Tag Archives: Rutland Water

What is gorgeous in Ospreyland?

This entire day has been ‘weird’. It started with only four hours sleep after checking on Tiny Tot’s nest all night. I have no idea what I was thinking. Tiny wouldn’t have flown from wherever she was just to be bounced about, would she?

And then there was the intruder on the nest. This intruder is just giving me a headache. I think I want Tiny Tot to show up on that nest so bad that I forget that there have been a number of visitors to the nest, several that Tiny Tot fought off valiantly. Still there is some kind of family resemblance.

This bird is still bugging me. It is nearly 4:30 pm. I know that I took a screen shot similar to the top one where you could see the white ‘V’ and the scalloped white of the crest making the heart. Tiny Tot had that. This bird has the thick short legs of Tiny and the sweep of the feathers is long BUT it is not elegant like Tiny Tot. The eyes are not the same. But then who knows what your eyes would look like after a hurricane.

This picture of Tiny was taken on 4 July the day before she ‘seemingly’ left the nest permanently for broader horizons. You will notice the white line above the wing is the same. Each of the birds have some dark on their legs, a little strip like a band but not a band.

And this is Tiny mantling her fish on 4 July.

Sadly, these birds are not banded and we only have images to compare that aren’t always sharp and from the same angle. What do you think?

Now, I think every bird is extraordinarily beautiful, but some more so than others. Today, the Dyfi Osprey Project posted an image taken by the individual who ringed two Ospreys in a nest in the Lake District in Cumbria England. They are females, Blue 460 and Blue 461. I took a deep breath and knew that I had to redefine what ‘gorgeous’ means when looking at an Osprey chick.

These are Monty and Glesni’s grandchildren. Their father is Merin. He hatched at Dyfi in 2015. They have Monty’s piercing orange eyes! Gosh I hope they do not lose them to become yellow. Look at the crest with the peach, the soft little white beards. I will be staring at these two beauties for days.

There are reams of files, both analog and digital, tracking UK Ospreys. And this again shows why it is important to get these birds banded. It is now known that at least four of Monty and Glesni’s chicks have returned to successfully breed. Of course, there could well be others. There is Aeron (Z2) who has been chasing intruders away from his PC nest at Glaslyn, then there is Tegid (Z1), one of my third hatch wonder children, who has a nest in Snowdonia, and Clarach in Aberfoyle, Scotland. Gosh, I would love to get a close look at the chicks of Tegid and Aeron!

Mama and Legacy were both asleep when I checked in at the Fortis Red Deer Osprey Nest.

There are both parents on the nest with Legacy yesterday. She is really growing now that the hot weather is gone.

There has been a lot of bad weather going around Alberta and there are dark clouds still around the Fortis Osprey nest at Canmore today. You can just see the two Bobs if you squint. Everything in the nests seems stabilized after a turbulent period of heat and storms. Warm wishes that it stays this way.

Here is a quick check in of a few of the nests. The Two Bobs at Rutland Manton Bay continue to perfect their flying skills after fledging. The Only Bob in the Clywedog Nest in Wales has been doing some wingersizes and the Two Bobs up at Loch of the Lowes are starting to think they might like to hover and fly. There could be a number of fledges coming up in the nest week. Mrs G has been catching fish and so has Aran. The overzealous two year old, Blue 022 has been bonding some more with CJ7 at the Poole Harbour Nest. If they both return from migration it will be great to see some chicks on that nest – the first chicks in 200 years born in Poole Harbour. Will that be the headline? The eldest fledgling of Big Red and Arthur, K1, the Red tail hawks at Cornell, probably caught her first prey item today – a little vole – witnessed by the Hornings. K3 enjoyed observing! Those two are excellent fliers. Can’t wait to take another tour with Ferris Akel to see how they are doing. Will be sure to let you know.

My friend, ‘R’ knows more about Albatross and Petrels than I will ever know. She is curious about the Goony Albatross that ended up in Bempton Cliffs in the UK. He should be in the South Atlantic. Maybe he thinks he is a yellow headed Short-tailed Albatross of the North Pacific? or a gannet? ‘R’ and I will try and put our heads around this one over the coming week. Here is the story on the BBC:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-57683184

And what is this about the fish being addicted to meth? What happens to the birds that eat the fish? I will be following up on that along with a tribute to Tiny Tot and a story of a Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo in a Renaissance painting. Those are coming up this week.

Thank you for joining me today. Have a really enjoyable rest of the day no matter where you are.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I grabbed my screen shots: Fortis Alberta Red Deer, Fortis Alberta Exshaw, and the Achieva Credit Union. I also want to thank the Dyfi Osprey FB Page where I took the screen shot of Merin’s chicks.

The weather continues to claim the lives of our beloved Ospreys

The heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest on the 28th of June continues to claim the lives of Ospreys. It is impossible to know the full extent of the impact because the vast majority of nests are not monitored. We now know for sure that two chicks at Clark PUD in Washington, 1 chick at Cowlitz PUD, 3 chicks at Osyoos, Exshaw lost 1 of 3 chicks, and all three at the Red Deer Nest in Alberta are unwell as I write and are not expected to survive. They are not eating. The little ones survived the heat to be hit with a torrential storm. Sadly I am not holding out much hope. The only raptor rescue in the interior of British Columbia has saved 26 raptors from perishing in a 24 hour period.

In a recent article, “The record-setting day when global heating surpassed COVID-19 as the existential crisis” in The Narwhal, Arno Kopecky came to the conclusion that the record breaking heat was not ready to take a downward curve because there are serious repercussions. The biggest one of those is wildfires. The town of Lytton hit a Canadian record for 47.5 degrees C. Then we watched that town burn to the ground.

There will be more wildfires – fires that rage and kill humans and animals and burn the trees that help cool the planet. Creeks and wells will continue to dry up. No water, no fish.

Kopecky mourns the lack of seriousness and understanding and says that it took this “extreme heat wave to galvanize public concern over climate change”. He believes that it is NOW – not in three months – but NOW when the heat is still killing that we, the people, must talk to our leaders and friends “about what a heat wave like this means, and what we’re willing to do about it.”

It is understood that the heating of the oceans will cause more hurricanes and storms. Right now sitting off the coast of Cuba is Elsa. That storm has its heart set on battering the west coast of Florida where there are many sea birds including our beloved, Tiny Tot.

This is the latest map showing the path that they believe Elsa will take. What happens around Cuba could change this trajectory.

For those of us worrying about Tiny Tot, the good news comes out of Wales at the beginning of June. How many of you watch the UK Osprey Nests? If you don’t, you should!

Wales was hit by a Force 11 wind storm that brought heavy rain. The wind was blowing at 75-78 mph. Mrs G, the oldest Osprey in the United States, was on the nest with her and Aran’s 2021 brood. Chicks were hatching as this storm raged. The chicks died but not because of the storm. Mrs G was soaked but she stayed on that nest! In an earlier storm that hit Wales, Monty, one of the most beloved Osprey males in Welsh history, went fishing during Storm Hector for his family.

So what I am saying is that many birds and nests will weather such a storm just fine. We are fortunate that there are no chicks on the Achieva Nest. Chicks have perished in such storms as evidenced by several weather systems that hit Martha’s Vineyard and region years ago. Imagine if this were the 10th of March?! The nest tower that the Achieva Credit Union built should have been designed to withstand a hurricane. Tiny Tot and Jack will hunker down. They may eat a lot more before the storm arrives to sustain themselves.

And now for some brief news from other nests. Electra has been on and off the nest at Cowlitz PUD. This morning around 6:30 ish, her and Wattsworth were both on the nest.

Mom and Dad both slept on the ropes last night at the Port Lincoln Osprey Nest in Australia. This is giving hope that the 2021 season is about to begin for these rare birds in Australia.

I was also very happy to see the official report on the ringing of the three ospreys on the Foulshaw Moss nest in Cumbria. There is some information to be corrected. The first hatch is a female and she is now Blue 462. Middle Bob is the one that they could not determine the sex. That bird is Blue 463. Tiny Little Bob – oh, bless you – is a male and is Blue 464. He weighed 1.6. I always believed that Tiny Little was a tiny little boy and that Big Bad Bob was a female. Thankfully it turned out that way! Someone had written, incorrectly and I picked up on it, that because Tiny Little was growing so fast it had been decided he was a female. Oh, dear.

Tiny Little is definitely growing! He still prefers not to lean on Big Bad Sister – and she is a big girl. There they are looking at something coming – White YW with a fish perhaps.

The two Rutland chicks, 095 and 096, of Maya and Blue 33 continue to practice their flying skills. They are doing great.

Flying certainly makes the little ones tired. It takes a lot of energy especially when they are learning. Both have had some good power naps.

Blue 33 makes sure that they are all fed. 095 and 096 take turns eating. Neither is out witting the other with the fish and the self-feeding. That is truly refreshing. Maya and Blue 33 rank up there as one of the power couples of UK Ospreys in terms of rearing chicks. There is never a shortage of food and Maya keeps good organization on the nest.

It is raining around the UK Osprey Nests right now. Earlier the two Bobs on the Loch of the Lowes Nest were enjoying a lovely dinner right in the middle of the drops. It is a bit too soggy to think about fledging right now but that day is coming. We will all need our worry beads!

Did you follow Louis and Aila on the Loch Arkaig Osprey Nest? If you did, I know that you are amongst tens of thousands sad because Aila did not return from her migration this year. Louis finally took another mate. They now have chicks on another nest, off camera. One devoted Osprey fan visited the area of the nest and was able to take photographs. I am sorry I cannot share them with you but what I can say is that Louis and Mrs Louis (that is what someone is calling her) have at least two healthy chicks on that nest! They are soooooo cute. There could be three. Mrs Louis would not move from her perch on the railing of the nest for the visitor to see further into the nest. I am so happy for this very devoted Osprey Dad.

Thank you for joining me and thank you to all that send me a note or make a comment. Let us all wish that Elsa gets slowed down before she gets to Florida. Take care everyone.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I grab my screen shots: Achieva Credit Union, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Friends of Loch of the Lowes, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest, LRWT and Rutland Water Manton Bay Ospreys, and Port Lincoln Osprey.

As the Nest Turns: Late Friday July 1 edition

It’s late on 1 July, Canada Day and by the time I finish writing this it will be 2 July. The week has been wrought with extreme heat and now a wildfire in British Columbia has left the citizens of Lytton with only 15 minutes to evacuate. My friends in the Kootenays tell me that this is just the beginning of a long, hot hard summer. Our thoughts go out to everything – non-humans and humans alike.

I had a question from a reader and I want to answer it here because everyone might be wondering, too. The question: Do female Ospreys always rely on the male Osprey to bring them fish even when they are not taking care of chicks or incubating? The answer is that it varies by female. Some female Ospreys do not fish at all and rely on their partner completely for their food and the food for the chicks. Those female Ospreys never fish. Some go fishing once their chicks are older. This past week we have seen NC0 on the Loch of the Lowes Nest go fishing. Indeed, in a short part of one day, she went out four times. She brought fish to the nest and ate them herself and fed some to the Bobs. Mrs G is known to be a formidable fisher. She is known for catching whoppers! Maybe she is in competition with Idris from the Dyfi Nest. Mrs G relies on Aran when she is incubating the eggs and brooding the chicks to supply the fish. Otherwise she likes fishing herself. Right now the couple are bonding after Aran’s injury and the traumatic death of their chicks, so she is enjoying Aran delivering some fish to her and likewise, he is happy that Mrs G is accepting his gift. That said, she caught a big one this afternoon and sure didn’t share it with Aran!

Mary Kerr did a short video clip of the historic moment when Aran delivered Mrs G the first fish after his injury:

As I write there is a severe thunderstorm warning for Missoula, Montana where Iris, the oldest Osprey in the world has her nest. They are expecting torrential rainfall, heavy winds in excess of 45 mph which is higher than what is forecast when Tropical Storm Elsa hits Florida. The system in Montana is moving NW at 10 mph.

I just checked and the skies are getting dark in Missoula and there is a little wind. Iris is not on her nest but she was there this morning. This is the scene at 21:33 at the nest:

This is Iris this morning. How many times can you say gorgeous?

Send positive thoughts out to everyone in the area of this system as well as our beloved Iris. There are many other Osprey nests in the area, too.

It is now 23:30 at the site of Iris’s nest and all is well. Let us hope it stays that way during the night.

Several days ago I announced the ringing of the three chicks on the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest of White YW and Blue 35. This is the nest of Tiny Little, Middle Bob, and Great Big Bob. Many did not believe that Tiny Little would survive but being clever and determined like Tiny Tot on the Achieva Credit Union nest in St Petersburg, Florida, Tiny Little did well. Of course, he won all of our hearts. As it happens, Tiny Little is now a very special chick in the history of Cumbrian Ospreys. Tiny Little got the honour of being the 100th chick ringed since 2001. Well done, Tiny Little!

There is their official portrait posted on the Cumbrian Wildlife Trust FB. Just look at the difference in size between Tiny Little and Great Big Bob. I would be afraid of that monstrous sister if I were Tiny Little. But, being clever, Tiny Little figured out how to manage rather well.

Blue 462 weighed 1.6 kg and is a female, Blue 463 weighed 1.5 kg, and the gender is unknown, and Tiny Little is Blue 464, the 100th chick ringed, andis a male weighing 1.6 kg.

@Cumbrian Wildlife Trust

The oldest chick, the male, on Rutland Water’s Manton Bay Nest fledged at 12:12pm today. Someone on site, later in the day, sent word out that 096 was sitting on the camera perch while Maya and the female, 095 were on the nest. Blue 33 had just brought in a nice fish.

By the time I went to check on them, 096 was on the nest and 095, the female, was flapping and hopping. Looks like she will fledge shortly!

I also checked in to see if Electra was on the Cowlitz PUD Osprey Nest and she wasn’t. The wind is picking up a bit and it is only 18 degrees C. So much cooler than the heat that killed her last chick.

Tiny Tot is sleeping up on the perch. There is a 40% chance of a thunderstorm in the St Petersburg, Florida area. However, other models showing the rain moving NE did not indicate any systems coming near Tiny’s nest. I never know whether to trust the weather maps or not. With all the technology they should be spot on but, sometimes they aren’t!

I took some images of Tiny Tot during the day thinking that it might be the last time to see her. I sincerely hope that is not the case. Indeed, I hope that she stays around like Izzi, the juvenile Peregrine Falcon son of Xavier and Diamond, in Australia. She could give Jack and Diane a hand. It wouldn’t be the first time a juvenile stayed home and helped.

Tiny is incredibly beautiful, even when she is mantling because of an intruder. There is an intenseness about her.

Tiny’s plumage is beginning to change slightly on her body. Look at the necklace that is getting darker. Remember the white ‘V’ on the head. She will always have that and the white making a heart along with the very symmetrical espresso lines from her gorgeous eyes going to the back of her head.

She is even lovely when she is squawking at intruders! Go Tiny! Let them have it.

Tiny will be really anxious for Jack to deliver a fish in the morning as she went to sleep without her regular evening dinner. She won’t starve. The raptors often go for a day or more without prey. Still, for all the efforts today – even with Jack coming to help with the intruder – Tiny needs her fish payment for doing security duty! Don’t you think?

Little Kindness is truly a sweetheart. Here she is sitting with Mom on the nest in Glacier Gardens late in the afternoon on 1 July. Just precious!

Kindness with her Mom, Liberty. 1 July 2021

There are several things that people look for when they try to determine the gender of a Bald Eaglet. One is the size of the feet and the second is how far the back of the mouth goes in relation to the back of the eye. The farther back that yellow line extends and the bigger the feet indicate a female. Kindness has very large feet. Just look at them! And that yellow line of her mouth goes far back. By this method, that would indicate that she is a girl. Of course, nothing but a DNA test or seeing an eagle lay an egg is 100%. I wonder if they plan to ring Kindness? Must ask! And I did ask and got an answer quickly. It appears there are no plans to ring little Kindness. I could give them ten good reasons to ring this eaglet. I wonder why ringing and keeping data on the birds is not as ingrained in North America like it is in the United Kingdom and Europe?

The three white storklets remain on their nest in Mlady Buky, Czechoslovakia. They are growing and growing and now are as large as Father Stork.

It is time to say goodnight to all of the birds and to you. But before I do, I want to leave you with a video that Lady Hawk posted today. It is the Golden Eaglet in the Bucovina, Romania Nest. The mother brought in the 6th roe deer today and the baby ate it all! That eaglet looks like it will explode. Enjoy!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I get my screen shots: Achieva Credit Union, Cowlitz PUD, Glacier Gardens Bald Eagle Nest, LRWT and Monton Bay Ospreys, Rutland Water, Cornell Bird Lab and Montana Osprey Project, and the Cumbrian Wildlife Trust. Thank you Lady Hawk for doing your videos!