Tag Archives: red tail hawks

Middle out smarts Big at Dale Hollow and more Bird World News

22 March 2022

We had more snow last night – not a lot. But the humidity this morning is impacting the key pad on my computer. Has that ever happened to you? It is driving me crazy.

Oh, my goodness. Out in Bird World there are lots of storms moving through. One of them, with winds gusting to 46 mph, went through Captiva during the night. Lena held on tight and kept both of her babies safe.

By the time Andy brought the very first fish to his family things were a lot calmer.

It is still a bit windy. You can see Lena’s feathers blowing. Aren’t the feathers on Middle and Little gorgeous?

There is another storm system that is going to impact almost all of the nests we have been watching as it moves east – save for those nests in the West.

In the Kisatchie National Forest, home to the Bald Eagles Anna and Louis and their eaglet of 2022, Kincaid, they are waiting for the very severe weather shown in the top map to hit any moment. Kincaid is already finishing his breakfast.

Kincaid loves the wind and is flapping all over the nest as the storm approaches. Kincaid, wait! No branching today.

The storm has hit. Anna and Louis will be perched in nearby trees. Kincaid is hunkered down. Fantastic.

That same system is also going to impact the Dale Hollow nest where Middle DH15 needs big fish deliveries today. River stayed on the nest with the two during the night. I hope she returns with a huge fish so that the trauma DH15 endured yesterday does not happen again today. If you are wondering why it does not fight back, take a look at the difference in size. DH15 or Middle wants to survive, too.

Amanda777 posted the following video about the Dale Hollow nest yesterday.

I don’t know Amanda777 but in a comment on the video, she said, “This is a very strange nest”. Indeed, it is in so many ways. First, siblicide on a Bald Eagle nest appears to be very rare. This is supported by much academic research. To have the same Bald Eagle nest with the same parents have at least two incidents of violent siblicide is not normal. One might begin to wonder if the offspring are predisposed genetically? or is it this nest territory? the weather? intruders? available prey? gender of the siblings and birth order? the distinct type of parenting ? or the synergy of all the factors?

I asked a couple of eagle experts about the life expectancy of Bald Eagles in the wild. The general consensus is that it is about 20-24 years. Some do live longer. Many never reach their first birthday. Keeping that in mind and knowing that River and Obey are both supposed to be 24 years old also gives a different perspective. They are elderly. When siblicide happens, the biggest question is always ‘why’? Sadly it appears that the eagles are driven to breed whether they want to or not and to lay eggs, the number they do not seem to be able to control.

Obey has just landed on the nest alerting! Then River comes. It is 07:43. Oh, goodness. This is not a good start to the day!

It is nearly 010:30 and Big and Middle are still waiting for breakfast. This does not bode well unless this is an enormous fish when it comes. Fingers crossed.

At 10: 27:03 one of the parents flies in with an American Coot which it is plucking. Big is very hungry and is right up there. Middle is watching and listening but staying out of the way. Smart! Let Big go first. You will save yourself, Middle, if you do! (It is possible that this is Obey, the Dad, but I am not 100% sure. The feeding method is different).

The adult twists and turns plucking and maybe nibbling?? Middle is very attentive but no matter how hungry he is, he is looking like he knows to stay away from Big.

Well, would you look at this! Middle didn’t wait!!!!!!! He is right up there at the beak. I sure hope Big doesn’t get mad.

Big did get mad! Middle ducked and began moving along the rim away from the food. That appeared to satisfy Big who is extremely interested in the plucking.

Middle had a plan. He gets over to his normal spot on the rim and he turns and checks on Big. And then he makes his move.

Still watching Big very closely Middle moves around the rim of the nest.

He gets himself right up by Obey and he Dad starts feeding his boy some Coot. Middle really likes it.

Did I say Middle really likes Coot? He is practically under Dad’s head trying to get some more.

Middle is going to eat much more of this Coot than Big.

Can you see Middle’s crop?

At 11:00 Middle is still eating. It has been a half hour feed.

At 11:04 Obey is pulling out the stringy bloody bites and Middle wants them!

The feeding might have finished at 11:07 but Middle thinks that there could be a little more food and continues until 11:10. Both Big and Middle have gigantic crops!!!!!!! Seriously huge. Middle will be waddling around and sleeping on a cropzilla.

Middle did a PS at 11:11:13. These babies are so full. Life is good. Tears are rolling down my cheeks. Middle is getting strategic and that was a great meal.

A Bald Eagle nest with three sweet little babies that is thriving is the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta.

The winds have really calmed down for Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear Valley. They were practically blown off the nest yesterday. Little one had a wonderful early breakfast.

A quick check at the nest of Cornell’s Red tail Hawks, Big Red and Arthur and all is calm. Arthur has come to give Big Red a break. Isn’t he cute? Yesterday, Arthur brought a snake on to the nest. It’s true. He ate it while he was incubating the eggs!

Was the snake meant as a treat for Big Red? If so, she might not ever know.

I know that many of you fell in love with Harry, that young 4 year old dad that did so well on the MN-DNR nest last year. Well, Harry was busy packing the prey in the nest yesterday. Him and Nancy had their first pip of the 2022 season! I was expecting a hatch during the night or early morning. Waiting for word. Nancy is not giving a thing away!

Two of the three eggs have hatched at Pittsburgh-Hayes. Here is a great look at one of the recent feedings.

LM12 or as he is fondly called, Laddie, has been creating the nicest nest of all it seems. I wonder if Blue NC0 will like it when she arrives?

Maya and Blue 33 (11), two of my favourite Osprey parents, have been working on their nest and getting reacquainted after their winter migration. Blue 33 returned yesterday. Maya was home at Rutland Water on March 15. Last year the couple arrived within half an hour of one another.

While Maya and Blue 33 work on their nest, the three little Bobble heads of Thunder and Akecheta are just waking up and having breakfast. It is 06:27 on Catalina Island in California.

Liberty and Guardian are also waking up in Redding, California with their first hatch wanting breakfast. This was actually egg2 and it joined us at 21:24 on March 20th. Liberty has a nice big fish in the nest already.

At the Dulles Greenaway nest of Martin and Rosa, the wee babe is wide awake and Rosa moved so we could have a peek.

Sweet and sleepy.

There is so much happening in Bird World. I hope to get someone to do a quick cleaning of my laptop today. You might not hear from me until much later. Please send your warmest wishes to all of the nests and, in particular, Dale Hollow. Middle did fantastic this morning! Joyful tears. We just need this to continue.

Thank you so much for joining me. Take care.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Captiva Osprey and Window on Wildlife, KNF Bald Eagles, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, Cornell RTH, Dulles-Greenway Eagles, LRWT, Woodland Trust and Loch of the Lowes, Pix Cams, MN DNR, Friends of Big Bear Valley, and CNN Weather Tracker.

Thursday Afternoon in Bird World

For more than a week now I haver been wondering what is going on at the Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagle nest. There was torrential rain and then snow. At the beginning of the season, I saw tandem feedings and was so hopeful that this was another great nest. Sadly, that just simply does not appear to be the case. While other raptor mothers are covering their chicks from the hot sun, nothing is happening at Dale Hollow. Little Bit does not have all its thermal down. Little Bit is also crying out for food. I want to be wrong because you always hear ‘The Eagles Know Best’ but with the case of River and Obey, I am not sure. Did the rain stir up the lake and it is so murky that they cannot get fish? did the snow send the critters underground? At any rate, I am very worried about Little Bit surviving. I do not wish to cause undue alarm but what happened here?

A small fish was brought in to the Dale Harbour nest around 14:30. You can see for yourself what is happening. I suspect that the Big sibling might well eat all of it – and yes, that is what happened.

Are River and Obey eating off camera?

If the fish brought on to the nest is only one of these a day or two, then it is possible that the other two siblings will not get any food. It is so sad. They might well be beyond getting up to the table.

Little Bit is at the bottom of the screen. Both of them know not to get near the food until Big is finished. Little Bit is really suffering today. It has had nothing to eat for approximately 30+ hours and is crying and crying. At any other nest, this wee babe would be getting 8 or 10 small meals a day.

Middle is walking away towards Little Bit.

Neither Little Bit or Middle had any food to eat. Neither made any effort to go up to the table. They are dehyrated and lethargic. The fish is all gone. Big has an enormous crop. Sadly, unless another fish comes on the nest and Little Bit gets fed full, I do not believe this poor little nestling will survive. The middle chick might have a better chance. Are both Little Bit and Middle too dehydrated, too hungry, too tired – and too intimidated by Big – to ever get up to the table again? We wait.

It is a hard reality. The eagles only need one chick to survive. Watching this nest is extremely difficult when we look at the others. I continue to wonder what is going on.

This is the last image I have today of the Dale Hollow Bald Eagle nest. It pretty much says it all. Big is over by River at the opposite side and Middle and Little Bit are together sadly alone, beyond hungry.

In comparison, Thunder and Akecheta were feeding the three chicks on their nest before daylight and several times after.

We can also compare what is happening at Big Bear Valley with Shadow and Jackie. It is 11:55 and the wee only Bob has been fed four times. There have also been multiple poop shots.

The two eagles of Abby and Blaze at Eagle Country hatched on the 11th and 14th of February. Gosh, they have grown and are lookin’ good.

What a beautiful sight at the Duke Farms Bald Eagles. You might recall that the second hatch was so tiny and died. The surviving eaglet is doing very, very well. The nest is full of fish and Mum is there not only shading but keeping the chick warm.

Mark your calendars. Pip watch begins on the 19th for Liberty and Guardian at the Redding California Bald Eagle nest. Last year the couple fledged three lovely juveniles.

Here is the link to the streaming cam at Redding.

There were sure some beautiful images coming out of Iowa at the Decorah North Bald Eagle nest of Mr North and DNF today. Eggs were laid on 16 and 19 of February and we are about a week from pip watch!

The top image is of Mr North.

This is DNF. You can compare her with Mr North above so you can recognize who is on the nest.

A close up of DNF below.

The nest is on top of a White Oak Tree near a small forest area with a stream on private farmland north of Decorah, Iowa. The nest is 17 metres or 56 feet above the ground.

I love how the different regions provide such a variety of nesting materials. In Florida and Louisiana there is Spanish Moss and in Iowa it is corn husks and wheat stalks.

This is DNF on the nest below. She has grey eye shadow.

Here is the link to the Decorah North Bald Eagle nest.

The nest of Martin and Rosa at Dulles Greenaway Bald Eagle nest in Virginia is also covered with corn husks. Wow. The couple laid two eggs. The first on Feb 1 and the second on Feb 4. The first little eaglet hatched on the 13th and is now 4 days old. If the other egg is going to hatch, we should be seeing a pip soon.

Andy brought in some nice fish for the family so far today. In fact, Andy has made three fish deliveries so far today. A Sand Perch at 08:32:40; a Sheepshead at 10:20:31, and this Ladyfish at 14:41:53.

Little (Mini on chat) has a big crop now. Compare with the image above.

These two are doing really, really well. I am quite optimistic for the two of them. There is no news yet on the cause of Big’s death.

If you missed it, there are now two eggs at Cornell’s Red-tail Hawk. One more to go!

There is the beautiful Big Red with her dark morph incubating those two eggs. She will leave the nest periodically to eat. Normally, Arthur will have her meal ready for her off camera.

There are the two precious eggs. The second was laid today.

Here is a close up with markings that was posted on the Cornell Twitter account so you can tell the difference between the eggs.

Big Red is giving Arthur, her mate, more incubation duties! Fantastic. He is a great mate.

Arthur is also very handsome! It will be interesting to see which of the populations of chipmunks or squirrels are the most plentiful on the nest this year.

That is it for my Thursday afternoon report. All of the nests are doing quite well except for Dale Hollow which, sadly, is a tragedy in the making. Thank you so much for joining me. I look forward to having you with me again. Take care.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife, Dulles Greenaway Bald Eagles, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, Explore.org, Redding California Eagles, Eagle Country, Friends of Big Bear Lake, and Duke Farms.

Wednesday Morning check at Captiva and The Campanile – and other Bird World News

16 March 2022

When I first woke up this morning I was hesitant to check the Captiva Osprey nest. When I finally did I had the sound turned up really loud and all I could hear were the cheep, cheeps wanting more fish! Tears rolled down my cheeks. There was Little and Middle (or Little and Mini) eating what appears to be their third fish of the morning! And they are eating enthusiastically!!!!!!!! Little is eating and eating.

This long silvery fish, a Ladyfish, was being eaten at 11:30. You can see Little’s sweet head under Lena enjoying that fish.

With the disturbance yesterday, Middle and Little had only two fish. They were ravenous this morning. Middle will be 28 days old tomorrow and Little will be 28 days old on Saturday. We will be looking for substantial growth for these two now.

Lena must be so happy to see two seemingly healthy chicks this morning wanting to eat. That is important – they want to eat.

This is an image of the chicks eating an earlier fish.

You can still tell Little from Middle because it does not have the feather growth coming in on the back. Both are doing so well. This is an incredible relief.

Oh, goodness. Lena was thinking that she was finished feeding the Ladyfish but, no. Little wants some more. It is nearing noon on the nest at Captiva and all is well with the world.

It is 11:48, Little is full! Lena is going to get to enjoy some fish and there will be either fish leftover or Andy will take it.

There was a Q and A session yesterday with Connor from Windows on Wildlife. It has been left up on YouTube and might answer many of your questions about what happened with Big at this nest yesterday morning. Here is the link:

There was a hawk attack at the Savannah Great Horned Owl Nest on Skidaway Island this morning. Mum Owl did a great job defending Little Grey.

Speaking of predator attacks, the Ravens at the West End Bald Eagle nest attacked Akecheta at the nest yesterday mid-afternoon. Akecheta bravely defended the nest while Thunder sent the Ravens packing out of the territory. This morning all is quiet there. Let us all hope it stays that way.

Akecheta is now really good at feeding all three of the babies. What an incredible Dad and he really shows he is loving it – all of it!

It is a cold wet damp – what other words are there – chill to the bone – morning at the Dale Hollow nest on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee. I am a little surprised that River is not there keeping the chicks warm since they do not have their feathering to help them keep warm. Little Bit looks really cold. It is actually 12 degrees C with a rate of 94% humidity. Wet.

It certainly looks from the image below that the eldest has eaten from its crop but not Little.

New nesting material has been brought in. Look at the size of Big! This should help, I hope, dry out some of this nest. Little has also dried off and is looking much better.

It is a sunny 10 degree day in Ithaca and Big Red looks quite content incubating her egg. We will be looking for a second one later today.

Big Red got up for a break and we get a peek at the egg. Notice that Arthur and her are really building up the crib rails this year!

Speaking of eggs, what is going on at Cal Falcons?

Annie is on camera this morning.

Has Grinnell given her a prey item? Will there be eggs? Why is Annie late in laying her eggs? Was it the interlopers? the drones? her absence? Grinnell’s injury? We wait to see what will happen with our favourite Bay area Peregrine Falcon couple.

Annie is resting on one of her favourite slippery perches. As she gets closer to egg laying, she will stay closer to the scrape.

Someone is calling Annie at 09:33. She rushes out to the ledge. Grinnell has presented her with a nice pigeon on the ledge. Life is good at The Campanile!

You can see Grinnell’s two ID bands.

Annie is enjoying her present. What a relief! Seeing these two together on the ledge at The Campanile is as good as hearing two hungry osplets on the Captiva Nest.

Cal Falcons caught Grinnell’s first prey delivery to Annie for the 2022 season:

And with that I will say goodbye for the morning. Will do checks on other nests as well as Captiva, Dale Hollow, and The Campanile later today again along with some others.

Thank you for joining me this morning. Take care everyone. It is beautiful weather here and I am heading for a long walk! Much needed after being inside too much this winter. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Cal Falcons, Dale Hollow Eagles, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, and Explore.org

Late Tuesday in Bird World

15 March 2022

It has been a very sad morning in Bird World with the death of what appears to be, now, the oldest chick on the Captiva Osprey nest in Florida. Lori Covert the landowner has contacted CROW, that wonderful wildlife rehabber on Santibel. Permission was given to remove the body of the osplet for testing. CROW arrived and removed Big beginning at 15:21:15-15:21:26. You can see how quick they were to come once they had the OK and how they did not disturb the nest.

Big was 27 days old. He or she would have been 28 days tomorrow.

They do not want to cause any undue stress or frighten the other two on Did Big choke on a pellet? He had been gagging several times this morning. Casting pellets is a natural part of a raptor’s life. What cannot be processed in the crop is compacted into something not unlike a small charcoal pellet. The birds then regurgitate these. Researchers like the pellets because they can study what the birds have been eating. But a pellet or the H5N1 highly pathogenic Avian Flu is on speculation. It appears that Big died after moving up to eat but couldn’t. That was approximately 08:33. I sincerely hope that this is not a case of H5N1 and look forward to the announcement. The other two osplets both ate at 15:40.

Little Bob (Mini on chat) and Middle Bob appear to be fine. They are interested and can eat and that is a great sign!

It used to not unsettle me when an adult or a chick died. Perhaps it is just everything that has happened for so many years catching up with me but I was particularly upset at the loss at Captiva this morning. Thankfully the garden critters were robustly going after the two new seed cylinders that were put out yesterday. Dyson could not decide where to settle. He wanted the oil seeds that had fallen out of a bag on the snow but he also wanted to eat off the cylinder and he was intrigued by the peanuts in the square tray feeder.

Despite his altercation with the cat, Dyson remains pleasantly plump after the harsh winter and the back half of his tail is growing back. Horrah!

The Blue Jay family – OK. One member of the Blue Jay family has returned from their migration today. I could not get the camera quick enough for a photo but I hope to attract it with a cob of corn on the deck. i wonder if it is Junior? Mr? or Mrs? And where do they go?

It was a good day for a walk in the woods. Our temperature is a balmy +2 C. The snow is definitely melting and there is an open water area now at the Fort Whyte Nature Centre. There were three Canada Geese there today!

There were a number of Black-capped chickadees at the feeder and when I arrived the little Downy Woodpecker with the broken beak was just flying away. Too quick for me to catch him but for those of you who asked, it is still alive and eating well out of the cylinder feeder! That is certainly good news.

What I needed was a walk in the woods where it was absolutely quiet. The snow is now wet enough that it did not crunch. All you could hear on occasion was the songs of the birds.

Walking in nature is good therapy.

I am happy to report that all of the eaglets on the Dale Hollow nest have eaten. Little Bit was sure enjoying a fish that had been brought to the nest.

The middle on moved up and got some food, too, after Little Bit. You can see the huge difference in size now between all three chicks. Big just looks enormous!

This was Little Bit sleeping before the feeding over on the rim of the nest. It looks bigger stretched out and was clenching its talons and letting go and clenching them again. Was it catching a fish in its eaglet dreams?

Sweet baby sleeping in the shade. For those of you that do not know, the black dot behind the eye and corner of the beak is the ear. It will get covered with feathers. You might also notice that Little Bit is getting some of its darker thermal down and losing its baby fluff. Looks like a few little feathers poking about perhaps.

I just checked and Little Bit was fed at 16:20. So all is well at Dale Hollow as evening approaches.

Big Red gave Arthur some incubation time today. That is fantastic. She doesn’t allow him much but it is nice to see him so alert taking his turn with their first egg.

Arthur is very handsome.

I don’t think you could find a more gorgeous female Red tail Hawk than Big Red anywhere! She is so stunning with her really dark morph.

Big Red took a dinner break at 17:29 nest time.

Do not worry. This egg is fine. We learned that due to Milda leaving her eggs in almost freezing weather for 5-6 hours. They both hatched. Everything is good. Big Red has been having chicks for 17 years. She is an expert. I certainly am not. LOL. Remember. I wanted to give Rosie and Richmond sticks!

There was a very sweet posting by the SF Ospreys today on their FB page:

I really wanted to dump a lot of sticks for these two down in the parking lot! As many of you know, I look for ways to make the lives of our birds better. Part of that has to do with the elimination of lead in all fishing and hunting equipment. The other has to do with rat and mice poison. Well, look what a Place Called Hope just posted!

At the West End Bald eagle nest, Akecheta brought in a Cormorant to the nest. This came after there was something that looked like an Armadillo. Both were road kill. Thunder decided to feed the three eaglets the fresh fish! The West End nest is doing well.

Shadow and Jackie at the Big Bear Valley Bald Eagle nest are also doing just fine. The little one is growing like a very bad weed.

I checked on Kincaid, too, at the Kistachie National Forest nest in Louisiana. He is wing flapping and showing his preference for some prey and not others but I do not believe that he has branched yet.

That is it for me today. I am still recovering from the loss of Big. Looking forward to the test results. If it was a pellet then we should know that very fast. If it was something else, we will have to wait for test results that can take days.

From all the critters in the garden, thank you for joining us today. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or their FB pages where I took my screen captures: A Place called Hope, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Friends of Big Bear Valley, West End Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, KNF Bald Eagles, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Dale Hollow Lake Eagles, and SF Bay Ospreys.

Big Red lays 1st egg for 2022!

14 March 2022

I grew up in an area known for Red-tail Hawks. Indeed, the book, Winter’s Hawk. Red-tails on the Southern Plains by Jim Lish outlines the history of the hawks in Oklahoma and their persecution as ‘chicken’ hawks. It speaks to the challenges that the juveniles face to survive. They love the wide open fields for hunting. The images in the book show them on the telephone lines in the rural areas of my former home. When I lived in Oklahoma, I never noticed a single Red-tail Hawk. Indeed, my very first face to face encounter was in my urban garden with the Sharp-shinned male, Sharpie. I had watched a couple of Red-tails raise their young on the ledge of New York University’s library and then the mother was killed by rodenticide. The eggs did not hatch that year. It was suggested that we turn our attention to Big Red and Arthur on the grounds of Cornell University.

Years later I am still moved by the dedication of Big Red to her nest. First with her mate, Ezra, and now with her young male, Arthur, who hatched in an adjacent territory and replaced Ezra in the fall after Ezra was killed in 2017. This will be Big Red and Arthur’s 5th breeding season.

Big Red is an incredible bird. She hatched in 2003 near Ithaca at Brooktondale and was banded that October 20. She is now 19 years old and still as excited as ever to prepare her nest and lay her eggs.

There is much speculation on when Big Red will lay her first eggs. She came to the nest today, 14 March, at 13:03 and she has not left. She has fiddled with some sticks but, in general, she has stood on the nest. Will today be the day for the first egg?

It is 14:58 and Big Red is still on the nest. This makes it nearly two hours. She sure must be thinking she is going to lay an egg and doesn’t want to be too far from the nest when she does!

The wind is starting to gust. Big Red is still stomping the pine and looking down. She seems to be looking for Arthur also. Gosh, Big Red, you are making me anxious now!

Big Red began being quite uncomfortable at 15:09. The reveal of the first egg of the 2022 season comes at 15:11:59!

Wow. This is wonderful. Congratulations Big Red and Arthur!

Thank you to the Cornell Bird Lab for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

Early Friday in Bird World

11 March 2022

The sun is shining down on the snow that blew and fell over night. It is -22 degrees C with the wind chill at -32 C. The birds are arriving early! We are all hoping that spring will be here soon. Yesterday I put out two seed cylinders. If you have not seen these they are fantastic for the birds who have difficulty eating at some of the ‘normal’ feeders such as the European Starlings. Of course, Dyson likes to sit on top of the cylinders and munch away while the Black-Capped Chickadee flies in with the speed of Sharpie getting seeds. I really like the Starlings and the Old World Sparrows, many do not. It feels good to supply them with supplemental food in the winter. My City is nothing but a building site and the habitat where the birds foraged is no longer.

I know someone else who likes Starlings! Ferris Akel has posted a short video of the European Starlings on his deck at the feeders. Have a look.

That is not the kind of action that my daughter is getting at hers! She is taking care of this squirrel and rabbit who seem to have worked out how to help one another and keep the birds away. It is funny and wonderful!

I went to bed worrying about the Captiva Osprey nest.

In my head I kept hearing my grandmother say, ‘Everything works out the way it is supposed to’ with the saying, ‘Change what you can, accept what you can’t, and be smart enough to know the difference.’

There is a huge issue of fish delivery at the Captiva Osprey nest. The last time that the Mum, Lena, and Middle and Little Bob had more than a few bites of fish was 8 March. Big has had all the fish for the 9th and 10th. We are entering the third day. As much as all of us might want to pull a tank of live fish to the dock at Lori’s for Andy and Lena, I cannot do this. This area of Florida is experiencing hot and humid weather. There is no quick fix for the weather patterns that are impacting many nor can I put a halt to the intense competition for food (fish) in this particular area of Florida. In other words, if I am smart, I will recognize that I have to accept the situation and just hope that there is a turn around at this nest.

Well, Andy has brought in three fish so far this morning. They were a Sheepshead, a Lady Fish, and the last one is a Spotted Trout. brought in a big fish. Big has been eating and eating and eating.

Big ate the first two fish. Little and Middle who had to have been starving each kept out of the way.

We are now on the third fish. Big is obviously full. Look at that crop. Lena fed him slow. Good for her. That will allow the other two fish to settle and send Big into a food stupor. Hopefully there will be fish left for Mum and the other two siblings, Middle and Little.

Lena has eaten some bites and given at least one to Middle. Big is keeping Little from going to eat. Let’s wait a few minutes and see if Big will pass out and ignore the others.

No. Big has gone back to the table! We saw this type of behaviour at the Achieva Credit Union last season when Sibling 2 would eat til it was almost sick to keep the others away from the fish.

Lena must eat and so must the other two including Little. The heat will have dehydrated them over the past three days.

It is 11:56 nest time. Big is out for the count and Little is being fed. Middle is looking out to the water. Interesting.

Little Bob is eating for the first time in 72 hours save for a couple of scraps on the 9th. Look at how open his beak is. Oh, I hope this wee babe gets good and full.

Little has been eating for 19 minutes. This is so good. Tears and more tears.

This has been a very good fishing day for Andy. I hope that he continues to bring in the fish so everyone, including Mum, goes to bed tonight full to the brim. There is bad weather coming for the weekend and that will cause the fishing to drop. (See map below). As I finish, there is still fish. Lena is feeding Middle along with herself and more bites for Little. What a relief.

Little ate for 24 minutes. He is ready to have a nice nap. Lena and Middle will finish up the fish.

It is difficult to decide which nests to check there are so many now. If you follow the VGCCO Osprey nest (the Venice Golf and Country Club), they now have two hatches and Denton Homes in Iowa has eggs. I completely missed both of those.

The West End Territory or West End Bald Eagle nest on Catalina Island just makes me smile. It is in a beautiful location and it is the home of Thunder and Akecheta.

In the image below, Thunder is on the nest in the middle. Akecheta is to the left on the tall peak guarding the area.

Akecheta has grown up. He is learning how to feed his babies and he seems to fully understand the importance of working with Thunder to keep the Ravens away from the nest! This is huge.

Yesterday a couple of really good videos were posted. If you have time take a peak. Shadow has been watching the way Thunder feed the chicks. Here we get to see his progress! This is our proud first-time Papa wanting to be involved. It is simply precious.

Lady Hawk took the second video clip:

It looks like the sun is really helping to dry out the nest of River and Obey. River also has the chicks out in front so they can get the warmth of the sun, too. There are fish hiding underneath the grasses for lunch.

River has fed all of the kids several times this morning. Little Bit is getting around so much better today. That warm sunshine is really helping. Life is good at Dale Hollow Lake.

Oh, the nest of Jasper and NE27 is a soggy mess. The rains on the 10th, yesterday, were torrential. Mum Gabby tried to keep her sweet way-too-big-to-brood babies dry! What a fabulous Mum she is, too.

Gabby trying to get a little sleep while brooding the kids.

Today, Jasper and NE27 are still wet and the nest is a soaking mess. Both eaglets have been self feeding.

The parents were in and out feeding the two after leaving them to try for themselves.

NE27 has been self-feeding for some time. He will still remain submissive if the parent is only feeding one, Jasper. But, when he is ready, he will do the old snatch and grab if necessary.

Both eaglets are developing fine. There are no issues save for the weather and it looks like they are in for more rain over the weekend.

Big Red and Arthur were both working on the final touches to their nest on the campus of Cornell University. Arthur was in first with Big Red coming in after and ‘tweaking’ his efforts.

Arthur brought in some greenery.

If you have watched the Royal Albatross nests on Taiaroa Head, you will know that the NZ DOC rangers spray for fly strike. Big Red and Arthur use pine boughs to ward off insects.

The nest as Arthur left it.

He flew back in with a twig – working on the side rails so the little ones do not roll out of the nest cup accidentially.

Arthur is very handsome!

Gorgeous deep brown eyes! looks like he has also had some breakfast or made a prey drop to Big Red off camera.

Big Red comes in a few minutes later to check on the decorating.

She will work and get it all tweaked.

When she is finished, she looks out to see if she can see Arthur with her ‘eyes like a hawk’. LOL.

The weather forecast shows a ‘weather bomb’ headed for Big Red and Arthur’s nest over the weekend with more rain for the nests in Florida and the SE.

The nest of Jackie and Shadow should get a break from the weather this weekend. The strong winds from yesterday – winds that almost blew Shadow off the nest – have calmed today. Thank goodness. That beautiful chick is 8 days old today. Wow. Where did the time go?

First feeding of the day around 05:42. The sun is just coming over the mountains in the distance.

Just look at that little one sitting up so straight and tall. This is the second feeding and there will probably be at least six more today. Jackie and Shadow have done an amazing job with this wee babe. We are so fortunate to be witness to their job, just like Thunder and Akecheta at the West End.

Thank you so much for joining me today. We can all rest easy. Everyone at Captiva has eaten! Take care everyone. Stay safe.

My thanks go to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Friends of Big Bear Valley, Dale Hollow Lake Eagles, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, CNN Weather Tracker, my daughter, Ferris Akel for his video, and Explore.org

Thursday in Bird World

10 March 2022

Dyson, Scraggles, Little Red, and Mr Downy were all out in the garden along with the pile of European Starlings and Sparrows plus a couple of Grackles who have returned early. It is cold, -22 but, no snow just bright, bright sunshine. The most interesting book came in the post yesterday. It is Winter World. The Ingenuity of Animal Survival by Bernd Heinrich. It is not just about birds but it is very interesting and full of science that I didn’t know. Originally published in 2003 in hardback. Lots and lots of sound scientific information on how my garden friends survive the winter including the squirrels, the birds and other animals and birds such as weasels and Kinglet’s. I have wondered what all of the Crows eat and there is even a chapter on that. What I have learned is that trees with edible berries are not only beautiful but so helpful to our wildlife friends – including insects – in keeping alive in the cold.

There is a lot to be thankful for and people who are out working to save the lives of the most endangered of our feathered friends. It was wonderful to see a posting about the hatches of the Kakapo. In all, they are doing remarkably well.

As the sun was setting, there were some remarkably loving and tender moments at the Big Bear nest of Jackie and Shadow.

Just look at the crop on that wee babe. Everyone is home sharing dinner together!

The little one was fed really early. The wind at Big Bear Valley is so strong that it almost blew Shadow off the nest! I wonder how good his fishing will be this morning?

Jackie is keeping the wee babe full. Just look at how big this chick is compared to that egg it was squished in last week.

Everyone is sharing a second breakfast together. Lovely.

It also appears that Jack and Diane are not letting the loss of three eggs dampen their day! They have been bringing strips of bark into that nest and on Wednesday were even mating on the nest. Talk about optimistic! We wish them all the luck in the world on what might be a second clutch.

The three eaglets at the Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagle nest of River and Obey are doing fine this morning. It sure is nice to see the sun shining down on that nest for a change!

The twins are just so much bigger than Little Bit. You can really see that this morning. If it gets caught in the middle of them, it is hard to get out.

I will give River a great virtual big hug. Look at how she is leaning over to feed Little Bit.

Big Red has really been putting the final touches on her nest on the Fernow Light Stand on the Cornell University campus. Her and Arthur have been working diligently between the snowstorms to get it in tiptop shape. Looking good!

At the Captiva Osprey nest there was only one fish delivered yesterday. Big ate almost all of it. Andy has just delivered the first fish of the morning. It is 11:24 and it is small. Already everyone knows that Big will get it all – again. So what is going on? Apparently there have been huge flocks of pelicans flying into the area early in the morning. There is certainly a lot of competition for food. I hope that he will be able to get more fish on the nest today. From the experiences at Achieva Credit Union last year, the other two are still OK. Tiny Tot once went 72 hours without food – about the same size as Little Bob now. But let us all wish for some good fish for them today.

And then there were two! Congratulations Thunder and Akecheta at the West End Eagle nest on Catalina on your second hatch!

This little one probably hatched around 04:00. It will need more rest until it is ready to eat.

I love how Cheta is watching how Thunder feeds the babies. He is going to be really busy supplying fish now that there are two of them – and, of course, security at this nest is paramount.

Just a beautiful Bald Eagle family!

What a lovely way to end the morning – with Akecheta learning how to feed his now two little ones. There is one more egg to go! This family will be very busy if it hatches. If it does we will be looking for that on Saturday.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: The Kakapo Recovery, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Dale Hollow Lake Eagles, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Explore.org, and Achieva Credit Union.

Early Wednesday in Bird World

09 March 2022

There is not much that would bother me today. It was so wonderful to see Ervie last evening. It was just such a relief. It is one thing to see his tracking and know he is alive but it is entirely another thing to see him alive, well, and eating a fish – even if it is a puffer.

Ervie is obviously catching his own food and doing well. How he lost an entire talon and got his green tag scraped up in places will always remain a mystery. It had to have been really painful. Perhaps he got his foot caught in something? If so, I am thrilled he was able to get out! He also looks very healthy and that is a good thing.

Congratulations to Thunder and Akecheta (West End Eagles on Catalina) on the hatch of ‘his’ first chick and the first time in two seasons that they had success. In the previous two years, the Ravens took the eggs when they were left alone by Cheta. He has matured and understood what happened and – wow. Here is a video of that hatch!

It looks hot already in the San Bernardino Mountains at the nest of Jackie and Samson. Mum has been panting. Shadow has filled the pantry and the little one will be 5 days old today at 16:00 nest time. All is well.

Jackie and Shadow chatting first thing. I think Shadow thought he would get a turn looking after the wee one.

Look how much this baby has grown! Wow. So cute. If you are watching life, check out the front sides of the parents, it has been peeking out. So sweet.

The little eaglet was alive in the middle of the night and this morning, barely, at Duke Farm. It is so much younger and so much smaller and has now not eaten for at least 36 hours. My heart aches for it. It has gotten up to eat and not been fed.

It raised its little head up in the middle of the night when the parents changed duties. Oh, how I wish the Dad would give it a good feed.

Sweet little thing has no idea what is going on when it raises up to eat and the food is on the other side. The development was so off on this nest to the disadvantage of the wee one. There is enough food. Mum could walk around and feed it. She won’t. We all know the story…sadly.

It has not been a good morning for the third hatch at Dale Hollow Bald Eagles either. River has moved to several parts of the nest to feed the chicks but Little seems not up there and going after the food like in previous days. The nest looks wet and damp to me. I hope that it will dry out. Not a good environment for wee ones.

I did not expect to wake up and worry about this nest of River and Obey’s. Oh, let us hope that it dries up soon. It looks like the water of the lake is really rising with all the rain that they have had in the past few days.

There has not been a fish delivery at the Captiva Osprey nest yet today. As I write this it is nearing noon nest time. Big Bob will certainly be in rare form when it arrives.

Lena roosts on the edge of the platform nest at night now. The babies are not babies anymore and do not fit under her even though she might want to try.

Lena is hungry this morning and is looking around for Andy but to no avail. Wonder where he is?

Ospreys choose platforms and the tops of dead trees so that they can see all around them. No surprises for them. At the same time it leaves them open to the heat of the sun.

Big is definitely getting its coppery feathers today!

As it approaches noon and gets hotter, the chicks try to get in the shade of Lena. Little has been partially successful.

The chicks have lined up to eat but no Andy. I hope he brings in several fish in a row. Lena really needs to eat and Little could use a lot of fish today.

Lena seems to have given up on Andy and might have gone out fishing herself for the babes. Nope. She did return. No fish. Wish for fish!

Arthur was working on the nest for Big Red this morning. He flew in around 08:39 and now it has started snowing. I wonder if they will return to work on the nest later?

The female juvenile Peregrine Falcon that has been wanting to get friendly with Grinnell at The Campanile flew up to the ledge with a Mourning Dove this morning. She proceeded to pluck it and eat it and had a massive crop at the end. Grinnell has been aggressive to her but we wait to see how all of this plays out.

Grinnell took on a defensive posture towards this female yesterday. Cal Falcons caught it on video for us:

Things are a little more certain at the Manchester, New Hampshire scrape where the resident falcons were seen mating today.

This is the link to the cam that faces outward in the scrape box:

This is the link so you can see all the action inside the scrape box in New Hampshire:

Harriet has been working on the Dahlgren Osprey platform. They were given a brand new one. There are still a lot of sticks to go before any eggs can be stable in this nest. I now wonder, after seeing the Papadan chair nest at the WRDC Bald Eagle nest in the Miami Zoo, why some mesh is not installed for the Ospreys?????

Poor Richmond and Rosie. Richmond is being attentive and brings Rosie a fish giving us a glimpse of their nest for this season. Boy do these two have a lot of work!

Rosie and Richmond got a great start and look what the Ravens did!

Thank you so much for joining me this morning. Send warm wishes off to the wee ones that are struggling and wish for lots of fish for Captiva! Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagles, Duke Farms, Peregrine Falcon Network, Dahlgren Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Captiva Osprey Project and Window on Wildlife, and Cal Falcons.

Late Saturday in Bird World

05 March 2022

There is snow falling on Big Bear Valley. While Shadow and Jackie have over 7000 feathers in various layers to keep them warm and dry, our little chick doesn’t. It has only its soft natal down. Jackie and Shadow will both have a brood patch. It is an area between the breast bones. When egg laying is imminent, the feathers begin to fall off leaving an area of skin. That skin will keep the chick warm as the body temperature of an eagle is 105 degrees F. Eagles do well in cold snowy weather, possibly better than in the heat of summer – except for the wee ones.

The chick has already been fed at 07:45 by Shadow and by Jackie at 09:57. This feeding appears to be the third and began roughly at 12:50.

beautiful image of the parent looking down on the wee babe.

I often have trouble figuring out who is on the nest unless they are standing beside one another. Jackie is so much bigger but Shadow is inclined to have to move the sticks around. Is this Shadow on the nest?

Having moved the stick to the edge of the nest bowl – to keep the chick from running out? It is actually a good idea. Last year, the chick ran out from under Missy at the Berry College Eagle nest and perished in the cold. Smart to put that there!

You will see that the snow is falling and gets worse towards the end of this this short feeding.

The little one is alert and the adult is working hard to make sure that every bite counts. It doesn’t always with the newly hatched.

This baby is adorable balancing itself with the tip of its wings. I cannot see any indication that anything is happening with the second egg. In some ways it would be better to have only one in this weather. As they get bigger it is always easier to fit one six-week old chick under the adult than two. They have to be kept warm and dry.

The snow is really starting to come down. The chick must be chilled. Look at its tiny pink feet. It has managed to get some nourishment and there appears to be a tiny little crop.

Here is a look at Shadow delivering that large fish with its head entirely in tact. Looks like Shadow and Samson both like to wear skinny black jeans.

Safely tucked under its parent it will dry quickly from the little snow flakes that stuck to its down and will be toasty warm.

This is the forecast for the Jackie and Shadow’s nest:

There is a huge piece of fish that you can see in the image below. Lots of food for this week one and some for the adults, too.

The preliminary test results have been released on the Hilton Head Island eaglets that fell out of their nest. Their deaths were caused by the highly pathogenic Avian Flu that is spreading, sadly, to other parts of the east coast and Florida. It is believed that a duck brought to the nest was the carrier. The parents may not get ill as they are larger than the wee babes. This is very sad news.

Far away in Australia, OGK flew in last evening to find that his Quarry Track chick had been left alone by the Mum, YRK, the previous night. It is the beginning of what is known as the post-guard stage. The chick is left alone and both parents are out foraging to be able to meet all of its food requirements as well as theirs. No doubt QT chick slept much better with Dad guarding it the following evening.

Here is an extremely short video clip of the trio at the Dale Hollow Bald Eagle nest on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky. The adults are River and Obey. It is cute – shows how those little ones can really move around the nest when they want to!

Dale Hollow also posted a 5-minute video of on of the feedings. These three are so cute. It is so nice to watch them move about the nest and, just think, in about a week and a bit, this will be happening at Big Bear!

At the end of Ferris Akel’s tours, he always goes through the Cornell Campus looking for Big Red and Arthur. He has found Arthur hunting along the 366 highway.

Ferris looked and looked for Big Red and he found both her and Arthur on top of their favourite building, Bradfield. Big Red is doing a lot of preening. This is getting so eggciting. There is already a lottery on the Cornell Red Tail Hawk FB group for when the first egg will be laid.

Andy has brought a late Saturday fish onto the nest at Captiva. It was 16:47.

Lena is feeding her three chicks, each more ravenous than they have been as they are in super growth stage. Little Bob has pushed himself right up there so he will get some. No worries about anyone being hungry tonight.

It is the end of a good day. All of the nests that I regularly keep track of are doing well. Port Lincoln is, of course, a lonely site of a nest. It would be good to see Ervie. But, enjoy the birds. We cannot take anything for granted. In a blink something can happen. So enjoy the moment.

It is -4 and grey on the Canadian Prairies. Sharpie has been in and around the garden looking for lunch several times today. I am always glad to see him. Little Woodpecker – both Mr and Mrs – have been eating suet and there are lots of European Starlings and House Sparrows. I have not seen the three Grey Squirrels today but Little Red has been in and out.

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: Captiva Osprey Cam and Window on Wildlife, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Ferris Akel Tours, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, and Cornell Bird Labs and NZ DOC.

Wednesday in Bird World

2 March 2022

Annie’s return to the Campanile warmed all of our hearts. A ray of sunshine in a weary world. I imagined that the researchers at CalFalcons were completely dumbfounded when they looked on the screen and saw her sitting on the ledge. We have seen female eagles disappear for a day or so right at the height of breeding season but this is not common in falcons. Thanks to ‘B’ who sent me the note about Annie’s return, we have an interview with CalFalcons about how it felt to see her return and what might have prompted her absence.

https://news.berkeley.edu/2022/03/01/annie-the-falcon-presumed-long-gone-returns-to-berkeleys-campanile/?fbclid=IwAR1lkVWNa9QDjws5DHZefB5mNMMWWxIYGTUNLuQ-WMfw5FsnDt5t5mG1qyw

Mark your calendars. Cal Falcons will have a live Q & A session on Annie and Grinnell on 4 March at 2pm nest time. Here is the link. You can set the timer as a reminder. This should be a really interesting session.

The osplets at the Captiva Osprey platform have had their morning fish at 09:32. You can count on Little Bob to be right up front at the table – a mini-version of Ervie! Little Bob will do well in the world.

There is some condensation on the camera and their appear to be boats and some other animal ? in the water under the platform at times. This must make it difficult for Andy to get fish.

There’s our Little Bob right up front. Good for him.

The fish actually arrived several minutes before Lena started feeding at 09:32. It was very difficult to see the size of the fish or the species. All continue to do well.

Nearly 4000 people are watching and waiting for any news on a pip at the nest of Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear Valley.

Beautiful Jackie at first light.

Oh, I so hope these eggs are viable.

Shadows wears the same tight black jeans as Samson. Look at him. What a cutie. He would very much like some incubation time. I don’t know if Jackie is going to give in!

Pa Berry and Missy’s eaglet is walking strong and has most of his contour and wing feathers coming in or in. What a beautiful little eagle B15 is. S/he has been amusing itself by playing with one of the feathers in the nest.

B15 has really been working its wings lately – getting those muscles stronger and stronger by the flap.

No matter how big they are, thee aglets still like to be fed by a parent. Self-feeding is hard work when you are first learning.

Speaking of self-feeding. Remember when we worried about how dominant Jasper was at blocking NE27 from eating? We know that NE27 became the Little King of the snatch and grab. This morning a fish was delivered to the nest. NE27 went over to feed itself. Jasper sat next to it watching – not having a single clue how to go about eating. Jasper also did not beak NE27. I was thinking Jasper might be hoping that NE27 would feed her!!!!!! LOL.

Lots of preening with the first glow of the sun in the morning at the NEFlorida nest of Samson, Gabby, Jasper, and soon to be named NE27.

Beautiful image of our hero.

This is one beautiful eagle. Reminds me a lot of Legacy.

I couldn’t decide whether to cry with joy or laugh at loud. NE27 will be able to take good care of itself when it is out in the world. Yesterday, NE27 did not hesitate to steal food right out of Gabby’s talons. It was hungry and she was ignoring it and just feeding Jasper. I shouted ‘hoorah’ when that happened.

In the image below it looks like Jasper is wondering what in the world 27 is doing.

NE27 has learned to turn its back to Jasper, hold down the fish with its talons, and pull. This is an amazing little eaglet. And look at those beautiful wing and contour feathers coming in with the thick grey thermal down underneath.

Gabby is keeping a watchful eye. It won’t be long before 27 grabs the fish out of the talons again!

I have not been checking in on them but the WRDC nest with Ron, Rita, R1 and R2 seems to be just fine. We are going to have a lot of eaglets branching and fledging around the same time. At this point in time, I am not certain who is who on the nest.

Ron is feeding one of the chicks after the other was self-feeding.

I believe it is R1 self-feeding.

It is 2 degrees C and partly cloudy in Ithaca, New York. Our favourite Red-tail Hawk couple, Arthur and the Queen of RTHs, Big Red, are working and working on their nest. Since the problems at the Achieva Osprey nest with the squirrels and the eggs falling down into a dark abyss, I have noticed that there are layers of soft material alternating with twigs so as to build up a strong and tight nest cup on this light stand where…in two weeks, we could have eggs!!!!!!! I will be deliriously happy as will thousands of others.

You can see how much this couple has been doing. That nest is nice and deep now with a well defined egg cup.

Here comes Arthur. He is an amazing mate for Big Red. As this couple moves into their 6th year being together and their 5th breeding season, Arthur has proved that he is really up to the task.

Putting on the brakes. Once I was privy to watching Arthur flying through the buildings at Cornell to catch some prey. He was like a jet going between and around the buildings. Very impressive.

Arthur carefully arranges the twigs as he thinks Big Red would like them. She will, of course, come and finish the fine tuning and decorating.

The birds carry on with their lives. They give me solace and hope.

Thank you for joining me today. My granddaughter is coming over later and the plan is to cook for her. You might not well hear from me until tomorrow unless something extraordinary happens – like a pip at Big Bear! Take care everyone. Stay safe.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab, Captiva Osprey and Window on Wildlife, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, Berry College, the WRDC Bald Eagles, and Friends of Big Bear Valley.