10 October 2022
Good Morning!
When I closed my blog yesterday, SE30 had fledged but not returned to the nest. The PLO were waiting for the arrival of the first fish. Would it come in the morning to help stop Big’s tirade? or later? Well, SE30 did fly back to the nest and honked at the Currawongs along with Lady. Dad did come through with a big whole fish for the family at Port Lincoln. The time was 08:04:02. So, sitting in Canada with the sun setting in less than 2 hours, the day in Australia began wonderfully well….and then it began to fall apart.
The fish for Port Lincoln arrived at 08:04:02. Little Bob was in a bad position but later, pushed itself up and got an even better location once Big had decided Middle had had quite enough fish at 03:30:46. Mum ate the fish tail at 08:36:18. After she looked around the nest for any scraps and fed them to the three osplets.
Dad did not get any of the breakfish. Mum had some good bites and skin but she could really use a whole fish to herself. Let us hope that Dad is motivated to go out and get another big one, eat 1/3 of it and take the rest to Mum and the kids before long.
Mum was sure screaming ‘happy’ when that whole fish arrived on the nest from Dad. What a great gift, Dad, to start the morning!
Little Bob was squished in between Middle (left) and Big (right) and was not getting many bites and neither was Big. Middle seemed to be at the right sweet spot for being fed.
Little goes every which way to try and get up to the fish. Poor little thing is so hungry.
In the image below, it is Little and Big up at the table. That is Middle in the back. Note the big crop. Big ‘encouraged’ Middle to move away.
All of the chicks had nice crops. Mum ate some, too, but she really good use more.
Mum flew off and returned and when she did, she began brooding them. It is chilly in Port Lincoln this morning.
Dad was hungry and went out fishing again straight away and was at the nest with another fish for everyone, headless and smaller this time, at 0911.
Big and Little Bob shared that fish. Middle was shut out. A third fish arrives within 2 hours. We would think that all would be well but, Big then took exception to Little eating so much and Middle. This time Little Bob gets cheeky – and at 12:12:00 decided to beak Big Bob.
Big Bob tore into Little, Middle even got afraid but, it did not stop Little Bob and Middle getting back up to eat some of that nice fish. They all had crops and were so full that even Mum got some fish.
A 4th fish comes on the PLO nest at 13:37. It was completely finished at 13:48. All ate well. Dad really made up for the last couple of days. I wonder what changed at Port Lincoln. (Dad does not intentionally catch fish – he is hardwired to provide for his family so what changed?).
Everyone had a big feed before bed. It was a great day for Port Lincoln. Let us hope that today, when everyone wakes up in Australia, it will be another 5 or 6 fish day.
There was a video posted of SE 30’s fledge. I know that you will want to see that. It was such a good flight and SE 30 did return to the nest after being away for about 45 minutes.
As all of you know, SE29 had been returning to the nest on a regular basis to sleep above SE30. They were the best of mates and well, we wondered why SE29 was not around. And we worried. SE29 was found in a residential area injured and is now in rehab getting much needed fluids. Here is the posting for SE29 followed by a video of SE30’s fledge.
It was such an eventful day yesterday with the small chicks left at Melbourne in the hot sun and the Mum doing the best she could to restore order. That appears to have ended well.
But things were not all rosey for SE30 after fledging. The Currawongs were all over 30 and at one time it found itself surrounded by attacking Currawongs upside down in a tree.
SE30 was able to get out of the predicament it was in. You can see the nest above. The Curras are unrelenting. Thanks ‘H’ for alerting me!
A parent slept on the parent branch but SE30 has not returned to the nest tree and did not sleep there. My fear is that the Curras drove the bird out to the Salt flats and away from where the parents are so that it can learn to hunt and hone its flying skills. Please send your best wishes to both 29 and 30.
Everything at Melbourne settled down. Mum demonstrated great skills getting the last eyas up to scrape box with the others.
The top image is Mum trying to brood those four large eyases. ‘H’ has helped me solve my problem with IDing these two adults. Mum has the lateral bars high up on her neck. You can see them no matter how she is positioned.
The eyases seem to be fine from the big ordeal earlier in the day when they found themselves in the hot sun without Mum shading them for nearly an hour.
For ID purposes, this is Dad looking after the eyases while Mum has a break and eats her meal. Notice that Dad is ‘white’ at the neck and has few lateral bars high up. I had been checking for a black line descending from the hood to identify Dad but it is often not visible. Thanks, ‘H’.
There was a bedtime feeding at Orange. It was impossible to see how much prey Rufus received. Indigo is getting her pin feathers and Rufus is still soft and fluffy getting its eyes focused.
You can see Indigo’s pin feathers coming.
What a day it was. To recap: At Port Lincoln, Dad amazed everyone by bringing in four fish before early afternoon. Even then Big was rip roaring upset. Once it had eaten, it was fine for the others. At one time, Big even let Little eat beside it when Middle was shut out. Then, of course, Little decided to be brave and beak Big. Still, all ate well at Port Lincoln yesterday including Mum. At Orange, Diamond is doing much better getting prey into Rufus’s beak now that its head is more steady and its eyes are focusing. It appeared that the wee one ate better yesterday but I could not tell from the last feed. SE30 fledged and got in trouble when the Currawongs began their attack in the late afternoon. I suspect that they have driven 30 out of the forest just in the same way they probably drove 29 out. (or it would have returned to the nest). Melbourne seems to have averted what could have been a tragedy.
When the day was over, sadly, the only nest without its resident fledgling or chicks was Sea Eagles. We hope that 30 is safe and we wish a quick recovery to 29.
Who knows what the 11th of October holds for Australian nests. I hope it is quiet! In the US, they are putting up a new camera for the Redding Eagles and Connor from Window to Wildlife is going to Captiva to check on the camera. There is lots going on but the action of the raptors and their lives continues to be in the four Australian nests. It is Thanksgiving in Canada. For all those celebrating, have a wonderful day today with your family and friends. My report will be coming in quite late this evening.
Thank you for joining me. Take care all. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their posts and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: to ‘J’, ‘H’, and ‘A’ who sent news and timestamps, Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park and the Sea Eagles FB page, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Port Lincoln Ospreys, and 367 Collins Street by Mirvac.
