Tag Archives: siblicide

Tragedy to tragedy. Late Monday and early Tuesday in Bird World

13-14 June 2022

The Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey nest kept me occupied for a large part of Monday . It is a very complicated situation. There are two intruder birds. They are distinctive in the very thick eye band. One has quite a good necklace and the other does not. Their eyes are close and often look like when we say ‘snake eyes’.

As the sun was setting both of the adult birds were on the nest. You can see their distinctive eye bands that are thick and go right to the shoulder. Except for their necklaces you might want to think they are twins.

One of the birds has some feather damage. It is the one who moved the chicks out of the nest. At first I thought the little chick had its wing caught in the talon but watching the bird try to remove and then in a second try achieve getting one of the bigger chicks off the nest – it was deliberate. She just didn’t have a good hold on that wee third hatch and it is probably – or was – at the base of the platform.

This bird has some interesting feather damage in at least two areas. I hope to get someone who knows about feather issues to examine the photo. It looks like a section around the scapula V on the right has been cut or torn or there are feathers missing. You can see the feather on the right hanging. The bird has flown on and off the nest carrying the chicks but returns quickly so she is just dumping them close by.

It appears that there is a third bird that is around the nest that these two are concerned about and it could be the Mum of the three dead chicks. Of course, this is simply speculation on my part. We have not seen that bird and none are ringed.

There are no adult ospreys on the Cape Helopen Osprey nest tonight, 13 June.

I have received word from ‘A’ and ‘EJ’ that the two intruders were at the Henlopen Osprey nest this morning and at one time a fish was brought and removed. The female intruder has also removed the third dead osplet from the nest. ‘A’ mentions the third osprey that has been bothering me. Is it Mum? is she injured? If it is her – our hearts go out to her. She has sadly lost her entire family.

I remember in an online discussion and chat with Sean and Lynn at Cal Falcons, they mentioned that the problem with the success of reintroducing these species is that there are too many birds. There are territorial fights, etc. Perhaps also it is the amount of habitat loss due to population growth and building, climate change and being able to get adequate food that is also a problem. For the Osprey there is then the issue of trees. Unlike Bald Eagles, Ospreys like to have their nests at the top of a dead tree. So many trees have been lost to deforestation and wildfires and in my community if someone sees a dead tree, it is cut down. Only in the marshes and mangroves do I see them. In South Australia they are busy building platforms in good places for the Ospreys if they have seen Ospreys nesting like Turnby Island. The new platform is up and the Ospreys are already on it along with most of their old nest. Do we need to get building more platforms? And if lakes and streams can be stocked for people to go fishing, what about the birds? It does appear – from many nests – that the success of both the Osprey and Eagle reintroduction programmes have caused issues for established nests – some outright tragedies. There must be some solutions.

Little Bob at the Loch of the Lowes was shut out from the evening feeding. Indeed, he had not eaten all day Monday that I am aware. Both Little and Middle stayed well out of the way of Big and just let him eat. Then Middle went up. By the time Little got up to the table the fish was gone. If this is a problem with Laddie not bringing in enough fish now – then Blue NC0 needs to step up the game and go fishing.

Big ate almost all that fish and has a big crop and so does Middle. Poor wee Bob. They can last for several days. We have seen this on many nests but it is time Little Bob had a good feed. Fingers crossed for Tuesday.

This is Blue NC0 defending the nest and chicks against the intruder.

The situation at the Loch of the Lowes has not improved. There is a ringed intruder and as such Laddie and Blue NC0 are both dealing with that. A fish finally came in at 16:00 but both Little and Middle Bob are getting pounded. Little Bob did not even raise its head and beg for food. There are any number of people worrying about this nest. I will be checking on it later. Some of the Osprey groups are already posting thoughts for Little Bob – he cannot go much longer if he is to live. I do not think he will make it either. So sad. Middle ate yesterday.

I started making a list of all the sadness at the nests this year and will post it later today. It has been a year of tragedy.

The West End fledglings – Ahote and Kana’kini – are really using their wings and learning how to land. Two of the chicks on the natal nest watch one of the siblings (I believe it is Kana’kini) fly off the nest and land on Transmitter Rock.

Perfect landing.

Kana’kini was still on Wray’s Rock Tuesday morning. She had flown there on Monday. Tuesday morning Ahote and Sky were on the natal nest when a fish delivery came in at 05:42. Waiting for Sky to fledge.

Kana’kini and Ahote have since flown off leaving Sky on the natal nest.

At the Two Harbours nest of Chase and Cholyn, Lancer will be 10 weeks old (70 days) tomorrow, the 15th. Cholyn is still flying in to feed their big girl!

There are big storms moving through the area of the ND-LEEF nest. The camera is out of sorts. This could seriously impact any prey deliveries for tomorrow. Little Bit 17 really needs a good meal tomorrow.

The system is going to impact a large area that have nests.

The camera is down because of the storm at the ND-LEEF nest. The eaglets are ND15 75 days old, ND16 74 days old and Little Bit ND17 is 70 days old. It sure would be a shame to lose this little fighter now. What a time to have a storm – backed up with days of little food. My goodness.

I haven’t checked on E1 and Nancy at the MN-DNR nest lately. Nancy made a prey delivery, E1 mantled quickly and was very aggressive to the adult. This is normal behaviour in eaglets getting ready to fledge.

There was a lot of strong winds and rain over night at the MN-DNR. The system is due to be about the same as the one in my city. It will calm down and may begin again. E1 survived it fine – thank goodness.

At the nest of Big Red and Arthur, it appears that the only eyas left to fledge is L4. Little cutie pie. And little cutie pie took advantage of having its big siblings off flying and getting prey elsewhere to eat up two prey items on the nest and get an enormous crop! Sometimes there are advantages to having your other siblings fledge. This might also work for Little Bit if everything came come together to get the parents able to find prey to deliver. I understand that this time of year at this particular nest prey deliveries suffer.

Big Red’s kids do not have that problem. Arthur is excellent at delivering food and Big Red is often hunting herself. They did a marvellous job this year. Amazing.

L4 could fledge. He has 5 going on 6 dark stripes and he is 47 days old. remember the average age of fledge is 46.5 days at this nest.

I love the stretching exercises after the meal. He stretched both sides like this.

The UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys are not sleeping on the natal nest tonight.

The adults are dropping off fish on the nest and both of the fledglings, Big and Middle, make their way there when they see the parents flying in that direction. Big had the fish and then Middle got tired of waiting and took it. Both had a decent feed. These two are doing fantastic.

It is always good to remember that what you want to see are the chicks being fed by the parents on the nest after fledge. At other times, they will feed them off nest like they did with Little MiniO at Captiva. Often times the fledglings bolt and well, they need to get home. You might recall if you watched the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest that Legacy (2021) was missing for about six days. She was so glad to find home she didn’t leave for another month!

It is early morning in The Czech Republic and Betty is feeding the four White storklets at the Mlade Buky nest. Oh, look. They are getting their pin feathers. Fantastic. Note: The smallest, the 5th storklet was eliminated on Sunday.

It is also lousy weather in Estonia but Karl II has been out fishing for these babies. Did you know he flies 10 km to get the little fish? It is monitored by his tracker.

Liz did a lovely – and short video (I always appreciate her short videos getting right to the heart of the matter) – of the three Black storklets of Jan and Janika’s in care late Tuesday having a meal. They are doing so very well. I think that you are witnessing an intervention that is going to go very, very well.

All three osplets on the nest of Aran and Mrs G in the Glaslyn Valley are doing quite fine. Just look at that face of Mrs G. I certainly would not want to mess with this Osprey Mum. In the second image all have crops after their afternoon tea time meal.

Idris taking the head off of the tea time fish for Telyn and the three Bobs. There is definitely not a problem at this nest!

Little Bob is in the middle and Telyn has been feeding him – and he will be fed til his crop is full! (or they run out of fish)

Llyn Brenig Ospreys have had their troubles. The third hatch died but the two surviving osplets appear to be doing very well. Let us hope that the horrible weather that has swept through the nests dissipates and gives these families a break!

The two surviving osplets at the Loch Arkaig nest have been enjoying all that nice fish that Louis brings in. The tea time one was a little too close to the lads or lasses but both got fed. Big Bob looks like he could be a problem. Let us hope that he isn’t! There is always fish on this nest of Dorcha and Louis.

They have had their problems up at Llyn Clywedog but it looks like those are behind them. Dylan brought in a huge Mullet for Seren and the three Bobs at 16:00:03. Just look at their crops after their tea.

That is a hop, skip, and jump through the nests with troubles and some of those that are doing so well. Seeing those three at Llyn Clywedog after the fear that Dylan was missing just warms the heart.

Last, Alden delivered what appears to be a pigeon. Annie gets it and this translates into a food fight between Lindsay and Grinnell, Jr. Neither have fledged yet but it is just morning in California! Fledge watch at Cal Falcons.

We may never know what ultimately happens at the Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey nest until we see who is on the nest for the next breeding season. If it is Mum who has been trying to get her nest back, let us hope that she either does so safely or she leaves the territory in good health to find another nest and mate.

I am working on two different pieces for you. One of Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres and their importance and another on the birds that we have lost since last 1 July. It is sadly a very long list. I had hoped to have the one on the rehabilitation centres finished this week but the events at some of the nests took over.

Thank you for joining me. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages or videos that I have captured and used for this blog: Liz M, Cape Henlopen State Park Ospreys, Cornell RTH Cam, ND-LEEF, Friends of the Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, CarnyXWild, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dfyi Osprey Project, MN-DNR, Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, Llyn Brenig Ospreys, Cal Falcons, Llyn Brenig Ospreys, Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlade Buky White Storks, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, and NOAA.

Late Tuesday in Bird World

7 June 2022

This blog is mostly about Little Bit 17. It has been a good day for our little trooper!!!!!!

Little Bit 17 (formally known as ND17) at the ND-LEEF nest is 63 days old today. Big is 68 days old and Middle is 67 days old. Little Bit is decidedly behind in food from the two older eagles and he might well be a third of their size but that does not stop him. I call these third hatches ‘The Little Eaglets that Could’. Little Bit 17 has no idea he is small. No one sat down with him and explained size ratios, lack of development due to lack of food, etc. Now, some people might think it is a bad thing that Little Bit is a little eaglet. Perhaps not. He is decidedly quick- he can snatch and grab the prey before the two big eaglets. He is also extremely intelligent – he has learned to read the environment and know when to go in after the prey rather than get injured. Great lessons for the future. Later on he will be able to get that prey and fly off with it.

Today ‘something with a pelt’ came on the ND-LEEF nest. The older siblings simply cannot be bothered to work hard for food. That is another huge difference. Because Little Bit has been so hungry, he will eat things that the older two, more privileged will not. That really ticks the box for survivor for me.

At 13:41:08, Little Bit 17 grabs that squirrel pellet and works on it. At 13:56:23 he horks it down! Don’t worry. He will not choke. You have probably seen falcons being fed feathers, etc. The raptors do not waste a thing. Each has a purpose. In her book, The Hawk’s Way by Sy Montgomery she reminds us that people do not have to hunt but hawks do and so do eagles and all of the raptors. They live by four rules in the wild: Hunt hard. Kill Swiftly. Waste Nothing. Offer no Apologies.

Little Bit 17 watches the older sibling eating. He sits waiting. It must be 15 because the two of them tolerate one another rather well.

Little Bit 17 has taken the pelt and is eating it. The older sibling does not care.

Little Bit 17 works away on his meal – grateful to have food today!

At 14:47:54 Little Bit takes a UFO that lands on the nest!

But wait. At 14:55:39 Mom brings in a Rock Bass. The older siblings look at it but no takers. Little Bit waits and watches. When he is sure that 16 is not going to rip him up if he gets near it, Little Bit 17 moves in and takes that fish. Little Bit ate the whole thing.

The Rock Bass has arrived.

One of the older siblings checks out the Rock Bass but doesn’t want to have to unzip it. Meanwhile 17 is watching —–and you can bet that Mum is watching what is going on, too.

Little Bit has the fish. He is mantling.

Little Bit is pulling it over to the porch where he feels safe. He will eat the entire fish.

Little Bit has a huge crop. Isn’t it wonderful. In fact, Little Bit has been eating most of the day. He should definitely be energized. Let us all hope that this warrior of an eaglet will get as much food tomorrow!!!!!!!

The struggle that this little eaglet has made to live is inspiring. We should all sit back and take a page out of his playbook. Little Bit never gave up – never!!!!!! Little Bit is grateful for any and all food that he gets. He has taken each day and has made the best he could out of it. When there was no food for several days, he rested saving up the energy he had until food did arrive. Little Bit 17 is pretty amazing.

There is good news coming out of the UK. One of the Salisbury Cathedral eyases fell from the scrape. It is hard to imagine that it was not injured. Have a read:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/07/young-peregrine-falcon-falls-from-salisbury-cathedral-tower?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR3i2ekRjCwN_3McrdzQ2zLJIPRm9kEVRMAXE-0FiC_G0BbZGZHRe0b-bjE

L1 is going to give everyone a heart attack. She is going to fledge any moment.

Middle remains on the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. He is inspired also and has been taking prey items and not deferring to Big. Confidence is growing and growing. Like L1, he is going to fledge any moment.

The population of Condors is so very fragile. To lose one is a real tragedy. Condors clean up the ‘dead’ – the carrion like the Vultures, Eagles, and other birds like Corvids. They are highly susceptible to lead poisoning. Help make the world a better place – tell your friends and family to use non-lead fishing and ammunition. Write to your government leaders. There are options that would greatly impact the life of our raptors and Condors.

The 18 year old male at the Cape Henlopen State Park Osprey nest in Lewes, Delaware is believed to be missing. He did not bring in a fish this morning or at all during the day. The chicks are old enough to be left alone but still are too young to not predated by larger raptors. I really hope that Dad returns. Fingers crossed. Will Mum go fishing? Yes, she did. She returned wet but with no fish. Just look at those three chicks! Send all your positive wishes!

Right about now you might be thinking that I am wishing for Urmas to send over his fish basket! or for him to climb that platform and put some fish on that nest!!!!!

Big Bob on the Llyn Clywedog Osprey nest is being unkind. He gave Little Bob quite the going over today right when a fish arrived. This nest has had weather issues and you might remember that Dylan was missing in action for a day. Hopefully, Big Bob will settle down. He should! Seren was fighting with a fish delivery that went wild across the nest.

A falconer friend of mine posted this article on the Japanese falconer, Hidetoshi Matsubara. He has been a falconer for more than 50 years. Learn about falconry in another culture! It is a beautiful 7 minute read.

https://www.patagonia.com/stories/the-last-takajo/story-120760.html?fbclid=IwAR0C5JaLwQ3bEpa2zWi7kKG5e07Ll-vAJe9IjHFmHMyBs6MTY0wQLoI7twc&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=s22_content&utm_content=last_takajo

I had a wonderful afternoon and found lots of ducklings and some goslings. More about that tomorrow.

Thank you for joining me today! So happy for Little Bit 17 that I can’t think of too much else. I just wish that camera had higher definition so we could actually get a good image of this little warrior. See you soon. Take care.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Ventana Wildlife Society, Cornell Bird Labs RTH, Osprey Web Cam Cape Henlopen, Nd-LEEF, CarnyX Wild, and UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys.

Little Bit 17 has his mojo back!

30 May 2022

The last time that Little Bit had a full crop was the 26th May. He had eaten well for ten days and then the weather changed and then the weekend came and well, Little Bit was going on 72 hours without much food. All your positive wishes have made a difference. The food arrived today. But it was Little Bit’s actions that demonstrate what a brave eaglet he is – and how he knows how to ‘read’ his environment. Little Bit is very careful not to agitate 16. Little Bit appears to feel safe and secure around 15. Oh, how I wish we knew their genders.

Check it out. Food has arrived and Mum has been feeding. That is Little Bit to the right of Mum being fed! No one bothered him. Mum fed well.

You can see his beach ball size crop in the image below.

Little Bit has a huge crop showing at 17:18:09 and again at 17:52:34 – so he did not crop drop immediately from the earlier food. This means that Little Bit had food in his stomach. Crops are actually marvellous storage tanks for the birds allowing them to store food and then drop it down to the stomach when they need nourishment. It is reassuring to see Little Bit 17 with that big of a crop today. It has been a good day – few attacks from 16 and food to eat – a great combination equalling success. Little Bit worked hard to get food off of carrion (road kill) when it was on the nest. The older siblings could not be bothered. In the wild, they will have to bother – to eat what is there and eat even if they are full because it is never known when the next meal will come.

The image of Little Bit looking out beyond the nest with that big drop just brings tears to my eyes.

Little Bit has the energy and the joy of a full tummy so he flaps his wings.

Then there was another delivery! It came at 20:15:50. Little Bit is on the railing to the left.

Little Bit still has a crop from the earlier feeding. What is interesting to me is that the adult is very slow to begin feeding. This is a good thing. Slow feedings always benefit the wee ones hoping to get some bites.

At 28:50 Little Bit 17 begins to make his move from his corner by the tree. Just look. A day of eating has made such a huge difference. Little Bit 17 is getting his mojo back! He is reading his environment – this is crucial for a juvenile eaglet to survive in the wild. Don’t kid yourself. Everything that has happened to Little Bit on this nest is preparing him to survive in the wild. Watching, waiting. Knowing which birds attack and which are friendly. Good skills.

At 20:30:10 Little Bit makes his move to get under the adult to try and snatch and grab from under the tail behind the legs.

But wait…Little Bit doesn’t do that. Instead he goes right up to the adult beak and begins snatching and grabbing food — right from the beak!!!!! Food that might have gone to the big sibling waiting.

The big sibling does nothing. It has to be 15.

At 20:35:30 Little Bit is bursting full and has followed the adult. Little Bit is attempting to pull the last skin of the fish out of the parent’s beak. Yes, I am serious. Big sibling is looking on as this is happening.

Big sibling watches Little Bit play tug-o-war with the adult! Does everyone need a tissue? Little Bit’s bravery is just shining through. The adult ate the skin- they are hungry, too, but the level of confidence that has been shown today is the old Little Bit. Welcome back sweet little one.

Even with his full crop, Little Bit 17 is still eating every morsel of food he can find in the nest. One of the biggest lessons that Little Bit has learned is that you do not always have food. You need to conserve your energy and you have to eat what is available even if you do not like it.

Little Bit ‘staggers’ over to his favourite spot in the nest and heads to sleep.

Sweet Eagle Dreams to you Little Bit and to all your friends out there in Bird World.

This is just the best news in Bird World today. Thank you for sending all of your positive wishes to this nest and, especially, to Little Bit who is so deserving a full life beyond the confines of this nest! Keep it up!!!!!! We still have three weeks probably before Little Bit fledges. He needs to grow lots of feathers and get his strength up.

In other news, the eldest chick of Annie, Grinnell, and Alden – the female – has left the scrape box! Here is a video of this big milestone.

Tomorrow Cal Falcons will announce the final names. Please vote. There will be a short window of opportunity!

Thank you so much for joining me. This has been a miraculous day at the ND-LEEF nest. Little Bit is 55 days old. Fingers crossed for another good day tomorrow. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the ND-LEEF streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

The Little Eaglet fighting to live – ND17 Little Bit!

30 May 2022

The real focus on this blog is this fantastic Little Eaglet. I cannot say enough good things about him. There are a couple of other news items at the end.

If any third hatch deserves to live – and thrive in the wild – it is Little Bit 17 at the ND-LEEF Bald Eagle nest. Oh, he reminds me of Tiny Tot Tumbles from the Achieva Osprey Nest in St Petersburg in 2021. That third hatch was starved and appeared stunted. Tiny Tot Tumbles lived on old pieces of fish she could find buried in the nest until one day in April (she hatched 5 March 2021) her Mum, Diane, brought in a catfish. At some point Diane realized that this third hatch just might be remarkable. So besides being creative and doing the snatch and grab, Tiny Tot persisted and Mum fed her. For all those that doubt Little Bit 17 can grow big and strong – I have lots of examples that say you will be wrong if Little Bit survives.

This afternoon Little Bit 17 really showed the stuff he is made of – he is brave and he is hard working. He is willing to eat the prey that no one else wants to survive. He has gotten smart except that he is hungry and he will be the ‘Snatch and Grab King’ when he can.

A prey item cam on the nest at 13:21:47. I could not make out if it was the squirrel or the raccoon – both road kill so mangled and mucked up.

Little Bit 17 was up next to 15 at the top rim of the nest. A perfect place to be.

Mum comes in with something and 15 moves back to peck at it. Little Bit stays up at the rim.

Mum checks and moves her head up to the rim to feed. Little Bit moves over. He is very afraid of Middle Bob – ND16 – who pecks at him all the time.

Mom feeds for about 4 minutes and then turns around where it is not so advantageous to Little Bit.

Despite 16 reaching over to peck a bit, Little Bit did the ‘Snatch and Grab’ for awhile and got a little more food. Right now he is pretty brave as he has opened himself up to get attacked by the big siblings.

One of them takes exception to Little Bit grabbing the prey and starts to mantle and flap. Little Bit gets over.

Then Mum turns sideways and Little Bit rushes to get to the side opposite the big siblings. You can just see his tail. He got some bites this way, too. Not many but some.

I wish that Mum would just stay in one place. It would be so much easier for Little Bit to eat with the big siblings on one side and it on the other. She seems antsy.

Little Bit is now doing the ‘snatch and grab’ again.

Mum is gone. She has left a part of the squirrel on the nest. Little Bit knows it is there.

Little Bit gets it. ND15 looks down and does nothing.

Little Bit gets hold of the prey item and pulls it and pulls it. It gets stuck but he keeps on eating and pulling. The big siblings are paying no mind. They are not going to work that hard for food so they can stay alive. Little bit 17 will though.

He pulls and tugs and tugs and pulls and just keeps on eating. He is eating skin and fur and every part of the raccoon. That is going to keep him alive. At the same time he is moving back away towards the porch where he might have a little stash of food or where he can continue eating away from the two siblings.

There he is pulling and pulling.

Where in the world did Little Bit find the squirrel? Goodness! He is pulling it back into his pantry too.

By 14:40 all evidence of the two prey items are gone and Little Bit is either saving them or eating in the back area of the nest known as the porch.

At the beginning of this Little Bit’s stomach would have had a little bit of food in it from Mum. Would he have a crop? Possibly if he ate the squirrel, too. He is quite hungry but the squirrel and the piece of raccoon will help. Did I say that Little Bit is brave, tenacious, creative, hard working, and willing to eat the crap food to survive? Well, he is. Send every positive wish his way – they are all working! Tears that he had something to eat.

In other news, the contest to name DC9 at the National Arboretum nest is over. DC9’s name is Takoda which means “Friend to All”.

For followers of the Dale Hollow nest, a parent flew to the nest yesterday with food and a juvenile chased them to the nest to get it. I do not know which one. The Dale Hollow camera only caught a small portion of the action which was posted on their FB page.

@DHEC

If you are a Glacier Gardens fan, a video of the first day of the eaglet’s life has been compiled. How nice!

It is hard to believe but we will be on fledge watch for L1 at the Red-tail Hawk nest starting on Friday! The following is a list of date ranges for the chicks to fledge based on historical data compiled by Cornell:

  • L1: 2-20 June
  • L2: 5-13 June
  • L3: 6-14 June
  • L4: 9-19 June

Big Red fed them all and also greenery is starting to come to the nest. While it is good to keep away insects, it is believed that Big Red and Arthur bring the oak leaves to get the kids to picture in their mind the tree where they should fly to on their fledge or first flight.

Big Red also sits on the fledge ledge to show them the best spot in which to take their first flight.

L2 and L3 watching a parent fly around the nest.

Cutie Pie L4 with a nice big crop. Hi Little One – and those silly humans thought that you wouldn’t survive. Just look at you.

L4 would like to figure out how to unzip that Chippie but he might need some help.

The bird that is standing to the right of L4 is L2. It has a white terminal band with a dark band and then the other bands are all muddy – no clear stripes on each.

Cutie Pie is trying.

L2 is really a gorgeous bird.

L2 and L3 looking at something on the ground.

After fledging the parents will provide prey while the fledglings learn how to hunt. In the past they have moved them farther and farther away from the nest at intervals teaching them to hunt in different ways at different places.

Just relieved that Little Bit 17 had something to eat. He worked hard for every morsel. Courageous and tough. Keep him in your most positive thoughts. Cal Falcons will be posting the short list of names for a quick vote. Go to their FB page after 6pm to see the choices.

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: DHEC, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, NADC-AEF, and ND-LEEF.

Late Sunday and early Monday in Bird World

29-30 May 2022

This has been the wettest year in Manitoba history. Today we are in another special weather situation with the expectation of 30-55 more mm of rain in a province and City where there is hardly room for water to go. There will certainly not be any wild fires we hope this year!

At 20:01:24 the adult at the ND-LEEF leaves the two larger siblings and moves over to where Little Bit 17 has been feeding. Both big sibs were left behind.

They do not take any prey with them. In my last post, I was certain that Little Bit was self-feeding on something while Mum fed the other two elsewhere. When Mum gets over to Little Bit she starts feeding. On occasion she gives the larger sibling a bite. So Little Bit 17 did feed itself some fish and then Mum came to help it keeping the other two back.

At 20:04:34 a big sibling reaches in and grabs the tail. It is possible then that Little Bit 17 for 6 or 7 minutes. Going from nothing to that – we will keep it and hope that there is more food tomorrow. It is very much apparent that the female is aware of what is going on – . I do love how she shut the two bigs ones out. They have eaten today.

I also got a chance to get some images of Little Bit’s had. 16 has definitely been pecking and pulling. More feathers are gone and there is also one beak hole. This is what E1 did to E2 at the MN-DNR nest. ND17 Little Bit can fly without its head feathers but we don’t want an infection.

A half day at a time. Deep breaths.

On Monday morning, Little Bit pulled a chipmunk over to eat it at 09:08:50. I thought – bonus – he can do this! But only a minute later he was attacked by 16. Today the eaglets on this nest are 60, 59, and Little Bit is 55 days old.

Later Little bit 17 played tug-o-war with 15 for the chipmunk. I know it is 15 because 17 and 15 get along well. 16 is the odd one out – the most viscous which leads me to believe that 16 is a female.

Continue to send your warm and positive wishes to this little one. At 55 days old and having gone through a period of 10 days of good eating, the issue is clearly the amount of prey delivered to this nest. It is quite insufficient. I know it is a holiday and it might not be quiet on the river and the trails around this nest. We live in hope that something good will happen. That good would be the Dad bringing in something for the older ones and the Mum arriving and getting Little Bit at the other end feeding it. This is a brave little eaglet and there is no reason for it to be in this condition other than lack of food deliveries.

Someone posted that there had been a ‘dust up’ (my wording) between a couple of the siblings at the Manton Bay nest of Blue 33 and Maya. This seemed interesting to me and I went to check. The time indicated was 17:33. Blue 33 had delivered a fish and it was alive. The fish flapped and hit Big Bob. She straightened up thinking that it was Middle Bob on the other side that had hit her!

That is a pretty big fish!

Notice that huge crop on the big sibling to the left of the fish and Maya.

Big Bob is startled by the flapping fish and pulls back.

He looks over to Middle Bob and tells him what for for hitting him. And then a tiny dust up??

No reason for any of the Bobs to fight on this nest. They are always full. I do imagine the itchy feathers add to them being slightly touchy especially if they think another sibling has hit them on purpose.

Maya has them all full and tucked. Angels. Little angels.

Richmond and Rosie would like you to help name their two chicks for this 2022 season! Here is the announcement and you must post on the SF Ospreys FB page thread.

Aran and Mrs G welcomed Little Bob today!

While Big and Middle were ready for their afternoon tea, Little Bob would rather sleep. Hatching takes a lot of energy and we all know that they have enough to eat from the egg for about 24 hours.

We are now waiting for Louis and Dorcha at Loch Arkaig and for CJ7 and Blue 022 at Poole Harbour!!!!!

It was raining earlier at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn. Looks like Flounder has been on the menu most of the day.

A Mullet just came in for the Bobs afternoon tea. No surprise. Big Bob is up at the table first!

All up at the table now.

At the Loch of the Lowes, everyone is up having their tea. You can see the difference in ages between Laddie and Blue NC0s little ones and Idris and Telyn’s. The oldest at the Loch of the Lowes is now changing plumage to go into the Reptile stage. Middle and Little Bobs are doing well.

Seren and Dylan continue to keep up with the fish and the three Bobs at Llyn Clywedog are up there for their tea. So cute!

CJ7 looking over the edge at Poole Harbour. Her and Blue 022 have been caught staring down at the nest. Can they hear the chicks now? Bets are being taken on when the first egg will hatch – many say today or at the latest tomorrow.

The other nest that is being watched closely is Loch Arkaig, the home of Louis and Dorcha. It could be a race between them and Poole Harbour on who has the first hatch of the two nests.

It is 37 days today for the first Poole Harbour egg. I am thinking tomorrow!

The Ls are restless. They want to flap and run and it is pretty crowded on the light stand nest of Big Red and Arthur at Cornell. Their lovely juvenile plumage is looking fabulous.

Big Red and Arthur are welcoming Monday morning by sitting on the light stand together while the chicks use up some of their energy flapping and running.

Just look at those cute Ls. So who is who? Bottom Row: L1 (left), L4 (right). You can still tell L4 because of the white head easily. Top Row: L2 (left) and L3 (right). These babies have the most beautiful peachy bibs and look at the rust coloured belly bands. Lovely.

Iris slept on her perch last night. She has really been bringing in some whoppers. What a great fisher she is. I am so thrilled that despite the eggs being gone Iris returns to the nest so we can see her. It is extremely reassuring.

‘S’ took some great screen captures of Iris on 25 May. I meant to share them with everyone that day and well – somehow they got a little down in the pile. Forever grateful for these great close up images to share. Thank you ‘S’.

Want to give a shout out to the Manitoba Peregrine Recovery Project for their great work. You can follow Pip and Ella and their three chicks on Twitter @mbperegrines

Ella is feeding three little chicks – imagine posted by Peregrine Chick on Twitter if you want to follow the action. Chick 1 and 2 are 24 hours apart and chick 3 is 36 hours apart. Nice and close!

This is Dad, Pip, in the scrape on top of one of our local hotels.

At the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest and Mum has been in and fed the kids. They are so gorgeous, so alert, and so civil. Oh, how I wish this for ND-LEEF.

Ironically she pulls that fish up and it seems as if by magic fish come out of the side of the nest.

Mum continues to feed until all of the fish is gone at 08:51 – both chicks are happy. She was with her two big babies feeding them for about an hour. Terrific.

The Peregrine Falcon chicks are being fed. What a noise inside the scrape at Manchester NH. You cannot see anything in there anymore the chicks are so big.

Eyases have been fed at the San Jose City Hall scrape and one of them is looking like a big Hulk.

Wow! Just look at the size of the Presidio Trust’s Red-tail Hawks in San Francisco. At one time we were concerned about the second hatch – no more. Great image of these two. you can see the tail very clearly (there are several smudges on this camera – ugh). Four clear dark bands. We have a bit to go til fledge.

We are on fledge watch for the Dulles-Greenaway chick of Martin and Rosa today.

We are also on fledge watch for Spirit at Big Bear. Spirit is picking and food crying at Jackie.

Shadow brings in breakfast and both parents and stay with their beautiful daughter while she eats. These moments must be bittersweet.

It will not be long til we are waiting for the Three Amigos at the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta to fledge.

Mr President has been in to feed DC9 at the National Arboretum nest in Washington, DC. Dad has done a great job being a single parent.

Lots to come, lots happening. Thank you for joining me this morning. Take care. Continue to send all your positive wishes to the ND-LEEF nest. Hopefully fish will come and Mum will feed Little Bit 17. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB or Twitter posts where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab RTH, LRWT, SF Ospreys, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Loch of the Lowes and Woodland Trust, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Lock Arkaig and People’s Post Code Lottery, Montana Osprey Project, MB Peregrine Network, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Dulles-Greenaway Eagles, FOBBV, San Jose City Hall Falcons, Presidio Trust, Explore.org, and NADC-AEF.

Did Little Bit 17 get some fish?

29 May 2022

The ND-LEEF nest is hard to watch – partly because of the camera and you cannot see what is going on in the other part of the nest. I went to check on Little Bit 17 as he had not had food for almost 72 hours — or he had had a little food off camera.

At 19:59:29 Mum is feeding the two big chicks. But, Little Bit 17 is facing the other direction on the other side of the nest. He is self-feeding. You can see it from his body’s movements – the tail going up and down as he takes a bite. There is no indication of the size of the prey/fish that he is eating but he is eating something!

Then the adult moves over to where Little Bit is on the other side of the nest. It appears that they have moved to make sure that Little Bit gets some of the food before it is all gone. The bottle neck there allows Mum to go in close to Little Bit while keeping the other two big siblings back. I see the larger sibling getting some bites. Do I dare believe that Little Bit 17 is once again snatching and grabbing like the ‘King of Snatch and Grab’ that he is? Did we get a little miracle?

Two last things before I close. Holly Parsons posted an update on the Peregrine Falcon who had the eggs in the Flower Pot at the Field Museum in Chicago hoping I would see it – and I did. Thanks Holly!

And last but never least, Glacier Gardens. I missed it completely. Liberty and Freedom have their first hatch!!!!!!!!!! In their new nest. Wow. It seems like it was only yesterday that they discovered the new nest and now a chick. Congratulations Liberty and Freedom!

Here is that announcement by Sherri van Syckel for Bald Eagles Live FB.

I am going to go out into the garden with a smile on my face. I so hope that Little Bit gets some more food and that 16 leaves him alone. I wanted to get a good look at this head so I am going back to rewind later this evening.

Thank you for stopping in. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Holly Parsons posting for the Chicago Peregrine Programme, Sherri Van Syckel for Bald Eagles Live Nest Camera and News, and the ND-LEEF.

Late Sunday in Bird World

29 May 2022

The rain stopped but the grey skies remained. I went in search of Wood Ducks. Last year there were Wood Ducks everywhere – not this year with the flooding. Well, they are not at their old hangouts for sure. I found 11 at one park and none at another.

It appears to me that the Wood Ducks are now laying eggs on the island since the water has gone down at one of the parks. I also noticed more Canada Geese nests.

What was even more surprising were the lack of Mallards. Mallards are typically everyone at the pond. One couple swimming about and I found another in the forest where the water was still high.

I had so hoped that the ND-LEEF nest would improve today. Little Bit 17 is in the other area of the nest without the camera so I cannot check. Tiny Tot Tumbles went without food for 72 hours and she had less ‘fat’ than Little Bit. We are heading to 72 hours now. I really hope that 17 had some food earlier but without actually seeing it myself, I cannot say for sure. Sad when things between May 16-26 went so well. I want to make one comment. I have seen lots of tiny thirds – more than I want to think about. Each and every one that survived appeared ‘stunted’ at some time during their development. Each with the help of the adults got big – three last year being the dominant birds on the nest at the end. Right now, I just want 17 to survive. Then we will see. 17 is little like Tiny Tot Tumbles at the Captiva nest – he has missed out on a lot of food. She had a total of twelve 24 hour days without food. She fledged and she was awesome. I don’t want to give up hope but not every nest will have success. It is heart breaking when it doesn’t happen. The parents are virtually absent – fishing might be rough. Prey items might not be available. With a road closed, bad weather, and weekend people on the river – there is less carrion and well, getting food can be hard.

So, let’s jump to a nest with three eaglets that have thrived. It is always good to step back and be thankful for the joy! This nest had two bad years and just look. We almost had a catastrophe when one of the eaglets fell down and Dr Sharpe had to come and rescue it. But here they are this morning – the ‘Three Amigos’. Gosh, they are beautiful. I cannot praise Thunder and Akecheta any more than I have and, I really want to shout out Akecheta who grew up this year and found out what it is like to be a dad. He was loving it! Kana’kini, Ahota, and Sky will fledge and I hope we get to see them return to the nest for awhile as they get those flight wings.

Lancer is one beautiful bird over at the Two Harbours nest! Chase & Cholyn have done a great job with this Only chick this year.

Of course, we cannot forget about Spirit – a perfect name for a very high spirited eaglet.

Jackie and Shadow will be proud of their only chick of the 2022 season – a real wonderful hatch. We were all so happy for both of them after two years without having any success. They will be ready to deliver fish to Spirit once she fledges so that she has a brilliant start in life.

I love Spirit and Jackie hanging out together! Is Mum giving her daughter tips?

Here is a short video by FOBBV. Spirit almost had lift off on the 27th.

There are three healthy Bobs getting a nice meal from Blue NC0 at the Loch of the Lowes Osprey nest in Scotland. Yipppeeee.

There are absolutely no hints from Louis or Dorcha about any pips or cracks. These two can surely keep a straight face. So glad the bad weather seems to have moved from Loch Arkaig!

Dylan and Seren Blue 5F are doing fine with their three Bobs. The little one is up there and ready for food once the others are passed out.

Dylan arrives with some more fish and pauses to see how things are going. He has heard a rumour that one of the Bobs got caught up in house keeping and was pulled out of the nest cup. He has come to make sure there are still three – and there are. That little one rolled back in. Chicks are very resilient.

Seren feeding Little Bob. Life is good!

There is fish on the nest at UFlorida-Gainesville. One of the osplets has a big crop and the other is fine. There is fish available if it is hungry. Doing good!

R2 is still showing up at the WRDC nest in the Miami Zoo and Mum and Dad, Rita and Joe, are still supplying fish! How sweet is that?

Blue brought a whopper of a fish to Maya and the trio for their bedtime feeding! I sure would love to give a piece of that fish to ND Little Bit 17.

Just a beautiful nest of hawks at Cornell. Big Red and Arthur really showed everyone they could handle four eyases without even breaking a sweat! Gosh, will they try for five next year???

It’s a real hard day when a nest and a little one is in trouble. The parents at the ND-LEEF nest have been absent for the entire afternoon. It is an extremely volatile situation.

Thank you for joining me. All of the other nests are doing really well. We may even have a hatch at Poole Harbour. Remember to turn in your name suggests to Cal Falcons for Annie, Grinnell, and Alden’s chicks! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures: UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Explore.org, LRWT, CarnyXWild, WRDC, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Cornell Red Tail Hawks, and FOBBV.

Late Saturday and early Sunday in Bird World

28-29 May 2022

Saturday was an incredible day for a long walk at the nature centre. Thankfully individuals have donated benches in their loved one’s names and they are scattered about the trails. Much of Ft Whyte has been covered with water and there are areas that are more wetlands than anything else. Those are the interesting places. The Red-winged Blackbirds and the Yellow-rumped Warblers seemed to love eating the seeds? of the bull rushes. It was a fascinating day. Way across the lake were two adult Double-breasted Cormorants and nine juveniles. The Cormorants make their nests on islands or in the tops of trees or platforms. Normally there are 5-7 eggs that are incubated for 25-59 days. This couple seems to have hatched 9!

They were at a great distance and the sky was getting very dark. Not touched up but a lovely scene.

The usuals were around – beautiful Yellow Warblers, American Goldfinches, the Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Downy and a Hairy Woodpecker.

What a striking difference between the male Red-winged Blackbird and their female mates, below. She is having a wonderful time gleaning for insects and seeds on the ground.

This female American Redstart flitted around the Cattail branches. She was very difficult to photograph! She was hovering around the pools of water foraging for insects.

The Canada Geese are still incubating. No one seems to know when the eggs are due to hatch at Ft Whyte! (or not anyone that I could find).

You often see evidence of the woodpeckers presence but, most times, you do not actually see them. So to see both a Hairy and a Downy over by the songbird feeding station was quite a treat.

A female Hairy Woodpecker.

The female Downy Woodpecker.

In fact, today was a fun day because so many of the female birds were out feeding. What a joy!

I had hoped to head out today, Sunday, but right now it is raining. The birds in the garden are not happy! Hopefully the sun will come out later for them and they can dry off and I can go for my walk.

Sadly, Saturday was not a good day on the ND-LEEF nest. The lack of prey coming to this nest is becoming highly problematic. The two older siblings have figured out how to self-feed. Little Middle 17 had an advantage when they didn’t know how to do this! There was someone on chat that made a comment that Little Bit 17 had some food from Dad last evening – a heron?? I did not see it. Perhaps some of you did. My notes indicate 48 hours without substantial food. Let us hope that the fish get on the nest tomorrow and are plentiful. In fact, one of the older siblings – I do think it is the Middle one 16 – attacked Little Bit today and Mum flew down from the branch and intervened. We need fish on this nest quickly. Send all positive thoughts to Little Bit 17.

Two fish have so far come to the ND-LEEF nest on Sunday morning. The second one right before 10:58 when Mum flies down and feeds 17. Originally the fish was left on the nest but no takers and Little Bit seemed reluctant to eat it. He is staying back in the part beyond the camera. After a few minutes Mum comes down and takes the fish. Little Bit eats. Then in a few minutes 16 steals the fish. How much did Little Bit get? It isn’t clear but when 16 stole the fish, there was only about half of it left. I know Little Bit can eat fast – he has had to. Let us hope he got enough and that another fish comes and then another. We need to get out of this bad loop on this nest. 16 continues to attack Little Bit. 16 is one nasty bird.

If you are at all sensitive, I would not watch this nest for a few days. Let it sort itself out. I am very concerned about the level of hunger and the attacks by 16 on Little Bit.

The eyases on the Red-tail Hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur are changing by the day. Those juvenile feathers continue to grow and grow. Watch their tails. It is best if they have 5 or more dark tail bands for fledging.

That is little L4 showing off his beautiful wings. Big sister is in front. It is awhile til fledge from the look of the tails!

At the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest, Middle was busy eating a really nice fish. And guess what? He did not share!

This nest is so civilized now. If you just tuned in you could never imagine that the third hatch died from siblicide or that the Middle chick had been beaked and stopped from eating. It is a lovely nest to watch.

Middle was making some headway 9 minutes later. It is hard for the osplets to figure out how to hold the fish down and unzip it at the same time. They need to watch Mum carefully when she digs her beak into the skin and pulls hard!

Both of the osplets have been eating on the UFlorida-Gainesville nest Sunday morning. Each has had a turn at a fish and there are fish on the nest if you look closely – well, pieces of them. These two are healthy and doing so well.

As the sun went down on a beautiful Saturday at the Loch of the Lowes, Blue NC0 was feeding the three nestlings. I am cautiously hopeful for this third hatch. It is a nice strong little one.

It was so windy earlier in the day that Blue NC0 was literally blown off the nest.

It is Sunday morning and Blue NC0 and the trio of Bobs are waiting for Laddie to deliver a fish!

Laddie came through – of course, he did! They have all eaten well and Little Bob felt like he wanted to start a fight. He is a little toughie. LOL. You can see the plumage changing on Big Bob.

Telyn had gone for a break at 0503 and Idris flew in with the breakfast fish two minutes later. He thought he was going to get to feed the Three Bobs but, no. Telyn had a different idea. Gosh, they are so cute…I wish they would stay this soft grey downy chick for awhile longer before becoming a Reptile-Dinosaur showing their DNA chick.

It is quite amazing how quickly they get stronger. Adorable. Nice dark bands around those eyes.

The Dyfi Osprey Project created a video log of the hatching.

Aran and Mrs G now have two Bobs at the Glaslyn Valley Osprey nest. One more egg to go!

These two look like they will be a hand full.

CJ7 and Blue 022 have already made history by laying the first osprey eggs in a nest at Poole Harbour in more than 200 years. The eggs were laid on 23, 26, and 29th of April. That means that the first egg is 36 days old now. I am thinking pip watch in a couple of days?? This morning CJ7 ate her fish off the nest so no hatch yet! Gosh this is going to be a difficult nest to see those historical hatches!

Oh, those three Bobs on the Manton Bay nest of Blue 22 and Maya are getting huge. It seems it was only yesterday that we were worrying that the flapping Perch had killed one or both of the nestlings. It was 13 days ago!

This is such a good nest. A fish is right there when Maya gets the chicks up in the morning. It must surely help to have a stocked lake that is free from leisure vehicles and people.

You can almost hear Maya saying, “Oh, please, just have one more bite.”

Maya looks like she is in shock as Blue 33 arrives with a fish.

And what a fish that was!!!!!!!!!! Oh, gosh, is it going to land on the chicks?

All lined up like the Osprey lads at Port Lincoln last season. No need to fight over food on this nest – everyone is fed regularly til they are full. Would love to send this fish to Little Bit 17.

Blue 33 also brought in some nesting materials this morning and dropped them over the chicks. The look on Maya’s face was priceless!

After Blue flies off, Maya turns and looks at the camera. My goodness she is a beauty.

I haven’t mentioned them for awhile – shame on me. There are three osplets in the Osprey platform at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, Delaware. They are doing fine and from their heads you can see they are now moving into the Reptilian phase.

Bukachek and Betty have five White Storks this morning in their nest in Mlade Buky, The Czech Republic. Everyone is so excited. There is one more egg to hatch.

Here is an adorable video of the six storklets at the nest of Jan and Janika!

There are wee ones on the nest of Karl II and Kaia, too. With all the nesting material it is hard to see how many.

It is rainy and blowing at the MN-DNR nest. Nancy has gotten food on the nest and E1, Harriet, continues to do very well. Hopefully Nancy will have a new mate next year. So many of us still miss Harry. What a real shame to lose him – he was only 5 years old. Just starting his life really as an adult. And what a wonderful mate he was while he was with Nancy!

There are way too many nests! And too many things happening. There is Annie looking up at us at 05:53 this morning in San Francisco. She is asking you to pick ‘nice’ names for the two chicks that her and Alden have raised. Suggestions stop and then there will be a vote…it seems that there will not need to be a run off for the name of the male. Grinnell is running away with the numbers! How could it not be Grinnell, seriously?

To suggest a name go to https://calfalcons.berkeley.edu and click on the Facebook tag. Scroll down a few entries and put in your desire names. Suggestions end on the 30th with voting starting immediately for the finalists once they are listed. They are giving us a short time so do not delay choosing your favourites of the short listed. I will try and remind everyone, too.

Take care everyone. Have an absolutely fabulous Sunday. Thank you for joining me today. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cal Falcons, MN-DNR, Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlade Buky White Storks, Osprey Webcam for Cape Henlopen State Park, LRWT, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Brwyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab RTH cam, and ND-LEEF.

Another great day in Bird World

22 May 2022

It is all good news.

Warrior has been sitting up in the nest tree since he flew up there yesterday. At 0530, Warrior flew/fell out of the top of the nest. DHEC cut it on camera and posted a video.

A fish was left on the nest by the parents and then an adult came with another fish this morning at 10:04. They are trying to see if the fledglings will return to the nest to eat. Hopefully they can lure them back to the nest to eat! Or will they feed them elsewhere? Lots to learn before they are ready to be their own independent selves.

Things continue to go well for Middle at the UFlorida-Gainesville nest. Dad made a delivery at 08:56. ‘R’ sent me a note about the intruder on the nest at the same time. I had missed it and the fact that there were a few swipes between Big and Middle over the fish. Thanks so much, ‘R’. (I really do hate the rewind on this camera).

Notice the adult on the far left – this appears to be an intruder who wants that fish!

Middle wanted that fish, too. In the end, Big got it but not without the two locking talons. Middle continues to ‘sniff around’ knowing that Big should get tired of working on that fish but will she? Middle wants some fish and he is getting much more confident despite Big’s little pecks!

At 0859 Middle is looking and wanting that fish intently.

Have you noticed how loud Middle’s fish calling is? She is really screaming at Big wanting that fish and staring.

At 0902, Middle gets the fish. Big is finished. It is a nice sized piece of fish with that beautiful tail. Middle will make quick work of this!

Middle cleans his beak at 1042. The fish is all gone. He joins Big Sis on the side of the nest.

Will the luck hold for little ND17 today? So tiny this one. At the ND-LEEF nest Big hatched on 31 March, Middle on 1 April eighteen hours after Big, and Little 17 hatched on the 5 April — a full six days younger than Big. As it turns out, the older siblings are hungry but they are also more interested in flapping their wings.

A parent is on the nest opening up one of the turtles at 0719. One of the big siblings has a fish. I could not see Little Bit 17.

By 0740 Little Bit 17 has that big hunk of fish. The older siblings cannot be bothered doing the work to eat it. This is going to be the lucky break we have been looking for at this nest. The older ones are peaking in terms of growth and Middle, being hungry, has the drive to get in there and find the food. The tail extends out 17’s right side so it is a nice piece of fish.

At 0757 Little Bit 17 has the fish on the other side of the nest. The two older siblings are watching but doing nothing. They are ‘not bothered’ with 17 eating. Isn’t that wonderful?

At 0812, Little Bit 17 has eaten that entire piece of fish and has another enormous crop!!!!!!!!! So happy. Three days in a row now 17 has had food. I hope there is another fish or two later but, for now, all is well.

Alden is continuing to surprise people with the variety of prey he provides to Annie and the chicks. This morning it was a Tern for breakfast. We have Common Terns here during breeding season. They do not scavenge for its meals like gulls do but, rather, catches fish.

The chicks are so cute….

The osplets are starting to hatch in the UK. We already have the three at Manton Bay’s platform of Blue 33 and Maya (much older now) and the two hatches at Loch of the Lowes with Laddie and Blue NC0.

Laddie and NC0’s two Bobs. 22 May 2022

There are now two at the Foulshaw Moss nest of White YW and Blue 35. Today, Dylan and Seren at the Llyn Clywedog nest welcomed their first hatch at 0612. Ten hours later they welcomed their second hatch!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations.

Beautiful Seren looking a little damp. I sure how this spring warms up for all of the birds and isn’t wet and cold like last year.

Wee one had a bit of a feed!

Seren feeding her first hatch of 2022.

We will be looking for hatch watches for the following nests on – Dfyi nest of Idris and Telyn on 23 May (tomorrow), Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G on the 26th of May, and Louis and Dorcha at Loch Arkaig on 31 April.

Yesterday marked the anniversary of Aran’s injury in the Glaslyn Valley. He returned to the nest without a fish for the first time. Here is Aran a year later – healthy and strong – taking good care of Mrs G and himself. This would not have been possible without the intervention of the people of Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife. Do you know the story?

Handsone Aran. 21 May 2022

It was one of the worst springs – wet, cold, and windy. There had been big storms. Aran got into a ‘battle of sorts’ with another bird. Many of us believe that it was Aeron Z2 as they were later seen fighting over the river. Aran had a wing injury that did not allow him to fish for his family. The chicks hatched during the storm. No food. Meanwhile the people of Glaslyn are working hard to find a way to construct a fish table for the family so that they will survive. People are catching fish for them. It took a couple of days – too late for the wee babes but it saved Aran and Mrs G. A year later we are still thanking those lovely people for saving these two amazing Ospreys. What did we learn? Fish tables work. The Ospreys will eat recently dead fish. (They will not eat frozen fish). Bravo to everyone! This is the positive type of intervention that needs to happen at other platforms and nests. We may – with warming waters and higher temperatures – need to construct fish tanks for the fish eating raptors. We may need to stock ponds for them. After all, we took their habitat, heated the planet — shouldn’t we help?

Urmas and Gunnar have ringed the Golden Eagle chick in the Estonian nest. The chick weighed 2.3 kg and was 17 cm tall. They found the younger chick’s body in the moss in the underside of the nest. Golden Eagle nests are notorious for having only one chick survive. Urmas said that this eaglet is nice and fat. There is no food waste in the nest – everything is eaten (but not the younger chick – it was buried in the nest). They are hopeful this lovely little one will fledge!

It is the first day in some time that I have seen a blue sky and trees with green leaves on them. We were told the flood waters are receding but, in fact, they are now. We are now being told parts of our City could flood despite having a flood way. I am not worried where I live but it continues to be worrisome for the wildlife. A few goslings are being seen but there will not be many this year with nests full of eggs being flooded. The Baltimore Orioles are out and I am hoping to go for a long walk today to see if I can catch a few migrants passing through.

A reminder today to please cut any plastic drinks rings – and the small plastic tabs that seal bread. Birds can get in terrible trouble because of these things – and our masks – that seem to be just tossed anywhere. Gosh, the planet is not a garbage can! This incident comes from our most western province but it is an issue everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The nests are doing well. I haven’t seen any postings of footage from the banding at Two Harbours yet.

Take care everyone. Thank you so much for being with me. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: DHEC, ND-LEEF, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Eagle Club of Estonia, Cal Falcons, CarnyX Wild, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Wildlife Rescue Association of BC, Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

The Little Eaglet that Could and a few other stories from Bird World

21 May 2022

It has been a very, very challenging breeding season. The weather has not cooperated causing diminished prey deliveries and deaths either by starvation or siblicide/starvation. Eaglets have fallen from their cliff nests – thankfully rescued by their guardian angel, Dr Sharpe. Adults have been killed or driven from the nest by intruders with many others dying of Avian Flu. Some have died of indeterminate causes while others were injured and taken into care. Some eggs never hatched having become breakfast for the Crows. We have favourite nestlings and then, things go sideways. We become afraid to watch their lives – it really does hurt that much when they are attacked by their older siblings or ignored by their parents.

Not all chicks who are attacked by their siblings survive. We know this. Sometimes we think that they will not last another day. Then, something happens. Yesterday when its mother would not feed it, ND17 ate an entire fish that was left on the nest and ignored by the older siblings —by itself. Today, its mother fed it a few bites. Later 17 found a piece of fish hidden in the nest and horked it. There he is on the far left. Note 17’s size in relation to the two older siblings who not only have their juvenile plumage but also have tails that are growing and growing.

At 17:01, something extraordinary happens. This is ‘why’ you keep watching, ‘why’ you keep hoping because in a single moment the nest that had gone sideways can right itself. It is the most exhilarating feeling — by far a greater sense of happiness than watching a nest where everything is perfect.

Mum arrives with a fish. At 17:01 and for the next sixteen minutes, Little 17’s life takes a turn. 17 is on the right side of Mum with big sibling on the left. The other is at the other side of the nest not paying much attention. What was it that suddenly changed 17 from a submissive little eaglet to an extremely brave one? Was it eating the entire fish itself yesterday? was it the finding and horking of the fish piece? was it Mum feeding it a few bites this morning? or was it hunger and a new found confidence that drove 17 to become the ‘king’ of the snatch and grab today? We will never know but this third hatch showed us just the kind of ‘stuff’ it is made of – this is going to be a formidable eaglet if he survives. Fingers crossed.

Still images do not do the actions of this this brave little eaglet justice. Watch carefully – about half way through 17 actually grabs the fish out of the older siblings beak! Yes, I am serious.

I wonder – having seen her youngest stand up and fight for its place at the table – will Mum feed her youngest chick? Will she position the fish so that the little one can eat and not have to contend with the peckings from the older siblings? We have to wait and see. One thing is for sure – 17 has a burning desire to survive. He is not afraid to root in the nest and find pieces of dry fish if eating them means he will stay alive. He is a survivor.

In the image below you can see the enormous crop that 17 has! Fantastic.

In other news, Dr Sharpe gave Chase and Cholyn’s only eaglet a thorough examination. The eaglet was measured, weighed, and banded. She is 11D, a sister to Thunder and an auntie to Thunder and Akecheta’s triplets.

The camera came on for just a second. Look at that nice red bling! And her silver federal band.

The two osplets at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest experienced something very different today– pelting rain and hail. I was just glad it wasn’t a tornado!

After the storm passed, Mum returned to the nest. There was some fish and, despite Big standing tall and trying to unhinge Middle, Middle stayed put and kept eating.

Middle is on the left and Big with her longer tail and long, long legs is on the right.

In the image below, Big tries to scare Middle away from the food. It doesn’t really work so well anymore.

It is a beautiful evening at the Dale Hollow nest. Looking at that big stick that Warrior pulled across the nest it is almost like River said “when you leave, shut the door and put the key under the mat!” The older sibling, DH14, fludged on the 19th of May. I hope that Warrior had a smooth flight! (or is he still sitting in the top of the nest tree?)

Lady and Dad have been spending more and more time at their nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest. Today they were rearranging twigs and building up the crib rails while. They were also busy placing fresh leaves down on the nest bowl. We are getting close!

This is the link to their camera:

Those were just a few of the numerous highlights at the nests today. New hatches are being fed and with the exception of several intruders, all of the other nests seem to be doing well. It was such a relief to see ND17 well fed two days in a row. I hope that Warrior’s first flight – if he did fledge – was a perfect take off and landing. Hopefully there will be some footage of the banding of 11D today at the Two Harbours nest. Cal Falcons should be banding Annie, Grinnell’s and Alden’s chicks soon. I did watch Alden feed the chicks again. He is getting quite good this!

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

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Explore.org and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, ND-LEEF, DHEC, and Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre.