Tag Archives: Richmond and Rosie

Monday Morning in Bird World

16 May 2022

The sun is trying desperately to brighten the sky. The leaf buds are half way open and there is a tinge of green on all the trees in the neighbourhood. So nice after the long grey white brown winter which seemed to go on forever. The flood waters in my province are finally receding but the cost to the wildlife is unknown. I do hope to see some goslings but how many nests were destroyed by the rising waters will always only be a guess.

I want to thank everyone who sends me news items that demonstrate that we have a long way to go in our fight to make our planet safe for our dearly loved feathered friends (and others). News has come to me this morning from ‘S’ about the toll that wind turbines are taking on the eagles – both Bald and Golden. What an avoidable tragedy!

The ESI Energy Company, Inc. has pleaded guilty to violating the Migratory Bird Act in its killing of at least 150 Bald and Golden Eagles.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/wind-energy-company-pleads-guilty-to-killing-eagles-180979898/

The story was carried by all the major US news agencies. Thank you ‘S’ for bringing this to my attention.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2022/04/06/150-eagles-killed-wind-turbines/9492311002/

The simple solution is to paint one blade black. “An eagle eye has two focal points (called “fovea” [singular] or “foveae” [plural]) one of which looks forward and the other to the side at about a 45 degree angle. These two foveae allow eagles to see straight ahead and to the side simultaneously.” A study by Jesper Kyed Larsen, Environmental Expert at Vattenfall (Netherlands Energy Company) says, “Painting one blade of a wind turbine rotor black resulted in 70 percent fewer collision bird victims. That has to do with the way birds perceive the moving rotor of a wind turbine.”

https://group.vattenfall.com/press-and-media/newsroom/2022/black-turbine-blades-reduce-bird-collisions#:~:text=That%20study%20showed%20that%20painting,Larsen%2C%20Environmental%20Expert%20at%20Vattenfall

So why is this easy solution not being undertaken? Why is this taking so long?

Some US States have outlawed balloons because of the damage that they do to the waterfowl. ‘L’ writes about a story that broke in Florida after 90 balloons were popped and tossed into the water? How many waterfowl will wind up in the care of the local wildlife rehabilitation clinics? This is precisely what happened on a yacht in Biscayne Bay. Will fines and public shaming help to stop the problem of the balloons? And do we really need to have balloons to have fun? or to mark the site of a celebration?

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/2nd-arrest-after-viral-video-shows-popped-17171599.php

The two osplets on the nest at the practice field at the University of Florida in Gainesville are waiting for their breakfast.

As I write this, it is now past 11:00 and the two chicks are still waiting for a fish to appear.

As all of you know, ‘R’ and I have been trying to solve the mystery of the lack of fish coming to this – a fact that saw the third hatch become a victim of siblicide. Every possibility had been examined with no conclusions other than multiple factors might be causing issues including the amount of algae in one close lake and the encroachment of dormitories and parking lots taking up part of Alice Lake. This morning ‘R’ caught the camera panning around the campus. There had been a question about whether or not Dad had another nest.

So who is on this nest? Is this a second nest of Dad’s?

The mystery continues.

Still tracking what is happening at the nest of Richmond and Rosie on the old Whirley Crane in San Francisco.

Everyone was expecting the first egg to pip or even hatch by the 15th of May.

Rosie was rolling eggs and the camera is zooming in to see if there is a pip.

That looks like old fishing nets on the nest. Makes me nervous just like fishing line and baling twine.

Is anything happening? It is very hard to tell.

Everything is fine at the platform of Blue 33 (11) and Maya at Rutland today.

Iris. Iris has, perhaps, had a suitor landing on the nest. One day she called for a fish and he did not bring her one. The next day she fought him off. Yesterday she did let him land but she isn’t friendly. Oddly, Louis doesn’t seem to be around. If only this new male would bring Iris a fish!

There is a chunk of fish on the MN-DNR nest of Nancy and E1, Harriet. We can assume that all is well so far there today.

Beautiful close ups of DC9 at the National Arboretum nest of Mr President and Lotus.

The two eaglets on the Dale Hollow nest are restless this morning. We are within the early part of a fledge window at this nest.

So many of us are really going to miss the triplets at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta. What a joy Kana’kini and her two brothers have given us this year. But hates off to Akecheta. He sure stepped into the role of Dad in a big, big way!

The wee eyases at the Cal Falcons nest cuddled up with one another. They are waiting for their breakfast.

Cal Falcons reports that the eyases have reached a milestone in their development:

Oh, those five eyases at the Manchester, New Hampshire scrape are growing. Unbelievable!

The falcons on top of the tower in Oudenaarde in Belgium have an amazing view! In the image below you can see that while the chicks are seemingly alone, there is an adult close by. This would be the same with all the other falcon scrapes that we watch.

Big Red was up early – just as the sun was beginning to shine over Cornell’s campus at Ithaca – feeding the Ls. Notice how the eyases’ gorgeous contour and wing feathers are starting to grow.

Gosh, I continue to enjoy watching the Goshawk, Alla with her chicks. Here is a short video clip of a feeding this morning.

Bukachek and Betty have been taking turns incubating their eggs in the Mlade Buky nest in The Czech Republic. Some of the interference with the nest has stopped. Looking for pip watch in about a week.

That’s a wrap for this morning. The truck has arrived to start taking apart a very old garage/shed that has been the ‘penthouse’ for Little Red. By mid-June, if all goes well, there should be a greenhouse/conservatory taking its place. Can’t wait. The birds are not happy with the workmen being here – indeed, the birds are not happy if I am outside other than to fill their feeders!

Thank you for joining me today. Take care all. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams an/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Cornell RTH, Cal Falcons, MN-DNR, LRWT, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, DHEC, NADC-AEF, Mlade Buky White Stork Nest, Peregrine Networks, Montana Osprey Project, Explore.org, SF Bay Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon.

Late Sunday in Bird World

15 May 2022

It has turned out to be a brilliant day on the Canadian prairies after the morning’s dreariness. At 18:33 the sky is clear blue, not a cloud anywhere. This, of course, could bode very well for the lunar eclipse tonight which I should be able to see – providing the sky stays the same – around 22:30-23:15. Will see if I can grab some shots of it for all of us!

It was a pretty good day in Bird World taken as a whole. The smallest eaglet in the Notre-Dame nest could really use some food. My goodness he is a tiny little tiercel compared to those two sprawling big siblings. I always get nervous when I check on that nest.

A fish was brought in to the UFlorida-Gainesville nest around 17:55. Middle managed to get a few good bites at the beginning by the old snatch and grab and screaming. Then Mum proceeded to feed almost the entire fish to Big. Middle is hungry but not starving. Holding my breath for tomorrow or another fish tonight.

The other super star of the male Ospreys in Wales is Idris. He has his nest with Telyn near the River Dyfi. Idris is ‘Daddy Longlegs’ and he is known for bringing whoppers onto the nest just like Blue 33.

I can’t wait for the chicks to start hatching on this nest! Last year these two fledged two brilliant osplets – a male, Dysynni and a female, Ystwyth. They have just been ringed and we will be looking for their return next year.

Blue 33 did as Blue always does – he brings in the fish, sometimes too much, and Maya has him remove them. The three chicks continue to thrive. No worries here.

The weather turned and it began to rain and blow in the late evening. Blue was on the nest with Maya and the kids. He is extremely protective and one of those ace providers! He also likes to feed his chicks.

The Dale Hollow eaglets are 77 days old. The average age for fledging is 84 days. So we still have some time, hopefully, with them.

The nest is falling apart in some places and River and Obey will have some work to do for next season. These two are gorgeous.

Just look at what was the rim of this nest. It is almost entirely gone!

E1 at the MN-DNR nest is pancaked down on the nest right now. Is there an intruder somewhere? or is this food coma?

Nancy was in to feed E1 at 19:00. These two are doing alright. Nancy is taking good care of E1, Harriet.

I have not checked on the Goshawk nest at Riga, Lativa for a few days. It is another one of those times when you blink and the chicks are getting bigger. There are four. I have checked and all seem to eat fine.

It rained heavily on the nest yesterday. Mum comes in with food and here is a video of that feeding of these Goshawk chicks. Goshawks are beautiful birds. I just don’t like them around Osprey nests!

One of the best books on the Goshawk continues to be T.H.Whites, The Goshawk. It has been reprinted in a small paperback for a very reasonable price.

There is no news that I am aware of coming from Richmond and Rosie’s Osprey nest in San Francisco about a pip.

When Big Red and Arthur laid their fourth egg many became quite concerned that the last hatch would simply not survive with three bigger siblings. It is always good to remember that this is a hawk nest – like the Goshawk above – and all of the chicks will be fed. In fact, when L4 hatched he was just a cracker. Nothing stood in the way of L4 and Mum’s beak. He learned quickly from a few days old just to heave himself over or through the big siblings. Of course, they are not beaking him or intimidating him onto the other side of the ledge. That is why watching Big Red’s nest is the best. The absolute best.

I made a video clip today of L4 doing his stunt to get in front. It is about 3 minutes long. At 1:54 L4 decides to pull a chippie. I thought he might be going to self-feed. At 2:22 he makes for the front. I am calling it the L4 scramble. Enjoy!

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

European Starling. 15 May 2022

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures today: DHEC, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Latvian Fund for Nature, MN-DNR, SF Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, Dyfi Ospreys, ND-LEEF, and the LRWT.

Sunday Morning in Bird World

15 May 2022

Good afternoon everyone. It is a coolish, perhaps, rainy day on the Canadian Prairies. So far it feels like a really good day to read rather than planting all the annuals. There are rumours that are temperatures will drop this coming week and that would kill all the delicate flowers and vegetables! So far no Baltimore Orioles today but a whole host of White Crown Sparrows, Pine Siskins, European Starlings, and House Finches. It is also a good day to check on some of our favourites and some that have been overlooked for awhile.

Alden always surprises me. I adore him for his quirkiness and his devotion to Annie and the chicks. Alden was up hunting and delivered ‘something’ that resembled a gull early this morning. Annie ran out and retrieved it for the kids at 04:44. The kids were wide awake and ready for breakfast. Both of those chicks are growing and doing very, very well. What could have been a disasterous season has turned into a truly joyful blessing.

Here ‘it’ comes!

If you have been watching the Weissenburg Peregrine Falcon nest and you cannot see the eyases, do not despair. They are losing their white down and their feathers are coming in. They are also very mobile and all are out on the ledge when prey is delivered as the scrape is very cramped. You can just catch a glimpse of them at the far right.

Only chick at the Cromer Peregrine Falcon scrape is doing great. Indeed, look at the colour of its legs and feet in the second inmage. That bright yellow is a sure indication of a chick that is in good health.

This is a short video clip of a feed at the Cromer scrape on the 13th.

There are four eyases at the scrape in the Salisbury Cathedral. The parents are doing a great job keeping each one of them fed. Every one has a huge crop.

There is a continuing fear by many watching the falcon and hawk nests that have 3-5 chicks that one will suffer like they do on eagle, boobie, osprey, heron, etc nests. This is not normally the case. The falcon and hawk parents feed the eyases til each is full and the % of siblicide is so low on these nests that we do not even have to think about it!

The three in a scrape over looking the city of Warsaw, Poland are doing well, too.

All five eyases at the Manchester, NH scrape appear to be doing just fine. I cannot even imagine the work that these parents are going to have to do in terms of getting prey as these chicks grow and grow and grow.

It is amazing how many Peregrine Falcon scrapes have streaming cams! There is always a new one and the scrape in Warsaw is new to me!

It is raining lightly on Theo’s Osprey nest in Latvia. It appears that he has not attracted a mate to the nest. Is it because all the female Ospreys know that this Osprey nest is close to the Goshawks and that those hawks will kill the chicks? That is sad. This is the only Osprey nest in Latvia.

If only we could get Theo together with Iris! A male sort of suitor has been coming to Iris’s nest. She did not fight him off until yesterday. Iris wanted to see his intentions and when he approached the nest several times without a fish, she wasn’t having it. Good for you, Iris!

The Patuxent River in Maryland has been home to Ospreys for more than thirty years. They chicks are ringed and one female has been returning for 20 years! So don’t forget about these Osprey if you are searching around for a nest to watch. I will also add that it was here, last year, that many of us were able to rally one of the staff to return to the part on a Friday evening to retrieve a chick that had fallen off and was in the water. A good intervention!

Here is the link to the streaming cam for nest 2.

Mum is bringing in catfish to the Osprey nest at the UFlorida-Gainesville. Middle has been working hard to get the food off of them unlike Big who really does like to be fed by Mum. Both chicks appear to have moved beyond the food competition phase. Middle is a lovely bird – a survivor.

Big gives up working on the catfish – getting the meat off of a catfish head is very, very hard work. Middle does not mind.

I have been thinking a lot about this nest and I am grateful to ‘R’ for helping me to understand what might be impacting the fishing for this family. ‘R’ was able to establish that Lake Alice which ‘was’ a very large lake supporting the Ospreys has been partially taken over by dormitories and parking lots! Bivens Arm Lake in the second image is covered with green algae/plants making it impossible for Dad or Mum to see fish and catch them. This is quite tragic. Thank you ‘R’ for finding this out for all of us. Much appreciated.

There is also concern that Dad might be trying to keep two nests as one is clearly seen on a light pole leading up to the campus not far from the nest on the practice field. Both could explain the prey deliveries to the nest for Big and Middle.

The triplets at Manton Bay are doing well. Blue 33 continues to bring in lots and lots of fish including those pesky perch that have several lives.

Blue 33 is getting his breakfast order from Maya.

Rosie and Richmond are not giving any hints as to a pip happening at the San Francisco Osprey nest on the Richmond Shipping Yards.

The eaglets on the Dale Hollow nest are really getting the last of that juvenile plumage in. It will not be long til they begin to hover and fledge.

Big is on the right and just look at Middle’s crop!!!!!!!

Only Eaglet at Duke Farms is really going up high on the branches and is quick to get to the nest when food is brought in. (You may recall that there were originally two eaglets at the nest. The much smaller one did not survive).

That is a quick check in on some of our nests. So far, so good! It is always lovely to start the day knowing that everyone is as good as they can be! Thank you so much for joining me today. Please take care!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Duke Farms, DHEC, SF Bay Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, LRWT, Google Maps, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Patuxent River Park, Montana Ospreys, LDF, Peregrine Networks, Warszawa Peregrines, Salisbury Cathedral Peregrines, Cromer Peregrines, Weissenburg Peregrines, and Cal Falcons.

Late Saturday in Bird World

14 May 2022

I get the most fantastic mail and have the most wonderful readers – you. Today, ‘EJ’ wrote to tell me about a nest that I might enjoy. I think you will love the heart warming story of this Kestrel family in North Yorkshire. Robert E Fuller has a number of web cams set up about his property. One of those is a Kestrel nest. This year the male and female had six chicks. Sadly, as EJ explains, the female got in a tussle with an owl. She returned to the nest only once after that. As you probably know, males are not so good at feeding chicks – that is normally the role of the female. What would happen to the six chicks? Robert Fuller took the three smallest to raise by hand. He left the three larger chicks in the nest. And guess what happened? Dad learned, after a little trial and error, how to feed his chicks!

This is a fantastic video. Look at the size of the chicks an see how the one horks own the snake. Incredible. I did not think they could do that at this age. Always learning something wonderful from the nests.

Dad is going to have to hunt during the day and stay with the chicks or nearby when the owls are out at night. They are still small and need protection. Send all your positive energy towards this great family. Oh, and the three small chicks are doing well. Google Robert Fuller on YouTube if you do not already subscribe.

Thank you, EJ. This is a really, really positive story – one that we need!

The UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys. ‘R’ sent me the dates for the three chicks today. Thank you so much! The eggs were laid on 27 Feb, 1 March, and 8 March. If I recall correctly that is the same difference between Solly and Tapps at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge in 2021. That did not end well – both chicks died of starvation and siblicide actions. Sad. According to the news article below, Big hatched on 5 April at 16:45 with Middle hatching the following morning, 6 April, at 10:00. The article was published on 8 April and they were still waiting for Little Bit to hatch.

This now makes Big 39 days old and Middle would then be 8 days old. In reality, Big is only 17 hrs and 45 minutes older than Middle. Look at them – Big is a ‘big’ female and Middle has to be a male but – we will look at them again nearer fledge. Fledging for Western Ospreys normally occurs from 7-8 weeks or 49-56 days. We will have a way to go – but it will fly by quickly!

There is a great article on the UFlorida-Gainesville nest that I just located. It has 13 images. Have a look. It is fascinating reading and many images you would not have seen!

https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/local/2022/04/08/live-webcam-captures-newborn-osprey-in-nest-at-uf/9503896002/

Around 16:20 Mum brought a fish to the nest. In the image below, Big is behind Middle. She raises her head and walks towards him. Mum will begin feeding Big.

Middle gets its head down in a protective pose.

Mum begins feeding Big.

By the time four minutes is up, Middle is on the opposite side of Mum screaming for fish.

Mum feeds Middle. I was shocked but – she has been better with feeding Middle the past couple of days. Middle is like Middle Little at the Captiva Osprey Nest ——- he is ‘very’ loud.

When the feeding was over Middle had a really nice crop!

‘R’ sent me a lot of maps and information on the places where Mum and Dad fish. I hope to get that organized for all of you for tomorrow or Monday.

This is Alden. He spent some time with the eyases this afternoon. You might recall that Alden brought in a moth and tried to feed the chicks yesterday. Today he just went in with them. They see a parent and think ‘food’. Alden did some ‘fake feeding’ but I think he is going to get the idea just like the Father Kestrel.

Cal Falcons made a 2 minute video of Alden visiting the chicks. It is funny. Alden, I love you!

There is no pip yet – that I am aware while I am writing this – at the Osprey nest of Richmond and Rosie in San Francisco Bay.

Watching birds incubate nests is like waiting for the paint to dry.

Nancy and E1 Harriet were just enjoying a nice meal as the sun begins to lower itself at the MN-DNR nest.

All of the nestlings were anxiously awaiting fish at the multitude of feedings they had today at the Manton Bay platform of Blue 33 and Maya. Gosh they are soooooo cute. The baby is at the far end.

Chase and Cholyn have made sure that Two Harbours 1 (TH1) was full to the brim today. Wow. That almost looks painful.

There is news from Denton Homes today. You will recall that the three nestling Bald Eagles died very quickly from Avian Flu. Dad later died of Avian Flu also. Surprisingly Mum who consumed the infected chicks survived. Today, Mum was seen with a new potential male mate. I did not catch it – but, life goes on. Well done, Mum.

Five full sleepy falcons at the Manchester, NH Peregrine Falcon scrape. Gosh, these parents must be awfully busy — and so much for being able to see the chicks if they are at the other end of the box. Looks like the wee ones have been decorating the mirrors! All five are well fed. No worries.

Falcons can be very loud but, I don’t think quite so loud as ospreys. The four in the nest in the Polish forest had a great feed yesterday. Have a look at what it is like to feed four bigger falcons. Wow.

My apologies to everyone at Utica Peregrine Falcons. I think that I posted the wrong image for Astrid and Ares’s scrape with their two chicks.

The site of the camera links also as a great blog about all the daily activities with the chicks and their parents. Here is the link to the several cameras that cover this nest in Utica, New York:

https://www.big-green.net/falcon/

That is a very quick check a few of the nests we have been watching. It has been a busy day – cloudy, grey skies, rain, then cloudy. It was bird count day and it has been busy in the garden. I am shocked at how many oranges and jars of grape jelly Baltimore Orioles can eat! Of course, they are so cute.

He seems not to have been able to decide how best to get at that orange slice.

It was all a lot of fun.

Thank you for being with us today. Take care. See you soon!

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, MN-DNR, LRWT Manton Bay, SF Bay Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, Friends of Utica Falcons, Dolina Baryczy Falcons, Cal Falcons, Denton Homes Eagles, Robert Fuller, Peregrine Networks, and Explore.org.

Thursday Morning in Bird World

12 May 2022

It might be grey skies on the Canadian Prairies but it was a golden morning on most of the nests. If I say that, will it change? Oh, let us hope not.

The third egg hatched overnight at the Manton Bay nest of Blue 33 (11) and that wee Bob was up eating with its two big siblings a few hours later. Three Bobs after worrying we had lost one with the fish ordeal yesterday. Three Bobs.

Rutland has reported that the chick that was left exposed yesterday is eating well. This is encouraging. Life is good.

Little Bob’s is eating well for hatching so recently!

With Rutland’s good news, it seemed a good time to check on the two osplets at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. It looked like Middle had worked for position again but he was up getting fed on one side of Mum with Big on the other. Of course, Middle has to balance itself on the edge of the nest. Fish is good. It is 25 degrees C, winds are 16 kph, and the pressure is falling.

Sadly, the news is not all good. The Dahlgren Osprey nest of Jack and Harriet lost its second chick. The area has received a lot of rain during hatch and the nest is above water on the creek. I so wish that nest would be cleaned out off season and people would stop leaving toys or remove toys so Jack cannot find them if they go in the bin. Harriet cannot keep the nest orderly and she has even lost eggs in the mess. That camera is off line. The third chick did eat this morning.

There is a pip for Richmond and Rosie!

There is the nest of these two famous Ospreys on top of the old WWII Whirley Crane at the Richmond Shipping Yards in SF Bay.

Here is the link to both of the cams: http://sfbayospreys.org/

It is a gorgeous day for Nancy and Harriet at the MN-DNR nest. The bad weather seems to have left the area and the winds are nice and calm. There is food on the nest. Excellent.

It is hot at the Bald Eagle nest at Decorah North in Iowa. Mrs DNF is trying to be a Mumbrella as best she can. The two eaglets have done well. No indication of any issues like there were at the Denton Homes nest (Avian Flu).

The two eyases at the Cal Falcons scrape both had a nice breakfast at 06:30 nest time. Annie is having a siesta as they sleep off the food coma.

There are still five itchy growing eyases at the Manchester NH scrape. Gosh, the parents of these 5 have to work so hard. It takes so much more food and time. This Mum fed for an hour one day.

The one surviving chick at the Cromer Peregrine scrape in the UK looks good today. Hopefully all is well with this wee one.

Kaia has been aerating the nest in the Karula National Park in Estonia that she shares with her mate, Karl II. It is a beautiful day there. Looking forward to those eggs hatching. These two are great parents.

My friend, ‘S’ in Latvia was so proud last year. Kaia was a new mate. Three eggs hatched and Kaia did not ‘sort’ the chicks. Indeed, that was such a wonderful thing. The small one, the third hatch, Pikne, turned out to be a strong little female almost beating her dad to Africa for the winter migration!

For all the Peregrine Falcon fans, I have a conundrum for you and a posting from our local nest. First up, the puzzle comes from the Field Museum in Chicago. [Thank you to Holly Parsons for posting this because I would have missed it.]

Want to know what happens? Check out the Field Museum FB page.

We have several Peregrin Falcon nests in Manitoba as part of the Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project. One of them is on the Radisson Hotel in downtown Winnipeg. The streaming cam link is in the information from Dennis Swayze below. The juveniles spend a lot of time around our legislative building as they practice their flying and hunting. It is always nice to see them in the summer!

As for me, I am really busy today trying to work outside around yet another bout of torrential rain. I will check in with these and our other nests much later today. I hope everyone has a lovely Thursday wherever you are. Thank you for being with me and please take care.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: The Manitoba Peregrine Recovery Group and Dennis Swayze, Cal Falcons, Cromer Peregrine Falcons, SF Bay Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, Peregrine Networks, Field Museum, Eagle Club of Estonia, Explore.org, MN-DNR, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, and LRWT.

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Late Wednesday in Bird World

11 May 2022

It is really sad when a ‘bird Mum’ seems to consistently favour one healthy chick over another especially when the eldest has already killed the third hatch. Today, at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest, this preference for the dominant one over a healthy chick crying for food was so evident despite Middle making every effort to get around to the beak to eat even after being intimidated. Yes, Middle held back for his own survival. But it is ever so sad. He is a big healthy osplet! A fish came in at 18:24. Big did the dominance stance and Middle pulled back. By the time Middle got around on the rim to Mum’s beak, she had already given Big part of the tail. Big ate the entire fish! At 18:37 Mum find a few little scraps on a bone and gives it to Middle. At 18:38 Middle takes the bone to self feed trying to find any meat no matter how dry to eat. Middle has not had much food today but he has had some. Yesterday he ate well so we are still good.

Middle will be a survivor if he does not fall off or get shoved from the nest – he reminds me so much of Tiny Tot Tumbles at Achieva last year. She dug around in the nest eating very old, very dry leather hard pieces of fish. They kept her alive. She was self-feeding proficiently before the two older siblings. TTT became the dominant bird on the nest and if any of those three chicks were to survive their first year, my money would be on her. In fact, this winter Tiny Tot Tumbles was photographed at least once on the Achieva nest so she is still alive. That is wonderful and it will be the same for Middle. I just wish these osplets were banded.

It is worth noting that Big already had a ‘big’ crop before the last feeding of the day ever took place! There she is in the middle of the nest standing proudly with all the commotion going on around her. Middle is trying to get to the fish.

Sadly, all Big has to do is raise her head and walk towards Middle and he cowers. This behaviour was noted to have changed over the weekend by ‘R’. Prior to Friday, Middle had been getting up to the fish faster and, therefore, getting more food. The assumption is that food was scarce over the weekend when there was a big storm and the camera kept cutting in and out. It is also believed that Big took this out on Middle.

Middle is watching Big and trying to move up to get some food. If Mum would just turn herself 45 degrees both chicks could eat. It is very frustrating.

Mum found a few bites for Middle. Just think. Big ate an entire fish and Middle got a few bites.

Middle is continuing to chew on the fish bone to try and find some food.

Is there enough food coming on the nest for Mum and the two chicks? There was yesterday and with Big having a crop before she ate this entire last fish today, I would say yes. Certainly 50% of the fish could have gone to Big with 25% each to Mum and Middle and everyone would have been fine. It is not a case of everyone starving. It is sad.

This female is not the only one that has favoured one chick over another. I am certain that you can think of several instances if you have been watching streaming bird cams for awhile. One thing I have noticed – at least in Bald Eagles – is that the Dad will often step in and feed the ‘left out’ sibling. I know it sounds crazy but some of those males that are now Dads would have had big sisters who demanded and took everything. Do the males remember?

The two eyases at the CalFalcons scrape do not have the problems Middle has at UFlorida. Alden caught a pigeon today and I am absolutely certain Annie was delighted. Everyone can fill up and there will be leftovers in the pantry.

Precious.

Look at those two. Talk about a different atmosphere in a nest! I will take a falcon any day.

Bursting little crops. These two will cuddle up under Annie and sleep well.

Cal Falcons put this feeding into a short video clip.

So happy to see the promotion of the Peregrine Falcons and their chicks on The Campanile. Anything that will bring awareness to the raptors so that we can help make their lives a little better is welcome – and one way is to educate people.

https://www.dailycal.org/2022/05/09/unique-and-interesting-peregrine-chicks-born-atop-campanile-on-mothers-day-weekend/

It is so far, so good at the Manton Bay nest. Both chicks have eaten and it appears that the third chick is hatching. It will be a relief for Mum to be only brooding instead of brooding and incubating. I really hope that chick is doing just fine in the morning – the one that was exposed. It looks good so fingers crossed.

Ferris Akel has a pair of Red-tail Hawks near to where he lives and today he has discovered that Betty and Barney have three chicks!

Two Habours 1 is doing just fine. She looks out on that gorgeous cobalt coloured water that surrounds her nest in the Channel Islands.

The winds are really gusting at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta not far from Chase and Cholyn’s nest at Two Harbours. Let us all hope that the eaglets do not want to stand up and get near that ledge. Hunker down.

There are big storms about and it is very, very gusty at the MN-DNR nest of Nancy and E1 Harriet, too.

Harriet has brought in a really nice fish. You can see it in the image above. She is trying to stand in the violent wind gusts and feed Harriet. Sweet. These two are doing well under the circumstances.

We have another storm coming that is predicted to drop 40 mm of rain in a short period of time tomorrow. I wonder if this same system will hit the MN-DNR nest?

Those same winds are blowing at the Osprey platform at the Arboretum on the grounds of the University of Minnesota. The couple have one egg so far. Last year they fledged one chick.

Here is the link to their streaming cam:

The prey that is brought to the urban nests versus those in rural areas can be very different. In New York City, the Red-tail Hawks seem to live on pigeons and rats. Today a rat was delivered to the Presidio Red-tail Hawk nest in San Francisco. It makes me nervous. I am very much against the use of rodenticide and when the rodents are slow and easy catches they are often poisoned. The hawks thus die of secondary poisoning. It is tragic and unnecessary!

Fingers Crossed!

All White-bellied Sea Eagle fans should be checking in on the nest around the beginning to mid-June. Lady and Dad have been making nestorations and mating.

Of course, we will also be gearing up for the CBD Peregrine Falcons in Melbourne (late August or September for the cam to return), Xavier and Diamond at their scrape in Orange, and of course, the Ospreys at Port Lincoln. It is mid-May now. Time is passing.

Thank you for joining me this evening. Hopefully we will wake up to three healthy chicks at the Manton Bay platform tomorrow and several more fish for UFlorida-Gainesville! Tomorrow is pip watch for Richmond and Rosie. Take care everyone.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Sea Eagles@BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre, Cal Falcons, Presidio RTH, Ferris Akel, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Osprey Cam, Explore.org, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, MN-DNR, and LRWT Manton Bay.

Tuesday in Bird World

10 May 2022

Gosh, golly. 21 degrees C. This means summer!!!! The parks, both of them, were full of joggers, walkers, people having picnics, playing ball, or tennis. The Cricket pitch was busy. Canadians are wearing short sleeves and shorts and we are happy and smiling! Last week was a different story. If it rains again on Thursday we will be back grumbling. I promise. Summer is way too short. You realize I did not say ‘spring’. Honestly we don’t have it any more. A normal summer temperature a couple of decades ago was 18 degrees C. Of course can hit 35-38 C easy. Then we all go inside grumbling. There is a sweet spot around 21-23 degrees C that is just perfect for humans and for the birds on the Canadian prairies.

Note: Bear with me. I did not edit this today!

I left this morning in search of wood ducks. Where are they? I found one couple at one park and three males and one female at another. Even more absent were the Mallards. Sadly, what else I found was that the torrential rains and rising water levels everywhere have made many of the duck and goose eggs non-viable. If the outside coating gets wet, there is no oxygen. This was sad.

The water has receded and you can see some of the clutch that has been abandoned. This area is a small island – there are two islands – in the centre of the pond. It appeared very, very crowded with geese further back incubating and a pair of Wood Ducks walking through.

I wonder how man of our waterfowl lost their eggs this season? Some goslings have hatched but I did not see a single one today. Last year I could not walk for wee ducks and geese. Let’s see what next month brings.

This Mallard couple were taking turns trying to find pond vegetation and keeping an eye on me – I was about 20 metres away but they still knew I was there. The birds around the Witches Hut at St Vital Park are very friendly. During nesting season they get a bit touchy but I think they were waiting to see if I brought any food with me.

The light was not great today. In fact, it gave some rather bizarre colours to the birds.

The colours on this Mallard might even make a Peacock envious.

The Black-capped Chickadees, six of them, were dive bombing me. Did they know I had seed for them in my pocket? or do they now see humans and think seed? Probably the latter. It is a very popular spot for walkers and people that live close by to spend an afternoon, always with birdseed. The lens I had on the camera really compromised what would have been great images taken with a phone camera rather than a 600mm lens.

They came and went many times while I stood and watched. Picking up a single seed, flying up to the tree nearby to crack it on a branch and then back for another one. I wonder how many calories they burn flying back and forth??

The Canada Geese were everywhere – and I do mean everywhere.

Tucked in near to them was a Chipping Sparrow hunting for sees and bugs.

None of those images will win any awards for photography but they are a nice memory of my day and some of the birds that I saw.

When I got home I went back and checked on the Manton Bay Osprey Nest in the UK to see if the third chick had hatched for Blue 33 (11) and Maya. Not yet but you could clearly see a crack forming. One of the reasons that this couple has such huge success is that the eggs normally hatch within a couple of days. Maya always delays incubating the first two eggs until the last has been laid. Talk about a remedy to help with food competition. Of course, it helps to have a big lake with lots of fish in it and not much competition right under your nest!

There was Blue checking out his newly hatched Big and Middle Bobs.

Big Bob looks like it is going to have an attitude.

If you stare at the egg long enough at the back on the left at about 2100, it appears there are some cracks forming. Of course, I could be losing my mind also.

So all is well at Rutland. Then skipping over to the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest and gosh. Middle had a crop at 16:18. So I went back and it appeared that another fish had come to the nest around 15:00.

The fish has arrived. Middle is just lucky. If Mum moved the wrong way she would knock him off that nest. He is on the far side. The chick you are looking at is Big.

Mum is feeding Middle!

Mum continues to feed Middle.

So, today, Middle ate and had a couple of crops. This nest is like a roller coaster. Did you know that birds can get stress lines in their feathers? I don’t know if all banders check but when they checked the three lads at the Port Lincoln Osprey nest they checked for stress lines and found none. Of course, they would not have. Those three males were like three choir boys until they fledged. They they really began to do the ‘dust ups’ shoving one another off the nest, intercepting fish, stealing fish and whatever else three brothers can think to get into. Here is a ‘dog fight’ between Ervie and Falky.

And here is the ‘dust up’ between Ervie and Bazza on the nest where one falls off:

For those of you that do not know the PLO nest it is on a barge at Port Lincoln, Australia. The nest always had a history of siblicide. This year everyone held their breath when the three eggs hatched and there was Little Bob. Well, Little Bob was quite the character. He had to always be at the beak, in front. When Bib Bob tried to bully him, Little Bob just didn’t let it happen and Big Bob got tired and quit. Still we worried until everyone realized that Little Bob was getting rather dominant. At the time the three were to be banded, it was decided that the heaviest of the three would get the one satellite-pak. Everyone was sure it would go to Bazza the eldest. No. Ervie – who never missed a meal and who had been right up front that morning – got the GPS system! And we cheered! The three were Bazza the eldest with the red band, Falky the middle with the yellow, and Ervie the youngest with the dark green band. Falky – being the middle – did not always get much attention until he dove off the barge and caught a fish! Falky was also the one spotted 300 km north of Port Lincoln. Bazza was the reluctant flier and stayed on the nest to let Mum feed him. Then he left. I hope we hear about Falky and Bazza. Ervie was flying about and then Ervie got one of his talons pulled out. Who knows how. As a result he stays around Port Lincoln and has a fondness for Puffer Fish! He is adored by many.

Sometimes it is nice to sit back and remember those really wonderful nests and last year, PLO was one of the best!

If you are into the translocation project that has been going on in the UK, you will be excited to read the announcement by Poole Harbour today on their FB page:

Single Bald Eagle Mums have a difficult job especially if the nest is in an area where there are constant intruders. There had been a bit of a dry spell at the MN-DNR nest but today around 16:15 nest time, Nancy brought in a huge fish. E1 ate well. I understand that a group of school children are calling E1 – Harriet. If it isn’t official, it should be. It is a perfect name to honour her missing and believed dead young dad, Harry.

The winds are still blowing strong in Scotland and the rain will start pelting down at the Loch Arkaig nest in the West. Dorcha is doing a great job keeping those eggs incubated.

At the Loch of the Lowes, the wind is blowing but you can hear the ducks and geese flying in for the evening. Blue NC0 looks pretty content on the nest of hers and Laddie’s. Not long til there will be chicks here.

One of the things that people/researchers/naturalists and lovers of Osprey look at it is the return rate. How many fledglings from a nest in a particular year with particular parents return as juveniles and are officially seen? Well the Llyn Clywedog nest is doing a bit of celebrating today. So far two out of three of the 2020 trio have returned – 550 and 551. They only need 552 and they would have a 100% success rate. They are going to have bragging rights regardless for some time. This is fantastic news.

Richmond and Rosie have been fighting off intruders this entire season. We are a few days til hatch watch. Here is the banner for SF Bays Hatch Watch announcement at the SF Bay nest of these two great Ospreys.

Here is the link to Richmond and Rosie’s streaming cam:

This is the 15:49 feeding at the Cal Falcon nest of Annie and Alden. Cute. So cute.

This is the 16:55 feeding at the Manchester New Hampshire Peregrine Falcon scrape. Crazy!

Everything is perfectly fine at the nest of Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell Campus. L4 can almost be heard saying, “My crop’s as big as your crop! Nah, nah, nah!” Every time L1 does something, L4 seems to copy her.

Big Red looks like she is ready for an evening break before she snuggles down with these four Ls.

So far, so good. Food was on both the MN-DNR and the UFlorida-Gainesville nests. One day at a time. Today it was all good. So from me and all the garden gang and TH1 at the Two Harbours nest in the Channel Islands, good night. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: LRWT, UFlorida-Gainesville, PLO, Birds of Poole Harbour, MN-DNR, Woodland Trust, Loch of the Lowes, SF Bay Ospreys, Cal Falcons, Peregrine Network, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, and Explore.org

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Late Thursday in Bird World

How many weekends have I mentioned that southern Manitoba would be having a weather event? Well, this has to be the 3rd or 4th. Keeping track of them might make me miserable. But yes, we will have another 50mm of precipitation starting late Friday evening and into Saturday. Is it possible we will go straight from winter to summer? Spring and fall seem to be getting eliminated.

Well, let us start with the sad and end with something nicer.

Mother Goose got her 5 babies down from the eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa on the second try. The 6th egg was non-viable and the 5th gosling had only hatched the night before. It was not yet 24 hours old as I understand it.

Three of the goslings were with the parents and a volunteer with the Raptor Research Project found the fourth immediately. Mother and Father Goose called and looked for the 5th baby as did boots on the ground. Sadly, it was found deceased. The remaining four are very healthy and let us wish them a good life.

My friend ‘R’ in Pennsylvania sent me a copy of a poster. Thank you, ‘R’. The more we know, the better equipped we are to deal with situations. This is particularly geared to backyard poultry. As all of you are aware, the H5N1 strain of the Avian Flu is taking its toll on waterfowl and raptors that eat bird. Many have ‘free range’ flocks that sell eggs from chickens and ducks that are allowed to roam free. You might know of someone who could benefit from this information from the PA State Department of Agriculture.

Intruders. The birds in the SF Bay area have been having a lot of intruders – many of them lethal. Richmond and Rosie can hardly take a breath without someone, many times another Osprey, coming to their nest where they are incubating three eggs!

Oh, the female eaglet of Thunder and Akecheta has the most beautiful name. Kana’kini. My possibly poor translation is kana – powerful, and kini is beautiful and gorgeous. If that is correct it fits well with this very stunning powerful female eaglet.

Kana’kini certainly has big powerful legs. Get out the worry beads. She is jumping and flapping on the nest! But I want you to look at the small male to the right. Look at that crop! Apparently it is crab that Thunder brought to the nest. Just look at that!

Big Red is another gorgeous powerful female. I cannot explain it but the last time I checked L4 was still working away at hatching. The time of the first pip had to not so accurate???? Even if L4 does not hatch, just look at our Red-tail Hawk Mama gazing lovingly down at one of the Ls.

It was such a relief yesterday for Lori Covert to confirm that both of the fledglings of the Captiva Osprey nest are alive, flying with their parents, and obviously being fed. Little or MiniO is getting food off camera and well, ‘Lena’s boy’ Middle or LittleO loves to eat at the nest.

TH1 is in the Two Harbours nest tonight! Do you always check, too? Those railings that Dr Sharpe and his volunteers brought and fixed continue to keep the wee one end. It will not be long until Dr Sharpe is back up to the nest banding Chase and Cholyn’s only baby.

It looks like Harry and Nancy at the MN-DNR eagle nest are doing some branching demonstrations for the two big eaglets.

Lady Hawk did a great video of Harriet and M15’s E19 and E20 playing down at the pond yesterday. Oh, they are beautiful strong eaglets.

Port Lincoln has been cleaning up the barge with the Osprey’s nest getting it ready for the 2022 season for Mum and Dad. There is also a new sign for all those people who feel entitled to distress the raptors.

So far, so good with all the nests. Be sure to make a note that 5-6 of May (that is next week) is hatch watch for Annie, Alden, and Grinnell at the CalFalcons scrape. Tomorrow I hope to check on some of the European Osprey and eagle nests.

Take care everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Explore.org, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife, and MN-DNR.

Monday Morning in Bird World

25 February 2022

It is a beautiful morning on the Canadian Prairies. The sun is out a little bit and white snow fell overnight. The birds are very happy. They do not like the 45 kph gusts last night or the torrential rain on Saturday. I am also feeling lucky that we are not flooding and sad for the people and wildlife that are struggling with continuing flood waters in southern Manitoba and at various parts of Winnipeg.

I am going to begin with the sad news.

I wanted to make sure before I provided any more incorrect information about Little Bit. I have been monitoring the nest for many hours at UFlorida. Despite being fed Sunday after 86 hours without food, Little Bit lost its struggle to live. The precise time is unknown. The tiny wee one was almost delirious eating fish yesterday. It was such a joyful ten minutes watching Little Bit have some fish. It made us hopeful. At the time, the little one had not had a ps in a long time and at what point are its internal organs damaged? The heat at the top of the nest is hugely problematic in terms of hydration if fish are not consumed for that is where the osplets get their water. Little Bit got to eat because three fish came on the nest in quick succession. With the arrival of the third one, Big beaked Little Bit and fought with Middle. After some fish, the older two finally collapsed. It was only on their collapse that Little Bit got to eat and eat it did for ten minutes. I bet fish never tasted so good. Then another fish arrived, a 4th one, at 18:32:45. The female dragged that fish right across Little Bit’s head. It looks as if that is the precise place where Little Bit passed on. I had hoped for a miracle for this third hatch who wanted to live and who had such a wonderful start to life. This nest truly looked promising. The turn came on 10 April and for the past two weeks the baby suffered great abuse. There was a bit of a reprieve on the 18th and then the programme of siblicide began again on the 19th. — Those are a summary of the facts as we know them of Little Bit’s struggle to live on this nest. I had so hoped you would be alive and eating this morning, Little Bit. It was not meant to be. Fly high, Little One. Fly high. Soar.

The Osprey nest at Captiva is vacant this morning. Middle (or Little) was there yesterday. The parents should be feeding the chicks off camera. There has been no word on Little (or MiniO) since she fledged. If you look at the tree closest to the shore to the left of the scrape box you will see what I believe is an Osprey. This was Middle (or Little’s) tree that it liked to sit on. Perhaps it is him.

If you are in the market for a property at Captiva with an Osprey and Eagle nest, Lori Covert’s property is for sale.

The falcons and the hawks have been ignored, at times, in favour of the eagles and the ospreys so I want to check on some of these other nests while returning to a couple of Osprey nests that are normally very stable.

There is a Red-tail Hawk nest streaming cam in San Francisco at The Presidio. I had no idea. What a surprise in the wee hours of the morning when it just appeared. There are two chicks. They still have their white down and they are feisty!

The Presidio’s resident Red-tailed Hawk pair have been hard at work preparing their nest 100 feet up in one of the Presidio’s blue gum eucalyptus trees. The information tells me that “The Presidio is an important stop on the Pacific Flyway, the major north-south flyway for migratory birds, which means it’s a hotspot for birdwatching with 323 different types of birds spotted (so far!) in the park.”

The two eggs were laid the middle of March. The site does not state when they hatched but they look to be less than a week old but slightly older than Big Red’s chick, L1.

I do not know anything about this nest but I am quite excited. With only two chicks in this nest, both of them should grow happily. In general, it is easier to watch the hawk and falcon nests than the eagles and Ospreys as food competition and sibling rivalry are much less frequent.

Breakfast Monday morning. So well behaved like little falcons normally are.

This is simply fantastic news. Here is the link to follow this Red-tail Hawk family in California!

Early morning at the Buckinghamshire Council offices in the UK and there is that beautiful Peregrine Falcon. No eggs yet. Predicting soon!

We also have Peregrine Falcons in Manitoba. There are several streaming cams as part of the Peregrine Recovery Project. Ella and Pip have their scrape on the top of the Radisson Hotel in downtown Winnipeg. The couple have three eggs. Check out The Peregrine Chick on Twitter for news.

The last of the three eggs were laid on the 22nd of April and now it is hard incubation. Egg 1 was laid on the 17th with egg 2 on the 20th. Ella was tucked up tight as the cold weather returned to the ‘peg.

One of the great things that the local group has done is to compile a listing of Peregrine Falcon cameras in North America as well as world sites. It is not comprehensive as I see it does not include the Utica, New York scrape. Utica, you might want to send them a note and ask to be included. On that same page as the listing are a number of books related to Peregrine Falcons and other links. For the cameras, you just have to click on the site and presto – another cam with falcons to keep you awake!

http://www.species-at-risk.mb.ca/pefa/r-resources.html

I cannot find the live feed for the Utica cam of Astrid and her mate but, an article was posted on on the 24th on Falcon Watch Utica FB page.

Sunday, April 24, 2022 – Warm Weather Leads to Egg Shading for the First Time this Season & Intruder in the Late Afternoon

It was a gorgeous morning at the Cape Henlopen Osprey Nest in Lewes, Delaware this morning. Mum and Dad were both on the nest. Dad kept coming to see if he could have a turn at incubation and Mum kept refusing!

The site will not let me embed their camera link so search for the nest at YouTube.

L3 has hatched for Big Red and Arthur at the Cornell nest in Ithaca. That happy event happened at 06:03 this morning. Lined up from left to right: L3, L2, and L1. Big Red is trying to convince them that they want an early morning breakfast!

It looks like it is hard to keep 3 moving chicks and an egg comfortably under you, Big Red.

It is hard to see from the glare but Rhett and Scarlett are back making nestorations and mating on the Savannah Osprey Nest that was previously leased to the Great Horned Owls. I wonder how the season will go. It is late Osprey eggs in the region but, I guess we will find out!

Here is the link to this camera. Note that the Ospreys are not always on the nest.

Annie and Alden at the UCalifornia-Berkeley’s Campanile scrape are doing fantastic. What a great team they are! During the Q & A a question was asked about Alden’s personality or character. We learned some very intriguing things about Annie’s new mate. The first is that he ‘sings or talks’ a lot more than Grinnell. Alden also likes to hunt at night. The raptors are asleep but the other birds are awake and flying. The light pollution aids in hunting but the falcons have good night vision. This could also help Alden with his hunting since he has a badly healed injury in his left ankle area (this is what CalFalcons believes observing him). Alden has no trouble killing his prey but he might have difficulties holding on to it so if he dropped it at night there is less chance that a predator would get it! Smart one, Alden. It might surprise you but Cal Falcons noticed that Alden is much more aggressive in his defence of Annie and the eggs and the territory than Grinnell. For now, Alden is working hard for Annie and those three eggs. That is his only focus!

Hatch watch is May 5-6 and Sean and Lynn will be holding another Q & A at that time. These are great opportunities to learn about falcons! If you miss them, the couple are great to archive them on YouTube for you. Here is the link to the CalFalcons cam:

If you are wanting to watch an Osprey nest, I cannot recommend one more highly right now than Richmond and Rosie at the Richmond Shipping Yards in San Francisco Bay. They are a solid couple that has no trouble raising three osplets! This year they have three eggs that hatched on April 5, 8, and 11.

Here is the link to the camera of the SF Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon:

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Do you love kestrels? The first egg has been laid in the Yorkshire Dales kestrel nest! It arrived yesterday, the 24th of April at 12:50.

The Jackdaws have been a problem for this raptor couple. I hope they do not return! Here is the link to the camera which is operational from 08:00-20:00 daily, nest time.

The Cornell Bird Lab also has a kestrel nest that has four eggs. The fourth was laid on 23 April at 12:11 and it appears that hard incubation may have begun. This nest has not had a problem with Jackdaws that I am aware of!

Here is the link to this Kestrel nest in Wisconsin:

At 10:39, Mum and the two eldest surviving chicks on the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest all had large crops. It is very possible that like the Dale Hollow Bald Eagle nest, this Osprey nest will settle down and there will be no more food rivalry. Only time will tell if the fish deliveries can keep up with the demand.

Thank you for joining me today. This has been a hop and skip around some familiar nests with some new ones added. I will check on all our favourites later today. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages or Twitter feeds: UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife, Presidio RTH SF, Buckinghamshire Council, Peregrine Chick, Utica Peregrine Falcons FB, Cape Henlopen SP Ospreys, Cornell RTH, Landings Savannah Osprey, and Cal Falcons.

Tuesday in Bird World

12 April 2022

The ‘historic’ storm is set to hit us sometime during the late evening or night. It will snow and blow then calm and start up again on Thursday. Apparently people are hoarding food and turkeys are said to now cost $80 each. Of course, they will be useless if the electricity has an outage. It is the reason that we have a back up wood stove in the City. Eons ago and I do mean eons, I remember a storm that hit leaving several feet on the roads and downing the power lines. The cables had thick ice – first sagging and then snapping under the weight. The house in the country had a hand pump to the cistern if the power was lost and a large wood stove. We ate, had hot baths and meals – one day it was so warm the children were wearing their summer clothes. The snow was so deep. It took 13 days before we were a priority with the municipality – being the only house on a road for several miles. We were fine. Sometimes old school is best. All of the garden critters have been fed so much especially Dyson and Scraggles as well as Little Red. They can hoard it all away and munch and stay warm inside their nests and the penthouse til the storm is over. No worries for them!

Dyson really does enjoy those nice nuts. He even seems to be putting on some weight since he discovered he prefers the ‘luxury’ bird seed. Too funny. He feels his cheeks and runs away returning quickly!

The soap opera in the Glaslyn Valley is officially over for the 2022 season. Mrs G is back with Aran on the Glaslyn nest and Blue 014 has Aeron Z2 all to herself at Pont Cresor. Aran has delivered half a fish to Mrs G. He might be waiting to deliver a whole one until he is sure she is staying!

Mrs G, the oldest Osprey in the UK, is as gorgeous as ever with her dark plumage.

Aran on his perch and Mrs G in the nest.

Mrs G enjoying the fish that Aran provided.

As the sun begins to set, Aran is in the nest working on the walls that were installed by the Glaslyn staff in an effort to ease the nesting season for Mrs G and her mate.

It is raining at the Dale Hollow nest. Little Middle and Big are soaked.

At 11:10:31 Obey brings a fish to the nest for Big and Little Middle.

Everyone is soaking. Little Middle was first up at the feeding once River decided it was a good time to start – around 12:13.

Even when Big moves up, Little Middle stays in place and continues to eat. It is all good.

Little Middle is happy River came to the nest. He loves cuddling with Mum.

The little eaglet at the National Arboretum nest of Mr President and Lotus is thriving.

While this wee one begins to get its thermal down, there is branching happening at the NEFlorida Bald eagle nest of Samson and Gabby. Yesterday Jasper branched at 10:10:53 as Rocket looked on.

No worries, beautiful Rocket. You will be up there soon enough! Too soon for us!!!!!

Just look above and have a quick peek at this short video – a reminder of how quickly the eagles grow! I recall the days that we were all worried that Rocket would survive but, he did. He was self-feeding first and became ever so clever.

The bonking has started at the UFL Osprey nest. I am cautiously hopeful that the beaking will subside but let’s see if Dad can get more fish on this nest pronto.

Richmond and Rosie at the SF Bay Osprey nest have their third egg. You have heard me say it many times. They are good and solid and capable of dealing with three! Eggs were laid on April 5, 8, and 11. Just perfect.

Everything is fine at the Black Stork nest of Karl II in the Karula Forest in Estonia. Kaia has returned!!!!!!!

I am so happy to report that the male is back on the Black Stork nest in Latvia! This nest is in the Sigulda region of Latvia.

Oh, and I am so excited. I love Black Kites and Grey and Golda are working on their nest in Latvia. This is exciting. Some of you might remember the Black Kite nest in a cemetery in Taipei. I continue to look for that streaming cam to start operating. But now we can watch in Latvia!

Black kites are medium sized raptors. They generally live in the forests where they generally occupy the lower canopy. This is where they hunt small mammals, frogs, salamanders, and even grasshoppers as well as other insects. They will lay between 2 and 5 eggs.

Last year there were three hatchlings. They were seriously cute.

The second White-tailed eaglet hatched at the Danish nest yesterday. Both hatches are doing well. Just watching for the third to arrive tomorrow.

White YW and Blue 35 have been working on their nest at Foulshaw Moss in Cumbria. The camera does not have a rewind capacity so you have to watch often and long to catch the ospreys on the nest. This is the nest of Tiny Little’s parents. S/he was ringed Blue 463 and as the third hatch, with the help of Mum and Dad, s/he thrived. I am very much looking forward to this season with these fabulous parents. Where do the parents roost? On the tree in the distance.

Here is the link to the streaming cam. There are two views when you click on the page.

https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife/cams/osprey-cam

Everything is fine at the Dyfi Osprey nest of Idris and Telyn! They are a super couple. Again, great nest to watch. Link to camera is below. You can count on Idris bringing in some whoppers!

This is a new couple. CJ7 who has hoped for a mate for so long and the more than eager to oblige dashingly handsome Blue 022. They are at Poole Harbour and as I always mention – any chicks that hatch on this nest will be the first in over 200 years. You can well imagine that the local community is pretty excited.

Here is the link to their camera as you begin to get your UK Osprey nests to watch consolidated.

There is a soft rain at the Loch of the Lowes. You can hear the songbirds in the distance. Laddie and Blue NC0 have a beautiful nest and it is impossible to see if there is an egg yet. I don’t think so.

Blue NC0 has been on and off the nest. Did I tell you she is a fantastic fisher? It is not clear whether or not Laddie caught this fish and handed it off to her after he had eaten the head but, that is probably what happened. Blue NC0 would be pleased. She turned out to be a fantastic Mum last year to the surprise of some. Once the chicks were old enough she was out fishing. She really kept the fish flowing on the nest for the two healthy chicks last year.

Here is the link to the camera at the Loch of the Lowes.

Tomorrow, Cal Falcons is due to post the list of names so that the community can vote. It will be so nice for the New Guy to get a proper name. Everything is going fine for this new couple as we continue to mourn the loss of Grinnell.

All of the Peregrine Falcon nests are doing just fine as is Big Red and Arthur’s Red-tail Hawk nest at Cornell. The action will be starting in a few weeks!

Thank you so much for joining me today as we skipped around some of the nests. The weather that is approaching Manitoba will also impact the MN-DNR nest I am pretty sure. I will try and keep an eye on Harry and Nancy and the two eaglets. Take care all. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, DHEC, Birdlife Denmark, NADC-AEF, NEFlorida-AEF, UFL Osprey, CFN, SF Ospreys and Goldden Gate Audubon, Latvian Fund for Nature, Cumbrian Wildlife Trust, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Friends of Loch of the Lowes, Dyfi, and Cal Falcons.