Tag Archives: Tiny Tot self feeds like a pro

When you just think it can’t get any better, it does in Bird World!

Two miracles so far today.

Saturday morning started out like any other on the Achieva Osprey Nest. Jack brought in a fish and sibling #2 got it. It was predictable. As I sipped my coffee it seemed that Diane and Jack really needed a meat saw somewhere to cut those fish into chunks so each of their three chicks could have a nice chunk for breakfast.

There they are: #2 with the fish on the front left, #1 behind mum, Diane in the middle, and Tiny Tot smiling out at us with his sort of ‘beard’ on the right front.

#2 sibling loves for Mum to feed it and for some reason she didn’t get the message that you should stand on that fish and mantle if you don’t want to lose it.

Tiny, looking all innocent, decides he will just edge a little closer to that fish.

Gosh. I would have loved to be inside Tiny Tot’s head for the split second it took him to steal that fish from the big sibling that has caused him so much grief in his short life.

He must have been so excited as he worked to mantle and pull that fish over to the side.

Could sibling #2, the biggest on the nest, really believe that Tiny Tot had taken her fish?!

#2 must be thinking, ‘What just happened?’ Clearly, Tiny Tot is not nearly as intimidated by #2 in the last few days as he was earlier.

Maybe Diane told #2 that she would never be able to fly if she kept on eating so much! I honestly don’t know what happened but #2 didn’t beat, bonk, battle. Maybe it was still full from the night before.

The two older sibs are 52 days old by my counting. Fledge watch begins at 60 days. And remember, fledging is just the first flight. It doesn’t mean they are gone forever. They have to perfect their flying skills and fishing. You can expect to see Diane and Jack supplementing their fishing, too.

Wow. You can’t get much cuter than those fluffy little marshmallows over at the UC Berkeley Falcon Cam. That fourth egg is sitting there. Maybe it will be a threesome for Annie and Grinnell. They are so cute and growing so fast. There is a third one, tucked between the two.

The cam at the Big Sur California Condor nest is solar powered and it is currently down. We have no idea what is happening with that egg of Redwood Queen’s and Phoenix. Will report back later.

It is hot in Wales and Mrs G has been doing some food calling from the Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife Nest. Aran came in but there have been intruders about. Hopefully he will get her a nice fish before the sun sets. She must be awfully hot on that nest.

Arthur is on incubation duties on the Red Tail Hawk cam so that his mate, Big Red can have a break. It’s a sunny 18 degrees in Ithaca, New York today. It is a nice change from the snowy-hail these two had the other day.

Toni Castelli-Rosen has kept a laying and hatch chart for Big Red. It was posted on the Cornell Hawk Red-Tail FB Page today. I don’t think they will mind if I share it with you.

Looks like it won’t be long til we are on pip watch! Can’t wait. These two are the most amazing parents and in the entire world there are only a couple of RTH cams. We are so privileged to get to watch their lives unfold.

And before I close, another miracle. Milda, Raimis, and step-dad Mr Cips, have two! That second egg has hatched. I was told the time was 20:30:34 on the 23 April. Oh, aren’t they adorable! I hope the older sib is kind to the little one.

All of us are tired of the pandemic. I don’t even like to say that word anymore. The birds have brought us such joy. It was nice to begin the day with the Tiny Tot miracle and end it here in Latvia with the second hatch for Milda. She believed in those eggs – enough to not eat for eight days. I am so grateful for Mr Cips who has brought in food and even fed the little eaglets. Milda has a new mate that will support her. Tears.

Thank you for joining me. It is a cool but sunny Saturday on the Canadian prairies. Take care everyone.

Thank you to the Achieva Credit Union, Cornell Bird Labs and the RTH cam, Latvian Fund for Nature, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife, UC Berkeley Falcon Cam for their streaming cams. That is where I picked up my screen shots.

Friday Morning Nest Hopping

Sad news arrived on Thursday night. Millie, a young Kakapo, was found deceased. This brings the total number of Kakapo to 204.

Millie sadly died.

In Latvia, the rain has been falling hard all day Thursday. The heavy drops sounded like hail hitting the microphone of the streaming cam. Milda has to work hard to both feed her miracle chick and to keep it warm and dry. That little one has no protection against the weather! That will come when she gets some thermal down but still, she will not be protected fully from the weather until we have juvenile contour feathers.

Rain had stopped on 23 April and Milda looks at her miracle baby.

The wind was really strong on the White-Tailed Eagle nest at Durbe, Latvia Friday morning but the rain had stopped. Milda looks at her little miracle in the nest. By afternoon the winds had calmed and the songbirds sing to Milda as she calls out to Mr C.

Milda is talking to Mr C. 23 April 2021

Milda’s eaglet is so cute and so healthy. Bird World needed something wonderful and the miracle of this little chick hatching in a nest in Latvia was it! It is really endearing to watch Milda feed her last chick with her deceased mate, Raimis.

Milda feeding her chick. 22 April 2021

I wrote with tears running down my cheeks earlier because Tiny Tot had really done well with the feedings, trying to steal a piece of fish from an older sibling, and having success grabbing a large piece from Mom that Dad has just delivered. Well, why did I think that would be the end of the day? At 6:59:57 on Thursday evening Jack arrives on the nest with a really nice headless fish.

One of the older chicks wants that whole fish but Jack seems to be waiting around for Diane to arrive. Maybe he shared the head with her? Let’s hope so. She has done an amazing job today equalizing the feeding on this nest.

But wait! Diane has other ideas. She arrives with another fish at 7:02:58. Wow. Within three minutes the nest has two fish deliveries. This is how this nest should have been going all along. Keep it up!

Of course, 2 thinks she should have both fish.

Diane looks like she is comparing her catfish to the one that the older sibling has from Jack. Oh, Diane’s fish is still alive!

I could paste fifty screen shots but, instead, I will just cut to the chase. 2 has its own fish so Diane is feeding 1. But where is Tiny Tot?

At 7:14:28 Tiny Tot is between mom’s legs getting fed. Diane moves the fish to the right corner of the nest. Tiny Tot only stopped eating to do a ps at 8:09:15.

Tiny Tot is full to the brim and finally quits eating at 8:10:10. He has eaten approximately half a catfish in this last feeding. Look at the picture above. His legs are fatter and you can see his round little bottom again. Tiny Tot staggers to the middle of the nest and passes out in a food coma. Sweet dreams little one!

It was a brilliant day on this nest on Thursday. Jack and Diane seem to have gotten their act together in terms of what is needed for food. Giving the older siblings small fish or their own piece allows Diane to feed Tiny Tot. We know that he can also self-feed. Let us hope they remember this strategy and do the same tomorrow. Diane finished feeding the big ones at 8:28 and she also got some nice bites herself – well deserved.

On Friday morning, there was some catfish left from last night (a bit and the bones) and 2 deliveries on the Achieva Nest. One looked like a flounder (or a flat fish) and another was a chunk of catfish. Tiny Tot did not get any of the first flat fish that I could see but he did get some of the big chunk that came at 8:08:18. Diane fed him some and then he took a piece at 8:28:50 and was self-feeding. Diane also fed Tiny something (perhaps the piece he was self-feeding and the old piece of catfish). There is Tiny Tot standing up nicely at the rim of the nest looking at mom when he is all finished.

Grinnell is doing the late night Thursday feeding at the UC Berkeley falcon nest. Isn’t he handsome? And as of Friday morning we still have three little marshmallows.

22 April 2021. Grinnell comes in for a late feeding of his adorable eyasses.

It is a gorgeous day on Skidiway island and there are two very healthy and alert Osplets on that nest. No sign of anything happening with that third egg (yippee).

Lunch for two. 23 April 2021

Over at the NE Florida Bald Eagle nest near Jacksonville, Legacy really enjoys her fish delivery early this morning. She is a super strong beautiful ebony coloured eaglet. All eyes are on Samson and Gabby’s 2021 chick as she continues branching. Fledge is coming soon!

Gabby and Samson continue to feed Legacy well and teach her lessons about stealing food – things she did not learn with another sibling in the nest. Legacy is going to be a magnificent eagle!

Legacy enjoying her breakfish. 23 April 2021
Legacy looking out to the wide world. She will be flying soon. 23 April 2021

Tomorrow, 24 April is the expected hatch of Big Sur’s California condors, Redwood Queen and Phoenix. Oh, I hope that egg is viable. It was laid on 4 March. What a wonderful thing for these two that both survived huge fires in their lives.

Phoenix coming in to incubate the egg. Hatch watch tomorrow. 23 April 2021

And you might remember that I was looking into third hatch Ospreys – the ones like Tiny Tot that had been battered by their older siblings. My friend ‘T in Strasbourg’ had contacted someone in Wales for me. I am very interested in the ‘survival’ rate of the ‘threes’ and Z1 was identified as an osprey like Tiny Tot who returned as a juvenile as a fierce Osprey. The last sighting I could find of him was 4 April 2020. Well news came this morning in a list on the Loch Garten FB page that Z1 arrived at his nest in Snowdonia on 1 April along with his unringed female mate. Oh, I wish I could put together a list of these third hatches that survived. Z1 is the only one of his clutch to migrate and return – now three years! Fantastic. If you think of any third hatches that were bonked and battered but survived to return from their first migration, please do let me know. I would really appreciate it.

Thank you so much for joining me today. As you can tell I am really excited about the progress that Tiny Tot has made in the past few days. It looks like all of the birds heading into the weekend are doing well. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Ventana Wildlife Society, Achieva Credit Union Osprey, NE Florida Bald Eagle Cam and the AEF, UC Berkeley Falcon Cam, Latvian Wildlife Fund, Cornell Bird Lab and Skidiway Audubon. Thanks also to the Kakapo Recovery FB Page where I took the image of Millie.

Oh, tears. Tiny Tot gets the fish from mom and self-feeds like a pro!

How can you even describe the words, ‘over joyed beyond belief’?

Oh, the tears are flowing down my cheeks today. If Diane has not noticed how well Tiny Tot is doing, she has today.

Remember Tiny Tot was the first to self-feed. He kept himself alive eating on scraps found in the nest some days. Well, today he had a good feed on the first two fish. And he had a crop. You can see it in his profile here just after 9am.

Then when a fish landed right at the feet of one of the older sibs (I think it was 2) at 3:51:17, Tiny Tot was brave and tried to steal that fish! Yes, you did read that correctly. The thing about Tiny Tot is that he is a survivor. Tiny Tot is always watching. He knows his environment and he knows what is happening.

In the image below, Tiny is on the far left. In the centre are 2, the mother, and 1. The fish that Jack delivered landed right at the talons of 2. You might not think Tiny knows what is going on but he does.

In a second, Tiny Tot decides he is going to try and steal that fish!

There he goes at 3:52:16.

2 is like, ‘What do you think you are trying to do little buddy?’

Tiny might have gotten a bite or two before 2 decided he was holding on to the fish but it demonstrates how observant, quick, determined, and brave Tiny Tot is. Who said that Tiny Tot could not survive when the older sibs start self-feeding?

At 4:59:01 Jack delivered another piece of fish. Now look where our brave little one is – right there by Diane when that fish is dropped. The two older sibs seem more concerned with one another or the traffic.

Oh, there is a lot of wing flapping going on. Where is Tiny Tot? and where is that piece of fish? OK. Diane has it and she is moving it over in her right talon to the side of the nest where she usually feeds the chicks.

Can you see where Tiny Tot’s beak is? And did Diane put that piece of fish in her right talon on purpose?

At 4:59:22 Tiny Tot steals that piece of fish from mom!

He mantles his prey to the back rim of the nest where Tiny Tot self-feeds like the pro that he is!!!!!!!!

Diane watches her boy self-feed. She knows precisely how well the three of them are doing.

Well done, Tiny Tot! If Diane had gold stars to hand out today you would definitely have about 3 or 4 of them. And despite all the claptrap about your being stunted and won’t survive, it sure looks like you are going really well.

My goodness. I think the last image says it all. Since 12 March, Tiny Tot has had to fight for the food that he gets. I expect Diane will tell Jack how well Tiny Tot did today.

Thank you for being on this ‘Tiny Tot’ journey with me. It reminds me of the cheering squad for WBSE 26 or Daisy the Duck. It sure feels good tonight. If Jack and Diane continue to deliver small chunks of fish throughout the day -instead of Diane feeding – and if those pieces come regularly – well, who knows what might happen!

Thank you to the Achieva Credit Union in St Petersburg Florida for their streaming cam. That is where these screen shots were taken.

UPDATE: The second egg has been laid by Landa at the Urdaibai Osprey Nest in Northern Spain.