Tag Archives: SF Bay Ospreys

How some Osprey parents avoid siblicide…Thursday in Bird World?

8 June 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

Oh, it has been relatively quiet in the garden. In fact, eerily quiet. There has been no sign of the feral cats that visit this end of the neighbourhood, the birds have seemingly disappeared, and only Dyson and Co. have been coming for peanuts, along with a few Sparrows and Wrens. Is it the heat? I wonder. Lewis and Missey ‘decided’ that they would no longer allow me to trim their nails without putting up a big fuss. Well, guess what? Both carriers out; they went in out of curiosity and zipped up and off to the nail trimmer! They were both in such shock. Lewis howled as if I was pulling those toenails out, and Missey was a darling then, on the way home, they were both angels. No more nails for scratching one another – well, til they grow out.

We will start with some sad news that Alo, 45D, from the Bald Canyon Eagle nest has died. This eaglet swallowed a fish hook and line and underwent surgery under the care of the IWS. Completely unnecessary.

I thought that would be the only death but, no…sadly I woke up to news from ‘H’ and ‘SP’ that Rosie and Richmond have lost their only osplet this season to unknown causes. Our hearts go out to this devoted couple.

And then there are balloons…seriously. This one has a happy ending, thankfully.

As all of you are aware, Osprey nests can be a feast or famine. One day there will be six or seven fish deliveries and the next day, it might be only one. Weather and intruders contribute to these fluctuations. We remain grateful to the wildlife rehabbers that rescue and give the little ones a second chance (sometimes third and fourth).

One nest that is flourishing with four Osplets on it is PSEG’s Patchogue platform on Long Island. It is remarkable because of the difference in size between the first two hatches and the fourth, little Mini. Somehow I doubt if anyone seeing this nest for the first time believed there was any hope for little Mini and yet, here we are on the 7th of June and little Mini is growing and growing. What is the secret?

As we have seen, osplets get brooded and ‘normally’ have their last fish delivery about an hour before the sun sets. Yes, there are exceptions – the midnight feedings at Moorings Park in Naples, Florida, taught us that this year. But imagine, four osplets full or partially full at bedtime waiting for another 8 or 9 hours before another meal. They are hungry!

On the Patchogue platform on the morning of 7 June 2023, the male delivered four fish before 0850. Those deliveries were at 0545, 0642, 0711, and again at 0850. I do not know how much fish little Mini got at 0545 feeding but at the 0642 feeding, Mini was right up there and there was fish left for Mum. At 0711, Mini is eating alone, a private feeding from Mum. By 0725, Mini has a huge crop and Mum moves the fish over to the other side of the nest to feed the others if they want to eat. Mini is first up at the table at 0850 and is still eating at 0934. Then the others eat some.

0725 and little Mini has a big crop.

Private feeding. Fish 4. Mum has fed chicks for more than three hours with all these deliveries.

At 1004 others eat.

1043. Little Mini is preening.

1114: Little Mini and the bulging crop.

1204. Little Mini in food coma. What a lovely sight.

There has never been an attempt not to feed little Mini despite its small size in relation to the others. Everyone gets fed and Mum makes an extraordinary effort to check and see and moves the fish around the nest to assist in feeding all.

‘M’ sent me two really cute screen shots of Little Mini standing up to one of the big Bobs. My goodness, this fourth hatch has got nerve!

1549. Mini is right up there eating!

1856 and Little Mini is up there with a huge crop! Oh, the haze from the fires burning in Canada. Dreadful for all.

There is another fish at 1936. Little Mini gets itself right up under Mum’s beak and intercepts a piece of fish meant for Big. Now Little Mini already has a big crop – Big took exception and beaked Mini who went into submission. Mini did not need to eat and did not need to create the aggravation. All big ones and Mum enjoyed that nice big trout. Nite Mini!

One thing that is happening is that little Mini is in a period of rapid growth that requires much more food while the older chicks are beginning to taper off. They eat more but less often. This might help little Mini. What does appear to be working is that fish are getting on the nest in plenty early in the morning – perhaps the fishing is easier? – and this appears to have a calming effect on the older siblings causing them to be food secure and less aggressive (not that they have ever been very very aggressive on this nest with all the fish Dad brings in and the equitable feeds by Mum).

A nest that has a problem with differentiation in feeding is Achieva (and Severna). As of Wednesday afternoon Middle has been rescued by Birds in Helping Hands. He was underweight and well…I can only imagine how good that fish is going to taste to him.

Big eating the fish on the nest..Big was very aggressive – the nest lost one chick to siblicide/starvation and Middle was on the verge. So thankful to those people who helped — you know who you are.

Want to thank Birds with Helping Hands? Send them a donation. That is how they manage to stay afloat.

Middle grounded.

Middle in the carrier on the way to rehab and a second chance at life. What a shame it would have been for this beautiful bird to starve to death. It was noted that Middle was not critically endangered of starving to death as so many are and he should be back and fit – having enjoyed meals without having to fight big.

Shelley Vickery contacted me Wednesday evening. Penny, the rehabber, says that Middle “should be just fine”. Isn’t that fantastic news?!

Please consider a donation – every dollar helps, no matter how small. We must support those that get out there and answer our calls for help.

Go to: birdsinhelpinghands.org

‘H’ sends me word from a view nests that we have been monitoring. At Severna, Big got all of the early fish. Then “The next fish was brought at 1330, and feeding commenced 1333.  Middle was on the other side of Olivia, and Olivia maintained her position for once.  It was a 16 minute feeding and Olivia distributed bites evenly.” Thank heavens! Middle had another good meal at 1438. Oh, keep it up Mum!

At the Patuxent II nest, H reports, “This is the nest of three osplets where there had been some aggression, although no bird has been kept from eating at the feeds I have observed. Feeding from 1316 to 1434.  I observed no aggression at all.  All were very well fed.  #2 had to wait his turn simply because of the strange configuration of that nest bowl.  Mom just couldn’t reach #2.  But at 1341, #2 started to get fed as others dropped out.”

‘H’ sent a good report on some of the changes at Forsythe Osprey nest and the new aggression towards the small osplet during meals – something that has not happened previously. “Fish 0912, feeding 0913 to 0927.  Mini in front row beside Little.  All got bites, no one touched Mini.  Mini ended up in a food coma. 1011 fish, feeding from 1013-1052.  Prior to the start of the feeding, Little beaked Mini and Middle, Mini tucked, Middle beaked back.  Little beaked Big, and Big beaked back.  At the start of the feeding Little beaked Middle again, Mini was still in submission.  Mini had a hard time getting up to the food line through the wall of the three older siblings, went around the other side away from Little and waited.  By 103842 Mini got its first bite, Big and Little dropped out, soon followed by Middle.  So Mini had a private feeding until 1047 when the others started to come back.  By 1048 Mini was in a food coma. 1222 fish, feeding from 1223 to 1232.  When the fish arrived, before the feeding started, Little beaked at Mini pretty roughly.  After the feeding started, Mini stayed back, nevertheless, Little turned around and beaked Mini on 4 different occasions.  Mini never made it to the food line.  After that feeding was over, Little beaked Mini at 1350, 1355, 1358 and 1403.  I don’t know why Mini stayed close to Little and didn’t seek a safe spot beside Big or Middle.”

The feedings really depend on Mini being able to stay away from Little who appears to be a very aggressive third-hatch female. ‘H’ notes that Mini got ’52’ bites on the Thursday morning feed because it was buffered by Big and Middle away form Little.

The latest report from ‘H’ on the Forsythe platform is really interesting. “All lined up  [3,2,4,1], so I thought, good, Mini stay away from Little.  But due to the sheer size of Middle and Big reaching for bites with Mini in between, Mini got squeezed out to the back row (nothing intentional).  When Little saw Mini, Little went on a mission to punish Mini.  Little went to the back row, and beaked Mini intermittently from 1449 to 1454.  Finally Big saw what was going on and reached back and beaked Little, so Little moved away!  Finally at 1500 Mini was up between Big and Middle again and was able to eat.  At 1503, Little tried to get back into the feeding and Big beaked Little, keeping it away, seeming to protect Mini, I kid you not.  So, Mini got fed, and probably ended up with more bites than Little.  If Little had just stayed in the original feeding line and not focused on beaking Mini, she would have been better off.”

Laddie LM12 delivered a whopper of a fish to the Loch of the Lowes Nest – late. Finally Middle gets to eat. Both osplets had full crops at the end of the feeding and even Blue NC0 got some fish.

Only osplet at Cowlitz PUD is still looking good. I sure hope some big fish come to this nest…that water area needs to be stocked!

Needed to check in on Victor and Abby. I think this is Victor screaming for a fish and then chowing down on one…talk about fantastic parents!

Oyster Bay osplets look like they are doing OK.

The trio at Outerbanks also look healthy with clear shiny eyes. I have not been able to ascertain about the equity in feeding but right now, each looks healthy.

Two babies at Seaside are looking good, too.

How much food the third hatch is getting at Barnegat Light is unclear. The two big ones did not allow it near to a nice big fish at the late feeding and I have not watched this nest closely but it did eat well at an earlier one.

Oh, just look at that Bob stand up for its fish at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn!

At Glaslyn, Elen is feeding the chicks and Aran is on the branch with another fish!

Two years ago, CJ7 of Poole Harbour only dreamed of having a mate and osplets. Then a very young Blue 022 stopped by the nest. It was too late in the season and everyone hoped he would return. This is their second year for raising chicks and they have three adorable little osplets.

Tucked in tight for the night.

Big Red and Arthur are starting to get the Ms to be interested in self-feeding. M1 took on a chippie today and did well. The others will not go hungry during this period. Big Red will continue to feed them. Very different than an osprey nest!

All done.

San Jose City Halls little falcon sure is loud. Had a nice meal in the morning and – well, I don’t blame it – I didn’t see later prey. Screaming for food at noon! Hopefully a later meal.

Still screaming at 1525.

Locations of Waba and Bonus on 6 June.

Dmitri’s Storklet is growing and doing well…gosh, there is good news out there in Bird World.

Pi, one of the trio at the Dulles-Greenway Bald Eagle nest, was doing so well, she was released back into the wetlands to be fed and trained by her parents, Martin and Rosa. The metal you see around the tree is a raccoon protector.

Angel and Tom’s surviving hawklet now has a name – Deyani (Great and strong). Beautiful. ‘A’ writes: “Great name for RTH5. It was lovely to see Tom feeding Deyani yesterday – as I mentioned, it was more a matter of Tom pulling bits off that squirrel and Deyani grabbing them. Tom looked a little shocked the first time the hawklet grabbed dad’s bite from him, but then Tom continued with his work on the squirrel and eventually actually deliberately gave the hawklet some bites. I felt like a proud auntie.”

Fires are raging. No Arctic ice. Temperatures are rising and the situation at nests such at Achieva who are suffering from a severe drought are set to see this pattern continue. Nests burned, raptors dead…

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/06/too-late-now-to-save-arctic-summer-ice-climate-scientists-find?CMP=share_btn_link

As-smoke-darkens-the-sky-the-future-becomes-clearDownload

One of my favourites, Bill McKibben on the haze…Thanks ‘B’!

I-can-see-clearly-nowDownload

Thank you to everyone who has sent e-mails worried about me and the wildfires. That was so sweet and so very kind. We have haze but it is not nearly as bad as other parts of Canada and the US. So far the recent rains have helped.

Thank you for being with me today. Please take care of yourself. Send your good wishes to our nests. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to create my blog today: ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘H’, ‘L’, ‘SP’, IWS, SF Bay Ospreys, Holly Parsons and The New Zealand Herald, PSEG, Achieva Credit Union, Birds in Helping Hands, Severna Ospreys, Forsythe Ospreys, LOTL, Cowlitz PUD, Moorings Park, Outerbans 24/7, Seaside Ospreys, Conservancy Conservation of NJ, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Cornell RTH, SJCH Falcons, Bird Map, Dmitri’s Storklet Cam, Dulles-Greenway Eagles, Gracie Shepherd and Raptors of the World, The Guardian, and The New York Times.

Featured Image: Chicks being fed by Daisy at Barnegat Light.

Brooks has returned to her nest!

4 August 2022

This will be so short…Brooks, the only surviving osprey fledgling of Richmond and Rosie at the Whirley Crane nest on San Francisco Bay has returned to her nest after being usurped by the intruder.

Here are some pictures.

Here is the link to the camera:

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Is it really Little Bit 17? and other Sadness and Gladness in Bird World

3 August 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

I was out almost all day yesterday and returned to find some sad news. We will get this over and move on to all the good news!

The situation at the #4 Osprey nest in Finland turned darker. An intruder appeared and the chicks ‘fell or flew’ off the nest. The youngest who had not as yet flown was predated. This is also the chick that was so vigorously attacked by Mum the other day. So sad. Thank you ‘N’ for letting me know. This is 81 lost so far in the past 13 months on streaming cams.

The Mum and the surviving fledgling on the #4 nest. Keep them in your warmest thoughts.

Ervie. Bazza Hockaday was doing some photography for a client and found Ervie, too. Can you spot Ervie on top of the pine tree? This park is across from the barge – so Ervie is staying close. (Magnifying glass almost required!)

Meanwhile Mum and Dad are making sure that Mum is quite comfortable on those eggs – they are lining the nest with a Silver Gull, one of the favourite foods of the Sea Eagles.

Everyone wondered if anyone would be keeping an eye for Little Bit ND17. It seems that lots of people who loved the eagle that fought so hard to live continues to have a loyal fan club. This evening on the Notre-Dame FB page, the following was posted. It looks as if our Little Bit has been very resourceful and is doing fantastic. Tears, joyful tears!

SF Ospreys have not received the DNA results from Brooks and Molate. Brooks continues to enjoy herself at the other nest and the visitor seems right at home. He is certainly a lovely Osprey – and talented.

The ‘visitor’ at the nest of Richmond and Rosie has done something very special – it caught a Spiny Dogfish (Shark) that lives in the Bay. (Reminds me of those brought to the nest at Mispillion Harbour in Delaware – bet it is just a slight difference in name from one region to the other but the same fish). The juvenile very proudly brought it to the nest. SF Ospreys say this is highly unusual. They have only seen a juvenile do this once. Round of applause!

Here is the video clip:

At the Black Stork nest of Karl II and Kaia, Karl was busy flying back and forth to the fish basket. He delivered 3 big meals to the storklets. Kaia delivered 1 on the 2nd of August. There was some concern that Karl II’s GPS was not working but it seems to be fine now. Thank goodness. I do worry about them all the time for some reason – storklets not yet fledged and requiring much food before migration.

Bonus has been standing on the curved perch with 1 leg. Great balance. Bonus is the oldest of the four. He is 72 days old on 2 August.

The four storklets of Betty and Bukacek are doing fantastic. The female- Fifinka- often spends time on the nest of the adults and then flies to the natal nest when food arrives. Sometimes she holds back from the bigger males but she wastes no time getting there if she is hungry. In the image below she is at the top flying in.

There is no reason for it other than sheer dominance at the Sydney Sea Eagles nest. Lady feeds SE29 and 30 at least every hour if not sooner. Things were going relatively well until 0911 when 29 decided to not be nice and attack 30.

Three minutes later 29 is going into a food coma and 30 is being fed (0917 below).

SE30 keeps its head down to protect it.

Notice how 30 is slinking around the back ready to move forward and eat when 29 calms herself. Very clever tactic.

SE 30 is still being fed four minutes later. All is right with the world.

Mom and Dad on the nest of the Port Lincoln Barge early on 3 August.

Did you fall in love with Louis and Anna at the Kisatchie National Park Bald Eagle cam? couldn’t believe your eyes the day 18 fish were on the nest? did you melt and worry when Kisatchie fledged? when Kincaid hatched this year? Well, Cody and Steve have more fun for everyone. You will be able to watch 2 Bald Eagle nests from the Louisiana! Here is the announcement:

Humans and wildlife rehabbers helping another juvenile eaglet so that it has a second chance at life. These stories are always welcome!

The fish have been arriving in various sizes to the Osoyoos nest. ‘H’ sent me a note this morning saying the tally was at least 13 yesterday. Olsen is keeping up the numbers and some of them had to be good a good size. Sometimes the chicks are full and sometimes they aren’t. The last fish for 2 August was delivered at 20:01. Dad brought it in and Big Chick (BC) grabbed the tasty little twiddler. Dad rooted around and found an old piece of fish and fed Little Chick (LC). The family is nourished and hydrated. They have a break in the weather for a few days. This is all good news.

Here comes Olsen! BC rushes over to get the little prize.

Fortunately for LC, Dad found a piece of fish and is feeding him while BC works on the twiddler. It is all good.

The fish started arriving at the Osoyoos nest around 0523. The first was a small one but it seems to have changed possession at least 6 or 7 times. BC has been grabbing and self-feeding. Soo got into the action so that her and LC had some breakfast too. It is starting off to be another great day at this nest with 7 fish before 00700. Thanks Olsen!

Beautiful Iris. She continues to work on her nest. Precious are these moments – every year we wait til she leaves and wonder if she will return in the spring after migration. 29 years?

There are no updates on L4. It is now presumed that it was another window strike on the Cornell Campus. That would mean that of the four eyases – three struck windows at Cornell whose Bird Lab is one of the world leaders. Of those three, two are in care and one died. It is time Cornell made its windows bird strike proof like all of us try to do. I have not see at this time 1052 CDT an image of the head of the juvenile believed to be ND17. Elsewhere things seem to be steady but that could change as I hit the word ‘publish’.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, postings, videos, etc: Osoyoos Ospreys, Notre Dame Eagles FB, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Mlade Buky, The Eagle Club of Estonia and Looduskalender, Center for Wildlife, US Forest Service at the Kistachie NF, Port Lincoln Ospreys, and SF Bay Ospreys. They have been turned into my screen captures.

Did you know falcons kiss? and other stories early Friday

29 July 2022

Good Morning everyone. I hope that you are all well. Bird World appears to be quiet although it might not be…there continue to be intruders at nests. ‘N’ expressed some concern about nest #4 in Finland. I will keep an eye and see if there is an intruder there. The visitor is still with Rosie and Richmond and Brooks is living on a nest about a mile away. In my lifetime my home has been the place where the children of my friends or my children’s felt they could come for a ‘break’. Some stayed a night, others a month, and some 18 months. It helps me to understand what is going on with the ospreys in SF Bay. It is fantastic that they take good care of one another’s little ones. Enlightened. So many academic journals speak to the notion of cooperation instead of competition and that in the end, cooperation is better for all of the raptors. We are certainly seeing it played out on the nest of Richmond and Rosie.

Serious romance is happening in the Cal Falcons scrape…Bird World might be relatively quiet but….wow…there are fireworks between Annie and Alden!

Despite areas around Osoyoos being 44 C today, Olsen managed to deliver fish and quite honestly that is all that matters. The chicks are looking food and it is Friday! There is – oh, let’s for once have a correct forest – cooler weather coming after Sunday. Soo has done the best she can do and Olsen is working as best he can…good work everyone. Just look at those two beautiful chicks.

The heat warning for Osoyoos and this beautiful family has now been extended to run through Monday. Oh, goodness.

Olsen has already been out fishing and that is fantastic.

So far the two osplets – one has fledged -on the Janakkalan nest in Finland are doing so well. The second has yet to fledge. We hope that the goshawk that visited the nest two days ago does not return. These two need to eat and build up their strength for migrating south – what a dangerous journey for them it will be.

Only one on the nest at Loch Arkaig as the light begins to cast such a beautiful glow on the valley and loch below. Yesterday this chick was flapping and hopping and today could be fledge day. Hoping you get some wind, Sarafina.

Dawn finds one fledgling on the Manton Bay nest at Rutland of Blue 33 and Maya. Waiting for a delivery of fish by Dad no doubt! But look at the crop..was there something already on the nest??? I wonder.

At the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn, there appear to be three fledglings on Dad’s perch – not on the nest!

Kielder Forest is celebrating the fledge of the 100th chick from its osprey platforms since they started in 2009. That lucky chick was Fourlaws, a female from nest 6. Of those 100, Mr YA from Nest 1A was responsible for 26 of those. Sadly, he is not longer with us but Mrs YA gets several gold stars. She brought in 3 large trout today! I do not know if you knew but Nest 1A originally had four beautiful osplets. 440 Farne fledged but he has not been seen since and is believed perished like his father, YA.

The four fledged. that is a tremendous undertaking. Mrs YA is really amazing taking on all parenting roles now.

Victor is at the end of this short video clip about the sound Bald Eagles make. No new news but we all hope that he is doing splendidly in the great care of the Ojai Raptor Centre.

Oh, I haven’t mentioned the California Condors for some time. Shame on me! The chick in Tom’s Canyon (parents are 462 male and 846 female) is doing fabulous. Huge hopes for this one.

This is the link to the camera:

The storklets of Bukacek and Betty are doing fantastic. They are so white now compared to when they were younger and it was raining. They looked like they had rolled in soil rich in Red Iron Oxide.

Betty is calling to Bukacek who is in the ‘adults only’ nest in the background.

Look at how beautiful the four storklets are. Oh, my goodness.

Karl II has brought in lots of fish for the first meal for the four Black Storklets on the Estonian nest.

‘H’ caught the two fledglings at the Mispillion Harbour platform doing a great tug o war over a fish. Super shot. The oldest won but no fear. Dad or Mum will arrive on the nest or out on some of the perches with something for the youngest. What a great nest this one turned out to be and few people watch it. Definitely one to put on your list for next breeding season.

Notice the already nice crop on the one in front and the long legs of the fledgling behind. Beautiful birds. They are, of course, doing what they need to do to flourish on their own — fight over food and win!

I had a note from ‘N’ yesterday with a question about an osprey platform in Idaho. It is not a nest that I knew about and I have written to the parks manager to find out more because it seems this nest had four fledglings! Four. It is rare as we know. All survived. There is no rewind and there were only two on the platform this morning. Yesterday when I was watching there were three birds on the platform.

There are three cameras,, not all of them are on at the same time and there is no rewind but the clarity is excellent.

Here is a map of the location. The area looks like it would be great Osprey territory with all of the lakes. It is also in the region of the heat wave that has been hitting the area. Osoyoos is actually directly north and just a wee bit west.

This will give you an idea of the area.

Sure enough…this area is going to be even hotter than in Osoyoos. Keep all of these ospreys in your thoughts until we can get the end of Monday finished then there is hope for cooler temperatures.

Here is a link to McEwan Park Ospreys, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

https://www.cdaid.org/videos/OspreyCameras?p=8088&d=3&name=South%20Camera

There are few Bald Eagle fledglings that we can catch coming to the nest. Thankfully Lilibet is one of those – I wonder if she is still missing Victor? Hopefully we will get an update on his improving condition this week. For now, Andor and Mama Cruz are providing really well for their girl.

Lisa Yen caught this great capture after Lilibet had consumed several fish and a bird about a week ago. Goodness…that is a crop.

Just a couple of images of the Sea Eagles nest in Sydney. One of my readers ‘C’ says it is a hard nest to watch. It is! Yesterday SE30 had a really good feeding when 29 was asleep. These are going to help it. It seems a long way away but this nest really should be settling down in another week. My suggestion is to simply watch another nest…check on this one in a day or two or even three. As long as the food continues to come on the nest and there are feedings every hour or so, I am not thinking there is going to be a problem. But, as always, we know that nests turn on a dime and anything can happen.

The ‘official’ word coming out of Sydney is that the nest is doing fine. No worries.

Thank you so much for being with me this morning. Unless there is a major incident or announcement about a bird in care, I will begin what I normally do during the month of August and write only one blog a day until we have some more nests with eggs in Australia. Almost every osplet has fledged in the UK. Sarafina at Loch Arkaig should fly today. I will continue to monitor the nests that are suffering from these extreme heats caused by climate change. Please keep them in your thoughts. It is so very tough for them. Take care everyone. Stay safe. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their posts and/of streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Osoyoos Ospreys, SF Bay Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, Cal Falcons, Mlade Buky Storks, Eagle Club of Estonia and Looduskalender, Explore.org and IWS, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Mispillion Harbour Ospreys and ‘H’, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park, McEwan Park Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab, Dyfi Osprey Project, Kieldner Forest, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Google Maps, and LRWT.

Early Wednesday in Bird World

27 July 2022

I am starting to write tomorrow’s blog on the evening of the 26th because there is good news at Osoyoos. It is a lovely evening on the Canadian Prairies. It is nearly 2100 and the garden animals have departed to their sleeping quarters. I would love to know where they go. It is cooler here, we have had lots of rain and the hot weather seems to have passed – for now. The clouds, however, are coming and looking strange and you can hear thunder in the distance.

It was certainly a relief to go onto the Osoyoos Osprey cam and see the time stamps that ‘A-M’ had listed for the fish deliveries by Olsen. Fish at 0510, 0524, o554, 0616, 0943, 1103 and 1633. Apparently all of the fish were a good size but the first one. This is fantastic. It just seems unthinkable that anything could cause these two beautiful osplets not to fledge.

It was also a good evening because Ferris Akel was on the Cornell campus in Ithaca looking for Big Red and her family.

Big Red looks as if she is beginning to moult. L2 has a much whiter than L4 but in these images it is truly hard to tell which juvenile is which. What is important is that all are safe and sound.

One of our readers, ‘J’ has written about the Sydney Sea Eagles SE30 and its attacks on SE29 when the two are alone on the nest. Yes, it is true that is happening and yes, 30 does, at some feedings, become submissive to the older sibling which is larger.

I remember when I began watching the Sea eagles. One of the moderators at the time told me that typically the second egg is the ‘insurance ‘ egg. It is only there if something should happen to the first hatch. Of course, I was horrified. At the time I had not had any experience with some of the other eagle species where the eldest hatch always kills the youngest. In some instances, the age difference impacts this even though there is lots of food on the nest. In other instances, it is simply ‘standard practice’ for the eldest to kill the youngest. This is known as obligate siblicide. I want to be clear. I am not saying this is what is happening at the Sydney Sea Eagle nest in 2022.

At the Sydney Sea Eagle nest there has been plenty of fish so far this year. The chicks hatched relatively close together and, observations over the past five years show that there has always been some initial competition on this nest;; once this resulted in siblicide. In fact, sibling rivalry with SE23 began on day 5 in 2019. The rivalry ended in week 6. In 2018, there was also sibling rivalry with SE21 becoming dominant often pecking 22 who would retreat in submission. That rivalry period lessened after 3 weeks. Sadly, there was a period of 6 days when the male did not bring any food to the nest. The female hunted but the prey was so much less and SE22 was constantly attacked, becoming weaker and finally dying on day 33. In 2019, 2020 and in 2021 both eggs hatched each year and both chicks fledged. So the last time there was siblicide on this nest was 2018 and that was the result of 6 days when the male did not bring food.

For those constantly watching the Sea Eagles nest, just take a deep breath. Hope for continued good prey deliveries and wait. There is a strict no intervention policy at the nest (or there has been in the past) and I have no reason to believe that this has changed. Wishing it to be so will only cause personal angst and frustration. If things get bad, this is what I suggest – take a three day break. Then go in and check on the nest and see how the younger one is doing.

Whenever individuals – and we all have – worried about dominance competition, I like to go back and look at one of the videos from the SW Florida Bald Eagle nest. In particular, one of E19 and E20 who, at the end, were the best of friends. The year prior, many will remember E17 having to go to ‘time out’ at the CROW clinic when it was so aggressive to E18. They were inseparable twins when they fledged.

Here is the announcement for the discussion with Christian Sasse and those wonderful folks from GROWLS. Please note the time in the posting below. This will take place on YouTube.

For those of you that love those UK Osprey nests, take note. I was reminded by my calendar and friends in Wales that the countdown to migration has started…by 4 weeks from today, the females should have or be departing, followed by the fledglings and finally the males. So enjoy them while you can!

Just a few images from the UK nests this morning.

Idris and Telyn by the Dyfi River
Idris, Telyn, and one of the fledglings hanging out by the river with the cows.
Idris at Dyfi
Aran with one of the boys from 2022 at Glaslyn
Aran on the perch, Mrs G and kids on nest
Mrs G and three in nest
Dylan at Llyn Clywedog
Dorcha with Willow and Sarafina at Loch Arkaig

Of course, migration begins in North America also. If you want to keep track of North American migration in the east, there is no better place to go to see the numbers than Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania. What is Hawk Mountain? Founded in 1934 by Rosalie Edge, Hawk Mountain became a sanctuary for migrating birds – not a killing club. Edge initially purchased 1400 acres of land which has now been extended to 2600. The thermals over the mountains are perfect for the migrating birds to soar. You can visit the centre and even take part in the great migration count or you can watch the numbers increase from August to mid-December. Here is the link to the chart for the Hawk Mountain fall migration count.

https://www.hawkmountain.org/conservation-science/hawk-count

If you are wondering about the drama playing out at the Whirley Crane in SF Bay home to Rosie and Richmond, here is the latest news. Please not that Brooks has come to the nest at least once but was chased away by the visitor.

The day has started early in Osoyoos with Soo feeding a small fish to the two chicks and herself. Hoping for lots and lots of early fish today as those temperatures are set to soar in the afternoon.

Those two are growing and they are so cute….wish for fish everyone!

There is sad news coming out of Estonia. The camera at the nest of Eedie had gone down. One of Jan and Janika’s chicks had been fostered there. Urmas has just announced that all four of the Black Storklets have been predated. This is a terrible loss. Of the three nests, Eedie, Jan and Janika, and Karl II and Kaia – only 4 storklets survive. The four in the images below will now have to fledge and then survive flying through the Ukrainian War zone and other dangerous places to reach Africa during the fall migration.

At the Karula National Forest nest of Karl II and Kaia, there is good news. Karl II did find the second fish basket that Urmas set up for him. This is wonderful as the feedings had been getting quite lean. Here is Karl arriving with a feeding for the four. Now, Bonus, the foster chick on this nest is the only surviving storklet of Jan and Janika.

One of the chicks at the Janakkalan Osprey nest in Finland is really getting some height to their hovering. Expect a fledge soon! It is so exciting. So much has happened on this nest – illness and presumed death of the Mum and starvation death of a sibling, an intruder – that we shall really celebrate when these two surviving youngsters fledge.

One last check this morning and that is at the Boathouse. The dancing diamonds from the sunrise make it nearly impossible to see what is happening on the nest but…it looks as if one of the chicks of Dory and Skiff is trying self-feeding! Oh, fantastic.

Thank you so very much for joining me this morning. Keep sending your best wishes to Osoyoos for fish deliveries today as those temperatures climb to 41 C or 102.5 F. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams, videos, and/or FB posts where I took my screen captures: Osoyoos Ospreys, Ferris Akel Tours, Audubon Explore.org, Sydney Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Dyfi Ospreys, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, CarnyXWild, Eagle Club of Estonia, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Lady Hawk, SF Osprey Cam with Richmond and Rosie, and Bald Eagles 101.

Norway osprey numbers grow plus Brooks kicked off nest by intruder…plus other brief news in Bird World

26 July 2022

It has been a beautiful day on the Canadian Prairies. The temperature is just right after our midnight thunderstorm. The forecast shows we could be in for another unsettled night. There are intruders everywhere in Bird World. Some are harmless – others not so much.

There is wonderful news coming out of Norway. Efforts to lure Ospreys to better locations after they have been impacted by extreme weather and deforestation are working. The number of Osprey chicks in 2022 is up 50%! In 2021 there were 54 chicks and this year there are 70. Fantastic.

https://www-smaalenene-no.translate.goog/hils-pa-tre-nye-skjetvinger-stor-suksess-for-orne-prosjekt/s/5-38-1197055?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp&fbclid=IwAR0LDlZvDHfkGXlw0XyFcSlpbEmbfPxUinYdqbpKYZvvIacOrSp2HrluRVc

Sadly, the news out of the SF Bay Osprey nest of Richmond and Rosie is not good but, worrisome. On 25 July Brooks was sent off the nest by an intruder. in a rather violent attack.

At present, 1118 PST, neither Brooks or Richmond have returned to the nest. Rosie is there somewhere with the intruder who has returned and is eating a big fish on the nest.

Since the intruder arrived, Richmond and Rosie have provided six fish. The intruder has not let Brooks return to the nest. The location of both Richmond and Brooks is unknown the last time I checked.

Thanks to ‘A-M and Burky 4’ for the time stamps at the Osoyoos Osprey nest. They are sooooo appreciated. We know from the weather report that it is going to be a scorcher. According to our avid hawk eyed chatters, there have been at least 6 fish deliveries, some of good size, to Soo and the chicks. The last one was at 11:03. The chicks were full from the previous deliveries at 0554, 0616, 0944, 1955, and 1103. There was some indication that the 0554 delivery was either the 2nd or 3rd of the morning. This is great. They need all the hydration they can get as the temperatures rise during the afternoon. Thank you, Olsen!

A lovely tribute article to Big Red and her two mates, Arthur and Ezra, and the chicks on the Cornell Campus.

Cornell’s Beloved Hawks Raise a Family, Far Above Campus

Many of you have written letters and e-mails to BC Hydro. I still get the most welcome letters asking “What else can I do?” Tomorrow Christian Sasse will hold a discussion on that very topic. It is on YouTube and it is free. The time below – 3pm – is, as far as I know MY time which is CDT. The Pacific time would be 1pm or 1300. Go on line and check to be sure. YouTube should give the time locally at the event! Let’s try and have a good turn out. BC Hydro needs to know that we care!!!!!!!! And that we are not giving up. It will help everyone in other regions and countries when they go to demand their hydro poles protect our much loved raptors and storks.

Good to know.

At least three large fish have landed on the Jannakalan Osprey nest in Finland. Dad is taking very good care of his youngsters who are 51 days old today.

At 1904 both are working on fish.

Not quite 2 hours later, Dad arrives with another! I wish we could courier one of these to Osoyoos.

The little Sea eaglets could share some of the five fish on the nest in the Sydney Olympic Park. The cute little fluff balls finally got interested in breakfast. Sometimes there is just too much fish!

In fact, too much fish is what ‘H’ is report about the two fledglings at Mispillion Harbour. It appears that they are eating both on and off the nest. So much fish! That is another one of the Dog Fish Sharks landing on the nest in Delaware. Thanks, ‘H’.

Rescues of our beautiful raptors caught up in fishing line are always inspiring. Two surfers and a fisherman came to the rescue of an exhausted Osprey. Stories like these reach large audiences and help those who fish at least become aware of the problem and, hopefully, if they love wildlife they will become part of the solution. Thank you ‘B’ for calling my attention to the good news!

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/24/surfers-and-angler-combine-to-rescue-osprey-caught-in-fishing-line-off-north-stradbroke-island

Oh, please keep Richmond, Rosie, and Brooks as well as Olsen, Soo, and the two kids at Osoyoos in your positive wishes. Those two chicks at Osoyoos are big and walking around. So far Olsen is doing good going out early. That might pull them through this week if he can keep it up———— . Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care of yourself. Remember Christian Sasse’s discussion tomorrow!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam and/or FB postings where I took my screen captures: SF Bay Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Osoyoos Ospreys, GROWLS, and Cornell Bird Lab.

Late Monday news in Bird World

25 July 2022

Oh, I hope that you had a good day wherever you are. Everything ‘seems’ to be fine in Bird World.

The rain has started pouring down – just a couple of minutes ago. Before that the three every-growing-larger Crow juveniles were having fun in the Bird Bath, eating their sandwiches and peanuts along with Dyson, the Blue Jays, and a host of sparrows. Dyson has to have a nest somewhere. She has a very short tail and I was told that she would line the nest with the fur. She is ‘quite large at the back end’ my daughter responded when she saw her. Baby squirrels soon? We hope. Lots and lots of peanuts were put out so everyone had plenty.

I just checked on the Osoyoos Osprey nest. I could not see the time stamps but Olsen apparently brought in at least one large fish to Soo today! There was an early one and one later and maybe some in between. The chatters were happy.

The smallest eaglet on the White-bellied Sea Eagles nest, SE30, needs a shampoo. There is fish juice stuck to all of the soft down on the top of its head. You can easily identify who is 30 and who is 29. 29 is also bigger. That extra day surely makes a difference at this stage. I stayed with the feeding to make sure that 30 got fish and it did! Lady tried 29 and its beak was closed and 30 moved to the other side for bites.

I am always asked if the female Ospreys bring fish to the nests. Oh, yes, they do! They normally do not do this until well after the chicks have fledged unless there is a need (for example, the male disappears or the fish deliveries are not enough). Rosie brought Brooks a nice piece of fish today. Brooks has been doing a lot of flight training.

Blue 33 landed at 17:52 with a really large fish – including the head. Two of the female fledglings had been on the nest fish calling to Dad when the third flew in wanting any leftovers on the Manton Bay nest.

It was delightful seeing all three girls on the nest and Dad. It is always nice to ‘see’ that everything is going to plan. It is not often you catch them on the nest and all seems well.

That is such a nice fish. I wish that Soo could have just one that size for her and the Osprey chicks in Osoyoos every day. What a difference it would make in their development.

Watching Osprey and Eagle families is very educational. You do not appreciate the necessity for good plentiful food until you have seen a nest suffer from lack of prey with stress lines in the feathers of the chicks and babies dying from starvation. It is the same with human animals.

There are so many Osprey nests and Daisy and Duke at the Barnegat Light nest have fallen off the radar. There the two surviving osplets are – goodness, full plumage – ready to go! (The third was accidentally pulled out of the nest cup at a very young age and died).

Every year I remember a friend telling me that if I really loved the plumage of the Red-tail hawk juveniles then just wait til I saw the fledgling Sea Eagles! But…I know we all have our favourites – there is nothing for me that can improve on the plumage of the fledgling Ospreys. I think they are much more beautiful than their parents! And wish they did not have to change. I would say the same for the Sea Eagles – juvenile sea eagles with their creams, golds, coppers, browns are smashingly beautiful.

The three osplets of Dory and Skiff are simpy adorable. They line up nicely for dinner and no one seems to want to cause the other any big problems. They are now standing and learning how to walk on their feet instead of their knees.

Oh, just look. Kissed by the peach at the nape of the neck and on the ends of the feathers with that dark eye line. How many young women wish they could get their eyeliner to look like that?

Dory did a great job – a big shout out – for this first time Mum. Skiff did, too!

The camera at Two Harbours in the Channel Islands panned around and caught one of the adults perched. Then they did nice close ups of Lancer waiting for a fish!

Lancer waiting patiently at time for a fish delivery – until she sees an adult and she really lets them know she is hungry!!!!!!!!!!

At the West End, Thunder was out on the Lookout Rock. Yesterday Akecheta brought Kana’kini a fish on the natal nest. I did not see any of the juveniles today. Did you?

At Fraser Point, Lilibet was on the perch and then on the nest eating a small piece of prey. Gosh, she’s gorgeous.

Ah, if you go to the Glacier Gardens Eagle nest and re-wind you can find spots where the camera does not have moisture on the lens. Peace and Love are getting big and they have been working their wings! I did notice that the rain has caused them to look a little ‘rough’. They will fluff back up quickly.

It is gently raining at the Big Bear Valley nest of Shadow and Jackie. Gosh it looks lonely without Spirit and her parents. Did you know that this is the one of the highest Bald Eagle nest in the US? The nest itself is 44 metres or 145 ‘ up in a Jeffrey Pine. The elevation is, however, 2164 metres or 7100 ft.

This is just a hop, skip, and jump through a small number of the nests we are watching. The nest of concern remains Osoyoos and it is doing well today. Fingers crossed and positive wishes for tomorrow and the next day. Thank you so much for joining me. It is such a nice change when the news is all good. Thank you so much for joining me. Please take care of yourselves. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their FB posts and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Osoyoos Ospreys, SF Bay Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Glacier Gardens, Explore.org and the IWS, Explore Audubon, Barnegat Light Ospreys, Sydney Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park, and LRWT.

Monday in Bird World

20 June 2022

It was hot but -not like yesterday- and the weather reports says it is currently raining – again – and will do so for a few hours! The heat and the rain have done amazing things in the garden including causing the tomato plants to grow so tall that they will not have to be transplanted into bigger pots with bamboo poles. They are the same ones that I always plant that have more or less just sat there for 4-5 years with about a dozen tomatoes on each. I understand not, more fully, why the gardeners and their crew are always busy and often use machetes to clean up the lawns and beds in the West Indies.

I was looking for information for another nest and I came across a 2020 Zoom conversation about the ND-LEEF Osprey nest – home to Little Bit 17 this year. Some of you might be interested in the discussion – the first sighting of the nest, the size, how many ospreys in the area, etc. Those stats would have changed over 2 years but they are interesting and helpful. The conversation starts at 26:28. There are some audio issues at the beginning.

The three osplets at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn will be ringed next week. The precise date will be announced one day prior. There is a guessing game going on as to the gender of the chicks on the Dyfi chat. Have a look, take a guess. It is all in good fun. The other day Idris brought in a Twaite Shad. The record catch of that particular species in Wales is 2 lb 2 oz. It is possible that Idris now holds the Welsh record! Hey – he’s fabulous – Daddy Longlegs. You gotta’ love him. Of course, he brought in another whopper not long ago.

BTW. Telyn is one of those Rutland gals that found a home in Wales. Manton Bay (Telyn’s Mum, Maya) has 3 girls this year we need some Welsh boys!!!!!!!! Although I think it is GGB on this nest. We will find out next week.

‘H’ introduced me to a new nest this morning by way of a question. I wonder how many are watching the Mispillion Harbor Osprey Cam at the DuPont Nature Centre? The nest is located on the Mispillion River and Cedar Creek on the west shore. There were four eggs. There are month old osplets on the nest currently- two of them. I cannot confirm what happened to the other two eggs.

‘H’ told me some wonderful stories about this nest – much appreciated! But the one about the piece of yellow material is just brilliant. Mum is apparently obsessed with it and it flew off one day and she went and retrieved it. She certainly isn’t using it to camouflage the chicks so why? Is it nice and soft and you don’t get poked with the sticks from the nest? It is quite a lovely colour and it is surprising how Ospreys get drawn to bright coloured items – Richmond -I think Rosie has broken him of bringing them to the nest and Jack – Harriet still contends with all those toys.

I did not know this nest before this morning. Never watched it. It is on the Mispillion River and Cedar Creek in Delaware – another nest in Delaware. The area is now protected so there is no development.

Dad brought in a whole fish this afternoon. Very nice. Most often the males will eat the heads. He must not be hungry.

Here is the link to their streaming cam.

Osprey Watch shows this population of Osprey nests in the area. Wow.

Laddie just brought in fish 7 to the Loch of the Lowes nest. He was unable to fish and not seen for 36 hours. It is assumed that he was busy getting rid of intruders other than an injury. There are definitely fish in the loch. Blue NC0 must be so full she will pop – I hope Laddie is eating those fish, too. Big and Middle must be too full to even move.

Dylan continues to bring in nice trout – his favourite I think – to the Llyn Clywedog nest. Those three Bobs are fantastic! Seren is quite happy with the deliveries, too.

There they are – 3 big girls with all their bling at the Manton Bay nest at Rutland of Blue 33 and Maya. All the chatter is their arrival in two years time looking for a mate and a nest in Wales. We will wait and see.

It is 16:58 at the Poole Harbour Osprey nest and Blue 022 has just brought in the 4th fish of the day to CJ7 and the kids.

I can see one nice chick’s head up there for the fish.

We have the names of Richmond and Rosie’s osplets. Here is the announcement from SF Ospreys today.

I continue to miss much that is happening at Llyn Brenig. Both of the chicks are still with us but this nest is plagued by intruders. It is unclear how much fish get delivered. The babes look good, though.

Poor Dorcha. It looks like her weather is the same as ours. She doesn’t always catch a break. Still, Louis is great to get the fish on the nest for all of them regardless.

Louis lands with another fish just as I took the screen capture above. Oh, how splendid. Full crops at bedtime.

I hope that Dorcha gets her own fish. That salmon looks good and she is one super mum. My goodness I have forgotten how many times she has been blown tail over head off that nest this season. She is fantastic. Kids are lucky to have her and Louis. Very lucky.

The Glaslyn nest is doing fine, too. Aran has brought in the tea time fish and you can hear the sheep bleating in the background. How idyllic. Mrs G and the kids seem happy.

Two little heads peeking up above that large nest bowl at Fortis Exshaw in Canmore, Alberta. After what happened at Patuxent, I am really starting to wonder if someone doesn’t need to check this nest after breeding season and secure that middle and fill it in. (It could be done now – the osplets will not jump out and it should be a quick temporary fill in).

Electra continues to visit the Cowlitz PUD nest in Washington State where the Bald Eagle took all three of her babies. Heart aches for her.

It looks like it is a beautiful Tuesday morning in the Sydney Olympic Forest. Lady is rolling the eggs and getting ready for the day. Still a few weeks to hatch. Dad has been busy bringing in fish, giving Lady a break and taking his turn incubating the two eggs.

I do not know how many of you saw this. Our dear Grinnell Jr spent the first night after fledging up in a tree. John Davis shot this footage and Cal Falcons posted it. He has since visited The Campanile and I am sure missing the sound of his ‘voice’.

The two worrying nests – Loch of the Lowes – and the ND-LEEF are fine today. Laddie has quite outdone himself and could have shared half that fish with Little Bit at ND-LEEF. 17 did a nice of the end of that fish this morning. I hope there is more later at the nest. Both ND15 and ND16 have branched. Ahote still seems to be the ‘star’ at getting prey at the West End. What a juvenile that third hatch has turned out to be. He is one to watch.

Thank you for joining me. I hope all of you are well. Stay safe. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Inside the Nest, Dyfi Osprey Project, Mispillion Osprey Harbour Cam, Osprey Watch, Friends of the Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, CarnyXWild, LRWT, Poole Harbour Ospreys, SF Bay Ospreys, Llyn Brenig Ospreys, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Postcode Lottery and the Woodland Trust, Fortix ExShaw, Cowlitz PUD, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, John Davis and the Cal Falcons.

Little Bit ND17 is still the ‘King of the Snatch and Grab’ and other news in Bird World

15 June 2022

We needed some good news in Bird World after Big Bob plummeted Little Bob at the Loch of the Lowes to death earlier this morning. That nest, by the way, is not any happier. Laddie brought in what looked like a minnow. Blue NC0 and both chicks will be quite hungry. I wonder what is up?

But, never mind! At the ND-LEEF nest there were two fish brought in before 10:00. The first was a Sucker delivered by Mum and the second was a Blue Gill brought in by Dad.

At 05:53:51, the sucker arrives. Little Bit 17 gets it first. What did I tell you. Then he loses it. Then he steals it again — twice!

At 09:45:53 Dad brings in the Blue Gill. ND15 gets it. At 10:01:03, Little Bit 17 steals it. Boy is this kid good. He grabs it, does the most amazing turn around and runs to the porch to eat it!!!!!! Wow. Is happiness spelled fish???????? It is cooler – 78F. Yesterday it was 96 F at the nest. Let us hope more fish arrive if it is to be ultra hot later.

The sucker arrives at 05:53:51. Little Bit will get it first, lose it and steal it again twice!

Little Bit 17 is very clever. He has had to be to survive on this nest with two much larger siblings and often, little prey. His head shows that he has also paid for trying to steal food to live. So, he sits and watches 15. 15 is not hostile to Little Bit like 16 is.

Little Bit watches and listens and plans its attack.

When he sees the right opportunity – meaning he can see that he can grab the prey and get out – he goes for it. He grabs. Turns back to the right like a ballet dancer doing a pirouette. Then he moves quickly to his safe spot – the porch.

ND15 raises its wing. Little Bit 17 has the rest of the fish and is getting to the porch. What is really incredible is we are talking about an event that only took seconds.

This is thought to be ND16’s first branching – at 10:06. We don’t know what happened when the camera was off. This is good. 15 has already branched and maybe 16 will be more concerned with flying than with Little Bit.

The temperature has now jumped and it is hot. Thankfully – due to his great stealing skills – Little Bit 17 has had some food and hydration.

It is week 4 at the Osprey nest of Richmond and Rosie on the Whirley Crane. San Francisco Ospreys posted their weekly update video of the family. Do we have names for these? Not yet, in a few days. Should I mention that there is no problem with fish delivery at this nest?

Congratulations to Pittsburgh Hayes 18 who fledged this morning at around 11:17. (or is it a fludge?). Upper left branch – lots of leaves and flies off from there! Well done.

We are into day 2 of fledge watch at Cal Falcons. It is hard to believe that Grinnell Jr and Lindsay are really ready to fly!

They can look through the openings to see the world outside that will soon be theirs.

L4 was on the nest with L3 this morning. Beautiful little hawks of Big Red and Arthur. There is a storm coming in on Thursday so fingers crossed that L4 decides not to fledge! What a cutie pie.

The storklets of Jan and Janika had a good feed not that long ago. They are doing extremely well. The staff and all those involved must be terribly happy so far.

We now know that Betty at the Mlade Buky White Stork nest eliminated the youngest chick, the 5th, a couple of days ago. Now Kaia, the mate of Karl II, has tried to eliminate one of the storklets. They are all big! Everything is currently normal on this nest. Kaia might perceive that there is not enough food. She does not know that Karl II has been bringing in lots and lots of food. Let us hope that all stays normal with all the chicks! Send positive wishes.

Today there will be an on line presentation and Q & A about the Bald Eagles on Gabriola Island in British Columbia that have adopted the Red tail hawklet. It was brought in as prey on 4 June and is currently being fed and cared for by the eagles as if it is their own.

Go to this YouTube site to set the reminder if you wish to be part of this discussion. I cannot tell you the time in your zone as YT automatically sets the time remaining to my specific zone which is 15:00 CDT.

There is super news coming from the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G. Aran fed his three chicks of 2022 for the first time today.

It was pitching down rain at Loch Arkaig. Poor Dorcha and the two surviving chicks. Louis was able to bring in a fish as things began to clear. Please keep this nest in your thoughts.

Seren and Dylan on the perch together with the three Bobs in the nest below. What a gorgeous family portrait and what a beautiful site in Wales for an Osprey nest. All is well here.

Telyn and Idris have been keeping intruders away from the nest. Gosh these returning two year olds can be a nuisance that can also cause harm to a nest. Reminds me of the juveniles returning to Taiaroa Head when the chicks are on the nests alone and they dance and sky call and pick on the little ones.

There has been the osprey in the image below briefly visiting the Cape Henlopen Osprey nest. I cannot identify it other than it does not appear to be the Mum because her necklace was very faint. I could not see the feathering to tell if it was the intruder female that removed all of the osplets.

Spirit spent the night with Jackie at the Big Bear Valley nest in California. How reassuring is it to see these beautiful fledglings return home – safe and sound?

I really wanted to give you the good news about ND17 so I am posting much earlier than planned. While 17 didn’t get a whole fish – and it is getting hot – he did get food and he is definitely not lethargic like the Loch of the Lowes osplet.

It is the first sunny day we have had and rain is to come again at 1800. My plan is to be outside in the garden listening to the birds! Thank you so much for being with me today. I will be posting again on Thursday morning. Take care all.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Pix Cams, ND-LEEF, Cal Falcons, Cornell Bird RTH, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery, and the Woodland Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, SF Bay Ospreys, Cape Henlopen State Park Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyXWild, GROWLS, and the Eagle Club of Estonia.

Late Friday and early Saturday in Bird World

10-11 June 2022

Oh, it is Saturday. I hope everyone is doing well. In Winnipeg we had a huge unexpected treat. At least 100 Canada Geese in a single formation flew over the City at 1930 heading north. Are these late arrivals due to the flood? I also saw two other smaller V formations with about 39 geese in each. What a treat. It was mesmerizing and they were so high up you could barely hear their honks. No pictures other than the extraordinary one emblazoned in my mind.

Orion, Martin and Rosa’s eaglet, fledged from the Dulles Greenway nest on the 3rd of June. What a beautiful flight it was! Since this he has been perfecting his take off and landings at the nest. What a gorgeous fledgling.

‘L’ sent me two links to the Osprey cams at Patuxent River Park. One nest has one nicely chubby but hot osplet and the other has three. It looks like the river is covered with lily or lotus pads.

Looking at those images reminds me of the fostered osplet placed on nest 2 last year and it falling off the edge into the water! What a scramble it was to find someone to help because the park office had just shut down. Thankfully the chick was saved by a dedicated staff member who listened to all the messages and took her canoe and partner out to find the little one. So grateful.

Kana’kini fledged on the 10th of June. She is currently above the nest on a stone cliff. It looks like an excellent place for a prey drop from either Thunder or Akecheta – or will they want her to return to the nest?

Here is a video of Kana’kini’s fledge and her return:

Oh, wow. Lancer, Chase and Cholyn’s eaglet is now 9 weeks and 3 days old on the 11th of June. Or in days – 66 days old. We have a little while to go before fledge but not long.

There could be a fledge by Star or Sentry at Liberty and Guardian’s Bald Eagle nest in Redding. Both eaglets are high up in the nest tree looking out even though an adult is on the nest.

Spirit is doing what all eagle fledglings should do – return to the nest for food provided by the parents. Spirit flies in several times a day. She eats, sometimes she sleeps duckling style – flying has to be tiring. And sometimes she sits for a bit with one of her parents and sometimes both. How privileged we are to be able to watch that little check develop into this strong juvenile.

Three fish were delivered to Spirit today – wow. Way to go Jackie and Shadow. The last image shows Spirit with a huge crop.

Food is a great motivator and Spirit loves her dinner. Jackie and Shadow are very smart to keep feeding their big girl very well and keep her coming to the nest til she is really ready to leave. So grateful for their wisdom.

Mr President and Lotus’s eaglet has also branched and will be fledging soon. This reminds me. I had a question today about the adults feeding their eaglets. First, Takoda had a fish around 0600 on Friday the 10th. The adults will withhold food to teach the eaglets to eat everything and store it because they do not know when more food will be available. They also withhold food to encourage fledging. Likewise, they will feed an eaglet to full and bursting if they do not want them to fledge at that particular time. The adult eagles are very wise – they do what is necessary when using food as a motivator.

It is not the first time in British Columbia, Canada’s most western province, that a Bald Eagle took a hawklet into their nest for dinner and wound up raising it. The other hawklet was in a nest in Victoria. It fledged. David Hancock and Christian Sasse often presented video clips and discussions about this phenomena. That one could be seen catching and eating fish. This one is on Gabriola Island just off the coast of Vancouver Island a little north of Victoria. The hawklet has been in the nest for a week and is being fed by both the eagle adults.

The eagle is feeding the hawklet Saturday morning. Lovely.

Please note that there is no rewind. You can watch the action here:

http://www.growls.ca/eagle-nest-cam/?fbclid=IwAR1xUTd-2UO6cFQnR1ZA8HtcImZUmzNOf5EXhP4Tq7RmeNOR5uLtnAshmUg

Idris landed on the Dfyi nest at 04:19. Chicks just waking up – a little earlier today – ready for breakfast.

Lots for everyone. Big and Little are up front while Middle is going to sleep a bit longer.

The Dyfi are looking for name suggestions for the three osplets of Idris and Telyn this year. Here is the announcement:

There have been two more fledges at the Manchester Peregrine scrape. Both Cinquey and Blue flew out this morning. This leaves Colby – the baby – who isn’t such a baby anymore!

The three little storklets of Jan and Janika have been seen begging at the decoy mum. Amazing.

The weather is nasty up in Scotland. Louis did deliver a fish and now he is hunkering down with Dorcha and the kids on the Loch Arkaig nest. Let us hope this system goes through quickly. They are such wee babes. I hate this prolonged wet weather. It causes so many issues.

The bad weather has left the Loch of the Lowes. All that remains is the very strong winds. Laddie has brought in a fish and the two big ones were eating first with Little Bob hanging behind. He has now moved over as the older ones are getting fuller.

It has dried out for Seren and Dylan and the three Bobs at Llyn Clywedog. They have also been fed and all is well. Everyone is growing – even the little one.

It has been windy at Glaslyn and Aran has been fishing. Mrs G might not like flounder but the osplets don’t care!

Meanwhile down in Rutland it is a gorgeous day. Blue 33 has just delivered another fish to May and the osplets.

Both fledglings at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest continue to return happily to the nest to be fed. They are really honing their flying skills and getting those wing muscles strong. Fantastic to see them both doing so well.

The two chicks of Richmond and Rosie in SF Bay are certainly not ready to fledge but they are becoming more and more interested in what is happening around them at the Richmond Shipping docks. They are 25 and 24 days old.

Lady and Dad have their second and final egg at the White-Bellied Sea Eagle cam in the Sydney Olympic Forest. I have not seen an official time posted but it appeared to be laid around 01:12 on 12 June nest time. Now the long wait during incubation!

Other nest news: If you are a fan of Loch Garten Ospreys, there was a hatch this morning! And for those that follow the Royal Albatross, OGK has been confirmed to have returned to feed QT chick. Fantastic news. Little Bit 17 is waiting with the two older sibling for more food deliveries. Dad brought in a fish around 08:20. He did get some raccoon yesterday which he ate on the porch side. Fingers crossed for some big fish today for all of them! At the Decorah North Bald Eagle nest, DN15 fledged. Mr President and Lotus were on the branches at the National Arboretum nest where Takoda had a nice fish very early this morning – around 0559.

Quite a busy Saturday.

Thank you so much for joining me today. It is a beautiful day in Winnipeg with the promise of rain tomorrow. The wee bunny is still visiting the garden – it is safe and away from houses that have dogs or cats. It is wonderful to see him eating away at the grass. Dyson has been seen along with Scraggles but it is difficult to get photos because the lilacs are simply full of leaves. It is a real forest out there for them this time of year!

The Hibiscus are also blooming. Thankfully all of the critters leave the flowers alone so that the butterflies and bees can enjoy them.

Take care everyone. See you tomorrow! Have a fabulous Saturday wherever you are!!!!!!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or video clips, FB posts where I took my screen captures: Dulles Greenway, Patuxent River Park, Explore.org and The Institute for Wildlife Studies, Friends of Redding Eagles, FOBBV, NADC-AEF, GROWLS, Dyfi Osprey Project, Peregrine Networks, Eagle Club of Estonia, Friends of Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery, and the Woodland Trust, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife, CarnyXWild, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, LRWT, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, SF Bay Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, and the Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre.

http://www.growls.ca/eagle-nest-cam/?fbclid=IwAR1xUTd-2UO6cFQnR1ZA8HtcImZUmzNOf5EXhP4Tq7RmeNOR5uLtnAshmUg