Before I even begin to write about everything that is happening on the nests, I want to show you an image of a gorgeous bird. Elegant even. Did you read that right. Did I just say that an Osprey was elegant? If she were a human, she could be a model on the Chanel runway. The perfectly symmetrical white V running from the top of her beak over each eye, the black mascara running through her eyes spaced evenly on both sides of her head, her stance, the beautifully elongated body, the turning of her head to look back, and the inner confidence.
Tiny Tot radiates all of those and more.
The image below shows Tiny Tot on 4 April. Sibling #2 would not let our wee one get near the food. There s/he is hungry. She had not eaten for over 2 days. Tiny Tot is almost falling off the side of the nest so that #2 will not peck his head or twist his neck. All it wants is some fish. Sibling #2 will actually keep eating when it is beyond full just so Tiny cannot eat.
Here is Tiny Tot a little later after Diane started bringing in catfish. Notice his/her little legs are filling in, the wee tail and the cute little bottom has some fat on it, too. Things turned around once Diane started bringing in her big catfish – and once she knew that Three was going to survive.
Tiny Tot survived by being clever, being patient, watching at every detail, and assessing the situation before acting. We can all learn a lot from this beautiful survivor.
There is another little bird struggling to survive on another nest. It is hard to imagine how the two Bobs on the Cowlitz nest in Longview, Washington will fare. I think that Electra is going to have to forget about who does what on the nest and go out and fish. She has proven that she is an excellent fisher – just like Diane. The chicks at Cowlitz are hungry. Electra is hungry. And today the more aggressive chick kept the other from having any fish at one of the meals.
It really reminded me of the position that Tiny Tot was in. There is the poor little thing cowering over at the rails. Even when the other had stopped eating, it would not allow the submissive chick to eat. The same behaviour as sibling #2 towards Tiny Tot.
There had to be another fish delivered later because when I checked again both had crops albeit the dominant chick’s was bigger. Indeed, more than twice the size of the other. But, I won’t complain. Both ate. I wish beyond wishing that Electra would go out and fish and turn this nest around.
Speaking of hungry, the Golden eaglet in the Bucovina, Czechoslovakia nest was so hungry. Yesterday, it ate a leg bone but bones do not provide hydration. Today, Lady Hawk posted a video of the eaglet eating the roe deer with its mother. I can only imagine how hungry both of them were. It is my understanding that there had only been 1 or 2 tiny birds brought to the nest in a five day period. It reminded me too much of Klints and Spilve. One of the things that the streaming cams teach us is that life is very challenging for our wildlife. In this instance also, humans need to learn to not interfere when there is an active nest.
Here is the video of Mom delivering the little deer to the nest:
And Lady Hawk just wrote to me and told me that Dad had brought a hooded crow for Mom to feed the little Golden eaglet. What fantastic news – both parents are well and hunting! Relief.
Speaking of relief. The little hawklet of Big Red and Arthur was taken into care this morning after K1 fledged at 8:27:31. There were no issues and K3 didn’t even notice. Well, I was certainly wrong on that. Was sure that K3 would fledge first! Here is the video of that smooth fledge of K1 – just like she had been flying all her life. She is 51 days old today. This is the latest fledge on this nest ever. Here is the video:
K2 has rhe best veterinary care a bird could ever hope to have! They will return her to the care of Big Red asap if that is possible.
Wow. The eaglet has food, the retrieval of K2 went well, K1 flew like a pro and so we wait for that cute little feisty one, K3 to leave the nest in Ithaca, New York. Thanks for joining me today. There is definitely some good news on the nests.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I get my screen shots: Achieva Credit Union, Cowlicks PUD, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, and to Lady Hawk aka Sharon Dunne for her video and her kindness.
K3 looking out to the big world:
