Tag Archives: Ron and Rita

Sunday in Bird World 23 Jan

NE26 is here! There are so many hatch times posted that it is unclear when NE26 was officially out of that shell. Does it matter? The AEF is showing 07:28:38 but the eaglet is fully dry and fluffy so I think Gabby was hiding that hatchling, keeping it warm. It is noon and it is still only 7 degrees C or 44.6 F. Chilly for Florida!

By 11:30, NE26 was holding its head up and looking straight at you! Notice that the inside of the shell was, in part, a beautiful blue.

What a cutie pie! Hello.

I wonder if you will be strong and sassy like your big sibling, Legacy????

Samson just brought in a nice fish to the nest – and its got its head on! He is so excited about the little furry one and wants to make sure that Gabby and it are well fed.

Gabby checks to see if the baby wants to eat. That pantry is so far from the nest cup. Remember Legacy last year crawling up the bowl to get over to it? Sure made NE24 strong.

You are so precious with that big egg tooth!

Tired.

Gabby was hungry! And the little one needs to figure out which way to face the pantry! Not the grass! Gabby keeps checking to see if N26 wants to eat some fresh fish.

Proud Mama Gabby!

The growing eaglet in the Kisatchie National Forest Bald Eagle nest has already had 5 feedings between 06:47 and 11:45. I thought Anna might be slowing down but no…the feedings are just getting longer!

What a little cutie looking up at one of the parents on the branch above the nest. If you are looking for the turtle, it is still there amongst all manner of large fish and a beautiful Eagle feather.

A nice family portrait!

B15 at Berry College is doing well.

B15 peeking out between Mum and Dad.

At the WRDC nest of Ron and Rita in Miami-Dade, R2 has figured out to let R1 get full and then get up to eat. Once R1 is full, it doesn’t care what R2 is doing. So around noon, R2 started eating and it is getting really full. Whew!

For all who are teachers, the Raptor Resource Project can help you, from K through high school, from art to science. Why not teach about raptors?

Raptor Resource Project Teachables
From Egg To Fledgling

It is a great Sunday. Everyone is doing well. There are big snowflakes starting to fall on the Canadian Prairies. They are swirling and are quite beautiful. But, please, no more snow! We are 50 days away from the arrival of the first Ospreys in the UK for breeding season! Do you have a favourite nest? I can’t decide but I am awfully keen to see some little osplets in the nest of CJ7. Hopefully she will return to Poole Harbour along with her hopeful partner, Blue 22. For those of you that might have missed it – Jackie and Shadow have their first egg as of yesterday and YRK has flown in to relieve OGK on the Royal Cam nest in New Zealand. It looks like it will be Mum on the nest this year when the hatchling is returned. The egg is in the incubator hatching right now! E19 and E20 are doing great at SWFlorida and Ervie has been sleeping on the perch at Port Lincoln all night – so all is well with the world.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: NEFlorida and the AEF, KNF, Berry College, and the WRDC.

Friday in Bird World

There is mooooorrrrrrreeeeee snow falling on Winnipeg! There seems to be no place to shovel it anymore. Can you hear me growling? It has made Little Red anxious and he has been chasing the 32 European Starlings out of the Lilacs yelling, ‘Don’t you know it is Squirrel Appreciation Day?!’ To appease him, I promised I would put a photo of him on the cover of today’s blog! LOL.

The top image shows Red returning from the large seed cylinder his mouth full of seed to cache in his penthouse.

Red comes and goes dozens of times.

No one needs to train Little Red to jump. Away he goes from the plucking post of Sharpie to the wood shed then to the seed cylinder.

Meanwhile, there isn’t any snow down in Louisiana but it is set to be 21 degrees F (very cold) for that area. Louis is filling up the nest with giant Crappie and the little eaglet has been fed at 06:52, 07:46, 08:23, 09:16, 10:10, 11:03, 11:28, 12:13, and 13:45. Here are a few of those feedings:

In addition to the nest of Anna and Louis in the Kisatchie Forest, there are two other known nests with one chick in them each. The others are Berry College and Osceola.

B15 is doing great on the Berry College Bald Eagle Nest. Missy and Pa Berry are doing are good job keeping this little feisty eaglet fed and warm.

The Bald Eagles at the Osceola Nest are Starlight and Skyler. This couple took over the nest in the fall of 2021. The eaglet hatched on 21 December so it is a few days older than Harriet and M15s at the SWFlorida Nest in Fort Myers.

The Osceola Nest is beautiful. It is in a popular park near Lake Toho.

You can see the eaglet sticking its head up looking out at the world beyond.

Here is the link to the Osceola camera in Florida if you don’t have it on your list.

It might be cool for Anna and Louis and even B15 but it is scorching hot for R1 and R2 in the WRDC nest of Ron and Rita in Miami. The chatters said that R2 had eaten twice in the morning so that is a good thing!

E19 and E20 are in really good shape this afternoon. They may be hot but both have a large crop that they are using as pillows. All is right in the world of Harriet and M15 at the SWFlorida Bald Eagle nest.

There is pip watch at the Northeast Florida Bald Eagle nest of Gabby and Samson. So far, the eggs are being rolled and there hasn’t been any announcement of a pip.

There are now 2 eggs at Duke Farms Bald Eagle Nest. The second was laid at 15:52 on 20th of February.

rt LincoPort

It is a rainy day for Ervie down in Port Lincoln. The cam operator zoomed in to a show a soaking wet juvenile!

Royal Albatross fans are starting to get super excited at the impending hatch. Yesterday Ranger Colin checked YRK and OGKs egg and could hear the chick inside. It won’t be long! The NZ DOC put out a very short video of that visit:

Do you like Hornbills and other exotic birds? If so, I have a streaming cam for you to check out in Pretoria, South Africa. They have a bot that identifies the birds on the screen so you will know what has come to the feeders. There are many species you might never have seen!

For me, it was simply wonderful to see a world alive with green.

Sometimes you get other animals that are hungry raiding the feeder such as this Genet.

Different birds and animals come at different times of the day. As the sun is setting, bird feeders are set out.

Here is the link to the Allen Bird Cam:

The cold blast of weather and the continuing amount of snow fall seems to caused havoc for some of the ducks that were spending the winter in Manitoba. They are winding up on the lawns of peoples houses, no water and no food. If you are in Winnipeg and you have or see ducks in the City disoriented, please call Wildlife Haven. (204) 878-3740. Thank you!

Thank you for joining me today. Fingers crossed for a pip up at NEFlorida! Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: KNF, Berry College, SWFlorida and D Pritchett, NEFlorida and the AEF, Allen Bird Cam, Eagle Cam at Osceola, Duke Farms, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, and the WRDC.

Tuesday in Bird World

The snow that began last night is continuing to come down in the garden. It is gusty and blowing and the birds are having a difficult time finding a place to get out of the wind. I would love for someone to contradict me but, I do not recall this much snow in 15 years. Thankfully, there is no reason to get out, not even for birdseed. We have at least another two weeks on hand! There are times that I think the garden visitors eat better than their caregivers! It is the running family joke.

You might have felt that I am a little ‘shy’ of that WRDC nest of Ron and Rita’s. This is a new Bald Eagle couple to me. It is really difficult to see if R2 is getting much food. Clearly R1 is a bit of a brute. R3 would not have had a chance. The adults often stand in front of the camera so the view is restricted or, else, I can only see R1 bonking the little one. There is lots of food. Ron is a good provider.

I want to imagine that I am terribly wrong and that the adults are feeding R1 until it passes out in a food coma and then are making sure that R2 is full to the brim. If you have seen this please let me know! I would be delighted.

Some good news. There is no sign of Daisy the Duck on the White-Bellied Sea Eagle Nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest. Continue to send your positive energy to our little duck so she finds a safe place to hatch some eggs!

The bad news – unless you are a GHOW fan – is that Mrs Hootie laid her first egg on the Savannah Osprey nest of Scarlett and Rhett. Where will this longstanding Osprey couple lay their eggs?

The snow is melting in Ithaca, the home of Big Red and Arthur.

The Clark Fork River is open in places near Missoula, Montana. It is hard to imagine but in 9 weeks Big Red should be laying eggs and in 10 weeks we will be looking for Iris, the oldest Osprey in the world, to return to her nest at Hell Gate Canyon.

There is some snow in Latvia and like here in Canada, I expect that they will see more. Milda’s nest is waiting for her albeit there have been intruders.

The eaglet at the KNF nest was stretching its little wings this morning. It is 6 days old and is energetic, curious, healthy, and happy. What more could you want?!

Anna and Louis are quickly becoming one of my most favoured Bald Eagle couples!

Pa Berry fed B15 til it passed out in a food coma. I had missed seeing him brooding or feeding so this really put a smile on my face. B15 is a little character. Full of life! So happy.

Pa Berry was really aerating the nest this morning!

R15 is so cute. I wonder if R15 will get attached to ‘eggie’ like Legacy did last year?

The two eaglets of Harriet and Mitch are doing fine at the Hilton Head Island Bald Eagle nest. Have a close look. That second layer of dark grey down is covering them and there are feathers peeking through. Soon they will look like E19 and E20.

E20 looks on as E19 is eating at the SWFlorida Bald Eagle Nest. It will wait til E19 is finished and then will go and have food.

Ferris Akel posted a very short video of the Canada Geese and the Snow Geese from last Sunday’s tour. I had not seen so many since our migration in September-October here in Winnipeg.

Ervie is on the nest and will, no doubt, be ramping up the volume screaming for a fish once the dawn breaks at Port Lincoln. Oh, Ervie. Are you going to be another Izzi? We do adore you and we wouldn’t mind! On the other hand, you did get the sat-pak! Will the conclusion be that at least one male Eastern Osprey likes to stay at the natal nest? Oh, Ervie, you do put a smile on our faces.

Thank you for joining me today. It is so nice to have you with me. Take care! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: WRDC, KNF, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Hilton Head Island Trust, SWFlorida and D Pritchett, Berry College, Cornell Bird Cam and Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Cam and RTH, Cornell Bird Lab and Savannah Ospreys, Latvian Fund for Nature, and Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park.

Late Sunday in Bird World

Oh, what a day in Bird World it has been! The weather at the nest of Pa Berry and Missy clocked in at 3 degrees F. That is -16 C. As a comparison, it was only -5 in Winnipeg today. Poor Missy. The snow and sleet were coming down, she has a hungry baby – and she is hungry herself – and there is a chick trying to hatch! My heart went out to her. There were a few tiny breaks in the weather for Missy. She jumped up and ate ferociously and then quickly fed her baby. The bad weather is due to continue til at least Monday afternoon. I was almost afraid to check on her but, then I did.

Pa Berry had brought in another fish. He looks pretty dry compared to Missy, ironically. Missy worked hard to get some food into her little one before she had to brood and try to keep that baby warm and dry.

Missy took lemons and made lemonade with it. She ate and so did her baby. It was fast. She could not afford for the wee one to get soaking wet, cold, and die. I was impressed. Whatever will happen at this nest with all the horrible cold and wet weather will not be this Mum’s fault. She was trying as best she could.

There were tornado warnings and 60 mph winds down in Miami-Dade County at the nest of Ron and Rita. That nest held. I caught some of it on a video clip. Rita works really hard trying to get the two babies under her so they will not get wet and chilled.

R1 has been brutally aggressive today to R2. Indeed, Rita had R2 begging for food and twice she did not feed until R1 came up to the front. At the end of the day, R2 was fed three times today. I cannot confirm the amounts or if there was a big crop like R1s. You might have noticed. But R2 did eat.

Harriet was soaked but she took great care of E19 and E20 during the storm. The heavy rain actually hit Fort Myers well before it started in Miami hard.

None of these issues – extreme weather and/or sibling rivalry -are happening down at the Kisatchie National Forest nest of Anna and Louis. Louis is bring ever more fish onto the nest and that little one is just a sweet little roly-poly.

I can count the remains of one Coot and six fish.

You will think I am nuts continually talking about this kiddos cute tail but it is cute. I have never seen such a cute tail on such a young eaglet. It looks like a soft little ball, so sweet.

Both eagles were on the nest at Duke Farms working on the egg cup. There are expectations that an egg will be laid soon. This couple is in line for some of that storm as well.

Mum is on the nest and the snow has started. Last year she spent almost her entire incubation period encased in snow and ice. I ached for her.

The winds are picking up at the Hilton Head Island Trust, the home of Harriet and Mitch and their two eaglets. The gusts are blowing at 31 mph but there is no indication of rain or snow hitting the nest.

Here is the tracking of that storm as it moves NE as of 9:23 pm on CNN. It is out of Florida. Mt Berry Bald Eagles are in the purple area of Georgia near Atlanta. Pittsburg-Hays, Duke Farms, and even Big Red and Arthur are in the area of winter weather advisories. Continue to send your warm thoughts to everyone here and in all the extreme weather systems moving about the planet including those with the tsunami earlier today.

Snow has been falling in Pittsburg.

Snow continues to be heavy in the Ithaca and Finger Lakes area of upstate NY. This is Big Red and Arthur’s nest.

Meanwhile, in the UK, everyone is getting excited. It is only two months until the expected arrival of the Ospreys. The BBC did a short programme on CJ7 and her nest at Poole Harbour in June of 2021. CJ7 found love this past summer and it is hoped that her mate will return and there will be chicks on this nest for the first time in 200 years! Wow. I am showing it again as the anticipation is bubbling over. It is short and it will also get you excited for the arrival of some of the North American returnees as well.

In New Zealand, OGK, the Royal Cam Dad, returned to incubate his egg and let his mate, YRK, go and feed. That egg is due to hatch on the 27th of January give or take a day or two. Lady Hawk caught the return and the cuddles of this sweet couple.

We hold our breath and wait for the storms in the US to pass and wish all of the nests the best in handling the weather.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots or video clips: WRDC Bald Eagle Nest, Berry College, KNF Bald Eagle Nest, SWFlorida and D Pritchett, Duke Farms, Hilton Head Island Trust, Pix Cams, Cornell Bird Lab, and CNN.

Handsome Ervie, you have come a long way!

Dad brought in two fish to celebrate Ervie’s 4 month birthday on the 16th of January. They were delivered at 18:57 and 20:41. Port Lincoln also gave us some wonderful close up time with the Erv.

From the moment Ervie hatched at 00:51:50 on 16 September 2021, he watched the behaviour of the adults and, in particular, Mum. In the images below, Ervie mimics what Mum did when Dad was bringing in a fish.

I think this is a great image for a fridge magnet.

Ervie sees Dad coming and starts prey calling.

Ervie begins to back up prey calling louder. Have you noticed how the recipient on the nest moves around calling trying to figure out where the adult delivering the fish will land.

Dad lands.

Ervie grabs that precious food.

It isn’t long until Dad comes in with another fish and Ervie repeats his actions.

That was a nice fish and Ervie went to sleep on his birthday with a full tummy.

It was not clear how the third hatch at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge would fare. Sibling #1 Bazza hatched at 22:03 on 13 September and sibling #2 Falky hatched at 02:30 on the 14th. I was particularly worried even though the hatch time difference was only 53 or 54 hours, not 4 or 6 days.

Ervie’s first feeding. He was roughly 5 hours old.

Ervie is a week old. There he is on the left of the trio. You can see that he has a little crop. When Mum finishes he will have a nice one. By the time Ervie was a week old, a lot of the thunder had been taken out of Bazza and he was not attacking Ervie so much. Ervie was also becoming very clever.

The following day Ervie and Mum took advantage of Bazza and Falky sleeping and Mum filled Ervie to the brim! The parents really were amazing at bringing in food and helping Ervie that first week or so.

Ervie learned how to stretch his long neck to get the food from Mum’s beak. He is 9 days old and he is losing his soft down. You can easily distinguish who is who because of the plumage. Bazza and Falky are getting the copper red feathering on the back of their heads and neck. There are a few sprinkles of copper red on the back of Ervie just coming in.

Ervie is 25 days old in this image. Look at that crop. Ervie always loved his fish – he still does! – and he had figured out how to survive around Bazza. Most of you will remember Ervie demanding to be right up at Mum’s beak. We were no longer worried about Ervie! Indeed, Ervie will become the dominant bird on the nest. Well done little third hatch!

Other Bird World News: The second egg at Berry College appears to be coming along for a hatch. B15 is crying for food but it is raining so hard that Missy cannot risk feeding it and having it chill. Last night the nest got some icy snow and the temperature remains unseasonably low at -16 C or 3 degrees F. To put that in some perspective it is only -5 C in Winnipeg at the same time. I have concerns for this nest. The weather does not appear that it will improve for several days. I feel really sorry for this family. I hope there is a break so that B15 can have some fish.

Both R1 and R2 have eaten well at the WRDC nest in Miami-Dade County. No signs of any effects of rodenticide! That is wonderful. However, they are under a severe thunderstorm and tornado watch until 15:00. In fact, the nest is right in the centre of the storm area. The nest is really beginning to rock and roll. Hang on little ones!

If you want to check in on the eaglets periodically to see how they are doing, here is the link to the streaming cam:

Everything is fine at the KNF nest. Louis continues to fill the pantry and the little eaglet and Mum continue to eat well.

Send all your positive wishes and energy to the Berry College Nest and the WRDC. They are going to have a tough time of it for awhile. We are on egg watch at Duke Farms.

Thank you for joining me today. It is always my pleasure to write about Ervie! Take care. Stay safe. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, WRDC Bald Eagle Nest, KNF, and Berry College Bald Eagle Cam.

Saturday in Bird World

Good Afternoon Everyone. It looks pretty quiet out in Bird World this morning.

The two eaglets of Rita and Ron’s, R1 and R2, continue to sleep and eat without any observable ill effects from the rat dinner that they had yesterday. Fingers crossed. They are such beautiful and healthy little ones, curious about the world beyond the nest. Hopefully we can all go ‘whew’ after this fright is over – let’s celebrate on Monday.

They are very mobile, scooting around on the nest, balancing themselves with their wings.

This is Ron feeding the little ones. He isn’t as good as Rita but he tries.

There is an active pip watch at the Bald Eagle nest of Pa Berry and Missy in Georgia. B15 is doing well. Right now it also looks like Mt Berry could be in line for some of that winter weather making its way across parts of the United States. I really hope they get little or nothing. It isn’t nice to have a hatch when the snow and ice are coming down.

Pa Berry was on the nest with Missy on alert this morning.

B15 seems to have a good appetite.

Chatters are working on names for the little eaglet at the Kistachie National Forest (KNF) Bald Eagle Nest. The deadline for submissions is 30 January. Late this morning Louis flew in with a Coot to add to the 4 or 5 fish already on the nest.

The area is experiencing high winds today and are under a high wind advisory. It is also very cool in the forest at 8 degrees C.

This little one is the cutest little roly-poly I have seen in a long time. Anna has the feeding down and the baby is happy to have those nice bites of fish!

It is hard to imagine that E19 and E20 were this small a few weeks ago! Now they are at the big clown feet stage and their feathering is coming in nicely. I wonder if Harriet left this fish to see if anyone would try and nibble?

While other parts of the US are being hit with tsunami warnings, record levels of snow and ice, Florida is having a heat warning and should be getting some rain from that system.

Here is a lovely little video of E19 and E20 having their fish breakfast!

Finally, the pip watch for Gabby and Samson will be coming at the end of the week! I am so excited.

There have been intruders and both Gabby and Samson have been watching and listening carefully this afternoon.

How gorgeous!

An alert.

Time for some territorial defense.

All is well. Whew.

This nest is an active site for intruders. Gabby and Samson have to always be vigilant.

The two little eaglets are getting their feathers at the Hilton Head Island Trust Bald Eagle nest in South Carolina. There is no roll back. All I can say is that they appear to be eating well, growing at the right pace, and Mitch seems to have food on the nest for Harriet to feed the wee ones.

If you are in the line of the storms, tsunamis, and heat warning areas of the US or elsewhere, please take care. I will continue to monitor the WRDC nest of Ron and Rita with the hope that the rat did not get sluggy because of rodenticide poisoning. Ervie is on the barge and I will also check in with him and everyone else at the PLO later today. Thank you so much for joining me.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Berry College Bald Eagles, SWFlorida and D Pritchett, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, NEFlorida and the AEF, WRDC, and Hilton Head Island Trust.

Was the rat brought to the WRDC nest poisoned?

Last season, a rat was brought on as prey to the Bald Eagle nest at Captiva on Sanibel Island. It was fed to Peace and Hope. Both died of rodenticide poisoning. There have been far too many deaths due to rodenticide. The list is too long for me to type but every wildlife rehabber will tell you that everyone of those deaths was preventable!

Today a rat was brought to the WRDC nest of Ron and Rita and the eaglets, R1 and R2, ate it. The following was posted on a FB group that I belong to. Rodenticide is meat for rats and mice but it often causes the secondary poisoning of raptors as well as domestic cats or dogs. Everyone is working very hard to get this designer poison banned.

The rats are so easy to catch once they have eaten the poison. They become sluggish and are easy to catch.

Please send your positive wishes to this nest and help the raptors by not using rodenticide and telling everyone you know to not use it and why. I have first hand experience with our lovely cat, Duncan, dying from this. It is a horrific death. Agonizing.

Ervie had two fish deliveries so far. One was at 10:24 and the other was at 12:47:44. Ervie has also been off the nest exploring the area which is wonderful news.

Port Lincoln also zoomed in the camera on Ervie eating his fish. The result was some beautiful portraits of my favourite Osprey fledgling. Told you I was biased!

In the image below, Ervie is giving the ‘snake eye’ look that many Ospreys, like Iris at the Hell Gate Canyon Nest in Montana is so famous for.

Ervie loves to eat! He is really doing a great job eating this nice fish!

The hatch at Berry College is progressing. The extra shell was over the smaller end of the egg. One small victory! B15 is doing very well, too. Let us all hope that B15 is very nice to its sibling once it has hatched.

By 16:00, the little one at the KNF nest was chattering away wanting more fish. Anna waited a couple of minutes and got up and gave that sweetie a really nice feeding. I was surprised that it could hold any more fish after the previous meal but, there was room for a few nice size bites. At that time, 5 fish or parts of fish could be seen on the camera. The one that Anna is feeding yet-to-be-named eaglet had just been brought in by Louis. This baby will never have to worry about there not being enough fish! Last year Louis brought in a turtle but, as far as I know there are no worries about rats coming on to this nest as prey. Lake Kincaid is right out the front door!

I went back to check the WBSE nest and Daisy has not returned since she was there in the morning. There is still much time left in the day, however.

I am so sorry to worry anyone about the eaglets on the WRDC nest. It is reassuring that they are being monitored and I hope at the first sign of a problem they will be removed from the nest and taken into care — with positive results! Three things that would really improve the lives of the raptors ——- ban rodenticides along with lead in hunting and fishing equipment.

Thank you so much for stopping by to check on the latest comings and goings. This is brief because I wanted to alert you to the issue at hand. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: WRDC Bald Eagle Nest, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Berry College Bald Eagle Cam, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, and Bald Eagles Rodenticide and Lead FB page.

Friday in Bird World

Just about the time I begin to think, and then say, that it looks like the parents at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge are slowing down with fish deliveries, they bring two nice sized fish to Ervie. There was a huge chunk at 07:34 and another nice fish arrived at 15:20. Ervie didn’t actually start eating it until 16:25. Ervie was the only lad about. Bazza was last seen on Sunday the 9th and Falky was last seen on the ropes with Mum and Dad at 19:40 on the 12th. Will Ervie stay or go?

Ervie is still full from the morning fish when the afternoon delivery arrives.

Ervie is still eating at 17:34! My goodness those were nice fish brought to the nest. Ervie finished off his fish and flew off the left side of the nest.

Will that be our last sighting of Ervie on the nest? No one slept on the barge last night. We wait.

Missy has been feeding the little one on the Berry College Eagle Nest. It appears to be doing fine. Everyone is watching for the second egg. Sadly that broken shell has really attached itself to that egg.

I believe this is Missy’s first eaglet to survive. She is figuring feedings out!

B15 is getting stronger. You can see the issue with the second egg clearly here. I cannot tell if the extra piece of shell is over the narrow or wide part of the egg. The eaglets pip on the wider end. Pip watch coming for that second egg.

The nest is empty this morning at Big Bear, California but everyone is on egg watch for Shadow and Jackie.

Anna let Louis brood the chick this morning! Last year she waited a long time and Lous is delighted to be involved with his chick. Both Anna and Louis have been on the KNF nest this morning and the eaglet is eating well. Lots of nice fish for everyone on that nest!

There seem to be two words used for Harriet and M15’s E19 and E20. They are ‘nice’ and ‘cute’. Look at the feathers coming on E19 and E20 and then look at Anna’s baby above. They change so quickly!

This is a great little film about the Kakapo. Since it is breeding season and we are looking at eggs, it seems like a good time to refresh what we know about this very endangered non-flying parrot and how they are cared for. The update on the numbers is that there are now 202 Kakapo down from 208 the beginning of last year.

Daisy the Duck has not returned to the White-Bellied Sea Eagle Nest to lay eggs since she visited with her mate on 1 January. That was two-weeks ago. Fingers crossed she has found another spot and is successful. One of the women who visits the centre was to send us images of Daisy paddling but nothing so far. Maybe Daisy is away from the area of water around the Discovery Centre and the Duck Pond.

Great Horned Owls have been mating on the Savannah Osprey Nest and the GHOWs have been mating on the nest that was stolen from a young Bald Eagle couple in Newton, Kansas last year. The couple who became known as Bonnie and Clyde raised two of the cutest little owlets on this nest. When the eggs are laid, I will definitely let you know.

For the most part the Owls and the Eagles live cooperatively but I really don’t like the owls when they try to knock the eagles off or hurt their eyes and heads as at the WBSE Nest by the small BooBook Owls and at SWFlorida when it is a GHOW hitting M15 and knocking him off the branch into the nest, sometimes.

One thing I did not know is that there are no Great Horned Owls near the WRDC Bald Eagle Nest in Miami-Dade County. The Coot delivered yesterday, the second one to arrive as prey on the nest, is gone! They seem to love the taste of that waterfowl. My eagle expert tells me that the WRDC are thinking about putting up more nests like this one for the eagles. Fantastic. It seems to be a really good design and they can work out any kinks watching this nest.

R1 ate well and now Dad is making sure that R2 is full to the brim. Ron, you are a great Dad! You can see R1 passed out in a food coma and Ron has even moved across the nest to feed the youngest sibling. Fantastic.

Today is Day 40 for the eggs at Captiva Bald Eagle Nest on Sanibel, Island. It is the home of Connie and her new mate, Clive. There is some chatter that the eggs might not be fertile. Let’s wait and see.

I haven’t seen any of Ervie’s tracking uploaded since 26 December. I will be checking on the PLO nest during the rest of the day to see if anyone returns to the barge at Port Lincoln. That wing of his could be our last sighting of the Erv until people along the coast send in images of him. There appears to be a huge interest ‘and caring’ for the Osprey in the region. That really helps!

Take care everyone. Have a great end to your week. Thank you for joining me. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, SWFlorida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Berry College Eagle Cam, KNF Bald Eagles, Friends of Big Bear, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Forest, Captiva Bald Eagles, Farmer Derek Owl Cam, and the WRDC Bald Eagle Nest.

Thursday in Bird World

I genuinely hope that the Bird World community does not have a fright like it did this morning when Gabby had not returned to relieve Samson of incubation duties for nearly 24 hours. Samson seemed nonplused by it all and maybe he knew where Gabby was. She has been known to disappear for a bit in the past but it seems unusual rip before pip. At any rate, all is well at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest outside of Jacksonville, Florida.

A video has been posted of an intruder chase at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest around the time that Gabby returned to the nest at 11:53. It would, thus, appear, as I thought, that her absence was based on a territorial issue rather than one of her ‘disappearing’.

B15 hatched this morning at 07:57 at Berry College. Everyone thought Missy might not ‘know to feed it’. She was up eating and looked over several times to see if its head was up and beak open. She knows what to do! Like the KNF eaglet, this little one is pooped from hatching.

B15 is a real little cutie! It looks very strong.

I sure wish Missey had gotten rid of those egg shells when B15 hatched. You will note that one has slipped over the end of the second egg. Hopefully this will not cause B16 trouble when hatching!

B15 looks so tiny compared to Harriet and Mitch’s eaglets at the Hilton Head Island Trust Bald Eagle Nest. Their feathers are starting to come in. Poor things. They are always preening and we think that they must be itchy.

I think this is a new take on ‘Sleeping with the Fishes’. Ron has been keeping the nest full of fish for Rita and the babies. He can often be seen feeding the little ones himself. They are doing nicely and this human-made nest seems to be working out well. Perhaps this design will be needed in areas that lose trees in big storms or fires.

The two of them are adorable. They scoot around all over the nest.

Bingo! Anna and the baby finally got feeding worked out. The little eaglet is going to have a nice crop. Louis is already beginning to fill the nest up with big fish.

I love seeing Louis and Anna on the nest. Look at that nice Pike that Louis brought in for lunch! And there is the little one with its crop holding its head up pretty good. It was so full it just fell over into food coma.

Louis has brought in more fish! No shortage of things for the family to eat. Louis is one of the most enthusiastic fisher-dads I have ever seen.

Anna and the yet to be named baby eaglet have figured all of this out! Just look there is a little tail!

This eaglet is seriously cute. The Rangers are looking for a name. Anyone can send in a suggestion. It should be gender neutral. Send name in an e-mail to: nameknfeagle@gmail.com Send it by 30 January.

You can see the tail and the strong wings below. Oh, adorable. This eaglet is going to be like Kisatchie – there were days you would think s/he was going to pop they had been fed so much. Anna is the kind of Mum that wants you to ‘take just one more bite, pleaseeeee’.

Just doing a quick check on the Port Lincoln Lads. Ervie was, of course, on the nest last night and Mum brought him a fish before bedtime. There are fewer and fewer fish deliveries indicating that the parents want all the boys to be out fishing themselves.

At 07:33:57, someone did, however, deliver Ervie a nice big chunk of fish!

Ervie has the fish.

That fish is under his talents but he is still mantling and flapping and prey calling. Just eat and enjoy it, Ervie.

An hour later Ervie is still eating his fish. His ‘gas tank’ is full!

I have been thinking about Ervie a lot. I have to tell a story to make my point. Years ago we had a black and white cat called Melvin. It was a time when cats could be outside where I live. Melvin loved nothing more than to roll in the dirt! He was always dusty. One day, when he was 2 years old, he disappeared. We looked and called but, nothing. Four days later Melvin was at the door crying to get in. We noticed some strange marks on his paws. It looked like thin wire had worn the fur off and there were a couple of holes. Had he gotten caught in a barbed wire fence? The result of his misadventure was real trauma. Melvin hid in the bedroom and walk-in closet. He rarely came out into the other areas of the house. When we had our cat sitter, Heather, she would take a flashlight to check he was OK under the bed and put his food there. Over the decade she helped us, she never actually saw Melvin, not once, just his eyes. Melvin lived 15 years in hiding, more or less. He would come out with us but no one else. While we will never know what happened to him, that event changed his life. This brings me to Ervie. If you remember, Ervie was the one going everywhere and being independent. It was Bazza on the nest. Then Ervie was away flying south of Port Lincoln. He has not left the nest since except to chase Falky. His behaviour has changed dramatically. Did he try to catch a fish and couldn’t get out of the water easily? We will never know what he experienced. I hope to goodness I am wrong about something traumatic happening to Ervie. He is clearly the dominant bird but why isn’t he out exploring?

The Audubon Society has announced today that the Migratory Bird Act has been brought back and will be strengthened in the US. Here is that information.

https://www.audubon.org/news/bird-protections-restored-and-key-process-advances-strengthen-rules?ms=policy-adv-email-ea-x-engagement_20220113_advisory&utm_source=ea&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=engagement_20220113_advisory&emci=3a9150f3-9e74-ec11-94f6-c896650d4442&emdi=35bb543f-a274-ec11-94f6-c896650d4442&ceid=5004576

And, last but never least, the Kakapo Recovery. Today’s report on the breeding attempts and eggs. This is great news coming out of New Zealand.

It’s an exciting time full of ups and downs. We are on pip watch for Captiva and NEFlorida and with two recent hatches at Berry and KNF – well, it is difficult to keep track of all of them! I am really pleased at Anna and the eaglet getting the feedings worked out. It is all good down in Louisiana. I look forward to tomorrow. Think about a name for this cute eaglet and send it off!

Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me today. Take care.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: KNF Bald Eagle Nest, Berry College, Kakapo Recovery, Port Lincoln Ospreys, WRDC Bald Eagle Nest, and Hilton Head Island Trust.

Late Tuesday evening in Bird World

It is 18:30 on the Canadian Prairie. It has been dark outside for approximately 2 hours. The weather is actually balmy at -6 C. This winter, for the past several weeks, the temperatures have gone up and down like a rollercoaster. It is difficult to get used to and somehow manages to make sure that you have a cold at one time or another. The tissue box is sitting right next to me!

The hatch at the Kisatchie National Forest in Central Louisiana of Bald Eagles Anna and Louis is going well. If this chick survives the process, it will be only the second Bald Eaglet to hatch in this nest since 2013. Anna and Louis are so lucky. It is one of the most beautiful Bald Eagle nests I have ever seen – for its location. Lake Kincaid is not that far away and is stocked with fish. Louis does not have to go far!

Anna, finally, had to get up and take a break. Louis was more than happy to step in. In fact, he had arrived at least one time and Anna was not giving in to letting him take over. Poor guy. When she did finally let him, when he got up to change shifts when his time was over, Louis pulled Spanish Moss over the egg hiding it. Anna had to look and look all the while the chick could be heard cheeping.

Anna finally found it and removed the covering. Whew! For a few seconds everyone watching must have held their breath.

The side with the egg tooth protruding is hidden. You can see the membrane and the cracked, crumpled shell.

It is great that Cody attached a small microphone to the nest for sound. That little one sounds like it has healthy lungs!

There is no pip at the Captiva Bald Eagle nest. Land owner, Lori Covert, said that Connie’s eggs usually hatch late at day 40. Today is only day 37.

Over at the Captiva Osprey Nest, however, Lena laid her second egg of the season at 17:06:01. Poor Lena. She has no idea how many people are watching her fluffy bottom!!!!!!!

R1 and R2 are really doing well. Ron has brought in fresh fish and has even fed the babies once today when I was watching. He is funny because he stands way back at the rim. I am hoping that he isn’t afraid of feeding them just cautious. It has been raining and there is currently a food warning for parts of Miami-Dade County.

About a month ago, the Kakapo Recovery posted a series of cartoons of the male Kakapo. Today they did the same for the females! Too funny. The one thing these cartoons do is point out that the birds that may look the same are actually individuals with their own personalities. I know that you have seen this with the birds that you watch in your garden or on screen.

Ervie had a fish delivery at 09:13:18 so all is well in the world of the Erv. The camera operator also showed the area around the barge and the clean up crew.

There are pigeons sitting on the top of the ladder waiting for Ervie to drop some of his fish now and again.

Some of you might remember when that barge sunk during the storm. Nice view off in the distance.

These are some of the places that Ervie visited – where the fish are brought in. A good place to find some unwanted fish, perhaps.

Anna is not giving away any secrets at the KNF nest. This little one is going to keep everyone up late pacing back and forth!

Harriet and M15 have been chasing off an immature eagle, perhaps 2 or 2.5 years old, from the nest! Lady Hawk posted the event as a video.

It is time for dinner. So looking forward to a fluffy little chick at Anna and Louis’s tomorrow!

Take care everyone. Thank you so very much for joining me. Please take care of yourselves. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or their FB Pages where I took my screen shots: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, Kakapo Recovery, Berry College Bald Eagle Cam, WRDC Bald Eagle Cam, and the Captiva Osprey Cam.