Tag Archives: Santiam Canyon

Super year in Seattle, Sol gets a new home… Monday in Bird World

3 August 2026

Hello Everyone,

Update: After the heat from yesterday, we woke up to cloudy skies and 18 C. What a blessing! We got to have a little longer walk with Toby. Don is not able to walk a great distance anymore but he made it for four blocks. We were delighted. Rain is to start at 1600. Bravo!

Oh, my goodness. The winds blew hot in Winnipeg on Sunday, with the temperature reaching 31 C around 1700. This is certainly not as hot and horrific as it is in other regions of the world. Still, I have seen a change in the garden wildlife. First, they appear to be needing and enjoying the water – we now have seven little sources for them – before wanting food. We are concerned about the Blue Jays as they do not seem to be around in the numbers they were a week and a half ago; there is one Red Squirrel, and I am only seeing two grey squirrels. The other sadness is, of course, Brock. The last positive sighting of him – along with a photo – was the 24th of June. Since then, all of my neighbours, including Jane, who helped feed him, have been searching to no avail. He disappeared on the same day as another friendly neighbourhood cat, Charlie. It is concerning. Jane and I miss him terribly – perhaps a weird thing to hear, but after feeding him for five years, he had a huge place in my heart. We worry that there is someone who is poisoning animals in our area, and that could be my City! But all of that is another discussion. For now, I just hope Brock shows up and surprises us all. He is certainly loved.

Wildfires in the UK have impacted some of the rarest wildlife in the country.

Wildfire near Sizewell nuclear plant causes ‘total devastation’ to Suffolk landscapehttps://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/31/suffolk-wildfire-sizewell-nuclear-plant-dunwich-heath?CMP=share_btn_url

The wildfires are, of course, impacting wildlife around the globe. It is devastating if you look at a map where there are fires. I understand that one of the reasons there are so many fires is that with all the early rain, vegetation grew. Then there is the drought, with places not having rain in a month or more. Then the fires.

I can say that the ospreys that live along the shore of Lake Winnipeg are being photographed and are doing well. We do not have lots of ospreys – we have some in our City – so they are not battling for fish as they are in some other places. It makes me happy.

Sol was not renested at Fru Rauer but was placed in another nest. Here is the video of him being taken in a box to the tree and placed in his new home. https://youtu.be/3B5cm7a0gl8?

In the UK, if the mothers are not on their way to their winter homes. Instead, many are fishing and helping the males with the fledglings.

Such a beautiful sight, big fish coming in steadily to fatten up the fledglings so that their first migration is a success. It is a contrast to what is happening in the US, where many of the males have disappeared. It is frightening that the females are struggling to find fish for their chicks and they need to be finding them for themselves.

At Santiam Canyon, the male has been missing for ten days. There are now great fish fights at the nest amongst the fledglings and concern that chick 2 is dominating the feedings so that the others might actually suffer or starve. The oldest and the youngest are decidedly thin-looking, and this will certainly impact their migration.

We are so near to fledge for Wensi at Hellgate Canyon, home to Iris and Clark, that you might not want to take your eyes off that nest! Look at Wensi hover!!!!!!!!!!

Cornell Bird Lab has Wensi’s hovering on video: https://youtu.be/cHvC1zwc4mc?

Look at what good condition Wensi is in. If it should happen that beloved Iris does not return next year, I will always remember what an amazing mother she is. She shielded Wensi from the extreme heat and made sure that s/he ate well every time a fish came to the nest. I will remember Clark being an amazing partner to Iris, more than I could have dreamed of when he first arrived. Iris deserves a good mate like Clark (or Finnegan), and I just wish she could have had mates like them all her life. It was a magical year for this family, and I know that every day our hearts warmed to watch them thrive.

Fledgling enjoying fish on the Clark PUD nest – and then another one arrives.

Healthy fledglings – all on the nest – fish calling at Finland’s #1 nest.

Waiting for dinner at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn in Wales.

It is the same everywhere in the UK – those fledglings fish calling loudly. Parents can’t get the fish on the nest fast enough as these ‘babies’ fatten up for their first big migration. They will head to Spain and Portugal or West Africa.

At the Birds of Poole Harbour, Carey Secret Garden nest of CJ7 and Blue 022:

Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Sunday 2nd Aug 2026


The chicks and Dorcha were on and off the nest throughout the day, calling for fish and pouncing on Louis when he arrived. The noise when only one is on the nest and calling is quite considerable and it ramps up by several orders of magnitude when two or more are calling – that and getting his toes chewed by eager beaks means Louis isn’t spending very much time on the nest, he drops his fish and departs as soon as possible. There were some alarms today but nothing serious and no intruders seen on nest cam, nothing to interrupt fish delivery and Louis brought four to the nest, taking the Nest Two tally to three hundred and sixty five. Dorcha contented herself with an old tail end allowing the chicks to take the fresh fish from her. 

Steve Quinn posted his usual thorough weekly analysis of Louis’ fishing stats, with interesting info on fish numbers in years with female chicks and years with male chicks and documenting Louis’ remarkable consistency. Details for his post in the bonus section. Aurora waited on Nest One but got no fish today, Garry turned up but only to do some nest tidying. His tally remains at one hundred and eighty nine. The weather was settled today but is forecast to change to light rain and light winds overnight and tomorrow, with a low of 11°C and a high of 17°C.


Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/p2sheGainoM N2

 Instead of fish one,Amber grabs Louis by the foot – again! 05.38.50https://youtu.be/Qlf9ZCp3ue0 N2 Juniper grabs fish two and lets Dorcha have the F1 tail end 06.21.45https://youtu.be/VafesrHDAzk N2 Dorcha again gives way to her chicks and lets Amber have fish three 13.35.59https://youtu.be/KJzg1f6mayc N1 Garry flies in quietly with a stick and does some nest tidying 15.33.14 https://youtu.be/VM54yBlwoWM N1 Aurora flies from Pole Tree and waits in vain on the nest 19.28.00https://youtu.be/AH7xKoaQwcg

N2 Dorcha follows Louis with fish four but lets Amber take it 22.10.19

Come and join the friendly community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s fun, free and everyone’s welcome:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

Our fish-tossing heroine, Viki, saved the chick and two adults – the chick fledged! Imagine a small place, St George’s Island, where up to 60 osprey chicks would have hatched five years ago, and now only one survived to fledge thanks to our brave human!

“Junior fledged a week ago. He practiced dragging his feet through the creek today, buzzed a couple of gulls who were simply minding their own business. His landings are spot-on and he hangs in the NCopse as do his parents. But he has not ventured out of sight of the nest.

After Junior fledged the female began making more appearances at the nest and surrounds. She has twice swooped down to grab one of the frozen menhaden I throw but did not feed any to Junior and otherwise ignores the frozen fish, even if Junior is fish calling for someone to bring it to him. She will bring and share live fish with Junior, as does the male. These fish are tiny and infrequent.

The male avoids directly providing the female with fish. A couple times she joined Junior on the nest and shared with him the frozen fish the male brought. But if she’s already on the nest he won’t bring a frozen fish to Junior.

The male and female  seem to avoid sharing either of their two nests simultaneously and keep a greater distance between one another in the NCopse.  But both seem committed to prepping Junior for migration.

I’m still tossing out 8 – 10 fish a day, sometimes fewer, and the male continues to fish, more so with the return of the female. But no matter how long he’s out fishing, there aren’t even medium-sized fish around.

No other chicks on St. George Island have survived.”

What is happening at St George Island, Maryland, is reminiscent of events where both Omega’s gill nets and industrial fishing, along with heat and storms, have wiped out the osprey population. This isn’t fiction. It is happening right before our eyes, and it is human-caused. Thank you, Viki, for saving these three!!!!!!! I only wish that those individuals who ‘observe’ the deaths on the platforms would step up for the wildlife they are hired to protect!

Things are very good for Sally and Harry and their three osplets in Seattle. Thanks, Ping Shen, for doing these observations and sending us images.

“Here in Seattle Harry and Sally and the 3 young continue to do really well! My visit today saw 3 fish deliveries in 45 minutes (2 from dad, 1 from mom), and I left with all the kids contentedly eating (2 on their own with their own fish, and 1 being fed by mom). Also saw some almost-flying, short trips across the nest, vertical flight up to a few feet above the nest, etc – I’m sure fledging will begin within the next day or so! They continue to look really good and mom and dad have clearly kicked fishing into high gear, with obvious success…can’t wait to see the little ones flying from the nest!

This is so wonderful – the adults will be healthy and fattened up for migration along with three fledglings. It has been a great year. I am delighted after the horrors of the NE.

There has been a fledge at Finland’s Loumais nest this morning.

Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care of yourself. We will see you again for a late post tomorrow. Ann and I hope to take Don and Toby to Oak Knoll Farm to pick up eggs and veggies along with some flowers tomorrow.

Thank you so much to Ping Shen, Viki Volks, SK Hideaways, and Geemeff for their wonderful monitoring, images, and videos. I am so grateful to them. Thank you to all who posted on FB and the owners of the streaming cams that let us watch these incredible birds striving to survive.

Fish, Darvic rings, and death…Late Saturday in Bird World

4 July 2026

Greetings Everyone,

When I was a child, there was always a family picnic at the park or at my great-grandmother’s house to mark the 4th of July. They were all immigrants from Chur, Switzerland. The day meant a lot to them. The family had prospered and there was and still is family living in the farm and vinegard called ‘Hinterwald’ (Behind the Woods) outside of Chur. It was a wonderful day full of delicious summer food – fresh out of the various gardens – and always homemade ice cream. For those who are celebrating today, I hope that you had a fantastic time with loved ones and friends.

As a child, I loved the fireworks. Today, I know better and am a strong advocate for those funds to go to social programmes that help people, rather than money going up in smoke. I also wish that all the funds that will go into fireworks in the Big Bear Valley area and the nest of Shadow and Jackie had gone into the fund to purchase MoonCamp to safeguard this area for the eagles and all wildlife. Some States are outlawing fireworks altogether. I wish every State would take that enlightened stance.

SK Hideaways has a video of Sandy and Luna flying over this beautiful area – that does not need condos! https://youtu.be/PJYYeCH6kQM?

It was hot today. We had hoped that Toby would enjoy his sprinkler pad. Right now he is curious but a little frightened. We are not pushing him.

There is a heat dome over many parts of North America this weekend endangering the lives of the most vulnerable of the osplets on the nests.

At the nest of Big Red and Arthur, the fledglings are coming to the nest for prey deliveries by Arthur. https://youtu.be/ajyUBPXgxgs?

P1 and P3 are hanging out together on Bradley! Thanks Karel and BOGette. https://youtu.be/LCdQQA_Gv7Y?

A good news story for a change – from Geemeff. thank you.

https://www.quantico.marines.mil/News/Article/4530247/operation-homeward-bound-chesty-the-osprey-reunited-with-mother

One of the big news stories in Bird World is that Lady and Dad have their first egg at the White-bellied Sea Eagles nest in the Olympic Forest in Sydney, Australia. SK Hideaways celebrates this wonderful moment. https://youtu.be/7eusfpBt7ZY?

CJ7 feeds her four daughters at the Carey Secret Garden Osprey nest in Poole Harbour. Imagine – four girls. All requiring much more food to develop than four boys.

At the second osprey nest at Poole, the chicks were deemed to be all male.

Ringing also took place across the UK. The two chicks in the Usk Valley were also ringed.

Normal service has resumed on the Usk Valley nest. Here are some images of our osprey family taken from the live cameras this afternoon: Syfaddan, Clogwyn and their two chicks, Blue 0U0 and Blue 0U1, new rings clearly visible.

This morning (Saturday 4 July) the two UVO osprey chicks were ringed by a skilled team of experienced climbers and licensed ringers.

Chick 1, who is 37 day old, was ringed on its left leg with a BTO metal ring with unique no. 1087337 and on the right leg with a ‘Darvic’ ring, blue with white lettering with unique inscription W0U0.

Chick 2 who is 34 days old, was ringed on the left leg with a BTO metal ring with unique no. 1087338 and on the right leg with a ‘Darvic’ ring, blue with white lettering with unique inscription 0U1.

Young ospreys are ringed well before they fledge the nest to leave on their first migration to Africa. This allows for monitoring of the birds as they grow up, go on their migration journeys, return to the UK as two-year-olds and hopefully, pair up to breed successfully later in life. It will also contribute to the overall national monitoring of the species as they make their return to Britain and more recently Wales.

Take a look to see if you can spot their new rings on the live cameras: https://www.uskvalleyospreys.org/live-video-from-nest-both

UVO would like to thank all those involved with approvals in advance of, the support team during, and those on the ground (and up the tree!) directly contributing to the ringing operation.

Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Saturday 4th July 2026

Today was not nearly as wet as forecast, most of the day was dry with light winds, and Louis took advantage of that, delivering seven fish to Dorcha, raising the Nest Two tally to two hundred and twenty seven. It was a different situation over on Nest One – Garry LV0 was around, bringing moss and taking over when Aurora 536 flew off for a break, but didn’t bring any fish. An intruder was around, not seen on camera, perhaps that had an effect, or perhaps he delivered an early fish during the nest cam down time of approximately 6 hours from 03.15 to 09.10. His tally remains at one hundred and forty nine. Aurora didn’t go hungry though, as she had stashed a large piece of the previous evening’s third fish, and polished that off today. She continues to spend her nights on the nest covering the unviable egg. Tonight’s forecast is for light rain overnight with a low of 12°C, changing to heavy rain tomorrow with a high of 16°C.   

Today’s videos:https://youtu.be/O7GV0nWmHvs N2 Early breakfast arrives, it won’t last long 05.27.05https://youtu.be/rVSW7cgdnzw N2 Louis brings a second trout much larger than the first 08.56.09https://youtu.be/IJiOqlpiedE  N2 Louis has a well filled crop when he delivers fish three 

10.01.30https://youtu.be/k6X-v-fhieM N2 Dorcha takes fish four and tells Louis to leave 16.03.00https://youtu.be/s45SuhCekX0 N2 Chick downs the tail – tiny fish five lasted 4 minutes 19.32.31https://youtu.be/NImFgvpp-1c N2 Dark chick downs the tail, number six lasted 2.5 minutes 21.14.59https://youtu.be/JoelSju3lTo N2 Goldie downs the tail, number seven lasted only 2 mins 45 secs! 21.39.17

Why not come and join the lively community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s friendly, free and everyone’s welcome:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

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Chick number 2 died of starvation at the Chesapeake nest today.

Even though I continue to worry, Little Dewey did well today. Mum did not wait for Dad to show up – these females are really becoming titans! ‘PB’ gives us the low down of all the deliveries to our not so little Dewey.

Oyster Bay: They need food. I hope for three but…’PB’ comments on deliveries: “Oyster Bay 7/4/26….no fish all morning, then mom 12:42 finally delivered a large fish (Menhaden ?) #1 & #2 feeding. #3 could not get in there. Then Dad delivers a whole fish 12:59 and #3 rushes over to dad for food. Dad looked unsure what to do, he wanted to feed and tries one bite to #3. Unfortunately, #2 saw opportunity to get food from Dad and moves in. Dad only fed #2. #3 on Dads right was begging but no bites. Dad left with remaining fish 1:06. #2 gets a couple of scraps from mom. #1 Huge crop. Hope they can get more fish for #3.” And then a final great update from ‘PB’: “Great update to share: dad partial fish 13:37 & mom 13:58 fish, #3 ate well! “

Lamoine State Park: Late fish delivery by the female but the third hatch had nothing to eat. This is another sad nest that needs food. I even wondered if the adults had abandoned the nest.

Sandy Hook: Good deliveries.

Osoyoos: The only surviving osplet of the three has a huge crop.

Went back and caught another fish delivery from Dad at Osoyoos.

Santiam Canyon: Doing well with the fish deliveries.

Cowlitz PUD: Little crops.

OBX: Two lovely feathered osplets who need names. Go to the link at the bottom of the image.

Salmon Idaho: Lots of fish appear to have come in on Saturday.

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho: The two feathered chicks are doing well. Dad delivered a fish – their expressions really perked up when they knew a meal was coming!

Charlo, Montana: Chloe feeding C22.

Upper Newport Bay: Ripple and Robinson both had fish.

Boulder County: The trio look good!

Loch Doon: All is good. Heavy rain starts later and Angel returns to the nest to try and cover her chicks – who are large!

Smallwood: Looking good with lots of helicoptering by the osplets. We are close to fledge.

Rutland Manton Bay: Fledge window.

Minneapolis Landscape: Two chicks appear to be doing rather well. I had my doubts initially, but all is looking good.

Blackbush: Number 1 continues to peck on 4 – trying to deny food and injuring that already damaged head. This is one tough little 4 that so many are cheering on but this nest is going to need lots of fish if the dominance power moves by the big siblings on that tiny little one are to stop.

Ah, that’s it for me. Just a quick run-through. Son is coming over tomorrow to help me with a camera for outside – we have gone through two or three. None are perfect, and most require some kind of monthly subscription, which I am trying to avoid. What this means is that I am going to enjoy the day and not look at nests. I will see you on Monday. Take care, everyone.

Thank you so much to Geemeff, to all those who created videos, including SK Hideaways, Karel, and BOGette, to those who posted information on FB, and to PB for keeping me up to date on some nests I didn’t get a chance to check. Once again, thank you to the owners of the streaming cams that allow us to watch these incredible birds.