Tag Archives: Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation

Gil fledges at PLO and R5 is spotted!…Good news in Bird World

16 December 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

First up. Gil fledges. What a great flight. Just like a pro.

The girls are doing great. Thank you for all your messages. We are starting a new book. It is all about Wilding. I cannot tell you how thankful I am to the person or article that suggested reading to cats in a soothing voice was a good way to get them to trust you. You might recall that when I brought Calico into the house that was what we did – we had story time 5 or 6 different periods of the day. Gosh, I got to read a lot. She was fed while I was reading and often wound up sleeping on my lap. I did the same thing when Baby Hope joined us. Then, when it was safe, all the others joined in. Now Baby Hugo is in the mix. There is something so ‘moving’ seeing them on the old quilt my grandmother made or sitting in a chair ‘listening’ to the words of the stories. I am forever grateful to have these four beautiful girls in my life and our dear Lewis, bless him. 

It is hard to believe, but I use Uncle Claudio’s trick of the Marigolds to clean the wool fabric on the chairs twice a day doesn’t make a dent in it…there is always cat fur!

Meanwhile, one of Hugo’s aunties suggested applying a little olive oil on those little crusty bits below the eyes. Done! Hugo loves to play. She loves balls with jingle bells and tearing around. I often find her and Hope together with a pile of little toys. It is joyous. 

Hope and Hugo getting ready for story time. They claim the chairs. Hope wants the other wool camp blanket and Hugo always has to have a toy. Missey will be on the table and Calico will be on my lap or the old quilt.

We were all disappointed when the second egg of Pepe and Muhlady broke with no apparent chick inside. The good news is that there is time for them to have a second clutch and it is rumoured that this has happened before, and Muhlady laid eggs again in February. That would be wonderful.

‘H’ is overjoyed and I assume all of you will be jumping up and down with glee. She writes, “R5 (9 months old tomorrow) has been spotted in Palm Beach County, north of Miami-Dade.” Brilliant. Just the kind of good news that we needed today in Bird World.

Wow. Beautiful juvenile.

There is more good news coming from the Royal Albatross colony near Dunedin, New Zealand. Moana, the Royal Cam chick that hatched in 2016, has returned safely and is now banded. With all the challenges the birds encounter flying to Chile and being alone foraging over the high seas, this is simply a wonderful miracle. 

Here is Moana’s story:

Meet-the-Royal-family-Royal-CamDownload

If you missed it, the 2023-24 Royal Cam couple is LGK and LGL.

Also, if you missed it, Trudi Kron reminds us: “From Cody Wayne · ·Andria is being transported to the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine for the necropsy and many of the tests we requested. She will arrive on Wednesday at noon. Preliminary results from various tests should start to come back to us by the end of next week. I will share information as I receive it.”

There is a lot of nest restorations going on at Redding. Just look at that beauty. No chance of an eaglet falling overboard here. Good luck – eggs required!

‘J’ caught some very intimate moments between Gabby and V3. She obviously loves this male eagle. We are always hopeful for them.

Tail swishing.

Eagle affection!

Gabby and V3 have been together both morning and evening. They are a beautiful couple. 

‘J’ also caught a glimpse of the two eggs at Captiva while the nest of Clive and Connie rocks and rolls with the winds of the thunderstorms brewing in the area. The storms will be heavy for the next two days. Let us all hope that chick stays in that egg! The same bad weather will be hitting the SW Florida nest of M15 and F23. Their hatch date is at least ten days away.

They didn’t wait for the weather to pass. There is a pip at Captiva Saturday morning!

Osprey visitors checking out the Captiva nest. They are in for bad weather, too – just a short distance from Connie and Clive.

Since Martin’s disappearance, Rosa has had several suitors. Now another one.

It looks like Alex might have a new mate.

All is well at Port Lincoln. Brad is on the left and Gil on the right. Gil doesn’t even notice the tracker. Well done, Ian Falkenberg! One of the chatters said that Ian Falkenberg practised putting the tracking harness on his chickens before ever applying one to an osplet. If that it true, it is brilliant.

The days observations and fledge and return times for Gil.

At Orange, Marri buzzed the scrape box.

SE32 continues to be photographed. Isn’t this wonderful?

Lastly sad news has come in. Chris Wood has died. It seems it was only yesterday that I spoke to him about a trip to visit The Gambia for next year to observe ospreys. The UK and West African community have lost a formidable supporter of ospreys and a wonderful chap. My condolences to all.

Thank you for being with me today. Lots of good and exciting news. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog: ’A, Geemeff, H, J”, HeidiMc, Sharon Dunne, DOC-NZ, Holly Parsons, FORE, NE-AEF, Window to Wildlife, Gracie Shepherd, Lucille Powell, Dulles-Greenway, PLO, Helen Matcham, Lady Hawk, Eagle Cam, Tiger Mozone, and Bart M.

Wednesday in Bird World

22 November 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

A skein of 0ver 50 geese flew over the conservatory this morning as I was luring Hope into the carrier to go for her surgery. Send her your good wishes. She was such a darling. One little kibble and she got into the big carrier and didn’t cry or fuss or anything. Incredible. If you take your pets in a carrier to the vet or on a trip and they are nervous, cover them. It settles them and they are not tense.

As is typical, I am writing this blog on Tuesday night with some additions normally done on Wednesday morning. But Wednesday is different this week – it is the day that Hope and I have to be at the clinic for her surgery. So we will be up and away so she is there at 0730. First in line and first home, hopefully!

Aren’t they gorgeous? The joy these two have brought to my life cannot be measured. Today, we had several story times. All I have to do is sit on my grandmother’s scrap quilt and start reading, very quietly, and they are both there. Missey joins us now, too. We are on the final chapter of The Comfort of Crows. Will have to pick a new book to start while we wait for Hope to be able to come home.

Missey fell asleep watching Cat TV. I held my breath thinking she was going to tumble off the edge – just like we all held our breath when Barru would get near the ledge of the scrape -. Thankfully, she did not.

The surprise of the day came late in the afternoon. I had just placed fresh food in the feral feeding dishes and then – look. There are two of them. Two Boyfriends. Seriously, they look like twins!

If you look closely, the cat with its back to us is the ‘original’. You can see the two places where the fur is growing back on the tail and back. Where did this other cat come from? Is it also feral? or is it someone’s cat who was let out when they got home from work?

Gosh, I can’t wait to get rid of that old carpet. Its only function now is to keep the snow and rain from going through the boards in the deck and making the ground soak. It is much nicer for the community cats if they have a dry place to sleep.

There is not a lot of news in Bird World. We spend our days waiting to see if Dad or Mum will bring fish to the PLO barge reassured that the osplets will get fed, regardless. We know that two fledglings – one at Sydney and the other at Orange – have survived til now. The fate of Marri and 32 (?) is unknown. The Eagles in the US are laying eggs. We wait to see who will be next after Superbeaks, Captiva, and KNF E-3.

At the Port Lincoln Nest, Mum and those precious babies waiting quite some time before a meal arrived. Mum left several times and there was a quiet expectation that she might try fishing. Dad was on the ropes when she was gone.

As it turned out, Dad came in with a small headless fish at 13:37. Mum went out and caught a medium fish at 14:01 and the Fish Fairy arrived with a Trevally and a Red Mullet at 14:19.

The kids looked up and then there was a scramble as Mum landed on the nest to take that first fish from Dad.

The wind was blowing the nesting material about as the barge rocked. The waves were choppy and there were white caps. Mum seemed to spot a fish and was quickly off. The kids seemed to be cheering her on as she landed with their second meal.

The fish fairy delivery. Notice that Mum really has a fondness for that Red Mullet!

Sometimes you are just too full for any more fish…it is a shame that all of them arrive in such a short period of time but, these things cannot be planned.

At the time of writing, this was the events posted on the observation board.

The intruder that did the fly by over the barge nest was none other than our dear Ervie!!!!!!!! Checking out his new siblings!!!!!!!

There is an image of a fledgling bathing in the Parramatta River. Great news. Wish there were two of them, but thrilled we have one. Juvenile is about in the centre of the image at the water line.

The latest video on the Orange falcon fledglings.

There is wonderful news coming out of the UK. Roy Dennis has been recognised for all of his work with raptors – from the time he was a young lad. We benefit from his dedication as do the skies, the hills, and the lochs. Congratulations.

‘H’ and many others were excited to see F23 sitting on the SW Florida Nest today. Quite a number think we are now on egg watch! After Andria fooled me and Elfruler and lots of others, I will just keep my opinion to myself.

When it happens, it is presumed that this is F23’s first egg ever.

It is raining hard at the NCTC nest of Bella. So who is the visitor? (I am surprised that there are not better markers for IDing Smitty after several years).

V3 and Gabby continue to work on their nest all the while being acutely aware of any intruders that might be in the territory.

Work going on at the Berry College nest daily.

The latest migration counts from Hawk Mountain up to 20 November.

Thanks so much, ‘N’, for another great article from The New York Times. This time we learn how devilishly intelligent the Caracaras truly are – wow.

Freakishly-Smart-Falcons-Run-These-Islands-The-New-York-TimesDownload

The Rare Bird Reporting Panel has come up with its long standing report on what is happening in the UK. The study reveals, “…four bird of prey species, including Osprey, have reached record totals in the UK, as have several species of rare and colonising herons.” 

Stroud-et-al.-2023-RBBP-paper-in-British-Birds-Download

Latest arrival of swans since 1965. What might this mean?

Slimbridge-Bewicks-Swans-make-latest-ever-return-BirdGuidesDownload

Lots more news will be coming on Friday, but tomorrow might be a little thin. Keep your eyes on our nests. They are saying ‘egg watch’ at SW Florida but there could be others to surprise us! Hope will require some extra attention when she gets home. Thank you for being with us today. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, graphics, and steaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ‘H, N’, PLO, Kerry Allen, Cilla Kinross, Roy Dennis Wildlife foundation, Heidi Mc, Deb Stecyk, NEFL-AEF, Hawk Mountain, New York Times, BTO, Bird Guides, and Healthy Yards.

Birds, the Environment, Cop 26

With world leaders set to meet in Glasgow for Cop26, there are plenty of individuals expressing their opinion on what needs to be done to ‘slow’ the impact of climate change. Individuals reading my blog will have seen the devastating effects that the heat surge of summer 2021 in the Pacific Northwest had on the Ospreys and Cooper’s Hawks. Many Osprey chicks died on their nest while the Cooper’s Hawks jumped out of their nests to a sure death because they didn’t want to roast to death. Luckily a few were saved by brave wildlife rehabbers and friends who removed the chicks from their nests and took them into care before the heat could kill them.

Many of you know who Roy Dennis is – the man who translocates Ospreys as well as the individual solely responsible for reintroducing the White-tailed Eagle back into the UK. Dennis, 81, is a big presence on the environmental and bird scene in Scotland and he has just been awarded the RSPB’s most prestigious metal last evening. I cannot think of a more deserving individual.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/about-the-rspb/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/rspb-medal-2021/?fbclid=IwAR39tGEvVUnGRXhUwthohCpEou-0ViAicVAXRAXU7oa3I6SFJxboARYuIIM

Dennis has also written his last blog on swans and what he feels – along with others – must be done to protect the land for both humans and birds. It is an excellent read. If you haven’t found his website this is a good entry point.

Wild Swans and COP 26

We can’t all be a Roy Dennis but each of us can help! It is not too late to tell your government officials what you expect they will do for our future.

I want to close today (the birds are all crackers) by giving you one of those moments of laughing til you cried – or at least as one Australia woman did when she saw my comment on the 367 Collins Street Falcon FB Page.

This was the image:

Anyone that knows me, knows that I look for falcon and osprey chicks that have some ‘fat’ on them. It shows they are getting more than enough food. To me, that eyas with his ‘necklace ps’ surely qualifies as a fat little bottom and legs!

Once I realized that there is actually a company in Australia that sells chicken legs, I was also laughing til I cried. Enjoy the joke on me. Thank you Kirsty Wain!

Have a great Sunday. I am off in search of Wood Ducks today. It is finally sunny!!!!!!!!! and not raining. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the 367 Collins Street Falcon Cam and FB page where I took my screen shots.

What do Ospreys do after they fledge?

Tiny Little or Blue 463 and her siblings are giving you a visual answer below!

They return to the nest where the father will deliver a fish.

Sometimes the birds eat the fish on the nest and sometimes they carry the fish in their talons to a perch to eat it.

Blue 464, the male and the first to fledge, has this fish. Tiny Little is the bird on the right. Notice how she has started looking at that nice Flounder. Blue 462, the other female, is at the back on the left. It is drizzling on their nest today. This won’t be the last fish probably. Fingers crossed for another delivery or two.

Blue 462 and Tiny Little, 463, see dad and are food calling to him. White YW knows they want more fish! And this is what Osprey fledglings typically do after their first flight. They get better at flying and the parent feeds them. Most do not catch their first fish until they are on migration.

Here is Tiny Little food calling to White YW, the dad:

Roy Dennis, the UK Osprey expert who has worked with the birds for sixty years, puts it this way in his book, A Life of Ospreys:

“The first flight may take only a few minutes, with the bird landing back on the nest or in a nearby tree, but other flights are more adventurous and can last for ten minutes or more.” (77)

“The young birds now start to spend more time away from the nest but still remain within a few hundred metres of it, using the eyrie as a meeting place where they receive food.” “While they wait for their father, the young are often dispersed within two or three hundred metres of the nest tree, quite often to be found perching low down on fallen trees, stumps or rocks. The young birds keep a good look out on the horizon for their father and, as soon as he flies in with the next fish, they rush to the eyrie to meet him, while the male leaves immediately to catch a fish for the next chick in line” (78).

The American Osprey expert, Alan Poole puts it this way, “For at least a month after fledging, the nest remains the center of a young Osprey’s life, for it is there that it continues to receive food from the male parent – consider this an allowance of sorts” (Ospreys. The Revival of the Global Raptor, 104).

The young birds will disperse after spending this post-fledge period on the nest. Not all migrate; it depends on where they live.

If anyone tries to tell you that Osprey fledglings do not return to the nest after fledging, you have your answer! Of course, there are other examples: the two fledglings, LR 1 and 2 on the Loch of the Lowes Nest, Only Bob, Blue 496 on the Llyn Clywedog Nest, Dysynni and Ystwyth on the Dyfi Osprey Nest, Blue 095 and 096 at Rutland Water Manton Bay. Of course, there are lists of those in the US including Tiny Little and its siblings at the Achieva Osprey Nest. What about Dunrovin? I dislike making long lists to reveal a truth. They are boring to read but the evidence is there.

Susan Theys, owner of Wildlife of Wisconsin and a wildlife rehabber, will go to Collins Marsh Nature Centre and look for Malin today. She has the key to open the door to the tower so she can look over the landscape. There have been no visits to the nest by the parents so far today. It is now 1pm nest time. If there is any news, I will let you know.

Malin and his mother were frightened. Malin had been pancaking and he flew not from a position of standing up and flapping his wings – the norm for fledging -but from laying down. He was scared of the intruder. Because of this he might not have imprinted the way back to the nest in his brain – this is what the birds do with their short flights off the nest after fledging. We continue to hope he is alright and I am grateful to Susan for returning to check on him. Here is the video of that flight. I regret that I cannot upload the entire sequence of Marsha alerting and looking around the nest but you should have some idea watching this short video:

Thank you so much for joining me today. It is still raining!!!!!!!! It is so wonderful. Take care, see you soon.

Thank you to the Cumbrian Wildlife Trust and the Foulshaw Osprey Nest for their streaming cam where I took the images of the fledglings of White YW and Blue 35.

Oh, Tiny Little!

Oh, what a relief to go to the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest and see all three of White YW and Blue 35’s fledglings on the nest. Big Sibling 462 had the fish.

Of course, Tiny Little had her back of tricks open to try and get that fish and sibling 462 knows that Tiny Little is getting much better at stealing fish.

So, 462 decides that the best approach is to take off with the fish in talon! Meanwhile, 464 is at the back of the nest, only partly paying attention.

Tiny Little reminds me so much of Tiny Tot from the Achieva Osprey Nest. No matter what, Tiny Tot would dig around in the nest and find food. That is precisely what Tiny Little is doing right now. The first thing she eyes is a nice fishtail.

She eats all of the fish and horks down that tail like the pro at self-feeding she now is.

Then after digging around a little more, look what she finds. Wow. A great big piece of fish. Way to go, Tiny Little.

When she finished those treasures, Tiny Little began to move sticks around. Was this to pass the time? Or was it in search of more hidden treasure?

Both Tiny Little and 464 ‘think’ that a fish drop is imminent. They have seen an adult, and they are both food calling.

Each has tried to find the perfect position to get in close and take the fish from dad, White YW.

And now both have flown off the nest! That fish drop must have been made somewhere else, off-camera. It was so good to see all of them but, particularly, Tiny Little. She is looking really well.

News has come in from the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation that this year’s chicks, eight of them taken from nests in Scotland, were successfully translocated to Poole Harbour. They were placed in cardboard boxes filled with moss and closed – kept in a temperature-controlled van. The party stopped in Staffordshire for the night. The chicks were fed then and fed again in the morning. They have all been at Poole Harbour for about a fortnight and will be released the first week in August. Let us hope that the birds that have been translocated return and help build up the population of Ospreys at Poole Harbour in the future.

Roy Dennis’s website is full of information. You should check it out when you have time. Roy Dennis is one of the main individuals responsible for bringing back the Ospreys and other large raptors to the UK. Here is the link:

Latest news

There should be another hatch – WBSE 28 – today. Indeed, maybe Lady isn’t given up secrets, and we already have two soft little chicks. Meanwhile, WBSE 27 could not get any cuter. It is hard to imagine that this little soft ball of down will be a big sea eagle by October!

I did check on the Collins Marsh chick before things got hectic. By 13:13, the wee babe had at least three feedings. Oh, that was really wonderful to see. This is not a popular Osprey nest. When I look down and see ‘3 people watching’, I know precisely who those three are! This is an image of the last fish delivery around 13:00.

Despite two earlier feedings, our wee babe is happy to tuck in. So three feedings in one morning. That is sometimes better than what happens in an eight hour period on this nest. Yeah, dad! Keep it up. This wee one needs to really grow and begin to put on some fat, too.

Ferris Akel has been out finding that beautiful Roseate Spoonbill, and he has made another video of it fishing. In past images or videos, this gorgeous bird has been in the trees. Here that is for your pleasure:

“Roseate spoonbills” by USFWS Headquarters is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The White Storks at Mlade Buky are doing fantastic. They come to the nest for food, but it also appears that they are now spending time off the nest doing their own fishing. Here are some images from the late afternoon.

There were always only two storks on the nest. The other one must be catching enough fish to try and be on the nest when Father Stork returns to feed.

They did a lot of preening.

They also did a lot of looking for Father Stork, but he did not show up.

One flies off to the left. That bird will fly over the rooftops and fly beyond the highway on the other side of the tree line about 3/4 from the bottom of the image.

Then the other one departs. What beautiful wings.

Tomorrow I will bring you some more news from the Gough Island Recovery Project to eradicate the mice and rats killing the Sooty and Tristan albatross chicks and adults.

The only news in my garden included the ‘usual gang’ was a Golden-Crowned Sparrow this morning. Not very exotic for sure, but since the heatwave came through, there are fewer ‘visitors’ to the garden despite plenty of water and food.

“Golden-crowned sparrow” by jimculp@live.com is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Thank you so much for joining me today. We will hope that Tiny Little landed another fish before the fishing stops for the day. Regardless she looks really great – and that necklace of hers is more prominent along with her stout legs. I hope you are all doing well. I will look forward to bringing you updates and news about the Gough Island Recovery tomorrow. Take care! Stay well.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screenshots: Cumbrian Wildlife Trust and the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest, Sea Eagle Cam, Birdlife Australia, and the Sydney Discovery Centre, Collins Marsh Nature Centre Osprey Nest, and the Mlade Buky White Stork Cam.