Richmond and Rosie have their nest on top of the Whirley Crane in San Francisco Bay at the Richmond Shipping Yards. Richmond is well known for bringing ‘things’ to the nest but, today, yesterday he decided to bring in a big stick. At the time only one osplet had hatched and we were waiting for the second. The first egg was not viable.
This stick delivery does end well but sit back and hold on to your worry beads! I suspect Rosie had a lot to say about this delivery away from the ears of their first hatch!
The second chick has hatched. Rosie was busy trying to get it to roll over and to eat some fish a few minutes ago.
Rosie kept cheeping. The youngest got itself righted. Rosie is determined that wee one is going to have some food! A determined Mum succeeds. Well done, Rosie.
I thought you would enjoy the antics of Richmond. So glad that it worked out alright at the end! Thank you for joining me. Take care. Have a great Friday morning wherever you are.
Thank you to SF Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.
Earlier this morning I thought that the third hatch at Gainesville had died of starvation. It had only 5 bites of food in the last 86 hours. Two fish had come on the nest and in both instances it was kept from eating by the oldest sibling. By the time the third fish arrived around 14:00, the two older siblings ate. Big was full and still tried to stop Little Bit from eating at 14:25:13 and then something happened—————- Big and Middle went into a food coma on the right side of Mum.
Mum fed Little Bit starting at 14:27!!!!!! Little Bit ate until 14:37 – an entire ten minutes. It filled its crop and then seemed to drop it and eat some more. It was difficult at first – the flakes of fish stuck to its mouth but the more nourishment it got the more energetic Little Bit was.
That is the longest time that I have ever seen a third hatch go without food and survive. Tiny Tot was 72 hours at the Achieva Osprey nest last year.
This is wonderful news IF the fish keep coming. It could be a bit of a turning point. All of your positive wishes for this nest are certainly working!
All of the cheeping is Little Bit calling for food. The video clip covers the first couple of minutes of the feeding. If you look at the time stamp, Little Bit will be fed for much longer. The feeding stops around 14:38.
Keep sending all of your wishes so that instead of prolonging Little Bit’s agony (I serious thought LB was going to die) he will get enough food to grow big enough so Big and Middle will not injure or stop him from eating. It is a long slog. We were up and down with Tiny Tot Tumbles for 3 weeks like this. More fish need to come closer together.
Little Bit is tucked up under Mum’s head. You can just see its head sticking out. If it can stay away from those other two. Hopefully they will just go to sleep!
Tears.
So nice to be able to send out some promising news for this nest. Little Bit needs to eat again but we know that there is time between feedings where it will be OK. Fingers crossed!
Thank you for joining me. I am elated. It is snowing heavily where I live. The birds do so much better in snow than in rain. This is also a good thing. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey cam where I took my video clip and screen capture.
The other day, Jean-Marie Dupart took photographs of a Scottish Osprey in the Saloum Delta in Senegal. The band on the leg, slightly obscured, could read JJ2 or JJ7. JJ2 was believed to be a female at the time of banding. JJ7 was believed a male at the time of its banding.
Here is the photograph Jean-Marie Dupart took of the Osprey in question:
The Woodland Trust and People’s Post Code Lottery put out the following announcement today:
I had so hoped it was JJ7 but, in the end, it is wonderful to see a healthy Scottish fish eagle that hatched in 2019.
In a sadder note, the H5N1 highly pathogenic strain of Avian Flu that killed the two white-tailed eaglets in the spring of 2021 is striking again in the UK. First swans were culled and now the Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary in Yorkshire.
Ervie has been waiting on the nest hoping that Dad would either bring him a fish or that he would catch one as he focused on the beautiful waters of the cove. And then, at 8:20:39, Ervie finds an old fish tail on the nest. He did several double takes when he saw it a few seconds earlier. What a delight! An old dried up fish tail for our lovely boy.
Ervie really enjoyed that old piece of fish.
Ervie had been standing fish calling to the parents missing that piece of tail down by his talons. In the image below you can see that this is not a big piece of fish but for Ervie, it must have felt like he had found gold in that nest.
Gosh, Ervie is a handsome Osprey.
Ervie is still working on that old piece of dry fish. He is not giving up.
And he is still working on it…
You can see from the time how long Ervie has been pulling this dry fish. He is making good progress. Ervie would love to share some of the fish from the KNF nest! But he is not going to give up until he eats every single scrap of this tail. That is why you are a survivor, Ervie.
While Ervie is dreaming of having a big fish soon, the eaglet at the KNF nest in Louisiana has been filled to the brim by Anna. Look at that crop. Incredible.
Anna is making up for missing the feedings yesterday afternoon but, at the same time, Louis did a fantastic job taking care of the eaglet. The baby was never hungry and always had a bit of a crop. Louis was extraordinary – just like Samson was when Gabby was away for 24 hours before NE26 and 27 hatched.
Diamond did not seem to spend the night at the scrape but she is on the ledge early this morning. I wonder how much the hot weather impacted her and Xavier? As you know, many Peregrine Falcons wound up in care from dehydration.
Last breeding season the Mum at the Duke Farms Bald Eagle nest spent most of it buried in snow. This year is starting off the same way. Whether it is extreme heat or extreme winter storms, our feathered friends are being impacted.
Mum will keep the eggs warm and dry. These eagles are amazing.
I wanted to do a last check on the WRDC eaglets, R1 and R2. They are doing fine. R2 is being fed at the moment which must mean that R1 is full! You can tell the difference between the two because R1 still has a big drop of light natal down on its head.
If you are a Pittsburg-Hayes eagle fan, the couple were just mating on the tree. Eggs are not normally laid til 15 February or after. I wonder if they will be early this year? Looks like they have a nice egg cup created. Last year this couple raised triplets. Yes, three eaglets. 3.
Thank you for joining me today and for all your letters and comments. I really enjoy hearing from you. Take care everyone. Stay safe!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: WRDC, KNF Bald Eagles, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Duke Farms, Charles Sturt University at Orange Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Friends of Loch Arkaig Ospreys, and Pix Cams.
OGK (Orange-Green-Black) has been away from the Quarry Track nest for five (5) full days and a lot has happened while he has been foraging out on the seas. His chick, the Royal Cam chick for 2022, hatched at 19:40 on the 26th of January. On the nest when the chick was returned from the incubator was OGK’s mate of fifteen (15) years, YRK (Yellow-Red-Black).
Before anyone could even sense that OGK was near, YRK started looking around and then she broke into a sky call at 12:32:19.
At 12:33:07, OGK appears. He has landed up above and walked down to the Quarry Track where the nest is located.
OGK breaks into a sky call as he gets nearer to the nest and YRK. Sky calls are a way of greeting.
The formality of the greeting was followed by gentle allopreening between the couple.
Preening is when a bird grooms its own feathers. Allopreening is when it grooms the feathers of another bird. In the case of this Royal cam couple, the allopreening is a form of bonding, of renewing their ties, of a rite of courtship.
The Royal Albatross spend so much time away. The opportunities when they switch duties when there is a small chick on the nest are rare moments. When the chick is older, they will both be out foraging. They may or may not arrive back at the nest at the same times. In the past we have been lucky to see them and to watch them spend time together.
YRK stops and spends some time sitting on the grass by OGK and their chick before leaving for foraging. She departs at 12:45.
OGK is perfectly content brooding his new chick!
The NZ Department of Conservation put together a short information page about Albatross behaviours. They might have included some you have been wondering about. Check it out!
Here is a short video clip by Liz of YRK feeding the chick. It is absolutely fascinating and a delight to see how this wee bill and Mum’s go together to get nourishment. The chick is checked two times a day and weighted to ensure that it is getting enough ‘squid shake’. If not, the rangers will step in and supplement the feeding. There are no worries here. The chick is steadily gaining weight!
The Royal Albatross are so gentle and so loving. The streaming cam for the Royal Cam couple of the year is certainly a place to turn to if you are feeling stressed out by the happenings on other nests. It is very calming for the soul. You will also gain an acute appreciation of the New Zealand Government and its Department of Conservation. All of the birds are cared for. They get medical attention, spraying when it is too hot, and supplementary feedings whether they are a chick or an adult. It is certainly a place that gives back to these beautiful sea creatures for all the joy they bring us.
Here is a link to the live streaming cam. It won’t be long until there will be a contest for the name of the chick. That is always exciting.
Thank you so much for joining me. It is just wonderful news that OGK is home safe! Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the Cornell Bird Lab and the NZ DOC for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.
Just a quick note: My Friday blog might be late. The garden birds will finish off all their seed and suet tomorrow so I will be off to replenish their stock. I am hoping that the weather is conducive to checking out some more of our local birds. Maybe even see that Bald Eagle! Wish me luck.
Have you ever sat and watched a female Bald Eagle go through the pantry, choose what is for dinner, eat away all the while the chicks are watching and waiting? For days now I have watched Anna on the Kistachie Forest Nest go after her mate, Louis, when he comes to the nest and wants to have dinner with the family. Anna likes to eat! She is a great mother but it is a bit of a giggle. Today, Gabby was tearing into the fish eating the nice tender cheeks while the two chicks looked on waiting their turn.
Samson is security guard while Gabby broods NE26 and NE27. The pantry is full.
Samson is getting a turn to feed his chicks.
These little ones are absolutely adorable. During the times that I watched the feedings only once did I see even the slightest notion of pecking and that was NE27 going after 26s fluff on its head. 27 needs its eyes to focus better and his head a little more stable. Otherwise that would not have happened.
We are getting close to the announcement of the top three names for the Kisatchie National Forest Bald eaglet. Louis delivered a Coot today and Anna was delighted. Anna is so funny. Any food that lands on the nest is – to her – the property of her and the eaglet/s. Louis is not supposed to eat it. Interesting.
Just look at the difference between the two chicks above and the little eaglet below. The KNF eaglet is 14 days old today. Thermal down and feathers are growing in.
Louis might have wanted some of that nice Coot but he was having a difficult time getting permission to eat the fish tail! The eaglet was so full he was getting ready to fall asleep while Mum and Dad discussed meal sharing.
Missy and B15 continued to work on the hare that Pa Berry brought to the nest yesterday. B15 is growing just as much as the KNF eaglet is – they are in a big growth spurt period! And they are losing that ‘cute little eaglet’ look that NE 26 and 27 have.
I don’t always check on Ron and Rita’s two eaglets at the WRDC Nest. It was good today to find them both fed and again to see R2 over chewing on a piece of fish.
R1 is stretching its wings and getting its muscles stronger.
R1 has finished eating and R2 is being fed.
R1 is on the far right. R2 is close to Rita.
R1 is in a food coma. The parent is up on the branches and R2 is going after the fish like it did yesterday!
There have been storms, then good weather, and the camera is currently off line at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. At 13:00 Ervie was on the nest calling for fish! It was sunny and there was no rain.
I took the afternoon off from the streaming cams. Everyone is doing fabulous! No worries. We went out to our local landfill to try and find the Bald Eagle hanging out there and then for a long walk at one of the nature centres in our City. The Bald Eagle was not to be seen. Just a murder of crows and a hawk in the distance. At the nature centre, I was blessed with a sweet little Black capped Chickadee, a White-Breasted Nuthatch, and a female Downy Woodpecker.
No one wanted to pose for me. The Chickadee would take the black oil seed and either break it on the feeder or fly over to a nearby tree and crack it on the branch.
I really wanted to see this cute little woodpecker sharing the feeder with the Chickadee.
Oh, when she turned around I realized she has a disease on her beak. I have seen this before and it looks like trichomoniasis. “Trichomononsis (also commonly known as trichomoniasis, canker, or frounce) is an infectious disease among many species of birds caused by the microscopic parasite Trichomonas gallinae.” I realized that the woodpecker was lucky to have the seed feeder as it appears it would not be able to peck hard into a tree to eat. However, the presence of the infection causes issues for the other songbirds eating at the feeders. It was reported and hopefully someone who knows more about these things will check out the little woodpecker.
The White-Breasted Nuthatch is so funny. Everything is the opposite even eating off a suet feeder.
The paths are nicely groomed for walking, cross country skiing and snow shoeing.
It was a beautiful day to be out in the forest.
There were quite a number of wasp nests – each different than the one near to where I live.
Then there were these large globular nests. They were all spherical in shape and were completely enclosed except for a very small opening near the top on the side of the nest.
I wonder who they belong to? Must find out!
When we got home we were greeted by Scraggle Tail, Dyson’s little sister. Oh, it was so nice to see her.
Dyson was here, too. He was up on the feeder. It made me giggle. Maybe Dyson was brushing off some seeds to rain down on his little sister!
It was simply a beautiful day to be outside knowing that all of our friends in Bird World are doing well. Thank you for joining me today. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, Berry College, KNF, and the WRDC.
It feels like the lull after the storm which is possibly a good thing for everyone who was in the path of the snow and ice in the US yesterday, including our beloved birds and animals. That said, there are still parts of the US and Canada that continue to be having weather from that system.
The rain stopped in Ithaca, home of Big Red and Arthur, and it started snowing again.
It has stopped snowing at the nest of the Pittsburgh-Hayes couple.
In the wake of the storm, the female at Duke Farms laid her first egg about an hour and a half ago. No snow! Congratulations Duke Farms.
Over in Dale Hollow there is snow and the Bald Eagle couple also have their first egg of the 2022 season. Gos, I live in Canada but it looks cold there to me – and a little odd. Snow on the nest and green grass. Oh, Canadians living on the Prairies love to see the green grass come up in the spring.
Here is the announcement:
Did you ever watch the Bald Canyon Eagles? If so, you might be interested to know that the US Navy, the entity that owns and operates San Clemente Island, gave Dr Sharpe permission to install a new camera.
Here is the link to this nest with its new camera. There is no sound as per the US Navy regulations.
B15 is doing really well at the Berry College Bald Eagle Nest in Mt Berry, Georgia. The nest seems to have dried out and Missy’s feathers are all nice and fluffy. This little one is moving about nicely and appears to be quite strong – doing well for one less than a week old! B15 had a nice little crop after its late afternoon feed.
The aggression by R1 towards R2 at the WRDC Nest in Miami-Dade County continues. R2 had one meal by 16:16. Of course, this little one can still survive but it is very intimidated by R1 and will not raise itself to eat while R1 is eating.
E19 was being particularly aggressive today, too. In fact, horrible isn’t even the right word to describe the behaviour towards E20. This is despite some nice fish deliveries at the SWFlorida Nest. How does bad weather impact avian behaviour? These two eaglets were, just a few days ago, cited as being the most civil that Harriet and M15 ever had on the nest. The ‘trigger’ had to be the weather. I cannot account for anything else.
In the end, both eaglets were fed but it is to E20’s credit that it held out and finally had to do the old ‘snatch and grab’.
E20 kept its head down til E19 was full.
E19 was about to pop its crop and was still hammering its younger sibling. And then…E20 cleverly waited a second and got up to Mum. Harriet fed E20 til it was full.
I do not believe there is any reason to be concerned. There has never been a siblicide on this nest and I don’t believe it will happen this year either. These two will be fine. M15 and Harriet are known to tandem feed if required. They are very experienced parents ——- and they care!
Awww. So sweet. Finally being able to enjoy some dinner.
And then E19 full to the top of its head decides that E20 has had too many bites – well before there is any crop – and starts bonking it again. Sad.
To the credit of E20, it was so hungry that it began stealing bites. Bravo!
Sometimes you simply want to find an Eagle nest where there is absolutely no conflict. That nest for me is the KNF Bald Eagle Nest in Louisiana.
At the nest of Anna and Louis, the baby is so full from the last feeding that it is not yet interested in the 10 fish that are on the nest behind it. Yes, 10. Just look at it sit up tall and straight. This baby is 5 days old and curious.
Aww. Baby decided it had better get around to the other side near the pantry if it wanted a late snack.
Anna was very hungry but a couple of little cheeps and she was feeding the little one. It is nice and full and so is Mum.
If you want a peaceful, serene Bald Eagle nest to watch with a 5 day old eaglet, I highly recommend the KNF nest with its chat mods, Tonya from NO and the two rangers, Cody and Steve.
Here is the link to the KNF nest:
Ervie had a late delivery of a fish last night. He was sleeping on part of it this morning. Ervie is flying on and off the nest and everything seems perfectly fine at the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge.
The sun is setting on Gabby at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest where we are approaching pip watch on the 21st.
The sun has already set on my garden and the birds have all left. We are expecting more snow tonight! I will check on the Kakapo Recovery tonight and report in the morning. There is a rumour going around that Nora, who laid her first egg in 1981, mated for 83 minutes with one of the males last night. She is really hoping for eggs this year. Fingers crossed.
Thank you so much for joining me. Take care, stay safe. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screenshots: WRDC, SWFlorida and D Pritchett, KNF, Duke Farms, Berry College, Cornell Bird Lab, Pittsburg-Hays and Pix Cams, Bald Canyon, NEFlorida and the AEF, and Bald Eagles Live FB Page.
