It is a very early good morning to everyone- just past midnight. I am posting this newsletter early so that everyone will get to read the great news that is coming in – in case you do not already know. In the case of Victor and Little Bit, continued thanks to the wildlife rehabilitation staff that intervened and gave them a second chance on life.
My goodness, it is such a wonderful feeling as if you are floating on a cotton candy cloud when there is great news in Bird World. If you get emotional, I suggest you get the tissues out before reading further.
I want to thank ‘B’ and ‘L’ for alerting me to the special news about Victor in my inbox.
The Ojai Raptor Centre posted this announcement about Victor. When all of us were worrying he might not get well or he might not be able to feed himself ——– well, he is self-feeding and doing a grand job of it, too. He is in an outside enclosure not inside the clinic. Oh,, Victor, you have worked so hard to get well and all the staff at ORC have just being doing the best for you. Tears of joy, tears of joy.
Video of Victor self-feeding:
Video of Victor’s outdoor enclosure:
The other good news is, of course, Little Bit ND17. Images were taken and studied by several who go to the park on a daily basis to watch and photograph the Notre-Dame eagle family – Mum, Dad, ND15, ND16, and ND17 Little Bit. They have longed to get a good clear picture of 17 but wanted to be sure it was him. Here is the announcement in the Notre-Dame FB postings for today:
I was so skeptical when Little Bit was returned to the park without the ability to hunt his own prey. I am joyful to have been proven wrong! Notice the top right image. See how the hair kind of goes around in a partial donut shape. It reminds me of my late father-in-law who was bald but that circular band. It appears that some of the top is flat like strands of longer feathers covering up the places where feathers are missing. At the onset, I did not think he had a crop but, yes, that top right image appears to show that he has recently eaten. What a wonderful relief to see him looking and doing well. Thanks to everyone who worked hard to ensure Little Bit got a second chance on life and those birders on the ground who tried desperately to get images to reassure all of us. Thank you.
The Sea Eaglets are doing just fine, too. The crops of both of them are simply about to pop!!!!!!!
An hour later, Lady is urging them to have ‘just one more bite’! They are growing and will have a rapid growth spurt. Full crops will be the order of the day. Look at how the wings are forming and each has a cute little tail.
The two osplets on the Osoyoos Nest are looking good this evening. The forecast was correct and it has cooled down some – of course, it is still hot, just not as blistery. The chat for the streaming cams appears to be down. Not sure why unless it is all the spam.
Soo had a big crop at 10:46.
Another delivery.
Looks like one of the chicks got the last delivery and is self-feeding.
One crop fuller than the other chick who is fish crying.
I cannot give you a fish count but it appears that both chicks ate today and so did Soo. Fantastic.
Ervie is out flying about and finding nice fish for dinner. He must miss hanging out with Dad on the barge and going to the nest to eat his fish. I wonder if he will try to return to the barge after this breeding season?
It is good to know he is safe – GPS trackers certainly help with that.
In the case of each of these nests or particular fledglings, it is so good to know that they are either improving in care or are doing splendidly on their own. There has been no word on L3 or L4. We wait.
I want to mention a book called Beauty and the Beak. How Science, Technology, and a 3D-printed Beak rescued a Bald Eagle. It is by a pair of talented women – writer Deborah Rose and wildlife rehabilitator, Jane Veltkamp. I first heard of the efforts to save this particular Bald Eagle when I was looking for information about the McEuen Park eagles in Idaho. The intended audience would be children ages 8-12 (I think) but I also enjoyed the gorgeous photos and learning about how science and new technology saved Beauty’s life. It is another fantastic book about positive interventions. If you teach science or know someone who does, I would highly recommend this book. (Cost in Canada is $11.46 for the glossy paperback).
It is a beautiful story of compassion and the commitment of Jane Veltkamp to help Beauty the Bald Eagle.
My regular newsletter that normally appears around noon CDT during the month of August will appear in the early evening on 4 August.
Thank you so much for joining me with all these good news stories. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their postings and/or streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Notre Dame Eagles, Ojai Raptor Centre, Port Lincoln Ospreys and Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park.
Oh, one half of the sky is blue with cottonball-like clouds. The other side is a solid mass of heavy grey clouds. It is 22 C and more rain forecast for 1700. The Crows are already in the bird bath eating their ‘sandwiches’ and peanuts. Given a chance tens of sparrows gather in there after they have left. The squirrels are running about and the birds are flitting in and out. Dyson came to drink out of the bird bath yesterday and all the rabbits have been here. The weather is hot for here and having water out for the animals is, hopefully, helping them to cool down. It is so reassuring – just like when we check on the streaming cams and everyone is home!
The three young Crows are constantly with one another. Their flying is improving. The bird bath water is in constant change for one reason – everything is washed by the Covids. I wonder if it was to soften the shell of the peanut??
One of the fledgling Blue Jays waited its turn until the Crow departed.
This Blue Jay is yelling at Dyson! The squirrels do not wait in line – they just go and grab the peanuts. It is too funny. The juveniles are just getting their crests.
Poor Junior. He is moulting. If you see a Cardinal or Blue Jay looking scarce on top, they are not ill, just replacing their feathers.
Hello Dyson. Thank goodness the new bird bath is heavy enough that Dyson doesn’t go flying when he jumps up for a drink.
Adorable Hedwig. He spent about an hour eating the spilt seeds under the feeder. Hedwig was discovered under the Peony bush. He was such a wee rabbit. He never left the garden but ate the seeds as the birds flitted around him. He is never frightened by them. His burrow is somewhere else now but you can always count on his arrival around 1730 rain or shine, winter or summer. He’s an Eastern Cottontail.
Olsen really seems to have outdone himself on Sunday. As I begin to write this, there are two partial fish sitting on the nest. The chatters have been keeping close tabs and ‘H’ provided detailed time stamps. These are invaluable for viewers coming on line. Much appreciated. By 0900, Olsen had delivered 8 fish of varying sizes. Everyone was chock full of fish. It appears that there was some nibbling on the old fish (gosh they must be like dried fish now!) with another fish delivery at 18:33.
Soo has done a fabulous job keeping the chicks shaded. It is currently 37 C but rose to 40. Or 98.6 F to 104 F.
The nest still has horrific temperatures tomorrow. They seem to just keep adding on an additional day of heat. When did I ever believe I would say that 34 C was a welcome drop in temperature? The night will be welcome cooling off periods. The Osprey parents are doing the best they can and thank goodness those two chicks are feathered nicely this year.
Send positive thoughts, please. Soo and Olsen deserve success. In 2020 they lost a chick and one fell out of the nest and in 2021 the three died in the heat dome that stayed over the area. This year we have had one fall over the nest so let us keep fingers crossed. I think Soo and Olsen will succeed this year.
It is now Monday morning and Olsen has already brought at least five fish according to the chatters and here he is at 0656 feeding his babies fish number six!
I do not know if you have read the history of this nest but it is one of those great cooperative measures. FortisBC worked with the Town of Osoyoos put up a separate de-commissioned hydro pole for the Osprey and also donated the funds for the camera – the nest and streaming cam you are watching. They were proactive – indeed, it is in their best interests not to have the local power knocked out but, grateful, so grateful.
It is cooler at the Fortis Exshaw Nest in Canmore, Alberta. Mum and the trio are doing very well it seems.
Because it is in the same heat warning area, I have been checking on and off at the McEuen Park Osprey platform in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho.
There were two of the fledglings on the nest when I popped in.
With all the heat warnings, it is nice to have something to laugh at and it is provided by Bukacek and the adult only nest. You might well remember that Bukacek had built a second nest for him and Betty. Having four large White storklets on the natal nest gets a little crowded. Now that the storklets are flying – they have taken over the new nest! Bukacek will have to build another!!!!!! Betty meanwhile lures them back to their own nest with food. Perfect. Ooops….they ate and left. Oh, goodness.
Beautiful Betty.
There has been some concern about a blood spot near the wing of SE30 on the Sydney Sea Eagles nest. What was the cause? Often the eaglets get fish blood or bird parts on their body but this does not seem to be that. It looks instead as if some feathers have clumped together either with fish juice or ps and they were, perhaps, pulling and it annoyed the eaglet who pulled them out and left a small bloody spot. The eaglet appears to be fine.
You can clearly see the spot on the right wing- and that enormous crop of SE29’s. 30 is eating well. No worries. Lady sometimes feeds it so much that 29 gets itself in a little knot. With the amount of prey coming on the nest there is no need for food competition – and even with feedings spreading a bit, everything should be fine. The eaglets are getting older. Getting ready to get some really itchy pin feathers soon. As long as food continues and Lady keeps up her remarkable feeding schedule..these two are going to grow and fledge.
There will not be any ringing or DNA tests unless one or both wind up in rehab after fledge. But I might be already inclined to guess that we have a really big sister in 29 and a little brother in 30.
We can always use good news in our lives. Here is another story of an eagle rescue that will warm your hearts! Thanks, ‘L’, much appreciated.
Our beautiful Victor. I love this photo of him standing on a low perch. You are progressing, Victor. Keep up the good work!
Since the rescue of Victor, some of us have been more than perplexed about where the zinc came from that poisoned his body. I have rattled my brain with several of you – flakes coming off of anything galvanized, warnings on garden hoses about zinc, the shale in the area contains zinc, etc. I really do not think our dear Victor sat and ate pennies knowingly. ‘C’ sent me the findings of a study by a Brazilian researcher. It has been translated by Google from the Portugese. If you are interested in how Victor might have gotten the zinc and how our contamination of the planet spreads to birds 10,000 miles away even…have a read.
Thank you, ‘C’. Much appreciated.
Title: “Not even the “end of the world” is free from human-caused pollution”
Animals that live in the waters of the Kerguelen archipelago, 3,000 km from the nearest inhabited region, are contaminated by metals such as cadmium and mercury.
Not even the “end of the world” is free from the pollution generated by humanity. Located in the south of the Indian Ocean, 3,300 km from Madagascar, the nearest inhabited region, the Kerguelen archipelago, formed by about 300 islands and islets, is contaminated by metals such as cadmium and mercury, copper and zinc. The observation is made by Brazilian researcher Caio Vinicius Cipro, a postdoctoral fellow at the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo (IO-USP), in two studies he carried out at the University of La Rochelle, in France, in partnership with scientists there.
Of volcanic origin, Kerguelen is 4 thousand kilometers south of India and 2 thousand kilometers north of Antarctica. The archipelago belongs to that country and is administratively part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF). There is currently a scientific station and structures associated with it. “There is also fishing activity due to France’s exclusive economic exploitation zone”, says Cipro. “Biologically, there are countless species of birds and marine mammals that have established colonies on the island and many others, in addition to significant amounts of fish and invertebrates thanks to the high primary productivity of local food. There are also several species introduced by humans, such as mice and reindeer, and some plants.”
He says that the idea for the study came during a period when he worked as a guest researcher at the University of La Rochelle. “My supervisor at the time, Professor Paco Bustamante, had told me about a dataset he had obtained years before, which he began working on during his own doctorate, and whose publication he never had time to pursue,” he says. “I volunteered to carry out the task and write the publication.”
Cipro then went on to study the occurrence of four chemical elements (cadmium, copper, mercury, zinc and selenium) in more than 30 species of invertebrates and fish, most of them at a lower trophic level (of the food chain). The objective was to understand how the concentrations of these inorganic pollutants behave at these lower levels that will influence organisms above them in the food chain.
Cipro’s first study was carried out in 2014, shortly after he arrived in France, on samples that had been collected by Bustamante’s team in the southern summers of 1997 and 1998. The Brazilian scientist analyzed metal contamination in a species of bird, the black shearwater petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis). “We found contamination by cadmium, copper, mercury, selenium and zinc”, he says. “An article about the work was published in 2016 in the scientific journal Polar Biology.”
The second research was carried out in 2018 and yielded another article, published in the same journal. “In this case, we analyzed the levels of contamination of the same metals, with the exception of selenium – there were no conditions at the time to do this with this element in the laboratory at the University of La Rochelle – in 18 species of fish and 11 of invertebrates”, explains Cipro . The result of the work also pointed to the contamination of animals by metals.
According to Cipro, what can be concluded from the results of his research is that in this specific case of Kerguelen, cadmium values varied much more than mercury values (four orders of magnitude against one) and depended more on specificity in food ecology. and in the habitat than at the level of the food chain plain and simple.
In other words, the results of the studies showed that, contrary to what happens in most cases, the concentrations of pollutants found in animals depended little on their position in the food chain, but more on specific mechanisms of physiology and exposure, in such a way that predators from lower trophic levels could be more subject to some contaminants than others from higher positions.
This means, according to Cipro, that work with species of higher trophic level or sentinels needs more in-depth food ecology studies before reaching certain conclusions and that the food chain by itself does not mean much in this environment. “Furthermore, my research provides solid foundations on the exposure to which predators are subject, as in most cases this discussion remained on hypothetical terrain due to lack of field data,” he explains.
The work also showed a possible influence of a local secondary source of contaminants, probably the bird colonies themselves, a hypothesis confirmed in the Antarctic environment during his current research project. Going into more detail, Cipro explains that the analyzed metals have natural sources, but human activity certainly plays a bigger role than them in general. For mercury, for example, current emissions are estimated to be three to five times higher than before the industrial age. This element can reach the Kerguelen archipelago from dumps made by factories located 10,000 kilometers away.
Nevertheless, locally, in addition to bird colonies, some other natural sources may be significant, such as certain rocks and fossil fuels. “In the case of bird colonies, some studies that I proposed suggested and later confirmed their role as a local and relevant source of some elements and also of organic pollutants”, says Cipro. “In Kerguelen, we raised this hypothesis, comparing mussels from inside and outside the Gulf of Morbihan, and it seemed to be confirmed by the results obtained.”
The Dad at the Janakkalan Nest, Red CCL, continues to deliver the fish. The chatters have nicknamed the pair. Boris is the oldest and Titi is the youngest. The fish are so big that they take turns with no need to squabble. Titi is on the left. He has not figured out – yet – to hold the fish down with its talons.
Dad arrives with another fish at 1805. Titi is in the back with the huge crop from eating the fish in the image above. Boris is going to claim this one and Titi is absolutely too full to care! Lovely. Thanks, Dad.
The four Black Storklets on the nest of Karl II and Kaia are really wanting a food delivery. While they wait it is raining – they shake off their feathers, flap about, and jump on and off the perch. Kaia arrives with food at 16:58, the last image.
Just look at this beautiful juvenile Red-tail Hawk, L4. Stunning. L2 and L4 will probably be soaring in the thermals soon and leaving the Campus. Every moment with them is special as it is with Big Red and Arthur.
The latest update on L3 from the Cornell Lab:
L3 is gorgeous. Looking forward to her release when she is all healed.
Thank you so much for joining me today. It is wonderful to have such good news in Bird World. To my knowledge, all of the UK Ospreys have fledged. They will be eating and gaining weight as will their mothers for migration. Soon these flights will be charted. In the meantime continue to enjoy them. The same with the storks! Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, websites, and postings where I took my screen captures: Osoyoos Ospreys, McEuen Park, Coeur d’Elene, Idaho, Sydney Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park, Cornell Bird Lab, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Mlade Buky Storks, Eagle Club of Estonia and Looduskalender, Ojai Raptor Centre, and Fortis Exshaw.
Oh, good morning everyone! Still some fledging going on in the UK, osplets getting their ‘legs’ in the US, another video of Little Bit…it is starting off as a good week. Fingers and toes crossed.
At the Sea Eagles nest in the old Ironbark Tree, Lady seems to have gotten into a pattern of feeding SE 29 and 30 every hour. Lady’s job at this stage of the eaglet’s development is to brood and feed the chicks. Dad is in charge of hunting and guarding the nest. The chicks will grow quickly. When they are 3-4 weeks old, Lady will stop brooding them at night and sleep perched on the tree. Fledging takes place between 75-85 days, normally.
So,, we must enjoy every moment of these two little white snow balls. What can we expect in weeks 2 and 3? You will continue to notice how their beaks are growing longer. It is hard to imagine but they will start to crawl out of the nest cup during week 2. You will also notice they have started to squirt their ‘ps’ over the side of the nest. No potty training for these two – it is instinctual. By week 3 they will be double their size at hatch and they will become interested in things around them. They will be eating bigger flakes of fish and pieces of prey and, of course, they will have mastered getting those bites into their beak from Lady much better than in the early days.
It is the most beautiful golden morning in Finland at the Janakkalan Osprey nest. The two chicks are sound asleep.
It is an equally beautiful morning in Mlade Buky, The Czech Republic as the sun comes over the distant hills. You can see the four storklets on the natal nest in the foreground. Now look carefully at the top image. In the middle ground, there is the finished ‘home’ that Bukacek was building for him and Betty. The storklets can flap all they want — and they are beginning to work those wings. It would be a little crowded there with six on that nest!
Sorry. It is so dark there but look carefully and you will see the adults in their own private space!
All four storklets at the nest of Karl II and Kaia in the Karula National Forest in Estonia are doing splendid. Like the White Storks above, these four are starting to work their wings as well.
There were only 2 feedings for the storklets on 24 July. From the discussion forum, it appears that the fish baskets need filling or some other bird species is eating them. It also appears that there is not enough fish in the natural sources… let us all hope that the baskets are filled and Karl II and Kaia find all that food and eat themselves and feed their four very large storklets.
The three fledglings of Ivo and Iiris are doing well although some of their take offs and landings need a little adjustment. Ivo is delivering really nice size fish to the nest and each waits their turn for another delivery if they missed an earlier one. The nest is located in Southern Estonia near Tartumaa. Nearby is a fish farm as well as a river and some ponds. It would appear from the deliveries that there is plenty of fish for this family of 5.
Ivo has enjoyed the head of this fish. He has a very nice crop. Thanks, Dad.
Another video of the area of the Notre-Dame Eagles – and a most welcome one. It shows where they are and where you can ‘view’ them without doing harm. The individual filming will point the camera to the trees. Squint – look hard. There is at least one fledgling on a branch. They say it is ND17! I sure hope so. It was great to see the three yesterday for the simple reason that 17 is eating somewhere…and flying around watching and learning from the parents …or there would not have been three. So very grateful. Thank you!
Carol Mandis-Beatle posted some images of the three ND eaglets on FB. I hope she does not mind if I share one of them. They were so cute..and they grow so fast!
Speaking of ‘baby pictures’. How many of you remember J3? He falls right up there with L4 for me — cutie pies – Big Red and Arthur’s kids at Cornell. Gosh, I would love to know the dispersal area of their eyases and would especially like to know how they are. You get attached and poof – gone.
J2 and J3 (J1 will be killed flying into the glass at the Weil Building) were best mates. They soared in the sky protecting their sister J1 when she was bathing in a puddle. They also soared together until one morning…J3 got into a thermal, soared high and was gone- out of sight forever. Then J2.
The pressure on BC Hydro to do something to help the Bald Eagles continues – and I am so glad that it is not losing traction. Two articles – one in the Times Colonist and the other in the Vancouver Sun.
Malala has been coming and going from the nest. To check out her images please go to GROWLS FB page. You do not have to be a member of FB or their group to see the images.
‘H’ caught the trio at the Boathouse ‘Waddling’ this morning and made a YouTube clip. It is short and ever so cute…all are standing. Thank you ‘H’. That nest is getting rather small…
In Poole Harbour, there was a moment when the nest was empty. Both chicks of CJ7 and Blue 022 have fledged!!!!!!!! 5H2 fledged this morning. Celebration Time. Like all others, they will, of course, chase the parents back and forth for food for a bit building up their flying skills. Hopefully we will have a few more weeks with the family before CJ7 heads south for her winter break.
5H2 has returned to claim a fish on the nest. What a lovely sight she is. Always good to see them return the first few times! Congratulations to everyone at Poole Harbour.
Skipping way across the pond, the sun made the nest golden at Osoyoos this morning. The chicks were beautiful! Olsen brought in a small fish at 07:16, the first of the day unless I missed something quite a bit earlier.
Alden has found a new loafing spot. He may have to change often if those two fledglings – and Grinnell, Jr in particular – continue to find him. It seems that all the nooks and corners of the Campanile at Berkeley are being visited by Lindsay and Grinnell Jr looking for Mum or Dad or both! Not much peace and quiet…it is beautiful, isn’t it?
Can you spot Alden?
Thank you so much for joining me this morning. It is hazy here this morning The garden birds have been awake for ever so long. The Crows have been at the bird bath cawing their heads off for more peanuts. They was them…and leave the shells in the water for their human servants to clean up! It is so funny to watch. I will try and catch some images for you today. Take care everyone. I hope that your start to the week is a good one. Hoping that we get another update on Victor’s progress soon!!!!
Thank you to the following for their FB posts, videos, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cal Falcons, Osoyoos Ospreys, Poole Harbour Ospreys, GROWLS, Cornell Bird Lab RTH Cam, ND-LEEF, Eagle Club of Estonia and Looduskalender, Mlade Buky, Finnish Osprey Foundation, and Sydney Sea-eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park.
What promised to be a lovely day at the nature centre doing the 4.5 km walk and checking on some little Coots turned out to be a run flat tire shredded by the time I got to a place where I could get a new one! Can you hear me growling??? As I waited for my new tire, I noticed something and it made me mad. In Winnipeg, glue traps were outlawed as of 1 July 2022. So why am I seeing stacks of these horrible killers on the shelves??? Letters have already gone out to the company and to several municipal offices. The products should be removed and destroyed responsibly. This is a plea by a raptor group that shows what glue traps do to birds – and other animals that get on them. It is horrible. Please do not use these.
The public attitude towards wildlife – including our fearless raptors – has changed over the decades. Perhaps it has not been as fast as some of us would want but, there is a growing awareness that we live in a world that is ‘connected’. The balance that we need to exist means that all living things have rights and are to be respected. It is no longer acceptable to shoot raptors and it is definitely no longer acceptable, as it was in the 1950s and mid-1960s, to shoot Bald Eagles for the $2 bounty. Cut their legs off, tie them up, you get $2! That would outrage us if we saw buckets of our beloved eagle’s legs on a dock! It is also no longer acceptable to tear down nests to build parking lots for stores. The more we learn and study and watch our beautiful feathered friends the more we understand that they are not so different as us as families. What is different is that their lives have been compromised by humans. In 2022, we know that we need to fix that but…we need everyone to understand and care for wildlife, to demand that utility companies and businesses who make huge profits undertake to be responsible stewards of our planet. That is why I am always happy to see a news story about the birds!
It is always good when stories about our beloved raptors make it into the news. California really is the gold star for keeping wildlife and their stories in the public.
One of the most loved nests is that of Louis – Lonesome Louis he was called before Aila came to Loch Arkaig. Now he is with Dorcha for their second year and the two surviving osplets were named by their fans – Willow and Sarafina. That made the news!
Continuing on with birds in the news and birds in the news who are making history is the story of the first fledge out of Dorset and Poole Harbour in over 200 years! Once again our hats are taken off in great respect to the team that worked on this translocation project. It worked thanks to CJ7 waiting for a mate and Blue 022 falling in love with her and returning this year to start a family!
To put a smile on everyone’s face, Kennth Kujawski filmed the 3 juveniles at the Notre-Dame nest. Here it is and it feels wonderful to see them all! Little Bit 17 is identified first – but all three are there. ND17 must be eating — and that puts tears on my cheeks.
There have been three fish deliveries so far to the Osoyoos Osprey nest today in British Columbia. Soo is trying to keep the babies cool.
Lady and SE29 and 30 are just waking up in the forest of the Sydney Olympic Park. Dad has lots of fish on the nest and the two are just cute little fluffy snow people with wings!
I am continually checking on the two osplets in Finland at the Janakkalan Nest. They are either sleeping or eating – good things to do as they prepare to fledge and fatten up for migration. Dad is doing a great job. I have not caught the intruder on the nest, have you?
These two look great!
Ever want a list of the names and images of all the eaglets at the nests in the Channel Islands but were afraid to ask? Here you go.
Last but never least, Annie and Alden whose scrape is in UC-Berkeley’s Campanile, finally got some quiet time to bond in the scrape!
Continue to send warm wishes to the Osoyoos Nest. We want Soo to have so much fish that she cannot believe her eyes! OK. Maybe I am not being realistic. How about one large headless fish?
I will write more about BC Hydro but if you want to send a letter about how outraged you are that they do not take their responsibilities to the wildlife seriously, you can e-mail them at: connectwithus@bchydro.com
Chris O’Riley is the CEO! What we want is an immediate start to using poles with a clearance of a little more than 7′ on all new poles between the wires. They can retrofit the existing poles. They are a public company that needs to be mindful of their powerful and thus responsible position as a public utility funded by the taxpayers ——-who demand that they take seriously their role and protect wildlife that are injured by their poles.
Thank you for joining me today. All the nests seem fine as do the Crows, the Blue Jays, Dyson, and the rabbits in the garden right now. It is the flurry of eating before bedtime for all of them. Take care of yourself. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their FB posts and their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: The Raptor Trust, Osoyoos Ospreys, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Channel Islands Eagle Lovers, Cal Falcons, and Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park.
Good Morning Everyone. It is not raining! The sky is a beautiful blue, there is a breeze, and it will be a high of 27 today. That is the same temperature as at my son’s house in the Caribbean! Mr Blue Jay has come to visit the new bird bath and after having some big drinks jumps down to get a peanut. Too quick for me. Oh, there he is planting them in the gutter! Silly bird. I love those images of trees where the Blue Jays have pushed their stash into the grooves of the bark. I am surprised that Dyson is not around! Images are shot through a screen with my phone so not great, apologies. The glass in the sunroom also causes some very strange reflections.
White-bellied Sea Eagles live along the coastal waters of Australia, New Guinea and parts of Asia extending all the way to India. If you have ever been in Singapore you can see them at the harbour. You will find them along inland rivers as well. They are sometimes called the White-bellied or White-breasted Fish Hawk because, in many places, their diet consists of mostly fish. Unlike the Osprey who lives exclusively on fish (unless there is nothing else), the White-bellied Sea Eagles do eat birds and mammals.
Lady and Dad live in a typical stick nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest. Like other White-bellied Sea Eagles, Lady laid a clutch of two eggs. It is extremely rare to see a clutch of three like we do in Bald Eagle populations.
WBSE29 hatched on the 19th of July with WBSE30 hatching on the 20th. Incubation by Lady was deliberately delayed so that the hatches would be close together. During the first week of their life, the hatchlings will be covered with soft fluffy down. Their beaks are black; the little white spot on the end is the egg tooth. By day 7 the chicks will be sitting nicely, no more bobbing of the heads, etc. You may see some sibling rivalry.
The newly hatched chicks, once they are dried off, look like little snow people with arms. Darling.
Tumbling around. In a few days they will be ever steady on those cute pink legs.
The Janakkalan Osprey nest in Finland is still causing some confusion over what is precisely happening on the nest but, I believe the mystery is now solved. The Mum has been very ill and on the nest yesterday, very tired and looking ill. (Mum of chicks has red Darvic ring – the Dad has a yellow ring). I have not seen her since. Maybe you have?
A female intruder and other visitors have been around. This is the female intruder eating some fish on the nest with the chicks. She does not have a Darvic ring. She is the one that pecked at the chicks and took their fish the other day, I think. Darvic rings are very helpful….we need all the birds to have them.
There is a fish delivery at 12:29. The chicks were calling as the adult came into view with their lunch. This is the female intruder bringing a fish to the two osplets. There is no Darvic ring on her leg.
The largest of the chicks mantles and gets the fish.
The female looks around.
The largest chick will enjoy some good fish. There has been fish all over the nest lots of it so neither are starving. This is a good thing. They prefer, of course, the fresh fish! I would, too. Sometimes the new female takes the fish and then brings it back.
The female flies off the nest and leaves the chick to eat.
It would appear that the one chick that got the fish is finishing the tail at 13:06. The other one did not eat but there is plenty of fish coming to the nest so no worries.
One would have to understand that the female has died or is dying. Is the father accepting the female for maybe next year? It appears that the two osplets will not perish but will thrive. They have another female helping. This reminds me of Alden moving in to help Annie. It is brilliant!———-I am glad that the confusion is turning into something good for this nest. I wonder then how many times will potential mates step in to help a single osprey family member? and help raise their chicks? Is this behaviour more common than we think?
‘H’ was able to get a great capture of the Exshaw nest at Canmore, Alberta. The camera has, for days, had condensation, so that we could not see the three chicks properly. Well, look at them this morning! They are doing fabulous. Thanks, ‘H’.
In the UK, the Belgravies Osprey nest has collapsed. I have no images but the juvenile is on the ground. No word if it survived the nest failure. So sad. So many issues with nests this year. It is a good opportunity to consider checking every single platform and nest that can be checked and refurbished/re-supported after breeding season this year.
Lindsay has been taking some lessons from her younger brother Grinnell Jr! BTW. I feel so blessed to be able to see these two darling fledglings as much as we have. Oh, we will miss them when they depart the area.
Fish deliveries were early on the Osoyoos nest. It is cooler but will be going up to a high of 35 C. A scorcher. You can see that both of the chicks have a nice crop in the image below including the younger one. I hope Mum got some nice bites too. So want this nest to succeed this year after the tragic ending to the 2021 season. Mum is fantastic. She will make sure that the pair of them are shaded as best she can from the heat of the sun this afternoon.
All around the UK and Europe, temperatures are climbing into numbers never before seen. I did not check all the temperatures in Scotland but their weather looks nicer – sitting at 23 degrees C. It looks like a gorgeous evening at the Loch of the Lowes. Both chicks have fledged and if you squint you can see Ospreys on the dead tree to the left. This is one of the favourite places for Laddie. One fledgling on the nest hoping for a fish delivery.
Loch Arkaig has its own microclimate. The two osplets of Dorcha and Louis are not panting…it looks like a good evening for them, also.
Louis arrives with a nice fish for everyone. How lovely. These chicks are also starting to work their wings.
Wales is cool also — at 22 C. Everyone is on the nest in the Glaslyn Valley – Mrs G and the kids – awaiting Aran with the evening delivery. I believe there is one more osplet left to fledge on the Glaslyn nest (Blue 499?).
I apologize for forgetting to report on the Ospreys nest in Estonia. I forget – lost in what is happening on the Black Stork nests. The three osplets of Ivo and Liris were ringed by Urmas. That took place two weeks ago. It is wonderful that this nest has osplets that are now fledging – no Goshaw issues!
Urmas is one of my great heroes. As ‘the’ ornithologist for Estonia, he is always thinking of clever ways to help their wildlife survive. The rescue and fostering of the Black Storks and the creation of the fish baskets when fish supplies are low is commendable. He gets it. I wish that others around the world would take note of the fish supplies. He has even climbed up to the nests and placed fish on them (Grafs and Grafiene 2021). Here he is banding these fantastic osplets. Look at the one stand up and become fierce as Urmas approaches.
Ivo flies with a fish encouraging the osplets to continue their hovering but to think about flying! It seems that the chicks are flying…I will try and get the details.
It appears that for today the two nests of concern – Osoyoos and Janakkalan – are alright. Osoyoos had a larger fish early on and it is the fish deliveries that are important in the heat. We all know that is where the ospreys get their hydration. We hope for more during the day. I am delighted to have been so confused by the Finnish nest – and to see a female stepping in showing that she will not harm but help raise the chicks to become the potential female for nest year is nothing short of heartwarming. All of the other nests appear to be doing well except for Belgravies which has collapsed. No word yet of the fate of the occupant juvenile.
I want to close with a very cute video of Diamond and Xavier in the scrape box at Charles Sturt University in Orange, Australia. These two are real characters when it comes to prey delivery. They are delightful. Diamond does not always accept the prey. Xavier doesn’t always leave it. Sometimes it is a Starling and Diamond does not like Starlings. Too crazy. Too fun!
Thank you so much for joining me. It is nice to bring some good news. I will not be posting an evening report today. I am hoping to make the rounds of our own birds to see how they are doing. It has been a scorcher for them, too. Take care everyone. Stay cool. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their FB posts, their videos, or their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cal Falcons, Falcon Cam Project Charles Sturt University, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney, Finnish Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwyllyt Glaslyn, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Wildlife Trust, Eagle Club of Estonia and Looduskalender, Fortis Exshaw, and Osoyoos Ospreys.
There is a White-bellied Sea Eaglet pecking away with its egg tooth on its shell in the old Ironbark Tree in the Sydney Olympic Forest in Australia. This is WBSE29 making its way into the world.
Lady was restless. She got up to have a break and the camera zoomed in to seeing a beak and chick moving about in a large hole.
White-belled Sea Eagles are the second largest bird of prey in Australia. The largest is the Wedge-tail Eagle. While the Wedge-tail Eagle is found across every area of Australia, the Sea Eagles can be found along the coast and in particular the eastern coast where they are more plentiful.
Sea Eagles eat fish, of course. But the Sydney Sea Eagles will also bring Silver Gulls to the nest and other birds as well as some amphibians. Like all other eagles their plumage will change. They have lovely white down when they hatch and by the time they are ready to fledge their plumage is the most gorgeous creams, rusts, espresso browns and variations in between.
There is a new camera with excellent sound. You can hear that little chick working away. I am putting in a link to the nest of Lady and Dad – experienced parents. They will be troubled by the smallest owl in Australia, BooBook, by the Pied Currawong and Magpies. The Rainbow Lorikeets will come to the nest out of curiosity but not to harm the chicks. At dawn, Lady and Dad sing a bonding duet that starts the day. By the time the chicks are 3 weeks old, they will be joining in.
So have a watch…we need ‘life’ and joy in the midst of all the sorrow.
The Lost Words is a book by Robert MacFarlane, Fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Its focus is on the words that the editors of the Oxford Children’s Dictionary removed. Its 128 pages, 27.9 x 37.6 cm in size, are gorgeously illustrated with the watercolours of Jackie Morris, writer and illustrator, who lives in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The missing words that concerned MacFarlane are the following: acorn, Adder, Bluebell, Bramble, Conker, dandelion, fern, heather, heron, Ivy, Kingfisher, Lark, Magpie, Newt, Otter, Raven, Starling, Weasel, Willow, and Wren. At a time when our focus as adults should be to strive to install the wonder of the natural world and our responsibility to it in the children, why, then, would anyone choose to remove words that are directly connected with our environment.
I mentioned this book awhile ago. I have returned to it many times always admiring the illustrations, such as the images of the Ravens on the forest floor amongst the fallen conkers. Conkers are the fruit of the Horse Chestnut Tree, Aesculus hippocastanum. Horse Chestnut trees can grow quite large. Ironically, the conkers are poisonous to horses and I believe, all other animals. The type of poison is called esculin.
That illustration conjured up a beautiful memory of the time my family spent in England. Up on the gorse was a Conker Tree. We had never seen conkers – it was something wonderful and new. The children played a game with them. First you had to drill a hole and run a cord through the conker and secure it with a nice big knot at the bottom. The children would then ‘conk’ their conkers trying to see whose would break first! It was free entertainment and kept them busy for hours.
The rolling hills with their public paths were marvellous places for the children and the adults to take walks and breathe in the air. We were fortunate to have a ‘gorse’ within 50 or 60 feet from where we lived. It was full of butterflies and birds and the most delicious blackberries. It was a time when children played outside with their mates. No one set in front of the telly or spent hours looking at screens. Bikes were ridden and trees were climbed. In the three years we lived in Lincolnshire, it snowed once. There was about 4 cm on the ground – just enough. Still, everything stopped. Children stayed home from school and anything and everything that could be used as a sled was used to slide down the hills of the gorse. I wonder what all those children would think about the snow in my garden today?
The nice thing about snow is that it can cause people to slow down. To enjoy a cup of hot tea and a book. To stop running around worrying about things that are not always that important, to pause long enough to take in the moments.
It seems like it is rather quiet in Bird World but, is it really? Eaglets are growing bigger by the day all the while their plumage is changing. Thankfully, none are ready to fledge. E19 and E20 spend time flapping their wings as does the Osceola eaglet. Other eagles are incubating eggs. It is not time for Osprey season unless they are in Florida. Diane is incubating 3 eggs at Achieva in St Petersburg while Lena, laying hers a month early at Captiva, will be on hatch watch this weekend. Annie and Grinnell are only dreaming of eyases. Today Grinnell had to tell a 2 year old juvenile female to get off the ledge of The Campanile. Cal Falcons posted a video of that encounter.
Ervie continues to fish call off the barge at Port Lincoln. We can hear him but we cannot see him.
Kincaid is 29 days old today. He is starting to walk. It is so cute to see those first ‘baby steps’. Louis brought in what looks like an egret (or a part of an egret). When it looked like Louis might want to eat some of it, Anna promptly arrived at the nest. To Anna, prey brought to the nest belongs to her and Kincaid, not Louis who brought it! Anna is pretty strict in that regard. Not all female Bald Eagles behave that way. Anna proceeded to try and remove one long leg while Kincaid, with an already large crop, waited patiently.
Kincaid is mimicking what Anna is doing as he grabs the other leg and pulls on it. So cute. Kincaid also keeps himself busy moving around nesting material. These little eaglets learn from watching the adults.
Kincaid is already making attempts at self-feeding.
Kincaid is, of course, not the only one trying out eating by itself. I posted an image of R2 at the WRDC nest a week ago eating a fish. The eaglets of Harriet and M15 are also attempting eating on their own. E20 has become a bit of a pro. It seems like all of the eaglets grew up faster than they have ever done previously. Does it seem that way to you?
At the White-tailed Eagle nest of Milda and her new mate near Durbe, Latvia, the snow has melted. Milda will be laying her eggs about the same time as Big Red in Ithaca, New York – the third week of March – if all goes to plan.
There is more snow forecast for Big Red’s territory. The temperature in Ithaca is 1 C.
What I like about the image below is that you can see the nest cup area that Big Red and Arthur have been working on. In Milda’s nest sprigs of pine with their cones line the area of the egg cup. It is so fascinating watching the couples prepare for the upcoming breeding season. It is so intriguing. I would love to ‘speak hawk’ and sit by Big Red and Arthur when they discuss what needs to be done!
At least five eagles poisoned, one dead, four in serious condition in Manchester Maryland. Was this lead poisoning? or was this something else more sinister to impact all of the birds at the same time? There is an investigation underway.
There is good news coming out of Australia about WBSE 27. You might remember that twice, after fledging, 27 was taken into care. 27 was not taught by the parents to take care of itself. Once 27 fledged, it was taunted and chased by the Pied Currawong. Both times 27 was extremely dehydrated. The last time the Currawong had gathered and had pecked 27s head. When 27 was taken into care the last time, I hoped that rehabilitation would include flight training as well as training for getting prey. This takes longer than a two week stay in a clinic. Some wildlife rehabbers keep birds for 2 years to make certain they are capable of caring for themselves with confidence. It looks like 27 is getting that great training. The news is excellent!
Isn’t she lovely? And – yes – 27 is a she!
I wish that all of the sea eagles that fledge from the WBSE nest in the Sydney Olympic Park would not be harangued by the Pied Currawong. They chase them out of the forest. They never learn to fly or to catch prey. How many of them survive, if any, unless they wind up in care?
The camera is now working again at Port Lincoln. Ervie was on the nest and, at various times, in the shed with Dad. Sometimes he was in the shed alone. I cannot tell you if he had a fish but there was definitely a lot of fish calling.
Checking in on Jack and Diane at the Achieva Credit Union Osprey nest and Jack is busy delivering fish and helping incubate the eggs.
If you are into garden animals and song birds, with a few surprises, you might want to check out Wildlife Kate. She has several wildlife cams and is featured on Springwatch in the UK. Have a look. You might find something really interesting like Yew Pond, or the Kestrel Box, or the Woodland Pond.
This is Woodland Pond. The cameras are live with no rewind. Enjoy.
I haven’t posted anything about the eaglet at Berry College for a few days. Thermal down is coming in nicely. Pa Berry did a great job feeding the little one this morning. B15 is still walking around on its tarsus (not yet with its feet) and doing a lot of preening. B15 is doing great. Missy and Pa Berry are doing a great job raising this baby.
B15 is a sweet little eaglet. You can see how its plumage is beginning to change.
I will leave you with a gorgeous image of Jackie incubating her eggs at Big Bear Bald Eagle nest in California. Fingers crossed for a great season for her and Shadow!
Thank you so much for joining me today. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Friends of Big Bear, Achieva Credit Union, Wildlife Kate, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Berry College, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, KNF, Latvian Fund for Nature, and Sea Eagle Cam FB Page.
For now NE26 is an ‘only child’. NE27 is steadily working its way through the hard shell that has enclosed it for the past 35 days.
Will 26 be a brute of a big sibling or a sweetheart…we wait.
NE26 is really cute and fluffy. I did notice that the tiny pick at the end of the egg tooth seems to be gone. That beak will grow, just like our finger and toe nails. Any remaining bits of the egg tooth will be gone by the time the eaglet is losing its furry light grey down and switching it for its darker charcoal coloured thermal down.
As the sun sets on Samson and Gabby’s big stick nest, NE26 is having a late meal while NE27 continues breaking that shell. Hopefully by tomorrow morning we will have a new fluffy baby in this nest.
Someone asked me about the large stick nest of Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear Lake. Do the eagles have anything to line the nest that is soft besides sticks? That is a great question.
Today, Shadow was incubating the egg. Anyone that has watched this nest knows that the eagles bring in huge twigs. Just compare Jackie and Shadow’s nest with Gabby and Samson’s above. The eagles have to use what is available to them. Gabby and Samson along with Harriet and M15, Ron and Rita, Connie and Clive, and Lena and Andy favour lining their nests with Spanish Moss. That is what is available to them. Looking out over the landscape of northern California there is, of course, nothing like Spanish Moss. Conifer needles are wonderful when they are fresh but anyone who has gotten pricked by one of their dry needles instantly knows why they do not line the nest with them. According to Peterson, the type of nest that Bald Eagles create are platform nests made of sticks and twigs. In terms of the nest placement, it will be at the top of the tree where the branches are stronger and larger as opposed to being on lower branches. The eagles will re-use their nest adding to it every year. Some nests weight are estimated to weight up to a metric tonne or 2200.04 lbs. The vantage point allows the eagles to have a full view of their territory and any incoming predators. Peterson says that they line the nest with feathers and greenery.
As many of you know, Jackie and Shadow have had challenges. I hope their eggs are strong and they fledge a very healthy chick or chicks. I have not seen any announcement (yet) of a second egg but stay tuned for news tomorrow!
All of the other birds are doing fine. E19 and E20 ate a bird and 2 fish. The KNF eaglet has had its multiple feedings of fish. The eaglet at Berry College seems to be fine after scares that its wing was injured after being stepped on yesterday. R1 and R2 have eaten. The parents have slowed down the feedings and some watchers were worried. You will notice that once the eaglets have their thermal down and are getting feathers, the number of feedings decreases but there is more food at a feeding. The eagle parents know what they are doing! I would only be worried if there was a shortage of prey. Speaking of prey. I think Samson at NEFlorida has heard all of the praise for Louis in Louisiana who is known to have 10 fish on the nest at one time. Today, it looks like Samson has 5, at least. Gabby is quite pleased!
An ex-library book came in the post two days ago. It is Mark Avery’s A Message from Martha. The extinction of the Passenger Pigeon and its relevance today. This book tells of Martha, a Passenger Pigeon, who died on 1 September 1914 in the Cincinnati Zoo between noon and 13:00. Martha was the last Passenger Pigeon in existence. At one time there were millions of Passenger Pigeons. They lived in a distinct geographical area of the United States and ate a specific food, mast from the Beech and Oak trees.
Avery worked for the RSPB for over 25 years. He is a scientist, a naturalist, and a writer who is concerned about the impact of modern day farming, the landscape, and the extinction of our birds. Avery is a very descriptive writer who helps you visualize hundreds of thousands of birds flying through the sky making it dark or how their process of eating mast is like a contemporary combine-harvester. The most birds I have seen at one time are the evening gatherings of the Canada Geese during migration. It helps to have seen that but to go from millions of birds to only one living one is frightening. We all know that if we do not do something, there will be more Marthas. Avery traces everything that is known about these plentiful birds and what it was that led to their demise. The book is not doom and gloom. We cannot bring back the Passenger Pigeon but we have to be on alert creating new partnerships with nature so that everything can survive in harmony. Avery provokes us to think about what it would be like without birds and what we can do to make sure that what happened to Martha does not happen to others. I highly recommend it! It is available as a Kindle book but also, if you like to hold a book and turn the pages, used through several outlets.
Ervie was on the nest this morning. The camera had been off line and it is impossible to know if he had a fish earlier. Ervie will spend even less time on the barge. Port Lincoln has posted his latest tracking and Ervie is getting his mojo back. Whatever happened on that trip to Sleaford and Tulka is dissipating and Ervie is returning to his old wandering, curious self.
Here is Ian Falkenberg’s (the bander) report on Ervie:
There is other good news coming out of the Australia streaming cams – Daisy the Duck has not laid a clutch of eggs on the WBSE nest. It is 25 January in Australia. Daisy visited on 1 January. Let’s all hold our breath that she is safe somewhere incubating a cup full of eggs!
Trudi Kron posted a video of the Hilton Head Island eaglets of Mitch and Harriet’s. They are both eating well. Watch to see that one of them is thinking about taking some bites out of the fish on its own! I really appreciate this video because you cannot rewind on the camera. Both eaglets were full to bursting!
Thank you so much for joining me for our evening nest check. Take care of yourself! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen capture: NE Florida Bald Eagle and the AEF, Sea Eagles@Birdlife AustraliaDiscovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Port Lincoln Osprey Project and FB Page, and Friends of Big Bear Eagle Cam.
Around 05:40 on the 15th of January, Daisy the Pacific Black Duck flew alone to the big Ironbark Nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest. It has been precisely two weeks since her previous visit. The nest is no stranger to Daisy who has laid two clutches of eggs here only to have them taken and eaten by Ravens.
There is her head behind the branch. She has just landed.
Daisy will spend a total of 9 minutes on the nest listening and looking.
She checks out all directions.
She listens again. I adore Daisy and I want her to be safe and have her ducklings in a nest where there is some possibility of success. This nest is doomed.
It is unfortunate that neither the Ravens nor the White-bellied Sea Eagles were present. That might have stopped Daisy from considering this site for her next clutch.
It is good to see you are alive and well, Daisy, but please find another spot for your precious eggs!
Under normal circumstances the WBSE would be checking on the nest frequently during this time of the year. Their attendance has been mired by the Pied Currawong and I have hoped that someone insightful might put up an artificial nest for the WBSE down by the Parramatta River Roost similar to the one built for Ron and Rita by the WRDC in Miami.
We wait.
Thank you for joining me on this quick posting about our favourite duck, Daisy!
Thank you to the Sea Eagle@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots.
Ron and Rita welcomed R3 early this morning. It appears that R3 hatched around 07:58. Notice also how Rita puts her beak at the tip of R1’s beak when it is wanting to peck R2. Very interesting.
Here is a very short video of R3 hatching.
R3 is officially fully hatched at 10:32:01.
Rita is now showing us anything as R1 and R2 look outside the nest cup.
That nest cup is very small. Fingers crossed for this little one to catch up and the older siblings to be kind. There is lots of food and experienced parents.
Congratulations Rita! (and Ron)
I have yet to see Daisy the Duck return to the WBSE nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest since her and her mate came to check it again on New Year’s Day. The Ring-tailed Possum still has its own nest amidst the twigs that have been added to this enormous structure over the years. It was running up and down around the tree last night.
It is hard to see it but if you look at the left side of the ‘V’ branch, it is running down to the bottom of the V and on the nest image, it is running up the other side.
The Port Lincoln Osprey Lads must have a pact. Each one of them gets to spend an entire day on the nest! First it was Bazza, then Falky came the other day, and now it is Ervie’s turn again! Ervie flew in with a piece of fish yesterday and it is believed that he must have caught it himself. However, later, he also received a fish from Dad, the last fish of the day. They have also been diving off the barge – Falky is very good at this and it is wonderful to see them figure out how to fish. We most often do not get this opportunity.
There is Ervie protecting his fish on the nest from any siblings that think they will fly in and grab it.
Falky and Bazza are leaving Ervie alone to enjoy his dinner.
And perhaps by prior arrangement or reservation, Ervie gets to sleep on the nest alone. So when we see that one of them is staying by themselves all day on the nest, we will not worry about them. It looks like they are taking reservations for occupancy! What characters these three boys are.
There are so many things that humans use for one thing that wind up harming anyone that comes near them. Today, let’s look at ‘sticky paper’. Strands of sticky paper used to be common where I live to catch mosquitoes and flies. In France they are still used to catch birds! What horror and today there are used to catch mice and rats. Any bird or animal that gets near this gooey paper will be harmed. This was posted by CROW. The last sentence is not there but they suggest calling your local wildlife rehabber. Do not try to do anything yourself.
The wee ones at Hilton Head are still small and fuzzy but E19 and E20 are growing fast. Today, they are out of the nest cup and sleeping with their head on the sides of the nest. This is a major change for these two. Their pin feathers are also coming in and we can see their little tails starting to grow as their wings get bigger and bigger.
Another possum was just brought on deck for dinner along with the remains of yesterday’s two fish.
Eating and growing make for one very tired E19.
An earlier feeding of fish.
All is well at Harriet and M15’s. The beaking has really slowed down. Let’s hope it stays that way!
We are on egg watch at Big Bear for Jackie and Shadow.
Here is the link to the camera of this favourite Bald Eagle couple. We wish them the best of luck as they struggle to have nestlings up in northern California. It is perhaps the lingering DDT in the area that continually causes the shells of their eggs to be thin or the eggs to be unviable. But, let’s start 2022 off with all your warm wishes. I hope this is their year – they are so dedicated to one another.
Pip watch for those followers of Connie and Clive at the Captiva Bald Eagle Nest this weekend. Hoping that this year is better for Mum Connie and her new partner, Clive. Connie lost both of her chicks to rodenticide secondary poisoning last year. They were Hope and Peace. It was tragic. And, of course, rodenticide, like sticky paper, needs to be banned. Raptors and Cats are the answer to getting rid of rodents.
Here is the link to the Captiva Bald Eagle Cam:
I am trying to find streaming cams for raptors in Japan. In my quest to find a raptor cam in Japan for one of your fellow readers, I have found squirrel cams, monkey cams, cams for traffic and temples, cooking, etc. But I have yet to find a mention of a raptor cam. I will continue my quest but if any of you know of one, please let me know so we can all enjoy. Thank you so much!
The squirrels are adorable!
And the most incredible monkeys and deer but no raptors! This is Awaji Island.
Thank you so much for joining me. It is so reassuring to know that there are so many people, from all of the world, that love the raptors – and all the birds and animals. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following where I took my screen captures: Hilton Head Bald Eagle Cam, SW Florida Bald Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Friends of Big Bear, Captiva Eagle Cam, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, CROW FB page, Awaji Island Monkey Center, and Yatsugatake Today.
