Tag Archives: Scottish Wildlife Trust

Thursday in Bird World

There are a number of Ospreys named Louis but the one that I am writing about today is the Louis of the Loch Arkaig Osprey Nest. His mate, Aila, did not return from migration this year and there is a new Mrs Louis. Her name is Dorcha. Louis chose not to make their nest on the one that he had shared with Aila. As a result, news of Louis and Dorcha comes from those who have access to see the nest. Today’s news is from the person who ringed the chicks. They report there are two healthy 4-5 week old nestlings. How grand. Louis is a fabulous dad – he even went fishing at night for Aila and the three chicks last year.

I am doing a bit of nest hopping. For whatever reason I am unable to access the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest. Others are having difficulties too but some seem to have some success. It is, of course, slightly frustrating because this is the nest of Tiny Little!

The eaglet on the Bucovina, Romanian Golden Eagle nest is hungry. Yesterday he only had a small bird and a bone. There seem to be days of bounty and then not much of anything on this nest. Is there enough prey? how far to the parents have to travel? are both parents still delivering food for the baby? For many this is the haunting memory of Spilve and Klints last year. The young Golden Eaglet cannot live on a little bird. Zenit is a beautiful bird and it will not be long til fledge. Let us all hope that Zenit gets a large prey drop today.

Zenit saw his reflection in the camera for the first time yesterday. It is so cute when they do this – the reactions to seeing another bird like them! Lady Hawk caught this precious interaction.

Wishes come true! I checked on Zenit just a minute ago and Zenit has an enormous crop! Looks like he swallowed a softball.

Scrolling back, Zenit’s mother came in to feed him. This was at 14:12. It also appears that a bird delivery was made around 17:00. It is not clear what the mother brought but as you can see above, Zenit has a very large crop and this is a good thing. It remains unclear to me how much prey there is in the area. Let us all hope it is good!

When the Royal Albatross chick was weighed on Tuesday (NZ time), she had dropped from 8.2 kg to 8.0. The rangers were monitoring Taiki’s weight and were considering whether or not she needed a supplementary feeding. Perhaps that won’t be necessary after today because her mother Lime-Green-Lime flew in for two feedings and her dad, Lime-Green-Black was there for one. Three feedings in a single day at 9:58 (LGL), 13:57 (LGK), and LGL arrives twenty minutes after LGK departed at 14:17. These were quick in and outs but it looked like Taiki got a lot of food.

LGL is so happy to see her daughter. Taiki would like her mum to dispense with all the formalities – the sky calls, the welcome – but LGL will insist. Her daughter needs to learn all of these and imprint them in her mind. Taiki will fledge in mid-September. She will not return to land for 4-6 years. At that time she will do a skycall just like Mum is doing now. Can you imagine being at sea and never stepping foot on land for that long?

Taiki is so excited to have a parent come in for breakfast.

LGK saunters in after Taiki has had her breakfast and is ready to feed her lunch at 13:57. It always looks like the adults have difficulty walking – and maybe they do if the chicks are digging holes and building play nests everywhere. Here comes dad!

It is so interesting that these little Albies stay put on their nest without moving about so much (at least at this stage). LGK does several sky calls but Taiki just wants food!

Taiki settles down to work on her play nest after LGK leaves and gets dirt all over her beak. It sure doesn’t matter. Look at how beautiful she is.

This is LGL’s second visit to feed her daughter. Taiki is so excited to see her again. I wonder if she told mum that she just missed dad? LGL does several skycalls when she greets her daughter.

The baby down is falling off and revealing a beautiful pattern on the back of Taiki.

LGL always looks like she is smiling.

Taiki must be about to pop after three big feedings! LGL must be fishing near to Taiaroa Head as she is returning so often. Taiki is lucky.

It was a golden morning on the Loch of the Lowes. No one was on the nest- they were all out flying and learning to fish. There are some trees around the nest that are apparently good perches for the birds. What a beautiful place. It looks so tranquil —- and safe for Ospreys.

It was just as beautiful at Mlady Buky in Czechoslovakia this morning. There is a mist, low lying clouds, or a fog hugging the mountains. The three storklings are on the nest. Everything is so quiet – you can almost hear the stillness.

Father Stork arrives at 6:19 with breakfast for the three almost fledging storklings.

The three continue to find small morsels on the nest after the frenzy when dad arrives.

The feeding gives them energy. The sun is up and they are warm and two are flapping madly on the nest.

The female is really covering the nest and moving her wings. She was getting some lift this morning as well. Father Stork and the people of Mlady Buky have done well. After the loss of the female, it has been simply a miracle to watch these three thrive. In a way, the people of the community stepped in and took over when supplementary feeding was necessary – just like the New Zealand Department of Conservation rangers.

Sadly, there is no one stepping in for Zenit if it is needed. I wonder if the people who operate the camera would consider setting up a food table if it were needed?

My goodness. Blue 022, the two year old who returned from his migration and stopped off at the Poole Harbour nest of CJ7, is so enthusiastic. He has been helping fix up the nest and has even provided fish for CJ7. He has also been seen ‘sky dancing’ on several occasions. This morning was no exception!

They make such a lovely couple. Oh, goodness. Everyone is already crossing their fingers and toes that these two return from their migration safely. The months will not pass quickly enough. Imagine – no chicks born in this area of England in 200 years! Incredible. There will be lots of celebrating!

Dylan and Seren are both on the nest at 7am watching and waiting for Only Bob to come and have some breakfast. He loves to go and fly often landing on the camera stand. It is so different when they fledge – at first babies always on the nest and hungry and then parents having to wait with food as they fly about.

Kindness is getting her legs stronger every day. She is standing straight and walking some on the nest. She is certainly growing fast – an advantage to being the only chick on the nest.

Kindness loves to do kissey-kissey with Mom. It is so funny watching these two.

At the Osprey nest on the Port Lincoln barge, Mom is on the nest and Dad was over on the ropes. Eggs arriving soon.

Oh, it is a bit like a bad joke. The camera at the Foulshaw Moss Osprey nest just started working. Both 462 and Tiny Little are on the nest. It is around 7am and they are watching for a parent to arrive with breakfast. Look at that nice necklace that Tiny Little has. Interesting. (TL is on the right) They are being kissed by diamond rain from the sun.

And when he wasn’t watching for a delivery, Tiny Little was flapping his wings dreaming of flying.

The more flapping he does the more the last tidbits of baby down disappear. It won’t be long Tiny but you were four days younger than everyone and you were behind in growth. You will get there just like Tiny Tot!

Hopefully that fish arrives! These two are both hungry. And it did. Tiny Little went over and ate some of the remaining fish and Blue 35 comes in and removes what is left (piece at the front) and will fly off with it.

The camera was still on the blink. I just checked and Tiny is fine. It is tea time and both Tiny and big sib are waiting for a delivery. It is so interesting that the big siblings know when to show up for food.

And last but never least, a lovely picture of Aran and Mrs G on the Glaslyn Nest together. This is a beautiful sight. There has been some bonding over the last few days. I was concerned that Aran was not in top form and Z2, Aeron, of the PC nest might want to take over this one. They are being kissed by golden raindrops, too! Mrs G doesn’t look like she is 21 years old, the oldest osprey in the United Kingdom. She is in really good shape. So sad that they lost their three chicks this year. That can cause issues but they seem to be a solid couple.

Thanks for joining me everyone. It is lovely to see the Golden Eaglet doing well today. That nest is a constant worry. And speaking of worry. The comments section on my blog seems to not be working all the time. It is like Tiny Little’s camera. Please feel free to send me an e-mail: maryannsteggles@icloud.com. I know that some of you had concerns and I regret that technology has caused you any worry. For the next while, til things step up in Australia, there may be only one blog per day. I hope to get more local Osprey news for you this coming week.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams. This is where I grabbed my screen shots: Bucovina Golden Eagle Nest Cam, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest, Cornell Bird Lab and NZ DOC, Mlady Buky, Port Lincoln Osprey Cam, Glacier Gardens Eagle Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, Clywedog Opsrey Cam and Carnyx Wild, Byrwd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Poole Harbour Ospreys, and Scottish Wildlife Trust and Friends of Loch of the Lowes.

Wednesday in Ospreyland

The camera at the Foulshaw Moss Osprey nest has been down or going on and off today so it has been hard to follow what has been happening on the nest. I was able to get some shots for you with two different fish. We know some of Tiny Little’s behaviour and this might help us predict what will happen. When Tiny Little is hungry he is going to be a pest until he gets some fish. In the afternoon on the nest, around 15:40, Tiny Little was on the nest with White YW and Blue 462.

Blue 462 has the fish in its beak. White YW is to the right of 462. Tiny Little is behind 462. You cannot see her.

Ah, there is 463 looking out off the nest maybe day dreaming of fledging? White YW is cleaning his beak and 462 is tucked into the fish. Tiny Little doesn’t seem interested.

Dad has left and Tiny Little continues to look off to the hills and mountains. Tiny Little is acting peculiar. At times he appears to be preening and at other times you might think he is hiding a small piece of fish. At any rate, whatever is going on, he does not seem hungry or interested at all in the fish that Blue 462 is eating.

Once he turned around and looked.

Then Tiny Little goes back to preening.

A fish was delivered for the late snack around 20:00. All three of the chicks are on the nest. It is so nice to see them together and to know they are all safe. 464 has the first go at the fish while 462 looks on anxiously.

Tiny Little is laying down duckling style just watching what is going on. Tiny Little learned a long time ago to let 464 finish before moving in. 462 is standing there, head down watching and waiting for their turn. Tiny Little has no problem getting up to try and eat or take the fish from 462 — but not 464!

462 could not have been that hungry. It ate and if you look carefully you will see that most of the fish is left on the nest to the left of the chick at the rear. 462 does a couple of beak swipes and flies off.

462 moves in to have some fish before Tiny Little can get there. Tiny is still playing duckling.

Tiny gets up and does the usual trying to distract the older sibling. He is now working on nest renovations and moving twigs about.

Then Tiny Little goes and stands by 462 next to the object of desire – that fish! They are both busy watching something. Maybe it is 462 flying about. I bet Tiny Little is hoping it is Blue 35 coming to take that fish and feed her like yesterday.

They both follow whoever is flying for a long time their heads and eyes moving in unison for the most part.

Tiny does a pretty fantastic ‘ps’ at 20:18.

And then he moves right back over by Blue 462 eyeing that fish.

Sadly, I cannot confirm what happened. But if yesterday was any indication, Tiny Little is eventually going to get some of that fish. Maybe Blue 35 will fly in and take over and feed Tiny Little or will Tiny Little get the fish herself? Fingers crossed the camera comes on again to solve the mystery.

At the Dyfi Osprey Nest, Idris was on his perch while Telyn was feeding Ystwyth on the nest.

Later both Dysynni and Ystwyth were on the nest together. Aren’t they adorable? Ystwyth should be fledging soon.

LM 2 was on the nest alone at Loch of the Lowes earlier. Is she watching her mother or Laddie or NC0? That is truly a gorgeous place to have an Osprey nest.

My Scottish friends can correct me but I am thinking that there is not a lot of fishing equipment debris to get into the Osprey nest making the nests in the UK safer than most in North America where the lakes and rivers have many power boats and weekend fishers.

Over at Clywedog, Only Bob loves to eat. Telyn and Only Bob are looking up to the skies at 17:13.

At 17:13:59 Dylan lands on the nest with dinner for the family.

Only Bob moves up so that he can watch how Dad eats the head of the fish.

Only Bob also knows that Dad loves to feed his chick! Dylan spends some time feeding Only Bob before turning it over to Seren who is waiting patiently in the wings. She would like some fish, too.

Only Bob waits for mom to have a few bites before she feeds the rest to him. You are really a very ‘big’ boy, Only Bob.

If you have been watching the nest of Iiris and Ivo in Estonia, their first hatch fledged. Here is that moment:

And with all the attention on Tiny Little, these three beauties of Richmond and Rosie, have all fledged. Aren’t they gorgeous. Richmond could probably handle a nest of four. Very few Osprey males can.

Many of you will have read that when the three chicks were banded, the measurements indicated that they were all boys. But…for the very first time in the history of the nest, the measurements were wrong. DNA testing shows that Poppy ZP and VZ Lupine are females and WR Sage is the only boy. Goodness they were wrong.

Rosie migrates but Richmond doesn’t. He stays around the San Francisco Bay area all year round. He will take very good care of these babies once Rosie leaves and he will be waiting for Rosie to return around Valentine’s Day!

Here is a really cute video of the two girls doing a tug of war with a fish. This was yesterday.

Ah, Legacy at the Fortis Red Deer Nest is snuggling up with mom to keep cool as she serves as a mombrella from the sun. That sky is so hazy from all of the fires. It travels all the way – the smoke – to Manitoba and can make breathing difficult. I wonder what impact the smoke has on these chicks?

It looks like the smoke from the wild fires is also making it hazy at the Fortis Exshaw Nest. Little ones are also trying to get in some of the shade provided by mom.

It is such a contrast to see the Osprey nests in Alberta, Montana, Florida, and California with those in the United Kingdom. It has given me a lot of pause to think about the trash that makes its way into the Osprey nests such as the baling twine that has been killing the chicks up in Montana.

I could not get back on the Cumbria Wildlife Osprey cam but Blue 35 will not let Tiny Little go to bed without some fish. He was so full in the middle of the afternoon that he wasn’t wanting any so maybe he really has had enough already. Either way he will be fine. Growing like a bad weed that one – and surely with those big sturdy legs he is a she.

Thank you for joining me. I am in the midst of planning a trip to Overflowing River in Manitoba to go and see the Ospreys that come to our province to breed during the summer. There will be lots of images for you I hope – but this is not happening for a couple of weeks. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: SF Bay Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Friends of Loch of the Lowes, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyX Wild and the Clywedog Osprey Nest, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest, Fortis Alberta Red Deer Osprey Cam, and Fortis Alberta Exshaw Osprey Cam.

Tiny Little, Blue 35 and the fish – and other tales from Ospreyland 13 July 2021

I wanted to yell as loud as I could, ‘Go Tiny Little!’. There was a fish drop at the Foulshaw Moss Nest. Blue 462 had it in its talons.

Oh, what I forgot to tell you was that Tiny Little kept trying to steal that fish from Blue 462. Look at Blue 35 (mum) watching what is going on.

Tiny Tot finds the tail of the fish between Blue 462’s legs and trys to eat the fish from there! My friend ‘L’ says that Tiny Little is a ‘hoot’ – he is!

Tiny Little bothered his big sister so much that she moved the fish to the other side of the nest! But Tiny Little did not give up. He was more determined to try and distract Big Sister and grab that fish. Look how mum is watching everything that is going on. Tiny almost gets that fish a few times but he is not fully confident nor aggressive yet.

It must have been uncomfortable for Blue 462 to have Tiny right up there by his face. That is probably the point. At one point it looked like Tiny Little tried to grab the fish out of 462’s beak as he was pulling it off the bone.

Tiny Little pleads with mum to do something about that fish because he wants some of it and Blue 462 won’t share! Now Tiny Little didn’t do this just once, he went to speak to mum several times. There was, of course, no mention of Tiny Little finding that entire fish and not sharing it with anyone earlier!!!!!!

Blue 35 watched everything. What a smart mum she is! She waited and checked and then waited and when Blue 35 felt that Big Sis had enough fish, she walked over, took it, and flew away with it.

Here she is moving in to take it from Blue 462’s talons.

She pulls it over and once she has that fish secured she flies off the nest.

Why did she take my fish? says Blue 462. Tiny Tot is bewildered. He figures that is it for his bedtime dinner. Even Big Sis can’t figure it out. They stand there staring into space wondering what just happened.

Ah, Blue 35 wanted Big Sister off the nest. She took the fish and when the older sibling had left she returned to feed Tiny Little.

Ah, what a good mum Blue 35 is. She makes sure every one of her three babies has some fish.

When Tiny was full and off cleaning his beak, Blue 35 enjoyed a few bites of fish herself before Blue 462 flies in to try and get the precious fish tail! Mom starts feeding 462 again.

Wonder where 464 was? Did White YW give him a fish off camera?

Looks like Tiny Little won’t be sleeping alone tonight. Blue 462 is tired from all that flying! Both of these big babies have full tummies. Time to go to sleep.

As the sun was setting in Wales at the Dyfi Nest, Idris was out on his perch, Telyn was on the nest perch, and both Dysynnis and Ystwyth were on the nest ready for night-night as the train speeds by.

Over in the Clywedog Nest, Seren 5F was feeding Only Bob, Blue 496, his late night snack. He earned it today – he made a proper fledge this morning and he must be awfully tired. Gosh, this kiddo is big. Look at those legs!

As the pink of the sunset was coming over Loch of the Lowes, NC0 was on the nest watching her children, LM 1 and LM 2 as they flew around the loch.

Hopping to North America, Wattsworth and Electra were on the Cowlitz PUD Osprey Nest in Longview making a few nestorations. They lost both their chicks this year. The first to siblicide and the second to heat stroke during the 28 June extreme heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest.

What will the Ospreys do as our planet heats up?

I don’t know if there are any repercussions on the Ospreys in Alberta from the smoke and fires to the west of them in British Columbia. Let us hope not. Legacy is growing and growing at the Red Deer Nest. It was hard to get a good image of her today but she had just finished a nice breakfast when I took this one.

And the two on the Fortis Exshaw Osprey Nest are progressing nicely as well. They are also growing really well now that the extreme heat is gone.

Kindness is 89 days old. She is on the Glacier Gardens Bald Eagle Nest up in Juneau, Alaska. She has been practicing her standing and is getting really good at it. Kindness is a ‘Northern’ Bald Eagle – not a specific species but because she is higher north in the Northern Hemisphere, she will be heavier and bigger than birds in the southern US. This is called the Bergman Allen Rule. Northern animals are typically heavier and larger than the southerly ones. This is related to the climate and physiological differences and their needs. The female Bald Eagles in the north, like Alaska, weight 4.5-6.35 kg or 10-14 lbs while in Florida the top weight for a female Bald Eagle would be 6.35 kg or 10 lbs. The males in Alaska are 3.62 -4.9 kg or 8-11 lbs while in Florida they are about 2.7 kg or 6 lbs. The average day for fledging at this nest is 89 days. (The average age for Bald Eagle nestlings in the rest of Alaska to fledge is 80 days). So we have some time yet with Kindness! Terrific.

Thank you so much for joining me. It was great fun with Tiny Little today. If you watch that nest check out Tiny Little’s rather ‘fat’ legs. Tiny Little is growing so much now that there is this notion that Tiny Little is a girl. Maybe we will find out one day. Take care everyone.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Glacier Gardens Bald Eagle Cam, Cumbrian Wildlife Trust, Scottish Wildlife and Friends of Loch of the Lowes, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyX Wild, Fortis Alberta ExShaw Osprey Nest, Fortis Alberta Red Deer Osprey Nest, and Cowlitz PUD,

Late Friday and early Saturday in Ospreyland

There is news in Ospreyland, some good and some not so good. I am going to start with all of the good news.

Those who follow and read about Ospreys know that there are certain ‘truths’ that are held dear. These ‘truths’ get passed down through books, Websites, and conversations. One of those is that a male fledgling will ‘always’ return to its natal nest area on its first migration ‘home’. The question is how true is that statement? Is it 90% true or 80% or with all of the unringed birds is it even 50% true? There are always exceptions! It was reported today that Rutland’s Maya and Blue 33’s 2015 male chick S2 has been breeding in the Biesborch National Park in The Netherlands for the past two years. In 2020 S2 and his mate fledged three chicks and in 2021 they have two in the nest. Fabulous news.

Male 022 has been courting CJ7 since he first returned as a two year old from his first migration. Initially, this young male wasn’t quite sure of the ‘process’. What he didn’t know he made up for in enthusiasm. Could he hear everyone shouting “Bring her a fish!” Sometimes he would bring a fish but he would not share. Sometimes he shared. Meanwhile they were mating all over Poole Harbour – seriously, they were. 022 has certainly grown into understanding his role. He has been working on the nest with CJ7 and today he brought her a fish and gave it to her to enjoy – a gift. How sweet. He has done a sky dance for her and now we watch and then we will wait for next spring when everyone hopes that these two will be a couple and raise some chicks. 022’s sky dance was the first seen in 200 years in Poole Harbour. Oh, please let this couple have a nest of healthy chicks next year that fledge! Poole Harbour might announce a holiday in their honour.

The eldest chick has fledged at Foulshaw Moss, Blue 464. The others look surprised! Who will be next? That special moment was caught here on a short video:

Tiny Little has been doing a lot of wingersizing. Will he be next? He is doing a great job and I know that he is going to grow up and be as strong and fierce as Z1, Tegin.

And Tiny Little is clever, like Tiny Tot in the Achieva Nest. Today, he sniffed about and found a piece of leftover fish that the other siblings had forgotten. Tiny Little had a nice little self-feed over in that front corner. He is a survivor.

You can see that he is still Tiny but not as tiny as he once was! What a little cutie. In addition, his eyes are fine. There were some early issues, perhaps from one of the older siblings pecking him about but all seems fine now. Tiny Little is in the clown feet stage!

White YW brought in a nice fish for Blue 35 for breakfast. Guess who was first in line? You got that right – Tiny Little! Go Tiny Little, Go!

Everyone ate and had nice crops and Mom even got the fish tail.

At Loch Arkaig, there appears to be a new couple working on bonding. YP and Blue 152 have been bringing in moss and sticks to add to what Louis did in the early spring while he waited for Aila. It will be grand to have a couple in this nest next year although I have to admit that I wish it were Louis and the new Mrs Louis.

After the heat and the storms the two Osprey nests in Albert, Exshaw at Canmore and the nest at Red Deer appear to be doing well.

This is Exshaw this morning. It is a sunny dry day and the chicks are sleeping after a 5:35 am breakfast.

Legacy is doing fine, growing like a bad garden weed, down in Red Deer:

Good news coming in from Loch of the Lowes is that the first fledgling has returned to the nest and taken its second flight with mom, NC0. The first fledgling at Foulshaw Moss, has also returned to the nest. Well done!

Now for some of the sadness. The concern in Canada’s West is the growing number of wild fires active in the province of British Columbia. Last week 330 were added to a growing list of over 780 fires. The impact on wildlife now and in the future is alarming not counting, of course, the human and property cost. The province desperately needs rain and lots of it.

News has come to me from my friend, ‘T’ that goshawks have taken the lives of two banded Osprey chicks in a single Latvian nest and another chick at a nest in Spain. This is so very, very sad. The chicks were big – already ringed – in earshot of fledging.

“Goshawk” by Andy Morffew is licensed under CC BY 2.0

‘L’ has reported that a fledgling Bald Eagle was killed when it landed on a power line in Dayton, Ohio. This is so very sad because we have known for decades the problems with power lines. There could be a silver lining to this story – the community has spoken to the local power company and they seem willing to do something to their poles so that these tragedies will not happen again. Let us hope that they work fast. There are other fledglings in that nest! Indeed, every power line needs to be ‘bird friendly’. This should be standard practice.

Thank you for joining me on a sunny and going to be crispy hot Sunday on the Canadian Prairies. The news in my garden is curious. After the extreme heat wave, the number of birds at the feeders seems to be less. Strange, however, is the now regular appearance of a dozen or more Blue Jays. We always had 3. Mr Crow and family are not happy about the Blue Jays but they won’t enter the yard to try and escort them away. Perhaps the number of Blue Jays has driven the other birds away — except for Mr Woodpecker and baby. The tiny Downy fledgling was here yesterday! They are always so quick and gone by the time I have grabbed my camera.

Take care everyone. I hope to have news of Big Red, Arthur and the Ks this evening. Stay safe, stay cool. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I get my screen shots: Fortis Albert Red Deer Osprey Nest, Fortis Albert Exshaw Osprey Nest, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest, and the Scottish Wildlife Trust and Friends of Loch of the Lowes.

Alan Poole’s talk on why Ospreys are special and some other news tidbits from Ospreyland

LR1 at Loch of the Lowes fledged! Only one more to go for NC0 and Laddie (LM12). Here is the big moment:

John Williams has been trying to figure out where Dylan is getting his nice trout for the Lyn Clywedog Nest. Today, our sleuth detective, reports that an unringed male was seen leaving Nant y Moch Reservoir at 9:55 carrying a fish. The bird was flying in the direction of Llyn Clywedog. Williams watched the streaming cam and sure enough Dylan landed 25 minutes later with a trout on the nest for the Only Bob. I am certain Seren Blue5F was pleased too.

We know that Dylan is going to go as the crow flies – straight from Nanty-y-Moch Reservoir to Clywedog. But, wow. That is a good distance to travel for trout! Apparently there are too many people fishing for trout at the end of the Clywedog Reservoir and that could be the reason he is travelling so far. I am in awe.

Here is Seren Blue 5F feeding Only Bob that lovely fish:

I wanted to bring Blue 5F up today so you can see how well she is doing on this nest at Clywedogs with Dylan. Look at that lovely chick! I had a fantastic conversation with Tiger Mozone late last night. We talked about all things Osprey but one thing that Tiger mentioned early on is that Ospreys are not bonded to one another for life. It might appear that way and you have read over and over that they “bond for life”. Tiger had so many examples that it made perfect sense that they do not. So here is the thing with Blue 5F. Blue 5F hatched in Rutland in 2012. Chris Wood regularly sees her at the Tanji Marsh in Africa where she winters. She came to Glaslyn in 2015.

Aran, the mate of Mrs G, took a liking to Blue 5F and they mated in 2015. Eggs were laid on the Traeth Glaslyn Nest but as the Glaslyn Osprey News notes, “once the chicks hatched on the Glaslyn Nest he gradually lost interest” in Blue 5F and the future of their eggs. According to Glaslyn records and Tiger this went on for four years! I really hope right about now you are thinking about Iris and Louis. But, Blue 5F decided she didn’t like that arrangement so, she left! And she found the nest at Llyn Clwedog in 2020 where she is quite happy. Last year her and Dylan raised three male chicks to fledge when his regular mate did not return. This year they have the Only Bob! Give the girl a hand of applause! The entire issue of Aran and Blue 5F brought in discussions of how close nest platforms should be to one another. It might well be that they want to look into this again at Glaslyn. I am not entirely sure that the blue banded bird after Aran at the Cob was not Z2 Aeron from the Pont Croesor Nest. Time will tell if Aeron Z2 is trying to take over the Glaslyn territory.

Alan Poole, the author of Ospreys. The Revival of a Global Raptor did a 45 minute YouTube talk with nice visuals on Ospreys. It is definitely worth watching – you will learn something. You can stop and start!

Thanks for stopping in. I hope that you have a lovely weekend. Take the time to listen to Alan Poole’s talk. I think you will really enjoy it.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams: Llyn Clywedog and Carnyx Wildlife. Thanks to Tiger for the great conversation and to John Williams for tracking the travels of the trout!

Continuing to Track Elsa -and other news in Bird World, Sunday 4 July

Everyone that watches the Achieva Osprey Nest in St Petersburg, Florida is following the tracking of Tropical Storm Elsa. The latest weather news is that Elsa will remain a Tropical Storm bringing heavy rain, thunderstorms and tornadoes, and some wind to Florida. The current tracking has Elsa interacting with Jamaica and that is slowing her down. She will speed up a bit as she hits the warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Elsa is not expected to intensify to hurricane status.

The good news for Tiny Tot and the Achieva Nest is that the current model shows the intensity off the west coast of Florida (but it could shift). Elsa will be trying to make landfall North of Tampa early Wednesday morning. I pulled the following model shots off of the weather broadcast in the area. The white thicker arc line on the left is the current believed path that Elsa will take. That could shift, however, and be anywhere in the area between it and the darker blue arch line.

This is Elsa at 11 am EDT. You can see the strongest area is right over Kingston, Jamaica.

I will continue to follow Elsa and report as we get closer to the beginning of the week with more certainty as to how the storm will impact St. Petersburg.

The last time I checked on Tiny Tot was 1:54 nest time and she was there fish begging hoping Jack would hear her and bring some lunch in. I do not believe Tiny Tot has had any fish yet today. She had a nice fish at 6:47 last night.

I checked on the Fortis Exshaw Osprey Nest in Canmore, Alberta. There was a fish delivery at 9:30 this morning and both of the surviving chicks were eating. Last night one of them had an enormous crop. So this nest is bucking the trend and has 2 survivors and 1 dead from the heat. Indeed, last night I thought we might have lost 2 but this morning there were two little heads eating.

The top image is last evening. You can see that huge crop on the little one.

This was right after the fish delivery on Sunday morning around 9:30.

There were two heads clearly seen in the image below. Well done Exshaw!

Kindness just gets cuter every day. This is Sunday morning in the Glacier Gardens Bald Eagle Nest in Juneau, Alaska. Talk about one very much loved eaglet. Her parents Freedom and Liberty really take good care of her.

It looks like it is the end of the season at the Newfoundland Power Osprey Nest, sadly. We know that the oldest chick got on top of the little one hatching. Mom tried to pull the bigger one off by its legs and both died. There was one remaining egg. That egg now seems to be broken and abandoned. If I am reading this wrong, please let me know.

Tiny Little Bob continues to rebuild the Foulshaw Moss Nest. It is interesting that he is also finding pieces of dry fish there that must be yummy. Tiny Little isn’t sharing with Big Sister when he does find a piece!

It is still wet up at the Loch of the Lowes. Laddie delivered an evening fish and got out of that nest fast! There was quite the scramble. NC0 will try and feed the Bobs so everyone gets something. Sadly, it was a bit of a twiddler that was delivered so it won’t go far.

News out of Australia. Mom and Dad at the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge have been mating and Mom is feverishly working on nest restorations. Mom is watching dad eating a fish not far away and wondering why he isn’t sharing and hasn’t been helping her! With all the twigs in and now the soft lining…it won’t be long!

Last year’s first hatch, Solly, returned to Streaky Bay and then went right back to Eba Anchorage. It appears that this might be where Solly is making her permanent home. Thanks to the satellite tracker her every move is monitored! Solly is doing well. That is excellent news.

News coming out of New Brunswick, Canada. A rare Stellar’s Sea Eagle – not seen in Canada – but in Russia – is in Canada on the Restigouche River! Have a read:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/stellers-eagle-new-brunswick-bird-1.6086439?fbclid=IwAR0AlwJvLZcMP4kaHkwTWzVPN6CWSIcngRufRVWPF3DZoi1Jwb63y3z6KFQ

And while I would like to leave us on a happy note, another Osprey was found entangled in monofilament fishing line in an Osprey Nest in Alberta and had to be detangled. Please, please, if you fish be responsible. Don’t fish where you know your line is going to get caught up and broken in underwater tree trunks leaving line and hook to harm the wildlife. Thank you.

Thank you for joining me today. Take care all. For those of you celebrating 4 July – have a happy one.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I grabbed my screen shots: Achieva Credit Union, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Friends of Loch of the Lowes, Cumbrian Wildlife Trust and the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Cam, Newfoundland Power Corporation, Fortis Alberta, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Port Lincoln FB Page, Glacier Gardens Bald Eagle Cam, and Channel Two Weather News.