Tag Archives: Storms in Germany

Sunday in Bird World

What a Saturday afternoon and night. It was such a huge relief to find Anna on the Bald Eagle nest in the Kistachie National Forest and that there had been either a misidentification or that Anna and Louis switched places at dawn. Whatever happened- Anna is alright. Both birds were stressed on Saturday. It is unclear what was the cause or was it a multitude of things together – humans, gun shots, other intruding birds or animals.

I just love the image below. Everyone is so happy and relaxed this morning.

If you are watching the KNF nest, listen for the ‘laughing’ frogs. They are actually called Southern Leopold frogs but because of the sound they make, they are nicknamed laughing frogs. I hope to goodness that is the only sound that the nest has to hear besides eagles today!

The eaglet is enjoying some of the duck that was delivered earlier.

Eaglet is in food coma. Hopefully by this time next week, this baby will have a name!

The Wildlife Biologist says this afternoon that Anna and Louis would not have made their nest in a place if they were bothered by humans being around. Yesterday was, however, different from any other time that I have watched this nest – last year and this.

I know that many of you are stork lovers. Did you know that there is a live streaming cam with storks at Dreisamtal, about 10 kilometres east of Freiburg, Germany? A pair of storks make their nest on the roof of the Church of St. Gallus. Normally the couple arrive in February but this year, they returned on New Year’s Eve 2021.

The couple come and go for foraging. They sleep on the nest at night. Here is the link to this camera to calm all of your longing-for-storks-to-return!

What gorgeous plumage these Storks have. Incredibly beautiful!

Ervie had a full crop and was being blessed by diamonds all around. Oh, our glorious boy! He has quite the crop in that image. While there are few fish deliveries captured on the streaming cam, it is now believed that Ervie is catching almost all of his fish himself.

Dad does still continue to deliver a fish on occasion when Ervie is crying on the nest. Ervie loves being an ‘only child’.

The other day a word showed up in respect to Ervie – extreme philopatry. Yes, it is possible that Ervie is tied as tight as he can, more than others, to this very nest and that he will not wander too far afield like Falky has done. Indeed, one day we might see Ervie as the adult male on the barge with his own family.

Look a Ervie’s crop! Our young man is doing well. It is a relief to imagine that Ervie is an excellent fisher now.

At the Achieva Osprey nest in St Petersburg, Florida, everyone is waiting for the first egg to be laid this breeding season.

Of course, we are also waiting for Big Red and Arthur to begin working on their nest. It is, actually, awhile still. Last year Big Red laid her eggs on 26 and 29 March and 1 April! So we have about 7 weeks and a few days til our beloved Red-tail Hawk is incubating.

About the time Big Red is laying eggs, Iris will be returning from her winter migration. It is a snowy cold day in Missoula. I hope Iris is enjoying the warmth of her winter home.

At this very same time – as Big Red lays her eggs and we are on watch for Iris to land on her nest, Milda will be laying eggs on the White-tailed eagle nest in Durbe.

When I looked at my calendar and saw those three events – Big Red, Iris, and Milda – there was a big exclamation mark. Of course, all of the Ospreys and Storks will be returning from their winter homes to breed in the UK and Europe! It is going to get really, really busy.

For now, I will turn my attention back to the Bald Eagles. I don’t think NE26 is being an angel but it appears that s/he is not a ruthless brute either to NE27 – that is all good. Samson continues to have the pantry full and the fuzz balls nothing short of adorable.

In the image below, NE 26, the tallest, was trying to peck at 27. 27 did a pretty good job of standing up to its big sib. Bravo!

NE27 still has quite a dominant egg tooth. Sweet little babe with the golden glow of the morning sun shining on it.

A banana leaf was brought on to the WRDC nest. R1 thinks it makes quite a comfortable bed! So cute. It kinda’ fits with having a Papadam Chair for a nest.

R1 and R2 with their charcoal thermal down are growing and growing. Both are eating well and Ron has just brought a nice big fish on to the nest. It will not be long til these two eaglets are walking with ease around the nest. Just look at how big R1 is – looks like Hulk.

The eaglet at Berry College is wanting to have an afternoon snack and is looking intently at what the adult is plucking on the nest. This little one is a real little sweetie. Look at that lovely soft down head. You can see the thermal down coming in on the body of the eaglet. In a couple of days that soft light grey down will be nothing but dandelions!

And, last for today, if you are a Thunder and Akecheta fan, Thunder laid her first egg at the Channel Islands Bald Eagle Nest at 16:54 on 29 January! This is Cheta’s third breeding season and he no longer minds incubating the eggs. Last year the Ravens (or Crows?) got the eggs so this year, hopefully, neither adult will leave them alone!

Here is the link to the Channel Islands streaming cam:

Whew. All is well at the nests. Thankfully. It is supposed to warm up and start snowing on the Canadian Prairies in a short time. It is a good day for a walk out in the fresh air!

Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone and just breathe a sigh of relief. Anna is fine.

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: KNF Bald Eagle Nest, Berry College, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, NEFlorida and the AEF, WRDC, Explore.org, Latvian Fund for Nature, Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab, Achieva Credit Union, and Storks Nest Live Stream.

Lots happening in Bird World including a goose taking over a White stork nest!

I love getting notes from everyone with new nests to check on. Tonight my friend ‘T’ in Strasbourg, suggested I check on a beautifully woven nest in Germany. We will go to check on it later in the blog.

Does anyone have any idea how many bird streaming cams there are? I do mean just birds because we live in such a marvellous time that we can watch elephants in Africa, giraffes being born in a zoo, watch the ocean in almost any part of the world, and see a condor hatch.

I have no idea how many Osprey cams exist but, there are only four Red tail Hawk streaming cams in the world. That is one of the reasons that Big Red is such a star.

There she is doing what she loves – feeding and caring for her chicks.

Just look at those feathers. They are all that rich earthy deep dark brown – just like their moms. At the beginning of their second year, these juveniles will get that beautiful burnt orange tail just like Big Red. You can see it in the image below.

So what is with the oak leaves? Some of you will have heard me mention Laura Culley. Culley is a falconer. She has many raptors but one, Mariah, is 28 going on 29, I believe, this year. Culley taught me and a lot of other people many things. One is that the pine brought into the nest is a natural pesticide. Another is that the adults like to bring in a variety of prey for the nestlings. They will imprint those birds and animals so they know what is alright to eat. So, last year, I asked Culley about the oak leaves. Well now. This is interesting. Big Red is telling the nestlings to fly to the oak tree across the road when they fledge – the big oak tree in front of Fernow Tower. How clever!

While Big Red was taking a break this evening, Arthur is doing flying demonstrations. Arthur is really in his element once the Ks fledge – he works with Big Red and teaches them how to hunt their prey and how to fly. I remember both Big Red and Arthur soaring one day. It was an amazing sight.

So, we are going to travel from Ithaca, New York where Big Red has her nest on the Cornell Campus to Germany. Specifically we are going to a region known for both wind turbines and storks – not necessarily a good combination – known as the Minden-Lubbecke District. They even have a Stork Museum! I have placed an arrow on the map below so you can find it.

The specific nest is located at the very edge of the district on the grounds of Schloss Benkhausen (the Castle Bankhausen) indicated by the red symbol in the map below.

The area does not have enough large trees for the storks. In 1987, there were only 3 breeding pairs. In 2019, there were 89 breeding pairs but not enough nests for them. In that year, the Gauselman Family set up a platform on the edge of a hiking trail on the grounds of Schloss Benkhausen. In 2020, they set up a camera for the world to watch the White Storks and their family. Well, something different happened on one of those platforms in 2021!

A lovely little goose has made her nest in the centre of that beautifully woven basket platform in the middle of the fields. I am told this is a White-fronted Goose but, not being familiar with the breeds in the region, I am not 100% certain. Nonetheless, a goose is on that platform and as of today she had laid 12 eggs! Twelve.

The goose will take the down from her body and work to line the nest cup and also to cover the eggs when she is not on the nest. You can see that grey fluffy down that the goose is pulling to cover her eggs in the images below. Look – there are so many eggs! This reminds me of Daisy the Black Pacific Duck that laid her eggs in the White-bellied Sea Eagle nest. Sadly, one day when she left for food, the Raven’s took Daisy’s eggs. Daisy did not have a mate to help her. I wonder if this goose has a mate to defend the nest? Normally the mate would be nearby. Older geese lay more eggs than younger ones. Once she is finished laying, this ‘Mother Goose’ will begin hard or sustained incubating. It is approximately 28-32 days til hatch. Around 24 hours after hatching the goslings will jump to the ground. Their parents will wait for them and walk them to water. It is an amazing sight to witness.

Here is Mother Goose covering her eggs during the night. She needed a wee break.

Here is an image taken earlier in the day. You can clearly see the down lining the egg cup and our beautiful little goose.

Do not worry. The platforms are normally erected to a height of 70 or 80 feet. The record for goslings jumping from a height is 400 feet for Barnacle Goslings from their cliff nest.

This is a better look at our little mother. That looks like a puddle in view but it could be larger – the cameras tend to distort scale – and hopefully it might fill with water before these little ones hatch. There also seems to be a little stream.

You can join in the fun and watch this family through fledging of the goslings here:

And speaking of fledging, one of those ospreys on The Landings Nest on Skidaway Island is sure getting some impressive height to its hovering today.

The chicks on the Cowlitz PUD Osprey Nest in Washington State do not look any worse for wear today. Wattsworth has been in several times with fish and it looks like Electra filled their crops. Regular supplies of fish will stop any food competition. I love seeing that little one with that big crop today. It sent those warm fuzzies up my arms.

When I last checked on Tiny Tot, he had returned to the nest after being gone most of the day. His feathers looked a little tattered. It was 31 degrees and hot in St Petersburg and no doubt he is really wanting and expecting the parents to bring him an evening fish. Sadly, Tiny went to bed hungry tonight.

Thanks so much for joining me this evening. Lots of good things out there happening on the nests and some interesting developments with that goose! It just takes me back to Daisy the Duck on the WBSE nest in the Sydney Olympic Park in January. I certainly hope this lovely goose has much better luck!

Big thanks go out to the following for their streaming cams where I grab my screen shots: Livestream vom Storchennest-Schloss Benkhausen, Cowlitz PUD, Achieva Credit Union, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Cornell Bird Lab and Skidaway Audubon.