Tag Archives: The Gambia

Wednesday in Bird World

14 December 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

It is relative quiet in Bird World as things begin to settle down between Gabby and V3 and Annie and the new guy at Berkeley. The first Bald Eagle nest to have hatches that is on a streaming cam is at Superbeaks in Central Florida. There are eggs now at SWFlorida (2), Berry College (1), Kistachie National Forest at both nests E1 and E3, Captiva (2), and Metro Aviation in Northwest Louisiana (2).

Tonya Irwin has created a great chart:

We continue to keep an eye on Port Lincoln and the scrape of Diamond and Xavier at Orange while, at the same time, watching for any news coming out of Sydney Sea Eagles. I am also hoping that the streaming cam at the new Osprey platform for Lena and Andy at Captiva will be on line soon.

There is a big storm brewing that is destined to bring about a foot of snow to areas just south of me. It is unclear if it will impact Winnipeg. However, the birds and squirrels were really crowding the feeders late this afternoon. They are often very good indicators of any bad weather that is heading our way.

Dyson was not prepared to give up her spot on the seed cylinder. These are fabulous. There is no mess and if you are going to be away for a few days and worried about your visiting birds in the winter, they will also give you peace of mind. We feed hundreds of birds a day and if Dyson didn’t love them so much, I think one would last about a week.

Dyson has her thick fur coat on. Isn’t she gorgeous? I like to think that the food we provide helps her endure the cold of our ‘Winterpeg winters’.

The Sparrows and the Starlings prefer the softer cornmeal and peanut butter cylinder that has a substantial amount of suet in it.

Junior is looking for peanuts! All of Dyson’s kidless have taken them. Junior is not happy.

Sharpie of course would not mind having one of those House Sparrows for his lunch. I think he is out of luck today.

Making News:

A major investigation as to how 13 Bald Eagles were poisoned at the Inver Grove Heights landfill is underway. Three of the eagles have died and the other 10 are recovering at The Raptor Centre at the University of Minnesota. What terrible unnecessary suffering and death.

https://www.facebook.com/TheRaptorCenter/?mibextid=ZbWKw

The last episode with Sasha Dench and The Flight of the Osprey on BBC 4 Radio is here. The programme is about 13 minutes long. I urge you to have a listen. Thank you, Geemeff, for recording the programme and sending us the link. Very thoughtful as so many do not live in the UK.

The announcement that an enormous number of budgies are being taken into care and need homes in the Baltimore area came on my Cornell Hawk Cam Chatters FB. If you or someone you know might be interested in providing a home, please read the posting carefully and make that call.

News has come in from the Kakapo Recovery that all of the transmitters have now been changed on Anchor Island. The last bird was Alison and she was found to be in good health. Wonderful news. It has to be difficult trying to find these pesky little non-flying parrots to treat them and change the batteries in their transmitters so they can be found!

It’s the first egg of the season for Pa Berry and Missy at Berry College in Georgia. Happened at 0950 13 December. Congratulations!

Pa Berry flying in with more nesting material and seeing their first egg for the first time.

The soap opera at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest continues. Will Gabby choose the bachelor behind door 3, V3?

He flew in with a nice catfish. It was obviously for Gabby but she was not home. Later they worked on the nest together.

‘H’ sends news that V3 is now playing ‘hard to get’. Order some more popcorn!

Harriet and M15 have an alternative nest on the property of the Pritchett family. A GHOW has taken up residence there and this owl could be the one that attacks Harriet and M15. Two days ago, that owl was attacked by a trio of Crows. Thanks EJ for sending us this link!

Jackie and Shadow have been pair bonding/mating at Big Bear.

Checking in on our Australian birds:

Diamond was not happy to have the scrape box cleaned by Cilla!

At Port Lincoln, Zoe is 87 days old today. Yesterday, Dad brought his girl 3 fish. Well done, Dad! At one time 06:55 Zoe was on the ropes with what looked like a fish. Did she catch it? No one knows.

I just love this image from yesterday with that crest. Today Zoe has been on and off the nest.

In California, Annie and ‘the new guy’ have been pair bonding in the scrape. He is cute. So tiny. I wonder if he will be the one? He is sure a good scraper! But will he be a good provider for Annie and the eases?

Migration News: Waba continues to feed at the Nile River. There has been no transmission from Bonus since he was flying through the Eastern Desert of Egypt. It is likely we will not hear from him until spring. Send your good thoughts your way.

It is that time of year when people are thinking about suet and putting out tasty treats for the birds. Here is some advice from the RSPB in the UK.

In our garden, Mr Crow and the Blue Jays will be having some special foods during the holiday season. They both like to eat off the deck directly or at a table feeder. I will be putting out Meal Worms, Fresh Cranberries, Hard boiled Eggs, and cubes of streaky bacon along with peanuts in the shell.

Thank you so very much for joining me today. I hope to get back to the list of vulnerable birds in the UK, The Red List, tomorrow. Take care everyone. Stay safe. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their posts, videos, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Geemeff for sending me the link to the BBC 4 Radio series, ‘H’ for the video of V3 playing hard to get, ‘EJ’ for the link to the Crows attacking the GHOW, Geemeff and The Flight of the Osprey, BBC Radio 4, Tonya Irwin, The Raptor Centre, Cornell Hawk Cam Chatters, The Kakapo Recovery, Berry College Eagle Cam, NEFL-AEF, FOBBV, Elain and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Cal Falcons, Looduskalender Forum, and the RSPB.

Christmas Day in Bird World

It is a gorgeous Christmas morning over Big Bear Lake in San Bernadino County, California. This is the home of Bald Eagle couple, Jackie and Shadow. What a beautiful view as the sun rises to wake up the forest and the animals that live around the lake.

A little later the camera operator gives us a treat by panning around the area where Jackie and Shadow live.

Jackie and Shadow have been delivering some nice (some large) twigs to the nest. This wonderful couple live in the hope of hatching eaglets and we send them positive energy as we hope with them.

Harriet and M15 might be wishing for a little bit of the cooler northern Californian weather in Fort Myers. The couple began ‘listening’ to their eggs last evening. It is pip watch!

About four days before hatching, the eaglets will grow their egg tooth. Imagine it as a sharp spike facing outward towards the shell on the tip of the beak. The little ones will chip away at the shell. They will take their first breath and continue picking away until they have broken through and hatched. This whole process can take up to four days.

Last year Harriet and M15, fledged E17 and E18 – the twins that won all of our hearts from their first bobblehead days, to going into care for conjunctivitis, to their return. Beautiful fledglings. Best friends.

I am so glad that Samson and Gabby did not lay their eggs at the same time as Harriet and M15. This way we will get to enjoy having two nests of bobble heads independent of one another! Last year, Gabby and Samson had one hatch, Legacy. S/he turned out to be a beautiful and formidable juvenile.

Gabby is on incubation duties.

Anna and Louis are also incubating two eggs and have a wait similar to that of Samson and Gabby. Their nest is in the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana. This is the couple’s second breeding attempt. Last year they fledged Kisatchie, the first eaglet hatched and fledged on this nest in central Louisiana since 2013. Wow. Cody and Steve have installed sound at the nest this year.

It was fun watching Anna and Louis last year figure out what to do as new parents. Louis is a fabulous provider. When he is not loading the nest down with fish, he is aiming to give Anna the softest Spanish Moss he can find for the egg cup! Just look at it.

Clive and Connie are incubating two eggs over at Captiva. They have had some terrible weather there lately and this image is from yesterday. The camera appears to be down this morning.

Clive is a new mate for Connie. Last year, Connie and Joe hatched two eaglets, Peace and Hope, who died on the nest from rodenticide poisoning.

One of the ospreys over wintering at Urdaibai in the Basque Country of Spain waking up to Christmas morning.

While many of the Ospreys are opting to stay on the Iberian Peninsula instead of making the long journey down to The Gambia or Senegal, there are still celebrations as the December count along the Senegal coast was 1100 birds this year. Jean-Marie Dupart did an amazing job going out and counting all of the beautiful fish eagles. Thank you!

German Osprey along the coast of Senegal.

Closer to home, Jack and Diane have been working on their nest. Some really nice strips of bark have been brought in. Last year, the pair fledged three for the first time: Sibling 1, Sibling 2, and the miracle bird who survived against all the odds and became dominant, Tiny Tot Tumbles.

Cilla Kinross is celebrating the third camera at Charles Sturt Falcon Project. There is a ledge and box camera and now one that shows the falcons flying around the outside of the water tower. Congratulations, Cilla.

Here is the link if you wish to check out the new tower cam:

Big Red and Arthur have been spotted out hunting so all is well with the Red-tail Hawks on the Cornell Campus. Hope to have images I can post for you shortly.

The countdown is on for all the hawk and osprey fans…three months til Big Red is incubating eggs and three months til the first arrivals of the Western Ospreys back in the UK. Oh, and the beautiful storks of Latvia and Estonia. May they all stay safe until then.

Wishing all of the birds who bring us such joy, extra prey items, good weather, and safe flying.

Thank you for joining me today. No matter what holiday you celebrate, I hope that you have a peaceful, joyful day, with something a little special. For those birds not with us today, we thank them for the happiness they gave to us – and as one of my readers ‘B’ so eloquently said, ‘and all they taught us.’ So true. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Friends of Big Bear, NEFlorida Eagle Cam and the AEF, SWFlorida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett Family, KNF Eagle Cam, Captiva Eagle Cam, Urdaibai Biosphere Osprey Cam, Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, and the Achieva Osprey Cam.

Note: Port Lincoln Osprey Cam is down or we would all get a look at those lads!

Friday the 19th in Bird World

It has been a bit of a day in the bird and wildlife world. Coming hot on the heels of the banning of trail hunting on Natural Resources Wales land and the National Trust properties in the UK, the State of Washington in the US has suspending bear hunting. It was well known that the adults were killed right when they came out of hibernation leaving cubs to fend for themselves, often dying. People, like you and me, called for these archaic practices to halt. The government listened. Remember that because every person can make a difference! You want hunting suspended in your state or province, phone and find out who to talk to. Write an informed letter. Demand change. Ask like-minded people to join you.

I am not going to start off with the streaming cams just yet. It was a grey damp day – with a little sunshine at times – on the Canadian prairies. The garden was full of birds, mostly sparrows and some Starlings. Mr Blue Jay came and went quickly. He does not seem to like the frozen corn cob. And, of course, there was Dyson & Company, along with Little Red.

All these years I have pondered the sheer amount of ‘bird’ seed that we go through in a week. It is true that there are normally 250-300 birds singing and eating daily but, how much can they eat? It appears that not all that new seed – seedless chipped sunflower and peanuts – is going to birds!

Dyson didn’t like the frozen corn either and didn’t bother to even take it for later. He has discovered how to vacuum out that new bird seed. I think I now know who broke my other feeder. Dyson has no shame. He lives to eat.

Dyson looks a little thinner in the image above but the one below is more of a likeness of this little one. Dyson brings us so much joy that we are thrilled he is healthy going into what might be a very bad winter.

With Dyson occupied on the sunflower/peanut feeder, it meant that Little Red could sneak on the tray feeder and eat all the cashews, fruit, Brazil nuts, and peanuts. If you are wondering, yes, the birds and animals possibly eat better than I do! Little Red is so cute.

Little Red lives in the penthouse. It is a ‘shed’ the size of a garage that is taxed like it is a new garage by our City. We haven’t had the heart to evict the little fellow even thought he fills everything up with Maple seeds and knocks everything off its hooks and generally makes a complete mess of the space.

There were a few European Starlings still in the garden. They will migrate returning next April but they are lingering just like some of the ducks and the Northern Cardinals. Who knows? Maybe they know what winter will be like better than anyone. They certainly have enjoyed eating the suet cylinder.

Others felt like Black Oil Seed today.

Isn’t she cute with her rosey legs and slightly pink tinted beak? Female house sparrows get short shift in the bird guides. It is a pity. They are quite lovely.

Last year I planted Scarlett Runner Beans and at the end of the summer the sparrows went wild shredding all of them and eating the greenery. What you are looking at below is a Flame Willow shrub. In winter the branches are red – super beautiful in a world of grey, white, and beige. There is some little vine or plant growing on that shrub. The sparrows have discovered it and they are doing the same thing – shredding and eating. Has anyone seen this behaviour?

And now back to the streaming cams for a quick update.

Port Lincoln Osprey Barge: By 09:30, three fish had been delivered to the nest. Bazza initially got the first fish when it arrived at 06:23. Ervie took it away from him. Bazza did nothing to try and get it back. Falkey got the 06:49:38 fish. The third fish arrived at 09:11:09 and Falkey got it, too. Ervie had a huge crop. He wasn’t bothered. Yesterday Cilla Kinross of the Orange Peregrine Falcons said that “Shrinking violets will not last long in the real world.” Bazza is hungry and he needs to challenge his brothers despite that he might be fearful of another incident like he had with Ervie.

Falkey has the fish. Bazza is crying to Mum and Ervie with his big crop is looking out to sea on the right. Will Mum take the fish and feed Bazza?

The White Tailed Eagle Nest in Durbe, Latvia. Milda and Mr L were at the nest working on more renovations. It was getting ready to rain and the image is a little ‘foggy’. Sorry about that. It is nice to see Milda. I hope that this will be a successful year for her after the tragedy of spring 2020.

The Minnesota DNR has turned on its Bald Eagle cam. Here is a video of that amazing couple – the sub-adult male who fathered his first chicks at the age of four last year – and the older female. This video was made on 18 November. It looks like Dad has his adult plumage this year! How wonderful. He will have turned 5.

Cornell Red Tail Hawk Cam at Ithaca. The camera has been frozen for awhile. I wrote to the Cornell Bird Lab to inform them and to also ask them if there have been any confirmed sightings of Big Red since the last one on 16 October. I will keep you informed.

Annie and Grinnell. I have not seen any updates. As well, nothing on the WBSE juvenile.

You might remember Tiny Little Bob from the Foulshaw Moss Osprey nest in Cumbria. That little one is a fine example of a third hatch so tiny everyone thought it would die and well, she became the dominant bird on the nest. Her number is Blue 463. I am watching all of the announcements for her arrival in warmer climates. Today, however, the 2016 hatch from Foulshaw Moss, male Blue V8, was spotted in Tanji Marsh in The Gambia. He was seen there in January 2021 and was in Cumbria during the summer of 2021. This is the good news you want to hear. Survival.

And on that wonderful sighting, I will close. Take care everyone. Enjoy the end of the week and the beginning of the weekend. Stay safe. Thank you so very much for joining me.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, The Latvian Fund for Nature, Charles Sturt University at Orange and Cilla Kinross, and to Lady Hawk for her video on the arrival of the two Bald Eagles to the MN DNR nest.

Good News in Bird World, 31 August

The sky is blue, the sun is shining bright and it is 21 degrees C on the Canadian Prairies. Just a grand day for everyone. And it is a good day for our birds. Let’s dig into those good news stories.

Jan and Janika’s Black Stork fledgling, Juleg, is not in Russia! He managed to turn around. It would appear he flew because the speed is faster than a tanker but, does it matter? Juleg is back on course having spent the night at Jaroslawiek in Poland. Fantastic news!

The question now is whether ‘the brave one’ will continue going southwest or try to correct his heading heading through Greece and Turkey? We wait. He is alive and well. That is what matters most.

Hurricane Ida temporarily took out the connection to the streaming cam at the Kistachie National Forest in Louisiana. Everyone was worried. However, the winds and rain did not damage the system that the USFWS has put in place to watch the Bald Eagles, Louis and Anna. This is great news!

If you have been watching the Boulder Osprey Cam and were frustrated that it quit working, it is back on line today. The female is still delivering food to the fledgling. Everything is good.

Remember Only Bob? The only hatch of Dylan and Seren at the Llyn Clywedog Nest? the largest male Osprey ever to be born? Today the researchers issued the list of fish that were delivered to Blue 496. There were 354 of them! Rainbow trout were almost exclusively the fish at the beginning and end of the season with Brown trout making up the middle time slot. There were also 10 Grey Mullet that Dylan took from the Dyfi Estuary 15 miles away! —— Ah, you remember! Dylan is the one that flew 25 minutes one way, got a trout, and flew back 25 minutes with it. What a guy.

Here is Dylan delivering one of those whopper trout to Blue 496, Only Bob.

The arrival of fish at the Llyn Clywedog Nest in the Hafren Forest has puzzled some of the observers. It is now thought that when Dylan chased intruders away he sent them packing and instead of returning empty handed, he would stop and fish. Hence the reason from the Brown trout from Nanty Moch which is 7 km from the nest and the mullet from the Dyfi Estuary which is 12.7 km away. Dylan and Seren, Blue 5F, did a great job with their only hatch. Seren left and will be seen where she always spends her winters – in the Tanji Marsh in The Gambia.

Aran is still at the Glaslyn nest. Mrs G has not been seen since 30 August. Can you see him?

The tiny little birds all over the Glaslyn Nest yesterday have been identified as Mistle Thrushes.

Mistle Thrushes are common and are found all over the United Kingdom. They eat berries, earthworms, and insects. They would have had a grand time foraging in the Osprey nest!

Here is a short video showing the Mistle Thrust eating berries in the winter. Listen for their song.

All you have to do is look at the photograph of WBSE 27 and 28 – yes, that is 28 with that massive crop – to see that things are going quite well on the White Bellied Sea Eagle nest in Sydney. What a relief.

It feels like a good day. It would only be better if someone had a sighting of Tiny Little, Blue 463. White YW was seen on the nest today so he is still around.

Take care everyone. Enjoy the rest of the day wherever you are. I am off to check on the local Ospreys.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots: Sea Eagles, Birdlife Australia, and The Discovery Centre, City of Boulder Osprey Cam, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Carnyx Wild and Llyn Clywedog Osprey Cam, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, and BirdMap.