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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
First up, Louis brought Iris a fish. He did not stay to incubate their egg at the Hellgate Canyon Nest in Missoula but, hey – he brought a fish. I am grateful. I am not going to get mad and stomp my feet. This is, I believe, the third fish this season. Grateful.
Iris, you are so gorgeous! The oldest osprey in the world and you look better every year.
It was also a good day, so far, at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. Mum brought in a fish at 11:59:52 and low and behold Dad flew in with another nice fish at 13:04. Both of the eaglets ate. When one chick is dominant and eating the most, it really helps when the bigger fills up and another lands on the nest right after. That way Mum gets food and hydration, too. Happy.
Big wandered about a bit and even did a ps before he thought about more food. All the while Middle was gobbling up the fish as fast as Mum could get it to the beak.
Big had eaten and was not in an aggressive mood. Nice.
Both chicks get to eat. The fish is finished at 13:27.
It has been raining in Ithaca, New York. Not a torrent, thankfully. Big Red is trying to keep those wiggly nestlings dry! Are they cooperating? Not always.
That’s L4 with its head raised up.
CalFalcons posted a short video of Alden incubating the eggs. Gosh, it is possible there will be pips tomorrow but, more likely, on the 6th! Oh, I hope that all three hatch. That would be wonderful. Despite the injury to Alden’s left ankle, he really seems to have adapted and is doing well. He certainly has been a terrific mate to Annie since Grinnell was killed.
Nancy has stepped up and is delivering prey items to the MN-DNR in order that her and E1 survive without Harry. Nancy is perfectly capable of fishing and hunting and E1 has its juvenile feathers so that it can regulate its temperature. We are fortunate that the eaglets were older when Harry disappeared eight days ago. (For those who do not know this nest, Harry disappeared. Chicks were extremely hungry. E1 was very aggressive to E2 and had been for a long time. E1 pushed E2 off the nest and E2 had to be euthanized.)
Unless something dramatic happens, we should expect E1 to fledge and for Nancy to have a new mate next year – unless Harry miraculously, at this stage, returns.
Despite the fact that a UFO, a catfish, and a sucker were brought on to the Notre-Dame Bald Eagle nest, ND17 still struggles to get food. Today there were three feedings and a bit of one before noon. At the last feeding, the small eaglet got food to create a crop. Another Relief but another struggling nest trying to get enough food for everyone. Did I ever say I wish these nests would not have more than 2 hatches?
During the first UFO feeding, ND17 stayed in submission. It did not even try to get up to have something to eat.
He did go up after and try to find a place to nibble on the prey item.
ND17 also stayed away from the second feeding.
The little one managed to get some fish at the last feeding. There was even fish left on the nest. Thankful.
Fish delivery at Dale Hollow. Looks like Middle gets it first and then later Big comes down to have some. Nice sharing. That is Big up on the edge of the nest behind the parent.
The leaves are lush and green at the National Arboretum nest of Mr President and Lotus. The day started off soggy and now the sun is shining on DCD9 and he has dried out.
Martin made two deliveries this afternoon to the Dulles-Greenway eaglet. The first was a duckling at 14:28 and this was followed by something else that I could not identify at 15:19.
One of my all time favourite wildlife rehabbers is reminding us to help the migrating birds. CROW posted this today on their FB page. Check your region and help! Thank you.
As predicted, we went from winter to summer on the Canadian Prairies. Everyone is outside – and most around me are having their first official barbecue of the season. The birds have not been happy with my clearing up their old seed and I suspect that Mr and Mrs Grackle once again have their nest in the wood shed which is why Mr Raven and Mr Crow have been around so often. My neighbour tells me that he saw about 20 Pelicans in a tree – sounds like the tree with the Great Egrets in Grenada to me. Summer is here. No spring. Just summer.
I hope this blog finds all of you well. Some of the nests are still struggling but life is good and it is pip watch for the Cal Falcons tomorrow!!!!!!!! Yes. I cannot wait to celebrate the three eyases.
Take care. Thank you so much for being here with us. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Montana Osprey Project, Dulles-Greenway Bald Eagles, ND-LEEF, Cornell Bird Cam RTH, CROW, NADC-AEF, MN DNR, and DHEC.
A very bad storm hit the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest today. Mum jumped in to stay on the nest with the triplets. That tree was swaying so much and creaking.
Everyone is soaked but those strong winds have passed through the City.
At 15:56, Alden was caught ‘loafing’ on the CalFalcons Cam. In their discussion, Sean and Lynne mentioned this posture when resting as being particular to Alden as an adult. They thought that it might be because of his injured leg and that this rest position was more comfortable.
Alden better rest. Tomorrow is 4 May and in one or two days he is going to be hunting for his and Grinnell’s family. Alden, you are adorable. And so healthy with that bright yellow cere and the lines around your eyes.
CalFalcons made a quick video of Alden when they found him.
Dr Sharpe and his team made another rescue today. On the 19th of April the Bald Eagle nest tree with a single eaglet in it on Santa Rosa Island broke. It was kept from falling into the gulley below by a single branch. The Institute for Wildlife Studies built a new nest for the eaglet and placed it back inside. Another eaglet saved! And, yes, the parents were feeding the eaglet. Apparently many of the eagles have their nests on the ground for lack of suitable trees. The local predator is the fox.
These images are reposted from the Institute for Wildlife Studies FB page. The image below shows the broken tree. The nest is on the ground in the background.
What a happy little eaglet! No injuries and you can see it has been well looked after by its parents. What a cutie.
The newly constructed nest is 1.5 metres or 5 feet off the ground. Dr Sharpe said the adults were around the entire time watching. They know where there baby is and will be right there once the humans leave.
Happy eaglet in its new nest. Thank you to the Institute for Wildlife Studies for their magnificent work at this nest and all the others in the Channel Islands that they oversee. What would these eaglets do without you?
I was doing a nest check and came across R2 at Ron and Rita’s nest in the Miami Zoo. What a wonderful surprise this morning. It was like seeing Kincaid get a fish drop yesterday. Once the raptors have fledged it is so reassuring to see them return once in awhile just to let us know they are doing fine out there.
Nancy landed on the MN-DNR nest at 19:07. Some had worried that something had happened to her. No, she appears to be fine.
Earlier today, at 15:05 Nancy landed with prey and fed E1.
E1 is of the age that Nancy can leave it to go hunting for both of them. Sadly, it appears that Harry might not return. It has been a week.
This is just a quick check on some of the nests to continue boosting our spirits. The day has been going really well with Middle at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest getting a really good feeding. Positive energy needs to go out to keep those intruders away from all of the nests. What destruction they make!
One last peek at a wee one, L4 who is melting everyone’s hearts.
Well, that little one is not shy. Today he wanted to be first in line and that is precisely where he wound up. I made a short video clip. Enjoy!
BTW. L4 came out of that with a nice big crop! You can see him getting fed by Big Red and the crop is growing every bite. Fearless this little one is.
Oh, we needed some smiles. Too many intruders. Too much sadness some time. Give me a falcon or a hawk nest. They are generally always happy – and have their very funny moments.
If you are a follower of the Port Lincoln Osprey barge and have wanted to make a donation and knew that PLO could not accept the funds, here is an announcement from today. It indicates how you can do this. Fantastic. Please read this carefully. They have laid out a good plan for using the funds received.
The 2019 fledge, Calypso, continues to be seen with her mate where they perch on a dead tree on Tunby Island. PLO have indicated that Tunby is being considered for an artificial platform as there are no good nest trees. Oh, that would be wonderful. Calypso might choose to breed with her mate this season 2022 or next year, 2023. Mum and Dad would be grandparents! How grand.
Thank you for joining me today. Take care everyone. See you shortly.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures or video clips: Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, The Institute for Wildlife Studies, MN-DNR, Pix Cams, and Cal Falcons.
It is still raining in southern Manitoba. There are images on FB of deer trying to find dry ground and food. They are walking along the railway tracks south of Winnipeg. They will, so sadly, have a long way to go. The birds have been with us all day grabbing on to the vines that grow on the side of the house, stopping to eat when the rain is not too heavy, and then looking for shelter again when it starts. Will this really turn to snow tomorrow? It is better for the birds for sure. I just hope the promise of 20 degrees C or 68 F really happens on Thursday. Everyone and all things could use a dry out.
The Grackles arrived this week. I have a new ‘used’ ‘refurbished’ camera and it is heavier than my old one. It is going to take some getting used to. So please bear with me!
Grackles are so overlooked. Isn’t it stunning? Just look at the colours!!!!!!!! Mr Grackle and his family of eight normally spend the summer with us in our garden. Two years ago when their single surviving chick fledged, the whole extended family arrived, perching on the cable line, swaying back and forth, in joyous celebration. Last year Mr Crow took all the newborn chicks. I yelled at him. He doesn’t like me!
The focus is soft. I will work on that but, at least, those gorgeous wing feathers and that beautiful indigo head came through.
The European Starlings were here today, also. They discovered the meal worms and got all excited.
Dyson is not bothered by the birds.
I caught Hedwig, an Eastern Cottontail, waiting for the Grackles to leave the deck. Hedwig has decided that he likes to have his food – carrots, sunflower seeds, and millet – on the deck by the Japanese lantern. It is always so good to see him.
Scraggles and Little Red were running around, too. It is reassuring to see them, to know that they are alright. Their lives are not easy.
It has been a really tough season for our streaming bird families. One day I will sit down and write down the names together and find images of all the ones we have lost since January. We get attached to them and losing E2 today and having Harry missing from their MN-DNR nest – well, it hit many very, very hard. Harry was a popular young dad – four years old!!!!!! They fledged two last year. He barely had his white head this year – and he was an excellent provider. Nancy should be able to keep herself and E1 alive if the intruders will leave and she can go hunt. Please send warm thoughts their way.
I wanted to just send you some lovely images of Big Red and Arthur’s nest on the grounds of Cornell in Ithaca, New York. Big Red makes me happy. She adores being a Mom and every year she rises to the top as Bird Mother of the Year. If I could arrange it, Big Red, those would be chippies on a stick instead of yellow tulips!
The images are in no particular order. Most of the time when I pop in to check on them if they are not streaming behind everything else, Big Red is feeding the chicks. That is Little L4 getting some nice squirrel. The pantry is decreasing and Arthur will, no doubt, be working to fill it again.
How about a fur lined nest with Squirrelillows?
Keeping the nest insect and pest free is a big job. Big Red is always aerating.
More food. Wee L4 is back up there.
L4 looks just like a little snow person there on the far right. S/he has figured out a good place to be when it is feeding time.
I will check on the other nests tomorrow. The activity at the MN-DNR nest took the wind out of my sails. It is heart breaking. And enough with the intruders. There are way too many eagles and ospreys without nests and I am told way too many male Bald Eagles without a partner that this is becoming a big problem. All I know is that intruders caused the death of Grinnell at the CalFalcon scrape, almost killed Bella, have probably killed Harry – and the list goes on. A Bald Eagle (not Connie or her mate) chased one of the Osprey fledglings from Captiva today. I am certain that you have a long list also. Then there is blatant siblicide. Dale Hollow. UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys. MN-DNR.
I hope the garden animals and seeing Big Red in all her glory with four eyases -for the very first time- will bring a smile to your face. Take care everyone. Thank you for being with me today. See you soon!
Thank you to Cornell Bird Lab for their streaming cam at Ithaca where I took my screen captures.
