It might be April Fool’s Day but Big Red isn’t fooling around. She laid her fourth egg today! Cornell Bird Lab has it on video: https://youtu.be/JlHxc-bpsQg?
Aeron Z2 has arrived at the Friends of Osprey Pont Cresor nest in Glaslyn. Of course, this could get interesting as Elen is home alone at the other Glaslyn nest and Blue 014 has yet to arrive at Pont Cresor.
Aeron Z2 is handsome, and he did cause a lot of mischief last season. His brother Tegid Z1 (on a private nest) is also equally adorable. Monty’s boys.
Lots happening at Loch of the Lowes but not a couple confirmed as yet. And where is Blue NCO? Does she have another nest and mate? I wonder.
In the garden, lots of action as a Sharp-shinned Hawk (a male) had a Starling lunch right in front of us.
Missing Blue 35 – and females chasing after White YW. I don’t blame them – he’s a great dad at Foulshaw Moss.
USS9 and USS10 are cute.
More fish are needed at Moorings Park. Everyone is fighting with little three, and 2 seems to be the dominant osplet right now. 3 got some fish – finally.
I am always concerned about the Achieva nest, always. For many reasons.
It was quite the day here. Our entire routine went upside down and sideways. The new care helper came at 0830. She is fantastic. Then the delivery man came with two months of birdseed – bags everywhere. Then the installer arrived to wire the house for the alarm, the doorbell, and the fire alarm. Ann arrived and then there were several other deliveries. I don’t need to tell you that Don, The Girls, and Toby are all snoring! It is going to be an early night.
Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon – remember. We are waiting for the hatch at Big Bear along with hundreds of thousands of other people.
Thank you to the owners of the streaming cams and those who have posted information and images on FB that I have used in today’s blog.
There was some excitement in the garden mid-afternoon on Thursday. A small Sharp-shinned Hawk showed up on the post that Sharpie used to use when he hoped to grab a sparrow at the feeders. It is not a great image – taken with my phone. The branches are so bare. There is no place for a songbird to hide from the hawks so they fly away in a group as fast as they can when they know s/he is in the territory. This one has been coming for a few days, but this is the first time I have seen it. This is an Immature Northern.
Calico watching the hawk!
Hope is feeling better. She is looking out the glass door wanting out…how do you really stop them from running, and jumping and just being cats? One of their aunties asked about putting a cone on Hope…thankfully she has not been licking, but, like her mother, she fought that cone to the point that it was safer for her not to have her wearing it. She did lick the places on her legs where they were shaved for the IV. She is a sweet little thing…but ever so terrified. She played with me for quite some time this afternoon, but she is still quite nervous.
Hope wants to give you a ‘High Five’.
Missey has been a very bad influence on Hope. Last year the little twinkle tree had to be taken down because Lewis and Missey were eating the flocking off the branches. This year Missey has been doing that with reminders to stop. Still Hope saw and copied! Human children do this, too. As adults we have to be ever so careful.
Calico and Hope are so happy to be reunited after her absence. These two can never be separated. They share a traumatic bond – a young kitten having a single surviving kitten in a very dark place. The kitten lost for a week and then by a miracle, Hope finding where Calico was.
Wanting out to join the rest of the world!
Hope has been reminding everyone that there is a Green Friday. She is watching to ensure that I do not purchase anything on Friday, telling me we need nothing. The approach of Canada’s Green Friday reminded me of a woman I met in Beijing after the 2008 Olympics. She had owned a cafe, a cooking school, and a catering business in NYC. She was now enjoying her retired life. Over breakfast at a Hutong near the Drum and Bell Tower, I asked her what she was buying as a souvenir of her time. She smiled and said, “I spent the first 50 years of my life buying stuff, and I will spend the last 50 getting rid of it!” That single statement had a profound impact on me. Instead, because cooking was her passion, she would go to a 15-course Palace-style meal, Ming Style. How appropriate. An experience. A memory.
Ferris Akel was on the Cornell Campus on Thursday and he spotted Big Red and Arthur. I cannot imagine anything more wonderful than seeing the two of them safe and sound on a November day.
Again, there is a lot of activity. The Port Lincoln osplets are getting such beautiful juvenile plumage and they continue to wait patiently for their breakfast to arrive.
Still waiting for fish. The cam operator gives us some gorgeous images of beautiful Mum.
13:11. I wonder when the fish fairy will arrive. Dad is on the ropes.
The fish fairy arrived at 14:16. It was one of those nicely prepared Trevallys with a secret Red Mullet tucked underneath – Mum’s favourite. Thank you FF and to all those who have caught and/or donated fish to keep these babies alive so they can fledge.
‘A’ reflects on Port Lincoln, “At Port Lincoln, the two osplets are just so gorgeous. I love how well they get on with one another and have come to the conclusion that they are both males – Giliath was just first-born and as greedy as most chicks. Barru is fast catching up to Giliath in terms of size. Both are very laid-back and have been pretty much the whole way through, even in the reptilian and itchy phases. Mum works so hard to feed her babies. She is such a good mum and really does seem to do her best to ensure she looks after both osplets. Don’t we just love a peaceful nest? The fish fairy has been such a boon, and doesn’t seem to have stopped either parent from fishing – she just brings in larger fish (those pre-sliced trevally are GIGANTIC but you’re right – mum’s favourite does seem to be red mullet). Here are time stamps for the day so far (it is nearly 18:15 local time). “
Observation board for Port Lincoln for yesterday:
Annie and Lou at The Campanile have a brisk discussion. We are not expecting eggs for a few more months.
At Orange, gorgeous Diamond was in the scrape.
Early morning with Diamond and Xavier and..
They grew so fast…hoping that Marri is still flying. She was such a strong girl.
There is a rumour that Samson has returned to the NEFlorida Eagle nest…not sure who started this, but it looks like Gabby and V3 to me. (Samson would have been gone a year…).
I was reminded that this is the first anniversary of Samson’s disappearance. Oh, what a lovely mate he was for Gabby. Still missed.
Gabby and V3 this morning.
Jackie and Shadow came to check the nest and move a few sticks on Thursday.
There were two eagles in the nest at SW Florida protecting it from the GHOs Thursday night. M15 and F23 are getting serious. We are on egg watch.
We are a fortnight away from hatch at Superbeaks!!!!!!!!!!
There is action at the Webster Texas Bald Eagle nest, too. Look at that nice fish! Wow.
Why are these birds dying along the Scottish coast?
How many have watched the last season of The Crown? In one of the episodes, King George V is out grouse hunting while his cousins, The Romanovs, are being killed in Russia. For those that are not familiar, it is the beaten grouse hunting that has caused the number of raptors deaths in various localities of the UK to rise significantly. The gamekeepers of the land where the hunts take place kill the hawks – sometimes stomping on their chicks in the nests on the ground – so that they will not eat the grouse. Hopefully there will be a growing call and those in power will listen to stop this practice. More on this later…
Thank you for being with me today. There isn’t a lot of news. Sometimes it is nice to slow down before we have eaglets in nests all over the place! Please take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, pictures, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A’, Ferris Akel Tours, PLO, SK Hideaway, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Cilla Kinross, Karen Lang, NEFL-AEF, FOBBV, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Superbeaks, Paul White, The Guardian, and Raptor Persecution UK.
It was not a particularly nice day in Ithaca, New York. In fact, it was 2 degrees C when Arthur arrived at the nest this morning at 08:16:35. He brought some twigs, tested the nest bowl, and looked around. Arthur has really been bringing twigs at an exhaustive pace recently. According to one of the founders of the FB group, Big Red did once lay her first egg on 13 March. Are we in for an early start this year? Or does Arthur know that bad weather is coming and realize that when it is good to restore Big Red’s nest he should waste no time? Arthur, you are quite adorable.
Arthur was still scurrying back and forth with sticks two hours later.
My very first love was an urban hawk – a Sharp-shinned Hawk that visited my garden one frosty January day. I ran out in my slippers and housecoat thinking that the hawk had killed and was eating the garden rabbit, Hedwig I. The hawk kept eating until I got within 15 cm or 6 inches of her. I have learned so much since that early morning and I would never ever go out and interfere with Sharpie having some breakfast or lunch now. She was not eating the rabbit but a sparrow. We looked into one another’s eyes for several minutes, not moving. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. And how blessed I was – looking into her eyes that morning changed my life. Thankfully, I quietly returned to the house and Sharpie finished.
As a result of this beautiful, close encounter, I have an interest in urban raptors that has grown over the years. Sharpie still comes to visit the garden. Of course, I now also know that Sharpie is a male! He is very cheeky – always pausing to see if I am watching from the window he will turn his head til our eyes meet and then he flies away. I always wonder where he roosts and how far his territory extends. It seems that the peregrine falcons are in the centre of the downtown area which is between 4 and 4.6 km away from where I live. So it would seem that their territories do not overlap. It is curious. I think he has a route and I know that he is ‘mad’ at me for removing a twenty-foot tall cedar tree. The little birds would get inside that tree filling it up. Sharpie would come ripping through a small space between my house and the neighbour’s making a sharp right angle turn into the tree. He was always successful at hunting – always. Sadly for all of us, we had a four year drought and no matter how much water the tree was given it simply was not enough and wasn’t the heavy rains that nature provides. It died and had to be removed. Now, Sharpie really has to work for his lunch. And if you are wondering, yes, I have thought about planting another large conifer for Sharpie! It isn’t a cat or dog that rules our house but the garden animals!
Sharpie was very puffed to stay warm on his last visit. It was -32 that day. He is sitting on his plucking post and if he raises his head slightly, he can see me watching him from the kitchen window. I do not go outside when Sharpie is hunting so all of the images are through glass – and he is fast. Not as fast as a Peregrine Falcon, of course, but fast enough for me not to be able to grab my good camera — unless, of course, he is eating lunch which takes about 35-40 minutes.
He glances back to me and is gone in a blur. Such a beautiful much loved raptor.
Robert Yolton writes a great blog on urban raptors. His focus for years has been the Red-tail Hawks that live in and around Central Park in NYC. While he writes about other birds in the area, I really enjoy this time of year when he begins to report on the hawks preparations for spring breeding season. On 16 February, five days ago, he has lovely images of the couple whose nest is on a balcony of a high rise apartment at 84th and East End Avenue. He wonders if they are merely working on the nest or if the eggs will be laid early this year. And that, of course, is what we are wondering about Big Red and Arthur. Yolton’s reports are always accompanied by beautiful photographs. One other recent one has images of hawks, Kestrels, and a Great Horned Owl in Central Park. I urge you to take a look at his blog: urbanhawks.com You will not be sorry!
I have checked in on the three Osplets at the Captiva nest in Florida on and off today. It was actually wonderful to see my daughter today which meant that I was not sitting and counting the bites Little Bob got in a feeding! Here they are all lined up from the eldest on the far end to Little Bob on the end close to us. They look like a choir. I hope this continues. It reminds me of the three Port Lincoln lads (until they fledged).
Speaking of Port Lincoln lads, if you missed it, Ervie visited the barge yesterday. He was there from 19:15-20:31. He missed seeing Dad who arrived half an hour after he left.
Port Lincoln has asked everyone along the north shore to kept an eye out for Ervie. This is his latest tracking in the area. The green pin indicates his position at the time of the tracking. Continue to notice that Ervie goes back to the nest on the barge. For several weeks I have said that I felt Ervie would continue to stop in. Let us all hope so! It was lovely to see him yesterday. He is in good form.
One of Ervie’s greatest fans is ‘A-M’. She believes that Ervie stopped by to see Dad and to tell him, “ I found a place, it’s cool. I need help moving sticks and nest stuff. Come visit and bring fish!” It brought tears to my eyes. This is the first time I have been able to watch the interaction between the adults and the juveniles after they have fledged other than the adult bringing a fish and getting out of the way quickly. There was something very heartwarming about seeing Ervie and Dad just sitting around the sticks, as if it could be a campfire, with one another.
So keep watching the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. You might catch a glimpse of our handsome Ervie.
After seeming to be missing in action for two days, the male GHOW at the Savannah Owl nest has returned. The Mum was so excited. His return is on video when he brings a nice fat rodent for her to feed the owlet. The sounds from the owls is adorable.
That is excellent news. With all the intruders at that nest, including that Red-tailed Hawk, it would have been almost impossible for the Mum to raise the owlet alone. Cornell did a very cute video of the female GHOW feeding the two-day old owlet Dad’s prey. Have a peek:
Gabby and Samson are doing a great job trying to entice NE26 and 27 to self-feed. Fish are brought to the nest unzipped and left for the two hungry eaglets. So far NE27 who learned to feed itself more than a week ago has done the best. After the eaglets work on the fish then either Gabby or Samson comes in and fills the two up! This nest is doing so well. No one is hungry.
That old saying is knock on wood. And that is what I am doing. It seems that the nests are doing well. If you are a fan of the National Arboretum nest, Lotus laid her second egg yesterday – the 20th of February – at 18:39. Bella and Smitty are both working on the NCTC nest. Another eagle has been seen soaring and both Bella and Smitty have taken to easing it out of the territory.
The couple at the new Bartlesville Oklahoma Bald eagle nest are incubating two eggs laid on 15 and 18 February. I grew up in Oklahoma and it will always hold a special place for me. I hope this couple are successful and have to great fledges. The link to the camera is:
Look closely at the image below. Do you see a ‘meadow muffin’ or a ‘cow pie’? Looks like the Oklahoma eagles have a unique item that they are going to line their nest with!!!!!!! Can I say ‘only in Oklahoma’?
Thank you so very much for joining me today. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and FB where I took my screen captures: The Sutton Group, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Window on Wildlife, Cornell Bird Lab, and NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF.
If you have come to find out about ceramics today, I am sorry to disappoint. Today’s chatter is about some of the visitors to our garden. One of the reasons that we have remained living in the urban centre of a growing Canadian city is our garden. Twenty years ago a dozen lilac bushes were planted along the east side of the property at the back. There is also a peony bush that thrives despite the fact I am told it is over fifty years old. The wild roses climb about along with a flaming willow inspired by a friend’s in Kelowna, a super tall Brandon cedar, a myriad of thickets and Virginia creeper. There are literally hundreds of birds every day, a pair of Chickadees and Nuthatches, a lone Downy Woodpecker this time of year, two grey squirrels, a red squirrel, and three rabbits. And then, there are ‘them’.
‘Them’ refers to the Sharp-Shinned Hawks. These hawks are small ‘accipiters’. That is they have short round wings and a long tail. When their tail is folded, it appears to be square or notched, with a narrow pale tip. When fanned it is slightly rounded in appearance. Their head is small and rounded (not flat like the Cooper Hawks). Their neck is short and they can rotate their head almost 360 degrees. Their breast is rusty-barred and they have an orange eye. They fly, according to Peterson, in several rapid beats with a short glide. Petersons also says they are better adapted at hunting in the woodlands than most of the other hawks. While several other books on Manitoba birds does not indicate it, Peterson says this: “Habitat: Breeds in extensive forests; in migration and winter, open woodlands, wood edges, and residential areas.” Their food is chiefly birds and occasionally small mammals.
My first encounter was on March 29, 2018, when I came face to face with a female at 10 am – in my nightgown no less. She was perched on one of the sheds that hold the firewood for our wood stove. She was rapidly plucking something and thinking it was ‘the’ rabbit, I ran out in the snow to confirm and discovered- seriously, much to my relief- that the lunch was one of the songbirds. [I need to add here that we do not feed the other animals so they will be a hawk buffet]. She was stunningly gorgeous and quite large. We stared at one another for about sixty seconds. I would like to think that day that our chat might keep her away from the rabbits and realising that hawks are endangered, I recognised that she also had to eat and feed offspring. She and her mate came again in April. The male is much smaller (about 22 cm tall) than the female (at least 35-45 cm tall) and his hunting skills weren’t very sophisticated last year. If this is the same one, he has much improved.
Today, he was successful and then just sat, quite content on the edge of the firewood holder. This appears to be his ‘plucking post’. The hawks catch their prey with their long legs and sharp talons. Normally, he would have left after he finished eating but, today, he was there – frozen still – for about forty-five minutes. The songbirds in the lilacs and the grey squirrel on the suet did not move. At the end of almost an hour, they even got a little squirmy. Some were hiding in the Brandon Cedar. Then the hawk flew away only to return to the thicket some five minutes later. The photo was taken with my iPhone. My presence, less than two metres from him, was not a bother nor were people walking up and down the back lane and cars. Then he left again. We were looking out the window to see if he had returned, talking about how well he was camouflaged, only to be surprised when we looked ‘to our right’ and there, on a 2 x 4 holding a solar panel to the outdoor lights, he was cheekily perched. Several minutes later he swopped past the lilacs and away. It was 4;40pm.
Has climate impacted these hawks? Most of the bird books talk about their migration and the fact that they live in forested areas in the north, not in the City of Winnipeg!
