a flounder and Mrs G left it. Aran finally took it away! Reminds of Diamond in the CSU falcon scrape – Diamond hates Starling! Interesting.

Dorcha and Louis have been experiencing horrific weather at the Loch Arkaig nest. Louis brought in a big fish for Dorcha regardless. Oh, I hope this weather settles down before those babies hatch!

Louis is an incredible provider. Dorcha seems like she will be a formidable Mum. Last year the camera was set on the other nest and we could not watch Louis with his new mate. They did fledge two chicks. Can’t wait for this year!

The weather is so bad – high wind gusts and rain – that Dorcha has taken to eating her fish on the nest.

Laddie has just brought a big live fish to the nest at the Loch of the Lowes. I hope that Blue NC0 feeds all of the chicks including Little Bob. He missed out on an earlier feed. I am not staying to watch. The ringing at the Cal Falcon scrape at The Campanile is taking place in a few minutes. I do not want to miss it and the Q & A. I will being news of that later today.

I am a little nervous about this nest. Fingers crossed.

Thank you so much for being with me this morning. Take care everyone. Have a lovely end of the week.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Dyfi Osprey Project, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Cornell Red Tail Haws, Friends of Loch Arkaig and People’s Post Code Lottery, SF Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, ND-LEEF, Captiva Osprey Project, Mlade Buky, Explore.org for the video on Kana’kini’s hovering, and to Cody for that great video on Kincaid from footage at the KNF Bald Eagle Nest.

Glacier Gardens, Ervie on the nest, and other news in Bird World

19 May 2022

It has been a rather dreary damp day. The garden has been full of Orioles, Chipping Sparrows, European Starlings, and Harris Sparrows. They sure bring a lot of joy. At the same time, they let you know that your place is to fill the feeders and then get inside and do not disturb them. They can be rather loud about that. Little Red was about a metre from his new home. I do not know if he found it. Will continue to watch on and off. Fingers crossed!

Glacier Gardens Bald Eagle streaming cam is now live at the new nest of Liberty and Freedom! It is also a brand new camera.

Here is the link to the Glacier Gardens camera:

Big and Middle (known as Warrior by some) were both on the Dale Hollow nest this morning. Then Big left and Middle has been flapping his wings. Our time with them could be limited. So nice to see these two beautiful juveniles.

Yesterday it seemed that Big was up on a high branch. Middle kept looking up. If there is a fledge the camera might not catch it if they are up on those high branches.

Look how big Warrior is. After Big killed Little Bit, we did not know if Middle would make it. We can now rejoice that all is well and we can hope that he or she has an amazing and long life.

I have not seen a prey delivery today at the MN-DNR nest of Nancy. The weather is not great and it is unclear if there are any intruders about. Nancy has been up on the branch watching over the territory.

Nesting material is being delivered to the Barnegat Light Osprey nest in New Jersey today by both Duke and Daisy.

Lady and Dad both spent the night on the old Ironbark nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest where they raise their little White-Bellied Sea Eagles. Sea Eagles are the second largest raptor in Australia with the Wedge-tail Eagle being the largest. Lady and Dad normally have two eggs and fledge both chicks. That said there are birds in the forest that chase them far away so they cannot map the route to and from the nest in their GPS systems. This means the fledglings do not learn from the parents how to fish or have the opportunity to be fed on the nest and get their flying stronger. Last year WBSE 27 went into care twice and was finally trained to hunt and get their flying strong before release the last time. 28 is believed to have returned to the nest recently – to everyone’s surprise – but it was very gaunt. There can be some food competition.

If you have never heard the ‘Dawn Duet’ by the White-Bellied Sea Eagles you are in for a real treat. I taped it last year on 22 June – have a listen. The couple do this every morning at dawn to wake the forest. The chicks also join in!

Many have commented that it looks like the Manton Bay trio of Blue 33 and Maya grow right before our eyes. They are certainly moving from the soft fluffy new born nestling phase and will soon enter the dark wooly period. As the plumage changes the osplets do tend to get a little edgy. Those feathers must be really itchy and irritating. No worries – it is just ‘feather stress’ (that is what I call it). There will be no problems with siblicide on this nest!!!!!! Blue 33 has spent a lot of time on the nest with Maya and he has been feeding the chicks every once in awhile.

They are considered to be a Power Couple in the Osprey World. They are certainly very strong together.

Maya was first seen at Rutland in the summer of 2009. She is the only Rutland osprey to have a name. The letters for Maya come from Manton Bay (first and last two letters to form Maya). The Greek word ‘Maia’ means ‘coming of spring’. Maya successfully bred with 5R (04) from 2010 to 2013. They raised 11 chicks! At least five of those have returned to Rutland – if not more. I have not checked the last two year’s stats. Sadly, Maya’s mate did not return in 2014. She waited and then finally paired with 28 (10). She laid three eggs. But Blue 33 (11) wasn’t having it. He wanted both the nest and Maya as his mate and he persisted – finally kicking the other males eggs out of the nest!!!!! Blue 33 and Maya have been together ever since. They are utterly devoted to one another and with the exception of this year, have often arrived from their winter migration within minutes of one another. They first raised successful chicks in 2015.

So why are they considered a power couple within the Osprey world? In addition to the 3 chicks in 2015, there were 17 chicks from 2016-2020 including two years of clutches of 4 chicks raised to fledge!!!!!!!!!!! Two years of four chicks. Think about that. 2019 and 2020. In 2021, they fledged 2 making a grand total of 22 chicks fledged with three now in the nest. In total, Maya has fledged 33 chicks. Incredible. I love this nest. This year will make that 36 chicks.

Here is a video of Blue feeding the chicks. I should mention that Blue is quite different to other male ospreys; he likes to be involved in every process, spends a lot of time on the nest, sometimes feeds Maya and brings in a heck of a lot of fish!

I am a great fan of the California condors and have followed the trials, tribulations, and the victories of both Redwood Queen 190 and Iniko 1031. Everyone was waiting for Iniko to be reunited with her mother after they were separated because of the Dolan Fire. Indeed, if you do not know the story of Iniko – it is beautiful and it should give us hope that things do work out. Iniko was in the Redwood nest that her father, Kingpin and Redwood Queen shared, when the Dolan fire ripped through Big Sur in 2020. The fire raged around the nest tree. Iniko survived but was knocked out of the tree by Ninja 729. Redwood Queen came to the rescue! Iniko was taken into care at the Los Angeles Zoo supported by the Ventana Wildlife Society. Redwood Queen has a new mate, Phoenix, and they had an egg this year that was believed to be non-viable. Iniko was released on 4 December and this is the first time Mum and daughter have been seen together. Both females dive into the pack and get close to the carcass!

@Ventana Wildlife Society

The only surviving chick on the Dahlgren Osprey nest of Jack and Harriet has a nice crop at 1800 today. The heavy storms and rain caused the waters to rise and be murky. Not good if you are an osprey trying to catch a fish. The water is now clearing and let us hope everything stays on track with this one Bob.

It was nice to see Louis cuddled up with Dorcha at the Loch Arkaig Osprey nest in Scotland. The weather has been terrible – that along with a mess of intruders have really not made it a good start to the year for these two.

I can hear rain falling on Theo’s nest in Latvia and see that some work continues to be made on the nest but no Theo and no mate. Beautiful birds singing in the distance.

Black Storks are very, very rare in Latvia and Estonia. Because of this conservation status, they are much loved by the people – and many of us. Karl II and Kaia have four eggs on their Black Stork nest in the Karula National Forest in Estonia. The first egg was laid on 24 April with the last on 1 May. We should be looking for a pip in what? Incubation is normally 32-38 days (varies by author). So we are at 25 days with the oldest egg.

Here is the link to Karl and Kaia’s streaming cam:

The Black Stork nest of Jan and Janika is also in Estonia in Jogeva County. There are five eggs. The couple are, according to the chat moderator, on day 34, 31, 31 and 30 (counted from laying). Here is the link to their streaming cam:

There was one Black Stork nest that was monitored in Latvia. It was the nest of Grafs and Grafiene. I have not been able to confirm any activity for this couple this season.

There was a scary moment on the nest of Big Red and Arthur when Big Red brought in greenery at 11:47 and L3 looked as if she would fall backwards off the nest.

There is tug-o-war with some prey and the inklings of self-feeding with bits of prey left on the nest. Too cute. L4 looks on and wants to join in the fun.

I checked on Ervie a few minutes ago and he was not on the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. Then ‘B’ checked after me and Ervie flew onto the nest and is now sitting in Dad’s cave!!!!!!! Oh, we are truly blessed. Thank you ‘B’. Now anyone can go to the Port Lincoln streaming cam and see our beautiful boy!

Seeing Ervie brings tears of joy! So happy for this third hatch. He is much loved and adored by so many. Thank you ‘B’ for taking the time to send me a note! It is much appreciated. Ervie might well bring a puffer back. He seems to find them around the barge.

Thank you for joining me today. It was a whirlwind around the nests. Too many. Too much going on. It is hard to keep up with them. Take care all. If you want to see Ervie, here is the link to his camera:

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or their FB pages: Ventana Wildlife Society, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Glacier Gardens, Cornell RTH, Eagle Club of Estonia, Latvian Fund for Nature, Friends of Loch Arkaig and People’s Post Code Lottery, Barnegat Light Ospreys, Sea Eagles @BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre, MN-DNR, Dahlgren Ospreys, DHEC, and LRWT.

Thursday in Bird World

12 May 2022

What a great day it has been- OK. I haven’t gotten to checking all the nests. There are way too many and I did get caught wondering what in the world is going on at the Hellgate Canyon Osprey nest of Iris. Then I had to check and see how the three chicks at the Manton Bay nest are doing. Was the one slapped by the fish still OK? The promised rain has not materialized as yet but the sunny sky is gradually turning grey again. It was a beautiful day to be outside. The grass is green and the leaves are beginning to pop out of the bud state. I can, of course, take the laptop outside but, you see, the garden birds start telling me that I am interrupting and in their space. You can hear them vocalizing a half block away. So trying to keep the neighbour’s friendly, I went for a walk and had a very sad chat with someone I have know for years from the Ukraine. She is passionate and optimistic. A lovely woman.

In the image below, Iris greets a male visitor.

They are actually a cute couple.

Iris is the oldest osprey in the world. Her nest is at Hellgate Canyon by the Clark Fork River in Missoula, Montana. Iris had a wonderful mate named Stanley. Then Stanley died. Then Louis showed up. Now Iris is a cracker. She can out fish any of the male birds, she is beautiful, and she has an attitude. How she accepted Louis is beyond me. They had one chick survive and then Louis bonded with Star and they have their nest at the baseball park. Louis mates with Iris every year, she lays the eggs, and they get eaten by the Crows because she gets hungry. Louis has shocked everyone this year by bringing some fish to Iris. Did we have hope he would change his ways? Seriously, it takes a Blue 33 (11) or a Monty to handle two nests with two females and at least four or six chicks. Sorry, Louis, but I just don’t think you are up to it. Still, Louis has never let Iris have another mate because it is a ‘territory’ thing. So Iris does what Iris does, the eggs get eaten and she is free to have a leisurely summer. It is the same this year. But,…something seems to be happening. There is a male around. Iris let him land on the nest. Iris asked him to bring her fish. Strikingly Louis did not come and try to chase the male visitor away. In fact, I wonder if Louis would win that fight if it happened. The Montana Osprey Project video taped it. I had some stills but the video is better! BTW. The male’s name is not ‘Elvis’. If he were to stay around, Dr Erick Greene would give him a name.

Everything is just fantastic at the Manton Bay nest of Blue 33 and Maya. Blue has brought in two huge fish since the perch yesterday that was thrashing about. One of those monster fish today was another perch. The three nestlings have eaten well. Maya feeds them, on average, every 2 hours from the first light of the day til sometimes after dark. They are growing strong and there is no evidence now after about 36 or so hours that the wee one thumped by the fish has any lasting issues. At least not visible to the eye. All three are right up there, eyes open and beaks wide when it is dinner time.

Adorable. Everyone eats. All get full to the brim and they will sleep well. Enjoy the nestling cuteness. They change and grow so fast. I love their little wings and the soft down, the stripe through their eyes and down their back. Cute pies.

Every evening Blue 33 comes to check on the pantry to see what is needed for the morning and to say goodnight to Maya. Sometimes during the incubation period, he will sleep on the nest with her but not normally once the chicks hatch.

Every day I do check on Big Red and Arthur and it is astonishing how well those four little Red-tail Hawks are doing. They are now regularly all over the nest. Soon they will be jumping and flapping all over that metal grid ledge. They have done so well.

There is great raptor DNA running through the nests! Just look at the trio that Akecheta and Thunder parented. All I am going to do is say ‘Wow’.

Star (left) and Sentry (right) have dried off from all the rain that was pounding the Redding Bald Eagle nest of Liberty and Guardian yesterday. Gosh, we blinked. Do you remember waiting for them to hatch? and now look!

Sticking with California for a minute or ten, the trio of Osplets on the Venice Golf and Country Club platform have all done well despite early worries about the third hatch.

The Captiva Osprey nest had a 66% success rate this year. That is really good. Middle Little is still letting Andy deliver fish on the platform on the grounds of Lori Covert’s property. Middle Little is such a handsome bird.

So what about Little MiniO? Lori has been out kayaking and at the same time, keeping an eye on the birds. She has spotted the family together many times, the youngsters with parents Andy and Lena flying around the property and over to the island. The Windows for Wildlife chat has posted a link to an image that Lori took. Lori believes this is Little MiniO on her favourite tree. Stunning bird!

I don’t know if anyone reading this is interested in having their own Osprey and Bald eagle nests but Lori’s property at Captiva was for sale. It might have sold, I don’t know. But how grand. Sit and have dinner and watch the Ospreys!

Middle has a bit of a crop. I did not rewind to the beginning of the feeding but the positioning was good at 16:20, one chick on one side and one on the other, with Mum feeding Big a couple of bites to Middle’s one. I will take it! Middle is looking good. It is 26 degrees C, winds have dropped to 13 kph, and the barometric pressure is falling.

Nap time!

Mum has been spending more time on the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge as of late. It is wonderful to see her. It is hard to imagine but her and Dad will begin working on getting the nest back in order after their triplets Bazza, Falky, and Ervie had all those dust ups on it last season!

A nest known for siblicide fledged three. Was it just because they were all male? Let’s wait and see what this year brings. Mum needs to enjoy that fish. Soon she will be busy feeding a nest of little ones. For those of you following Ervie he is still hanging around Port Lincoln. Calypso appears to be with a male and we hope that she has her own nest this year. Mum and Dad can be grandparents!

I sometimes mention fundraising that groups are doing. The Port Lincoln Osprey Project takes care of the costs of the streaming cam, the barge, etc that many enjoy. They also raise awareness about the needs of the Ospreys in South Australia and lobby to get the hydro poles change, etc. They are now wanting to build more platforms for the growing population of Eastern Ospreys in South Australia. If you feel so inclined, you can join as a member or make a donation or do both or neither! [Please note: I post the information to support the groups. I do not make a penny on any memberships or donations.]

Here is the information that was posted on the Port Lincoln Osprey FB page today:

I want to close with something pretty special. It is a mid-air prey transfer between Alden and Annie. Quite amazing! These two are a great couple.

Thank you so much for joining me today. The one chick is still alive at Dahlgren Osprey Platform, all three are crackers at Manton Bay, the three at Venice are doing great, Middle had a crop – it couldn’t get much better than that. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey, Lori Covert, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife, VGCCO, Friends of Redding Eagles, Explore.org, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Cal Falcons, LRWT Manton Bay, and Montana Osprey Project.

Early Monday in Bird World

9 May 2022

As citizens of Manitoba, we are really learning about what it means to live on the floor of what was once Lake Agassiz —- in other words, a flood plain. Two more Colorado Lows are set to dump more water on a province that is flooded south of Winnipeg and north of Winnipeg. One big lake save for those communities who spent funds on creating their own dams. The loss is enormous but looking at it from a wildlife perspective, one has to wonder where all the deer, the nests, and the animals have gone. I have seen one image of deer walking along a railroad track that runs from Winnipeg to the US border trying to find dry land and food. That border is now closed as are many highways and even some bridges in my City. Years ago one of our Premiers decided to build what was teasingly called ‘Duff’s Ditch’. Well, everyone should be grateful to Duff Roblin for having that kind of insight. The City is mostly dry and safe.

There are few birds in the garden as the raindrops begin to fall on a grey day.

I am as nervous as Blue 33 (11) is as he comes in and off the nest at Manton Bay checking on Maya and the eggs. There are three. At one point you could only see two, has there been a hatch? So, we wait for confirmation one way or the other! I cannot see any egg shells so I suspect that pesky egg is hiding!

It is certainly time to begin checking on the Black Stork nests in Estonia and Latvia. There is something curious that I noticed which I suspect my friends in Estonia have known all along. Jan and Jaanika laid their eggs a whole month earlier this year than last. In 2020, the eggs were laid on 12 May, 14 May, 16 May, and the 18th of May. Hatch from 14-17 June. This year the eggs were laid on 15, 17, 19, 21 April, 23 and the sixth and final egg on 25 April! This is excellent – the timing. Last year the couple was so very late that Janika started her migration before the chicks had fledged. It was a very difficult time and the food for the chicks was supplemented by fish being brought to the nest by the wildlife specialist, J Kuze.

The Black Stork in Estonia is so rare that every effort is made to help them that is possible.

I am not a stork expert. It would seem, however, that the parents cannot support six storklings very easily and they will probably select the three strongest. But, we wait to see.

Here is the link to Jan and Jaanika’s streaming cam in Jogeva County, Estonia:

I also checked on the nest of Karl II and Kaia in the Karula National Forest in the south of Estonia. The eggs for this year were laid on almost the identical dates as last year. Those days were 24, 26, 29 April and 1 May. Hatch began in 2021 on 28 May.

This is the link to Karl II and Kaia’s nest in the forest.

Sadly, it appears that Grafs and Grafiene did not return to their nest this year in the Sigulda Region of Latvia. Did they not survive migration? or did they decide to locate their nest elsewhere? I do know the answer to this but I will try to find out.

There is only one osprey nest in Latvia. This year only the male returned, Theo. He tried to attract many females to his beautiful nest. It is hoped that a young female, tagged UV and an Estonian female, will stay with them. Mating was attempted this morning but UV was not receptive. Sadly, this nest is a bit haunted. None of the former chicks have survived due to goshawk predation.

Here is the link to the Kurzeme camera of Theo:

In comparison, the Osprey nest of Ivo an Iiris in Tarta County, Estonia has done well. All of the couple’s chicks fledged last year!

Pip watch will begin on the 21st of May. That is only 12 days from now. Here is a link to Ivo and Iiris’s streaming camera:

Gosh, Big Red is gorgeous. It is so hard to believe she is 19 years old. She is in such good shape this year. What a beautiful golden glow on her and the four eyases as a new morning wakes up on the Cornell Campus.

This is a great nest to watch! There is plenty of time to watch these eyases develop, fledge, and then learn to be a ‘hawk’. Arthur will teach them flying and hunting with Big Red joining in. There is nothing better than seeing the parents teach the chicks how to hunt a squirrel in a tree!!!!!!

The two eyases at the Red-tail Hawk at the Presidio Trust Building in San Francisco are doing fine. These two are really growing. Look at the size of that wing. Wow.

Peregrine Falcon chicks are doing well this morning, too. The chicks at the scrape in the tower of Chichester Cathedral just had their afternoon tea.

All five eyases were fed and happy this morning at the Manchester, New Hampshire scrape.

Sleeping babies at Utica, New York scrape. Will the other eggs hatch? We will see.

Henry and Poppy do a great job taking care of their two chicks at the Cromer scrape. If you are interested in their day to day activities, there is a great blog with this nest that has images and comments of everything that happens on the nest. I will post it after the image of the chicks!

https://www.cromerperegrineproject.co.uk/post/cromer-peregrine-activity-log-08-05-2022

If you are wondering about the third egg at the U-Cal Berkeley scrape of Annie and Alden, don’t. It is non-viable. If it were going to hatch it would have happened on Saturday. What will they do with it? Incubate it, roll it around, or break it – or maybe Sean or Lynne will collect it for the museum when they clean the scrape.

Two healthy chicks are good. They are incredibly adorable.

All three eaglets are accounted for on the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta.

TH1 at the nest of Chase and Cholyn is getting its blood feathers. There are a few lingering dandelions on the top of the head. It will not be long until this wee one looks like its cousins at the West End.

I checked on two nests in the East – PIttsburgh Hayes with its triplets and the National Arboretum nest. They are all awake and looking good this morning.

The three are beginning to fill up the nest!

Breakfast time for DC9. Looking good. There was a little concern earlier for DC9 because a bird had been brought on the nest as a prey item. Everything seems to be alright.

I want to leave you with a smile. A Canada Goose has chosen a planter on the deck of a Calgary, Alberta couple to lay its eggs three years in a row!

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/a-calgary-couple-s-unusual-houseguests-return-every-spring-to-lay-eggs-in-their-planter-1.6445267?fbclid=IwAR0ofbF90vvx29SCgnb-y60yl1bmVOCUlRz_3iiz5Cs_CasPpui7bPNEof0

Lots happening today. Some exciting. Some sad. The youngest golden eaglet has been killed at the Estonian nest. It had been beaked by its eldest sibling earlier and prey became scarce and the oldest killed the youngest today. That was the Golden Eagle nest in the Soomaa National Park in Southwestern Estonia. As I mention often, the rate of siblicide is much higher in nests other than falcons and hawks.

Thank you for joining me on this rainy grey day in Manitoba. Take care everyone. See you soon – hopefully with a news of the first Osprey hatch in the UK!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: LRWT, Eagle Club of Estonia, Latvian Fund for Nature, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Presidio Trust, Chichester Cathedral, Peregrine Networks, Utica Falcons, Cromer Peregrines, Explore.org, Pix Cams, and the NADC-AEF.