Our thoughts go out to all that are being lashed about by tropical storm systems and hurricanes.
It is a quiet drizzly grey Saturday morning in the garden. Little Red has been eating at the solid suet cylinder and the Blue Jays are pecking away at the cob of corn left for them. The sparrows have not really been around much. I hope to have some photos of Little Red cleaned up for tomorrow. But, so far, the gang is all here – Junior and the 3 fledgling Blue Jays and the 3 fledgling Crows plus Little Red, Dyson, and Scraggles. Dyson’s two from the summer come and go as well. There has been no sightings of Little Hedwig and the neighbours and I are beginning to fear the worst about those cats. Fingers crossed we see a bunny shortly.
The temperatures are dropping at night. All of the Grape tomatoes have been picked and will turn green in the lovely Birch basket. All of the plants to come inside are here but one which means a trip to the garden centre today for soil. Even so, we have not had a hard frost in the garden and this is absolutely remarkable considering it is now the 24th of September.
In the Mailbox:
The other day I was asked if non-parental male peregrine falcons could harm the eyases in the scrape. I told a story of an Osprey that had kicked the eggs out of the nest when he suspected they belonged to another male. Today, a cartoon that Chloe Baker did of Odin and EJ showed up on FB.
It was Loch Garten, 2013, and here is the video of that egg being kicked out of the nest. Odin waited til EJ went for a break! (not HD) I wish some of these great old videos could be cleaned up. They are fantastic. Of course, Odin was not the only male. Some of us waited to see if Aran would go after Mrs G’s eggs this season but, he didn’t. Presumably they were his and not the Pont Cresor Aeron Z2.
This also happened at Dunrovin a couple of years ago – much clearer image.
And here is another a couple of years ago. There are many examples. We do not know what will happen if the young male totally ousts the old male at Melbourne. Indeed, we do not even know if that will happen this year. My fingers are crossed that he goes and sits and waits til this breeding season is over! But, we also have to prepare ourselves for the worst. It is much better when the males get rid of the eggs.
Making News:
Some additional images were released of Victor taking his flight to freedom. He sure must have been so excited to be back in the wild. Victor is a magnificent eagle! Thanks to Paul K for cleaning these up!
Nest News:
It is all about life lessons at the Sydney Sea Eagles nest. The parents are deliberately branching, demonstrating how to ward off the Currawong, and then how to eat a fish. It is really a privilege to be able to watch the daily lives of these amazing raptors.
Xavier looking at the eggs. Hatch watch is 1-3 October! Xavier is one of the most devoted male Peregrine Falcons that I know. This is an incredible nest to watch and there are several cameras and a chat.
Xavier has been doing some of that enfluffing in the scrape.
I wonder how many of you are counting the number of fish flakes that Little Bob is getting at Port Lincoln. Big Bob is bigger and will need more and Mum is smartly feeding it several nice helpings before moving on to Middle and Little Bob. Dad, for his part, brought in a whomping size fish that will last the day.
Oh, Little Bob you are going to have to push and figure out how to get to the front with Big Bob in the front line!
Little Bob got himself in the right position for the next feeding at 10:50. Big Bob has a super crop and Middle is laying down. Little is going to get some really nice bites.
The camera operator gave us some fabulous close ups of the three after the 1415 feeding so we could see that each had a nice crop. Little Bob is holding its own. You can really see the egg tooth of each of the osplets – that hard piece of white beak used like a pick axe to get out of the shell. Enjoy this soft fluffy down. We will not realize it but time passes quickly and soon they will be in their reptilian phase.
Incubation continues at the 367 Collins Street scrape box. It is now the 25th in Melbourne and we are on hatch watch for the 27th.
For everyone who cannot wait for the Bald Eagle nests to be full of little eaglets, the first on streaming cam mating of the year occurred at the Northwest Florida nest of Samson and Gabby!
Migration News:
Do you know about EuroBirdPortal.org? It tracks all of the European Ospreys movements during the migration period.
I will be checking on Karl II and his family for tomorrow.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Little Bob is doing well. He isn’t our Ervie – no one could ever be Ervie but, I hope he holds his own against Big Bob and thrives. Mum and Dad are doing a great job. I fear that when Dad is late with fish it is either the wind or the gulls. Let’s blow those gulls away! Take care of yourselves. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their posts and streaming cams that form my screen captures: Chloe Baker, Loch Garden RSPB, Dunrovin, Castnet, Bald Eagles 101 and the Ojai Raptor Centre, The Wonderful World FB, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Charles Sturt Falcons, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Port Lincoln Ospreys, EuroBirdPortal, and NWFL-AEF.
It is a gloomy day today. The sky is solid cloud cover and it is cool enough that I can hear the furnace kicking in once in awhile. The juvenile Blue Jays are quite busy eating along with one squirrel and a few sparrows this morning. It has also rained. Today is Open House at the rehabilitation centre. It is about half an hour outside the City. We always wish them to have a beautiful sunny day. Perhaps tomorrow. It is going to be a good day to finish reading some of the books sitting on my desk before the pile gets higher!
In the Mailbox:
‘A’ wonders if the intruder male falcons ever kill the eyases.’
That is a question on everyone’s mind that is watching the 367 Collins Street Falcons. So, first. I am more knowledgable about Ospreys – for transparency! Osprey males if they believe the eggs to be of another male will wildly kick them out of the nest. I hope to find an old YouTube video of that happening. It is simply crazy the flap they get into. Of course, they do not want to spend the time feeding and raising another male’s chicks. This is why Xavier and Alden, Peregrine Falcons, are so special. They did not have to compete with a male – the male was deceased but, they did step in and help the female raise the chicks. What a civil way to get a mate and a fantastic piece of territory, too. But to answer your question, the second male has not been able to get rid of those eggs of the old male and we must wait and just see what happens. The old male is a ‘sitting duck’ so to speak if he incubates so he has chosen only to bring prey items to the female. If he is flying and hunting to feed the family he is less of a target. Sadly, we have to wait and see how this plays out but I have seen non-parental males kill the eyases. Yes.
Technology is going to come to the aid of endangered eagles in Germany because of the deaths caused by wind turbines. Let’s support the effort and get every wind turbine trained to keep our raptors from being killed!
Things seem to be going rather well at Port Lincoln. These are the time stamps for yesterday, thanks to the chatter, Gtr Kitarr. 11:30 & 12:35 chicks close-up. 12:36 & 14:23 & 17:42 fish delivery/feeding. 17:55 Dad takes the fish. 18:05 fish back/feeding. 18:12 Dad takes the fish. 18:25, 18:42 & 21:55 feeding. There were the two earlier feedings as well and I might have missed one. Everyone is eating including the little gaffer.
Thankfully Mum is managing to get some sleep. These three are healthy and active.
Victor Hurley, the researcher for the 367 Collins Street Falcon Scrape and the Victoria Peregrine Falcon Association posts some wonderful information weekly. This was part of this week’s early posting and you might be interested in it. It is specifically about the site at 367 Collins Street. Indeed, earlier in his PDF, Dr Hurley says that many of the Victoria Peregrine Falcons are using stick nests due to the lack of high locations.
“The reason Peregrine Falcons were first (and continue to be) attracted to 367 Collins Street is because of the building design has inset windows with external ledges and an architectural feature of indented corners to the building structure. The original ledge selected (and the one used to this day) faces south east. This orientation provides warmth from the rising sun until late morning by which time the shadow from the building’s own south wall provides shade across the selected ledge. With the prevailing rainstorms tending from the west/north west means that most of Melbourne’s late winter rains blow over and past this ledge. Peregrine Falcons have had “the freedom of the city” to select alternatives and yet once the gravel filled trays were installed in 1992 pairs have repeatedly placed their thumping big feet to claim this one as their own ever since.”
No one knows how this season is going to turn out. We cannot even possibly begin to guess. We are, however, three days prior to a potential hatch and the female – and she is gorgeous – is holding firm to those eggs.
Dr Hurley did do a Q & A session and it is posted on the 367 Falcon Watchers FB Group, not YouTube. Indeed, Dr Hurley has posted lots of information on that site so please join their group if you are not a member already so you can access it.
Here is the link to that very informative PDF by Dr Hurley mentioned above.
The Sydney Sea Eagles will certainly win the beauty contest this week. Just look at the light on that beautiful plumage. The pair are still figuring out how to self-feed. They are not branching or hovering so there will be more time with them. When they stand on those branches and begin flapping then you can think fledge!
The cam operator did an amazing job and the light was just perfect to see that rusty peach. Incredible. I wish they would stay this way! Like the juvenile Ospreys, the plumage – to this person anyway – is much more beautiful than the adults!
At the scrape on the grounds of Charles Sturt University in Orange, Xavier and Diamond are patiently waiting and eating, eating and waiting, for the eggs to hatch the first week of October.
I will be so excited when this very devoted couple have their first hatch.
Some of you might not know about Xavier. Diamond was at the scrape with her mate Bula. Bula died when the eyases hatched. Diamond could not have done all of the duties and kept them alive – and then Xavier came along. He did not actively care for the chicks but he brought food for Diamond and the chicks so everyone could live. The chicks survived and the rest is history. Xavier’s name means Saviour and he was definitely a saviour to this nest, like Alden for Annie at Cal Falcons. If something untoward were to happen at Melbourne, we might all begin to hope that the second male would be as kind as Xavier and Alden.
Thank you so very much for being with me this morning. Stop in and check on the PLO Chicks. They are quite adorable and keep your eyes on those lovely sea eagles. Take care of yourselves, too. Thank you for your letters and comments. They are always appreciated. I try to answer as quickly as I can. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and FB posts which make up my screen captures: 367 Collins Street Falcons by Mirvac, 367 Collins Falcons FB, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, and Port Lincoln Ospreys.
I hope that you had a lovely Saturday – and welcome to Sunday!
How many of you have used eBird ID? I would love to hear from you. I was so hopeful in finding an ID for the waterfowl below but, Merlin ID said they were Crows. Is Merlin serious?
After consulting many books and looking and looking at these birds, they are juvenile American Coots.
Every nook and cranny might just have a duck or two at our nature centre! Only when someone walks by on the boardwalk do they come out of hiding – sometimes.
The reeds are so tall and thick and abundant. They are making excellent hiding places for the ducks, the Coots, and the geese. You can see that some of the foliage is turning colour. Autumn is upon us. Our temperature dropped to 7 degrees C Saturday evening. The coolest it has been in a long time.
This one scurried out of the reeds.
This Mallard was feeding near to where I saw the baby duck the other day. I looked and looked and could not find the wee one today. Hopefully I will spot it sunning itself in the next couple of days.
There are geese everywhere.
This little fella was flitting around the trees. It looks like a juvenile Least Flycatcher with its dark pointed beak and the white circle around the eye. The wings should show two white bars. They do not just feed on flies – all insects and flies are welcome.
This female Downy Woodpecker was working very hard to try and get some peanut pieces out of this feeder! She had them all to herself!
Making News:
Ospreys are making the news in the UK as re-introduction efforts continue.
The Dyfi Osprey Project announced they would be shutting off the live streaming cam and chat today at 8pm nest time BUT they have changed their mind and will leave it on until Padarn and Idris are gone from the nest.
A group of White Storks escaped from a zoo and went to the beach – they were rescued.
The Sydney Sea Eaglets are walking stronger and working their wings – just like they are supposed to be doing right now. It is nice when they turn back to the centre of the nest with all that jumping. Your heart can fall out if they get near the edge!
Lunch arrives for these two hungry eaglets.
Padarn is still on the Dyfi nest keeping Idris busy bringing in some fish. She is breaking records everywhere in the UK for the longest lingering female Osprey (or any Osprey). She hatched on the 26th of May. She is now 108 days old. How many days will she stay on the nest?
Enjoy this beautiful gal.
Blue 497 remains at the Glaslyn nest also. Aran continues to bring in nice fish – the boys and Mrs G have left the area.
Let’s go back to Australia. That is where the action is!
The new female at the 367 Collins Street scrape is sure not giving the cute little male much time on those eggs this year! Perhaps she doesn’t know too or maybe she is like Diamond and reluctant at times. Hopefully it will all work out with a chick or two.
At Port Lincoln, it is less than a week til hatch watch!!!!!!!!
L4 seems to be enjoying being back on the Cornell Campus after 5 weeks in the rehab centre. It is lovely to see her flying so strong and doing her own hunting. Suzanne Arnold Horning caught her this morning looking out on the territory. L4 has a lovely necklace, just like her Mum, Big Red.
Migration News:
Loch Arkaig appears to be empty with Sarafina on her way to the south for her migration.
News for Karl II’s family: Karl II has not sent any tracker information since 4 September. He is in an active war zone near Kherzon, Ukraine. It is not expected that we will hear any reports form Karl II for 5-6 weeks form that date as per his normal behaviour and time staying at this location during past migrations.
Waba is still in Ukraine.
Kaia is still in the Desna River area of Ukraine.
Bonus remains in the Prypjat River area of Belarus.
From the Archive:
Who is the eaglet? Gold stars if you can name the nest and the parents! Hint: This was the natal nest of the eaglet’s dad.
The eaglet grew up into this beauty.
There is not a lot going on in Bird World. We are seeing migratory birds moving throughout the UK some landing on nests for a rest. There are still Ospreys at Dyfi but all of the other birds from the streaming cams seem to be gone now. Incubation continues at three of the Australian nests. Hatch watch is coming up for Port Lincoln Osprey barge. Some of the Bald Eagles are returning to their nests in the southern US. Avian Flu is still about as owners of factory poultry farms continue to cull birds. The latest was 3 million.
Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope all of you are well and that you got a chance to see the beautiful harvest moon last night. The skies cleared on the Canadian Prairies just in time to enjoy it rising above the tree tops.
See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their posts, videos, photographs, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: sea eagles@Birdlife Australia, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Ospreys, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Tim Mackrill, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Looduskalender, NEFL-AEF.
Answer to From the Archive: The nest is the Northeast Florida Bald Eagle nest that once belonged to Romeo and Juliet and passed on to their son, Samson. Samson and his mate Gabrielle (Gabby) had one hatch in 2020. The eaglet’s name was Legacy and she was a beauty.
Friday morning turned out to be a fantastic day to go and check on the birds in a pond in one of the industrial areas of the city. There had been a Great Blue Heron spotted there according to eBird and I hoped to get a glimpse. That beautiful bird and the Lesser Yellowlegs, the Canada Geese, the Mallards, and the gulls did not disappoint.
Then as I was driving around the other side to leave I looked over and saw something ‘white’. It was a beautiful Great Egret wading in the water fishing.
What a lovely way to start the morning! I feel blessed. It is always good for the mind and soul to get out into nature, however long or short one can, and if, by chance, we get to see these beautiful creatures then it is doubly wonderful.
It is also the full moon. Around the world people will be looking up and hoping for clear skies. It is known as the Harvest Moon and is a time of thanksgiving. Many years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to be in Kyoto during the Tsukimi or Moon Viewing Festival. Moon Viewing has been practiced in Japan since the Nara Period from 710-794. One did not look at the moon directly but, rather, observed the moon’s reflection normally in a beautiful pond. Many residences of the aristocracy had moon viewing platforms. Poems were written. Auspicious gifts placed on the tokonama while the flowers, the incense, and the hanging were changed to reflect the move to autumn. I recall stacks of mochi and vases with beautiful sheafs of grain. ‘A’ also reminds me that it is a time for eating dumplings – which we will do later this evening while watching the rabbits pound the mochi in the moon!
Making News:
Yesterday I reported that Big Red and Arthur’s youngest hatch for the 2022 breeding season had been released on the Cornell Campus. Here is the YouTube video of this fantastic event! Please note that L2 is still on campus and has not left- as believed- and hopefully these two will hook up. They were always best friends.
L4 was spotted on the Campus this morning. She has made herself right at home! Suzanne Arnold Horning got a shot of her with her phone.
The raptors really need our help to spread the word. Making the news today is an Osprey with a balloon tangled around its legs. Don’t wait to get to the state that I am in – chasing after every loose balloon I see – but help educate. Tell everyone you know and ask them to tell 5 friends and family. Soon, the web of knowledge will grow and the birds will be safer.
If you live in this area, please keep your eyes open for this bird. Thank you.
It is sadly that time of year. The Bald Eagles and other birds of prey that eat carrion get lead poisoning because our governments will not outlaw the use of lead in any hunting and fishing equipment! They need to ban the manufacture, remove the supplies off the shelves, and stop this senseless pain, suffering, and death. We know the solution. Tell your elected officials. There are alternatives. ——— Of course, as you know, my alternative is to end the recreational shooting of animals – it is barbaric.
Nest News:
Idris brings his daughter, Padarn, a flat fish for her evening tea. What a fantastic dad he has been to this healthy and robust female that will soon, should the winds blow in the right direction, head off on her migration leaving Dad some time to recuperate from what has to have been a tiring summer with three girls and Telyn to take care of!
Padarn was on the perch for the night.
She was still there on Saturday!
The sun was setting on Loch Arkaig. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see if Sarafina is still with us! But there has been no activity on the nest today.
On Saturday Louis was seen on the nest. The last time that Sarafina was seen on the nest was at 0634 on the 9th of September. There have been no visits and no nest calls by Sarafina on Saturday.
Who is home at Glaslyn? It looks like it is Aran and 497. The boys and Mrs G are gone!
Aran is over in the Oak Trees.
497 has been in the nest and on the perch. Aran did not seem to be responding! 497 has had a hard time with siblings and Mrs G around to get some of those fish. Perhaps a few days longer will get this little one in shape to fly if Dad obliges with a nice big breakfast tomorrow!
Talk about beautiful. You can sure tell she is Aran’s offspring. She may have the glare of a female Osprey, but that lovely head turned…that is Aran. Until you see the dark necklace – then Mrs G comes in.
Her dark necklace she gets from Mum, Mrs G.
The nest was empty at dusk.
497 was there on Saturday and Aran was busy bringing her fish!
Xavier convincing Diamond that it is time for her to have her breakfast so he can get some eggie time.
You can see a big change in the Sea Eagles at the Sydney Olympic Park nest. They are standing more on their feet and walking about the nest more. SE29 is really flapping its wings and investigating the branches! Yesterday, SE29 got the fish that Dad had brought to the nest but wasn’t sure what to do with it. Lady took it and fed both!!! ‘J’ wrote that she thought this was the cutest part of it – 29 trying to figure out what to do with the fish! I am grateful she mentioned those moments. You might have seen that instance. I am certain SE30 was delighted when Lady fed both of them.
Look at those nice strong legs. Great wings, too! Developing those muscles. These two are simply precious.
It is fascinating – looking at the nest – how the branches help to camouflage the eaglets.
SE29 will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. What to expect for the next couple of weeks in their development? Their wings will begin to get heavy and you will notice that they will begin to sit with them drooping. There will be more hopping and flapping of their wings and by the end of week 9 they should be able to mantle, hold their food and tear off pieces to eat. They will begin sleeping upright with their head tucked into their wing like the adults. Their feathers will continue to develop all over their body. Watch at the end of the two weeks to see them standing on one leg!
Dad on the ropes and Mum on those three eggs at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. It is the 11th of September in Australia. Do you know what this means? We could be one week from hatch!!!!!!!!!!!
Incubation continues at 367 Collins Street in Melbourne! But there are strange things going on…I wonder how this will turn out.
Mum departed around 0856. Dad came and stayed on the eggs after they had been left for an hour. He stayed about 15 minutes. The eggs were left uncovered for another 43 minutes…and then Mum finally comes and settles down after 2 hours. She then leaves again briefly a little later. This couple appears to have trouble getting their rhythm going…let’s hope it is all worked out by hatch.
Mothering is not always easy, especially the first time!
There are still chicks on one of the Finnish Osprey nests.
CROW provided a really good post today especially with regard to birds and window strike. It is migration season…have a read. Tell your friends and family to turn off their lights and also tell them how to help stunned birds. Thanks so much!
Continuing in our tracking of the Estonian Black Stork family of Karl II, there is no tracking or transmissions for Karl II today.
Bonus remains in Belarus in the same general area of the Priyapat River he has been feeding at. The fish and frogs must be plentiful!
Kaia is still feeding near the Desna River in Ukraine.
Waba is near the Makachinsky Hydrological Reserve which is also in Ukraine like his parents Kaia and Karl II.
Maya and Blue 33’s first hatch of the 2022 season, 1H1, has been seen in Portugal.
From the Archives. Two images today!
First: Can you name this nest? Do you remember the names of the chicks? It was 29 September 2021. Gold stars for anyone who can put the name with the right osplet!
Second: Do you remember the circumstance where these two images were taken?
Thank you so much for being with me today. I hope that you have a wonderful start to your weekend. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their tweets, posts, and streaming cams that formed my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab, Suzanne Arnold Horning, A Place Called Hope, Raptor Educational Group, Dyfi Ospreys, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Ospreys, BirdCast, CROW, Looduskalender, LRWT, and Cape Wildlife Clinic.
Answer to From the Archives:
First. It is the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. Mum is feeding Bazza (top), Ervie (middle), and Falky (bottom). You can see that the osplets have lost their soft down and are in the Reptilian Phase – looking like dark black crude was poured over them.
Second. This is Arnold and Amelia the bonded pair of Canada Geese. Arnold had its foot injured by a snapping turtle and had to have surgery. It shocked the vets when they heard a tapping on the glass door. There was Arnold’s mate. The vets realized that the pair had to be together. Amelia was allowed to share meals and whenever Arnold was moved outside she would break into the pen to be with him. This was a really learning moment if every wildlife rehabber paid attention ——–do not take one Canada Goose into care without its mate. Many times volunteers pick up the injured one and whisk it off tens of miles away. The remaining one of the couple is ‘lost’ and depressed and sometimes does not eat.
Oh, good morning to you! I hope that your week has been a really good one. I see changes…in the colour of the vines growing up the hydro poles which are now turning a beautiful burgundy and the number of children going down the sidewalks in the morning and afternoon with their backpacks. Truly summer has just about come to an end although the official day for the beginning of autumn is a couple of weeks away. The temperatures are still in the mid-20s C and I am not ready to box up the linen just yet.
It was a gorgeous evening with a nice crisp breeze. The sun was setting and it looked like a Monet painting as it reflected on the pond where the ducks and geese were gathering. To my surprise there were a pair of Loons and about 8 Greater Yellowlegs punching in the soft mud at the edge of the pond for a meal with those long bills.
A pair of LoonsGreater YellowlegsA couple of American Coots in with the other water fowl
It is always good to get outside if you can. I remember when my mother fell and broke her hip. She was reluctant to get up and walk again and her doctor was quite stern in his response – “Either use them or loose them!” It is good for me to remember on those days when I would rather curl up with a book instead of getting out in the fresh air. The long hours of book reading and sipping hot tea will be here soon enough!!!!!! It was not a terribly long walk around the pond and blood was given to the mosquitoes! It is a shame that they love to come out at dusk and feed right when all of the migrating birds are landing and settling down for the night.
I want to go back to this location during the day to see the shorebirds better. Wish me luck! There is a chance that a Blue Heron might be there as well.
In the Mailbox:
Question from ‘A’: “I am worried the new mum at Collins Street is inexperienced and this may affect the success of the breeding season. Today, at least 10 days into hard incubation, she left the eggs for nearly two and a half hours. Dad did not arrive to take over. It is a relatively warm but very wet and overcast day in Melbourne, so there was no warming sunshine to maintain egg temperature. How dangerous could such a long gap in incubation be to the developing chicks inside?”
This is a very timely question, ‘A’. Thank you for asking it. There has been quite a bit of concern about the new female at the Melbourne scrape. We learned much and were incredibly surprised about incubation times with Milda at the White-tailed Eagle nest. Her mate died and she stayed on the nest for 8 solid days before seeking food. It was cold and wintery. At one time the two eggs were left for 8 hours and at other times for shorter but considerable time. No one believed they would hatch but hatch the two did. Sadly they did not live because Mum was starving and there was no food even from a male that seemed to want to play Dad. Now these eggs were in a big twig nest that holds heat but the temperatures were much lower than those in Melbourne which are in a scrape. The gravel will hold heat but perhaps not as much as the twig nest. Dr Victor Hurley has stated on FB that an hour and a half will cause no damage at all. I would think that the time she was away is fine but my concern would be if the surface of the eggs were damaged at all by the rain. This can cause undue problems. We wait. There is often a failure for first time parents – in this case just the Mum. Dad and our former Mum worked like clockwork – they were a great team but that takes time to know the other partner well. We will wait but my hope is that only a couple of the eggs develop well as it will be easier for a first time Mum to cope. Many experienced females have difficulty with four!
I found this article on the issues with egg development and incubation that might be helpful:
Question from ‘B’: “Do male Osprey fledglings migrate before female Osprey fledglings?”
That is a fantastic question and I do not have the scientific data at hand to state that the males go first although many believe that this is true. I want to check some data and will get back to everyone on Saturday morning with a data driven answer to this question. The research will be limited to the UK birds because they are ringed and measured. Let’s see what we can find out. Thanks, B!
A rant and a question from ‘J’: “There is a lot of arguing going on over calling the parents of nestlings Mum and Dad at the Melbourne scrape. There is a person telling everyone to stop and use male and female so that we are not anthropomorphizing the birds. What do you think?” Thank you so much ‘J’ for sending me this question. I actually went and found the post and made a comment – something that I do not often do but I feel very strongly about this particular subject and I am happy to address how I ‘feel’ about this!
I get outraged when I see someone jump on another individual for giving human qualities to a non-human. In the study of animal behaviour, anthropomorphizing is attributing human characteristics to non-humans. That is the simple definition. Using words such as joy, grief, embarrassment, anger or jealousy are anthropomorphic terms. Dr Marc Bekoff, an expert in animal behaviour and emotions, and his colleagues use human terms all the time when they are dealing with the emotional lives of animals. “Being anthropomorphic is a linguistic tool to make the thoughts and feelings of other animals accessible to humans.” (123) Bekoff continues, “If we decide against using anthropomorphic terms we might as well pack up and go home because we have no alternatives. Should we talk about animals as a bunch of hormones, neurons and muscles???” (124). “When we anthropomorphize, we’re doing what comes naturally, and we shouldn’t be punished for it. It’s part of who we are.” (125).
Bekoff continues for many pages noting that we observe animals being happy, feeling grief. You have seen these behaviours. Anyone watching a streaming cam of any raptor will, at one time or another, note joy, anger, and all too often, grief. I can still “see” Connie and Clive standing over the dead body of their eaglet who had been flapping and jumping and broke a blood feather. She died of rodenticide poisoning like her younger sister. The blood in the growing feather should have coagulated but it didn’t because someone decided to poison the rats and Clive brought one to the nest. It was an incredibly moving time and Clive never got over the deaths. He left the nest.
We must acknowledge that animals experience joy, passion, grief, and suffering. They feel love and they feel pain. If we fully grasp that the animals and the birds are really no different than we are, then we might stop to think about how we treat them. That would be the beginning of real change in our world. I personally believe that it is our duty to make the planet a better place – to do all that each of us can do to make the lives of non-humans better. If calling them Louis or Sarafina helps to do this then fine. The adults at the Collins Street scrape are parents as we know it. The female is the Mum and the male is the Dad. What in the world does it hurt to call them that!?
Making News:
The only surviving Osprey chick from the Pitkin County Open Trails platform is now out of ICU and in the flight aviary! What fantastic news. In June, the female pulled her two chicks out of the nest when her talons inadvertently got caught on nesting material entangled with monofilament line. One chick died as the result of the long fall; the other was lucky that passersby took immediate action to get it into care.
Sharon Dunne posted some really good information about issues related to plastic and sea birds today. Thanks, Sharon, for reminding us that humans seem to use the ocean as their garbage can – or as is the case with the UK reporting, as their toilet for releasing raw sewage. We need to clean up our act.
Can you image if this beautiful little Albatross chick was fed that plastic horse? Thankfully the parent seems to have regurgitated it on the ground. It could have killed them also. We want the sea birds to eat fish and squid and not fill up on plastic so they are not hungry and die. That is just horrid.
Fledgling osprey from the UK flies west and gets into a bit of a pickle landing on the RRS Sir David Attenborough west of Sula Sgeir. Thankfully they are heading into port. This youngster will get a second chance to get his flight coordinates set!
Two announcements have come for L4 and L3. The first was for L4 who appears to have done so well that release is now almost at hand. This was followed by a statement that L3 is also a candidate for release at a later date. This is great news. L4 was the first of the four siblings this year to catch its own prey and was a real favourite of many of us. I will never forget the fearlessness when L4 wanted to be first at Mum’s beak and scrambled over the older bigger siblings to get there. If you are wondering — will L4 be fine. Absolutely!
Another raptor has been shot in the UK. This was a Red Kite that was shot at Epping Forest! It is now undergoing extensive rehabilitation and vet treatments. The police are appealing for help in finding the perpetrator.
Sarafina had to go between Louis’s legs to get her tea time fish! ‘B’ reminded me that Sarafina is now 97 days old today (Wednesday), the same age as Vera in 2020 when she fledged. If Sarafina stays on another day, she will have the record for Loch Arkaig’s longest lingering fledgling.
Yes, Sarafina now has the record for the longest lingering fledgling at Loch Arkaig! She may also get the award for tackling Dad with her landings to get the fish he continues to supply.
Padarn now has the record at the Dyfi Nest for the longest lingering fledgling.
Aran still has his entire family at Glaslyn this morning. No sign of anyone thinking of packing their suitcases.
Xavier is really enjoying incubating those eggs in the scrape in Orange. I love how he talks to them in ‘falconese’. Diamond is not always obliging in his requests for ‘eggie time’. Xavier is simply adorable. Oh, let us all hope that there is one great big healthy chick this year like Izzi. And if there are more – let them be healthy too…and let the pigeon population increase so that everyone is full to the brim.
Xavier hoping for some more time with the eggs…
The Sea Eagles are nothing short of gorgeous. They are now almost completely covered with their juvenile plumage. It is SE29 standing. SE30 is still a little lighter at the shoulder and the beard.
Just look at the expressions on their face – so intently watching and taking in ‘something’ outside the nest. Great development.
The Sea Eagle FB page reminds individuals that there is an entire website devoted to the Sea Eagles. There is all kinds of interesting information there. Have a look if you are interested. Here is the link:
Mum has been doing quite a bit of yelling at Dad at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge for the last couple of days. Sometimes Dad will slowly eat the fish he has caught and bring her the leftovers….don’t think she is any too happy about that. Maybe if he brings her another big fish she will take it and let him incubate the eggs longer. Could be a good strategy Dad!!!!!!!!!! Just like Xavier, Dad loves time with the eggs in the nest.
Marrum shows her partner, Partney, the second egg of the 2022 breeding season on Tumby Island, South Australia. Congratulations!!!!!!
Migration News:
Rutland has confirmed that all of Manton Bay Ospreys are now officially deemed to be on migration and away from the nest. Here is the announcement with the last image of Maya before she departed. What a grand year it was and what beautiful daughters they raised.
A great article on Osprey migration with maps and dates to answer almost all of your questions and to refresh our memories.
avianreport.com/osprey-migration/
Here is a good article on the tools that scientists use to study bird migrations. Thanks Sharon Dunne for bringing this to my attention!
There is still no tracking data for Karl II who is known to have been in the Kherzon region of Ukraine where the fighting is said to be intense as Ukrainian forces seek to take back the region from Russian forces. There are 2 reports for the 7th of September. Bonus remains in Belarus and we have heard from Kaia who is in Ukraine but appears to have found a good spot to fish.
Kaia did not fly far. She is fishing in the Desna River.
Tweed fledgling positively IDed and photographed on the Iberian Peninsula.
On 1 September at 17:44 Iris stood proudly with her mate, Louis, at the Hellgate Canyon Osprey nest in Missoula, Montana staring straight into the camera. It is one of the most poignant, beautiful, eerie and haunting images (all wrapped up into a lot of emotions) of this year. It felt like goodbye. Is this the last image of the year? I hope not for forever – but that is why it strikes me as so strange. Sealed in our memories in this singular instant is the fact that Iris is happy to stand next to Louis, happy with the way things are, happy with her life. They look beautiful together. If they were humans they would be having this image printed on cards to send to all their friends.
Safe travels dear one…we hope to see you in late March or April.
There have been a lot of questions about the Melbourne scrape and a lot of anxiety amongst viewers. I propose a deep breathe or several and let us wait and see what happens. Not every nest is a success. Xavier and Diamond often lay 3 eggs with only 1 developing and hatching and this could be a good thing for the new Mum in Melbourne. One healthy eyas is a great thing! A blessing. We will continue to keep our eyes on those UK nests for migration but no one appears to be wanting to go on a holiday to the south as yet. We just had a hummingbird in the garden and the rabbit was on the deck eating being protected by the crow who was above it in the bird bath. How beautiful!
Thank you so much for joining me today. Please take care of yourselves. Stay safe. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their posts and streaming cams, their Tweets, etc where I took my screen captures: Pitkin County Open Space and Trails, Royal Cam Albatross Group NZ, NZ DOC, Hugh Venables, Cornell Hawks, Raptor Persecution UK, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Friends of Osprey, LWRT, Looduskalender, Conservation without Borders, and Montana Osprey Project.
Good Morning Everyone. The first part of the week has flown by. I hope that you had a lovely long weekend (if you had a holiday) and that Tuesday was good.
The Crows continue to alarm every time “THE cat” comes into the garden and, in particular, when the rabbit is visiting and eating under he bird feeder. Today it happened twice. That bunny doesn’t know he has three guardian angels! How lucky.
Meanwhile Junior, the male Blue Jay, is moulting. Poor thing. He has lost his beautiful crest and he looks so out of proportion. He has finished up all of the peanuts and has decided to try some of the seed spilled when filling the feeders.
At sunset, hundreds if not a thousand gulls flew low to the ground looking for their evening resting area. The sky was simply full of them in every direction moving and looking like a swarm of mosquitoes. Several ‘V’s of Canada Geese could also be seen. The expectation is that the majority of duck and geese migration will take place starting the third week in September. If so, I hope to get some great images for you.
In the Mailbox:
‘G’ wonders how on earth an osplet could get salmonella poison and die? The necroscopy tests have revealed that the Loch Garten chick died of salmonella poisoning. The chick was lethargic several days before dying on the nest. A number of studies and several reports and articles such as “Incidence of Salmonella in fish and seafood” published in 2000 states, “Field laboratories of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration collected and tested 11,312 import and 768 domestic seafood samples over a 9-year period (1990 to 1998) for the presence of Salmonella. The overall incidence of Salmonella was 7.2% for import and 1.3% for domestic seafood. Nearly 10% of import and 2.8% of domestic raw seafood were positive for Salmonella”.
The study was, of course, related to the risk of food poisoning in humans but this would be the same way that osplets would get salmonella is by eating raw seafood that contains the bacteria.
The NZ DOC has done an 180 degree turn and has decided to hold a naming competition for the Royal Cam Quarry Track chick. QT, instead of leaving her with her code name. Here is the announcement:
Some additional images of Victor in the large flight area have been posted by the Ojai Raptor Centre. Oh. Victor is doing so well. I wonder if he is still rejecting the Trout and only wanting to eat Whiting??
Victor is getting stronger every day! Oh, how lucky this beautiful juvenile is to have such good care.
If you are intending to donate and/or purchase some items from the Ojai Raptor Centre’s shop, remember to include that it is for Victor! I might have mentioned that they have included a shopping option for Canada in addition to the US. If you live elsewhere, send them a note and they will set up the shipping. I received the two t-shirts and the tote bag today. They are super!
There is a wildfire in the Big Bear Valley. It is being called the Radford Fire. Many were concerned that it might bring harm to Jackie and Shadow and their nest but they are safe. The fire is on the SE part of the lake. We all love Jackie and Shadow and many of you might have heard about the fire and were worried. Here is that confirmation:
University of Louisiana grounds keepers saw the hawk tangled in fishing line and acted quickly in order to save its life. Remember and spread the word – be responsible. Clean up monofilament line both yours and that of others if you see it. Make the shores, lakes, and rivers safe for the birds and fish.
Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister for Scotland has announced a draft bill on grouse moor licensing to be introduced in this year’s parliamentary legislation. Many like Mark Avery and Chris Packham have lobbied to end the senseless killing of the raptors on the driven grouse moors. This is a huge step forward and is coming none too soon.
The Guardian carried an article, “Dark matter and lithium water: 15 big issues poised to affect oceans and coastlines” today. You will already be aware of some of the concerning actions and issues including the dumping of toxic chemicals into the oceans. The example came from Senegal but it could easily have come from large westernized countries! My biggest disappointment was the glossing over – no, not just glossing over – not even acknowledging what will ultimately happen to the sea birds that depend on the oceans for food.
Mrs G and the three fledglings remain at the Glaslyn nest with the male, Aran. They are the only ‘full family nest’ still resident in the UK.
All three siblings lined up waiting for Aran and fish.
Mrs G is hiding!
News coming out of the Dyfi nest other than Idris continuing to feed Padarn is that Pedran, the first fledgling, did not fly straight south from the nest to begin migration but, rather hung around the UK and has been spotted! So remember this – the birds do not always fly directly south but can spend time flying and perfecting their fishing while getting strong! (Note- all three were deemed to be female. Disregard the use of the words he/him below).
Bella has arrived at the NCTC Bald Eagle nest waiting for her mate, Smitty.
An unknown female Peregrine Falcon interrupted Alden’s ‘loafing time’. Let us hope that this is not the female intruder that Grinnell had chased away from The Campanile scrape.
After an encounter with a female intruder at The Campanile, Annie and Alden renew their bond in the scrape.
All is well at the Australian nests. The only one with chicks is, of course, the Sydney Sea Eagles and SE29 and 30 are growing and changing and, like clockwork on the development chart, getting all of their juvenile feathers. It may be difficult to tell them apart soon!
It is incubation duties at the other three nests – the two Peregrine Falcon scrapes at Orange and Melbourne and the Port Lincoln Osprey barge.
Sunny in Melbourne.
Beautiful Diamond.
The sunshine gave way to rain later in the day at Port Lincoln.
Dad eating his portion of fish before taking it to Mum. Thanks, Dad. We don’t want any more flapping fish on those precious eggs!!!!!!
Migration News:
No tracking news for Karl II or Kaia. Karl II is in the most dangerous area of Ukraine at the moment. Their transmitters could be jammed. The only news is of Waba and he is doing fine and has found a small area to fish. We wait.
Memory Lane:
Do you remember these two cutie pies? Who are they? what is their natal nest? and what are the names of their parents?
Thank you so much for joining me today. I will be pulling out photos from the archives for the next week or so to see if we can tell who is who! Take care everyone. See you soon!
Answer to Memory Lane: This is E17 and E18 from the SWFlorida Bald Eagle nest. They were removed to CROW for conjunctivitis and safely returned to Harriet and M15 after a successful treatment. Known for their early sparring the twins became best buddies.
Thank you to the following for their posts, their streaming cams and videos that make up my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab and the NZ DOC,, Ojai Raptor Centre, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Bald Eagles 101, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Ospreys, NCTC, Cal Falcons, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Port Lincoln Ospreys, and SWFlorida Bald Eagles and CROW.
The families are back at work and the children will be in school. There will be no more loud yelps when a grasshopper has been found and checked off the list of treasures in the ‘Nature Scavenger Hunt’ at the nature centre or toddlers trying to pull the tails of the ducks. It will be quiet.
it was 26 degrees C on a sunny Sunday afternoon as I set about trying to find that dear wee duckling at Ft Whyte. Originally there were two. I did not see the second one today either when I went around the final bend but I did find the tiny one sleeping in the sunshine. Now that the water level is falling all manner of little islands are appearing in the ponds. They are nice places for ducks to sun themselves in the middle of the day.
The wee darling even had its eyes closed. You can see the downy fluff on its back. I am so worried that the feathers are not developing correctly – a little bit like Yurruga last year at the Orange scrape of Diamond and Xavier. Will they fill in, I wonder.
Have you had experience with ducklings? Can you offer advice. The little one has grown since I was there a couple of days ago.
Sibley tells us that the wing feathers of the Mallard require 60 days to fully grow so that the duck can adequately fly. This little one is about 3 weeks old or 21 days – the closest I can guess from my visits and seeing it – at the nature centre. We need 40 more days. This duckling will make it. That would be the 15th of October! Help me cheer it on.
This beauty looks so gorgeous in the sun between the springs of plants. I love how the tail feathers are fanned out and look like lace with a beautiful satin blue ribbon trimmed with black and white. Mallards are lovely. The more I see them, the more special they become.
All of the ducks seem to have been eating rather well and filling out. They will need all of that energy for their long flights.
The plants are beginning to change adding some oranges, reds, and browns to the green leaves. The ducks can melt into the landscape if you do not look closely. These three were characters. Just look at their crops, especially the one facing us nearly straight on. Well fed I would say!
Sometimes it is nice to be able to look down and see the gorgeous orange legs paddling – it means that the water is no longer murky. This duck seemed to be smiling at me.
This one was tucked up nice and tight on one of the islands. It took some time to see her.
One of the silliest things that happened today was between two Canada geese. They were both on the boardwalk. On stayed put while I tried, as quietly as I could, to pass. The other decided to walk in front of me going around the corner out of sight of its partner. They then started ‘talking’ to one another. This went on for nearly 6 minutes without either moving to go to the other…I left to go and check on the wee duckling that I had spotted ahead of me. I wonder if those geese are still honking?
This morning I woke to the alarm calls of the three Crows in the garden and sure enough, there was the cat – and the rabbit. They are protecting little Hedwig by calling me out to chase the cat away. I do wish that people would be responsible for their pets.
In the Inbox:
‘J’ wrote to tell me the story of the two Sea Eagles and the fish tail. I had not seen it. ‘J’ said, very appropriately, “It seemed more educational for them both than anything.” I missed this specific occasion and I am terribly grateful that ‘J’ gave me the time stamp because I was able to catch a few minutes of SE29 and SE30 doing some friendly exchanges with that tail – they even got a few nibbles of fish, too!
‘R’ writes: Why do the Magpies continually dive bomb the sea eagles? Anyone who has been watching the Sea Eagles nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest will have seen the most recent attacks by the Magpies on the Sea Eagle nest. There will be others such as Boo Book Owl, too. The Magpies have their own nests. It is believed that there are about 50 breeding pairs of Magpies in the forest. The Sea Eagles are the top predator in the forest. The Magpies have no hope when it comes to a challenge with them but they dive bomb them hoping if they are such a nuisance the eagles might leave the forest. Of course they will not! That said, the smallest owl has inflicted injury to Lady in the past. They are silent when they attack and have hit Lady and hurt her eye. You might also have seen the Great Horned Owls attacking the SWFlorida eagle nest of M15 and Harriet. The GHOWs are formidable enemies to the eagles but Boo Book is so much smaller. Still he can do harm and any of them might want a tasty eaglet for dinner. The sea Eagles must be careful with the owls. The Magpies are a nuisance to the adults but can and do drive the youngsters from the forest when they fledge, like the Pied Currawong do. You will often see larger predators being constantly attacked by smaller birds. The Mockingbirds continually follow Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell Campus.
‘A’ asks: “Why don’t the Osprey parents just kick their fledglings off the nest or stop feeding them?” That is a great question and I am certain that there are a lot of people wondering the same thing. I am going to use the term that is often employed ‘good parents’, if you will excuse me for that. The goal of the breeding season is to raise healthy chicks and to either increase the population of the species or, as one researcher noted, hope to have a replacement for each parent when they die. Not feeding the chicks or kicking them off the nest is counter to all of that. The adults might begin to limit the feedings encouraging independence but the chicks will depart for their own territories or for migration when they are strong enough. When that day comes, nothing will hold them back! Until then, ‘good parents’ continue to feed their chicks as best they can while also building up their own strength. Louis and Idris are great examples. Everyone has left but Sarafina and Padarn. They will continue to feed their girls until such time as they leave. Both are excellent dads. Aran and Mrs G are doing the same. None of the fledglings have left. Fish is continually supplied. Mrs G would normally leave before the fledglings. Let’s keep an eye out and see what happens.
Padarn is one of the most beautiful fledglings I have seen!
Making News:
You may recall that Loch Garten’s Osprey chick 1C1 died after being unwell for several days. It was believed that she had an infection and it was confirmed today through the necroscopy that it was a case of salmonella. It is unclear how the little osprey got salmonella.
Do you know the term ‘war wilding’? Ukraine re-flooded the Irpin River so that the Russian army could not get to Kyiv. What is fascinating to me is that this has created a wonderful wetland for the birds that could last for years creating new opportunities out of war.
The author cites cases where warWilding has been used to create biodiversity hotspots and bring new hope for wildlife such as in Mozambique but, he also tells us how this can be turned against wildlife – when water is drained to cause harm to people and, as a result, to the birds and animals. It is a good read. Check it out when you have time. There is a link to another very good paper within the article on the same topic, if you are interested.
There is a new book, Peregrines in the City by Andrew Kelly and Dean Jones. Do you recognize the scrape? More to follow after I have had a chance to read this book on such an interesting topic!
Nest News:
It appears that there might be only one Osprey nest in the entire UK that has both adults and all the fledglings still at home. That is the nest of Aran and Mrs G in the Glaslyn Valley in Wales.
The sun is just starting to show. You can hear the songbirds, the cows mooing, and the sheep bleating. One chick is already fish calling!
It might have been the one that was calling from the perch as the sun was setting on Monday!
It has been a wonderful year for Aran and Mrs G, one that certainly made up for the loss of their three nestlings last year and Aran’s injury. Everyone is really healthy and getting strong.
At the Charles Sturt scrape box on the campus at Orange, we will be on pip watch for the first of Xavier and Diamond’s eggs on the 29th of September with hatch watch from 1-3 October. Mark your calendars!
Handsome Xavier got some eggie time!!!!!!!!!
If pip watch is the 29th for the Orange Peregrine falcons, then we have to be checking on the Melbourne falcons earlier. I am going to mark my calendar for the 23rd for pip watch at 367 Collins Street!
At Port Lincoln, if all goes to plan, we are less than 2 weeks away from the first hatch!!!!!!!!!! In the meantime, Dad had everyone a little anxious when he brought a live whole fish on to the nest for Mum’s breakfast. Let us all hope that the eggs are OK.
At the Sea Eagles nest, it looks like an eel was brought in – or was it a fish? – at 1330.
In Florida, Samson has delivered at least one stick to start rebuilding the nest in NEFlorida and Harriet and M15 have returned to the SWFlorida Eagle nest in Fort Myers.
Blue 022 fooled everyone. Believed to have left for his migration after his family, he shows up at another platform in Poole Harbour. Is he scouting for another nest after the goshawk attack? or just resting?
Migration:
No tracking news for Karl II. It could be that his tracking signal is being jammed as he is in the location of Cherson (Kherzon), Ukraine. Bonus is still in Belarus near the River Pryjpat. Kaia flew a short distance but remains near the Desna River in Ukraine. Waba is between two rivers, the Buzhok and Slutsch. Please keep this beautiful Black Stork family from the Karula National Forest in Estonia in your warmest thoughts.
From the Book Stack:
Bill McGuire’s, Hothouse Earth. An Inhabitant’s Guide, minces no words when it comes to the destruction of our planet and the inability of anyone to stop the warming. McGuire is Professor Emeritus of Geophysical and Climate Hazards at University College, London. He accepts neither climate deniers or climate doomists and insists that we must be prepared for what is currently happening and for what will come in the future. We have not been able to halt the 1.5 degree C rise in temperature that was thought to be the tipping point. “How Bad can things get?” is a complex and intertwined question surrounding the relationship of the climate, the natural world, and human society and economics. McGuire says, “…what we can be certain of is that climate breakdown will be all-pervasive. Insidiously worming its way into every corner of lives and livelihoods, no one, anywhere – not even the tech billionaires in their guarded redoubts – will be immune” (143). He warns against all of the geoengineering methodologies and climate hakes being proposed including volcanic cooling and the refreezing of the poles. Instead, McGuire is very pragmatic. If we want to limit the worst effects of climate chaos til the end of the century, then there are some things that humans must do immediately: 1) methane emissions is a top priority; 2) the scraping of subsidies for the oil and gas industry; 3) the ceasing of new exploration licenses for gas and oil must stop forthwith; 4) banks must be made not to invest in gas and oil ventures; 5) damaged and desecrated land must be restored by reforestation and rewilding; 6) progressive phasing out of beef and dairy farming; 7) the restoring of peatlands and wetlands – places that store more carbon; 8) cutting back on flying and shipping consumer goods around the planet; 9) massive investment in home insulation and green domestic energy. I note that he questions the cost and value of electric vehicles (replacing world’s 1 billion fossil fuel vehicles, the lithium farming, etc) and focuses instead on green public transportation, journey based car pools, and car shares and more cycling and walking. ————Of course, it is not just humans that are impacting by the escalating heating of the planet but our beloved wildlife – and our dearest feathered friends, many who are struggling now. McGuire says his intention is to frighten people into the reality of what we are facing.
Tomorrow a look at Birds. A Complete Guide to their Biology and Behavior.
Thank you so much for joining me today. It is so nice to hear from so many of you. Stay safe. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their tweets, postings, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures and video clips: Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Dyfi Ospreys, Loch Garten RSPB Abernathy, The Guardian, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Port Lincoln Ospreys, SWFlorida Eagle Club, and the Birds of Poole Harbour.
Sunday afternoon really was a beautiful day. The temperature on the Canadian Prairies was in the low 20s with a light breeze and a bright blue sky. It was the perfect day to wind down summer. For many, Monday is a holiday and then everyone is back at school. The Ospreys are flying south from the Cape in the US and the geese are landing in the newly cut farm fields in Manitoba.
These geese just landed on one of the ponds at Oak Hammock Marsh.
Today I walked the perimeter helping to pull invasive weeds that are threatening the marsh and was more than miffed when my watch told me that I had walked precisely .7km. Looking at the map now, it was 18.7 km. The muscles in my legs know even if the watch doesn’t!
Hiding in some of the reeds in the middle of the afternoon were some Northern Pintail ducks. Aren’t they lovely? Please do not mistake them for a Mallard – look at the beautiful colour of that bill, a soft blue grey. This is a little female with her mottled plumage of tan and light brown. They are also dabbling ducks with their little bottoms stuck high in the air while they search for pondweeds.
It is so quiet and peaceful in the country.
The minute I parked my car at home, I could hear them – the Crows. But it was much more than Mr Crow and his family. There at the corner house where a lovely lady also feeds birds were more than 50 crows – in the trees, on the fence, on her roof, on the grass, on her garage roof. What in the world was up with them? Well, it was ‘THE cat’. Yesterday, this same cat tried to get little Hedwig and the three garden crows saw this. There they were – yelling and flapping at it in this lady’s garden. No doubt it was there to try and get a song bird. Don’t get me wrong. I love cats. From the time I could crawl until last July (2022), I always had cats. In my City cats are to be kept inside. It has substantially cut down on the feral cat population and it is safer for our pets. But one neighbour insists on letting their well fed cats out every evening at 5pm. Need I say more?
It was quite unbelievable. Then the cat ran out of the yard —–the Crows dispersed and everything was back to normal. Goodness.
In the Mailbox:
After posting about the Cape May Hawk Count, ‘H’ writes to ask me if I know about some other migration counting sites. I did not! So here from ‘H’ – thank you so much – is https://www.hawkcount.org/ You can find your local nests or others you are interested in. Counts are streaming across the bottom, too! What a glorious find. So, please check this useful tool. It is at the top of my list – and it is so easy to use.
Making News:
The staff of the DOC NZ at Taiaroa Head have decided that the newly fledged Royal Cam chick shall keep her code name as her name – QT.
Keeping with QT, Mum YRK returned to Taiaroa Head to feed her daughter on Monday (Australia time) and found the nest empty. She didn’t not stay very long and did not look about for the chick. She bowed her head a couple of times and flew off into the distance. YRK did a fantastic job taking care of her chick without OGK. My heart sank for her. Her and OGK often met at the nest of their chick and loved spending time together. So sad.
A clip from the Discovery Channel’s The Savage Edge – the Peregrine Falcon, a Living Missle.
Nest News:
Port Lincoln Osprey and all those in South Australia who have worked tirelessly for our beautiful fish hawks are celebrating. The first egg has been laid at the new platform on Turnby Island. Here is the announcement:
On Sunday, both Louis and Idris are still feeding chicks. Idris has been lucky and hasn’t gotten caught up with his daughter but Louis landed on Sarafina delivering her tea time fish and their wings got all tangled. It looked terrible but…all was well in the end. I think both of these dads will be looking for these girls to take off soon!
Xavier got to spend some quality time incubating the eggs today. Diamond seemed anxious to have a break when he arrived at 13:31. I love how Xavier always talks to the eggs when he rolls them and gets settled in!
Dad arrives at the Melbourne scrap in the CBD for a turn incubating the eggs in that bright sunshine.
Cody has the new canopy cam installed at the Kisatchie National Forest Bald Eagle nest in Louisiana. It is a lovely clear view and there were eagles and chortles seen and heard this morning! I really like how Cody has the date and time at the top, white on black on the main screen.
Anna and Louis have now made three trips to the nest tree. I have a short video of one leaving and chortles from this morning.
Here is the link to the E1 camera for Anna and Louis:
Short video clip of one of the eagles at the E1 nest leaving this morning.
Here is the link to the E3 camera, the nest across the lake of the other eagle couple. It has a real crackling on the sound whereas the E1 cam is perfect.
Jak and Audacity were at the Sauces nest on the Channel Islands yesterday.
Lady and Dad are trying to encourage some self-feeding at the Sydney Olympic Forest nest. The eagles have dark brown feathers almost over their entire body. They will be hopping and flapping their wings more. We should see them figuring out how to hold the prey down with their talons while tearing bits off. You will see mantling – the spreading of the wings over the prey item to claim it. They will also stand on their feet for longer periods of time. It is hard to believe but we are about 4-5 weeks away from fledging. You will begin to bet anxious if one eaglet seems to get more food than the other. It normally works out!
At the Port Lincoln Osprey barge, Dad got some incubation time from 2339-23:54 and then Mum sent him to his cave. Dad acted like he would have incubated all night. What a sweetie!
You may recall that a raccoon climbed up the tree and took one of the two eaglets at Fort St Vrain in Colorado last breeding season. A raccoon guard has now been installed at the bottom of the tree.
It is now Monday and both Idris and Louis are still fishing for their ever ravenous daughters, Padarn and Sarafina. Top image is Padarn fish calling at Idris and the bottom is Sarafina with her fish from Louis. These girls should be leaving at any time but I wonder if anyone told them!??? LOL.
I cannot believe how dark Sarafina is – just like her Mum, Dorcha!
Migration News:
Tracking the latest news on the migration of Karl II’s family of Black Storks. Waba is in Ukraine.
Bonus remains in Belarus along the Prypjat Wetlands where he has stayed for several days now.
Kaia is in Ukraine near the River Desna which is close to Vovchok.
There is some concern for Kaia’s transmitter while she is in the war zone.
There has been no transmission from Karl II on Sunday.
But today on Monday the tracker indicates that Karl II flew over 600 km in a day and is now headed to Cherson in Ukraine which appears to be his second favourite stop enroute to Africa.
Karl II is such a strong flier and took such good care of his family. Now we need him to have some luck.
As our beautiful storks make their way to Africa, send them your best wishes for a safe trip and lots of food.
Thank you so much for joining me today. It is another gorgeous day on the Canadian Prairies. The sparrows and wrens are all over the millet seed in the garden and the Crow family has already had their “sandwiches”. Take care today wherever you are. Stay safe. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, posts, videos, and articles which make up my screen captures: DOC NZ, Discovery Channel, Friends of Osprey, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam at Orange, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, KNF, Explore.org and IWS, Sea Eagles@Birldlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Fort St Vrain Eagle Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, and Looduskalender.
Friday is going to be a much nicer day in terms of weather. It has been sweltering on the Canadian prairies. The high will be 21 and not 32! It is hard to imagine it being 32 degrees at the beginning of September in Winnipeg. The sun is bright and the sky is blue without a cloud in sight. It will be a good day to go to the nature centre for that long walk and to see how those little ducklings have grown this week. The egrets were still in Winnipeg last night. They attracted a few of us to gasp at their beauty as they flew into their roosting tree at sunset.
No matter what is happening today in your life, take the time to marvel at the work of the wildlife rehabbers who are giving our darling raptors a second chance to live out their lives soaring in the skies. Smile. Victor is flying!!!!!!!!!!!!
Making News:
The Ojai Raptor Centre has done an amazing job getting Victor to flying in the large aviary from the patient that arrived with severe zinc toxicity. They posted a Victor of our dear Victor flying so well. So thankful for Dr Sharpe and everyone who gave Victor his second chance! What a wonderful sight to see ——-Victor flying and not having to do physio being supported by a human lifting a towel. Tears.
Whenever you think about intervention and someone says ‘nature will take care of it’ ——think of our dear Victor and tell them about him. Maybe you can gently change their mind. Or you could tell them about Little Bit ND17 – or both!!!!!!
You might remember that one of the two eaglets on the US Steel Bald eagle nest fludged and, in the process, tore many of its feathers. It was taken into care. Here is the most recent news on this lucky eaglet who is getting its second chance!
Rosie’s broken feather on the right.
The new feathers being inserted. They will fall out when Rosie has her first moult. Oh, what a very lucky eaglet! Just like Victor and Little Bit.
If you are living where Baltimore Orioles will or are passing through, heading to their winter homes, remember to put out the oranges and the jelly (they love other flavours than grape, too) for them to help build their energy.
The RSPB gives us all some ideas about how we can better ‘green’ our lives.
I was extremely interested in their article on how to create a garden that is beneficial for wildlife. It is always good to look for new and better ways to take care of those garden friends that come to us for food, shade, and shelter.
Who could have predicted that the Hellgate Canyon nest would have a visit from both dear Iris and Louis on Thursday? What a pleasure it is to see her. Like so many of you, I have growled at Louis but, in the end, Iris seems much happier when he is about so…I am going to stop moaning when I see Louis. I wonder if this is the pair together, Iris saying goodbye to all of us until next spring?
Beautiful Iris. If this is the last time we see you this year, travel safe, always have a full crop, enjoy your winter but return in the spring. You give us hope and inspiration.
And she is off, the oldest osprey in the world living in the wild.
Feeding time for the Sea Eagles. Notice how much progress they are making in terms of plumage but also, in standing.
There was another prey delivery at 1200 and SE30 did some impressive mantling on its arrival.
Xavier brought Diamond a nicely dressed pigeon for breakfast. She was thrilled and Dad got to spend some time incubating those three eggs in the scrape at Orange.
At the 367 Collins Street scrape in Melbourne, the little Dad loves taking care of the eggies just as much as Xavier does. Here is an early morning hand over.
The Collins Street Mum just found ‘us’!
Mum and Dad have such a good routine at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. Mum knows that Dad is coming with a partial fish for her. She would have seen him eating his portion on the ropes before arriving at the nest and transferring the rest of the fish to her. Typically, the males eat the heads of the fish. Then Dad gets a chance to incubate the eggs, too. Great system. Gives Mum a nice quiet time to have her lunch. It sure won’t be quiet in a couple of weeks!!!!!!
Dad brings in some more decorations for the nest later.
The check on Karl II and his family as they migrate shows us that Karl II is following his normal flight path. Everyone hopes that he will be changing his trajectory as this normal path will have him flying directly into Kherson an area that is quite unsafe. Looduskalender posted the different colours for his flight this year and Karl II’s last two years.
Karl flew fast and quick to get into Belarus. Let us all hope that the winds carry him to his favourite tree -safely and quickly- in the very centre of Africa.
Bonus appears to be in Belarus near Makarychy in the Gomel Oblatst. He must be finding a good food source in the Pripyat River marshes.
Kaia’s tracker came on and showed she had traveled 28.8 km. She remains in Ukraine.*
Waba – no data since 30 August.
Thank you so much for joining me this morning. Wishing our Black Stork family from the Karula National Forest in Estonia safe, safe travels. It will be interesting to see what Karl II does as he approaches Ukraine. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the following whose posts, videos, and streaming cams made up my news for the day: Ojai Raptor Centre, Hawk Mountain, Audubon, RSPB, Montana Ospreys, Tamarack Wildlife Centre, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Port Lincoln Ospreys, and Looduskalender.
I have inadvertently been using the term ‘the Ukraine’. Having lived in the 2nd largest area of Ukrainians many decades prior to the country’s independence, it became a habit to say ‘the’. Now it is not appropriate. Ukraine is, of course, its own independent country. Apologies to anyone who might have been offended by my oversight.
The sun is once again shining bright on the Canadian prairies. There is not a cloud in the sky and it is getting hot. By tea time the temperature will have risen to 29 degrees C from the current 22. It is a day to make certain that there is plenty of water for the birds in the garden — and lots of food. The migrants are moving through.
Yesterday, I went for a ride to check the birds in the countryside. The gulls were enjoying the fields that the farmers had just plowed and a single Ring-billed gull thought that it could share my lunch.
There was a quiet stillness over the wetlands at Oak Hammock Marsh. A few geese, a handful of ducks and shore birds were around but nothing like what will begin to happen as September begins. Migratory birds will be landing at dusk and taking off in the early morning hours.
In the Mailbox:
This letter comes from a local friend but, it could be from anyone: “Every time I reach out to help the wildlife, I get told to leave nature alone (in the rudest way), nature will take care of itself. What is your advice?”
I wonder what you would say to this individual?
My advice is to ignore the negative comments. Lead by example. We have destroyed the habitats and, thus, the lives of the wildlife. We poison their water and have caused the oceans to warm. We throw our garbage into their ponds. We have destroyed their food supplies…we shoot them. It is time to embrace caring and understanding. Wildlife – the whole of it – are sentient beings, they have feelings and emotions. They deserve the best we can give them. We need to become selfless and put wildlife first, not ourselves. Putting humans first has caused us to be in the present state we find our planet in. Peter Merren says, ‘Care for Nature begins at home.’
Making News:
The plans to stop two pairs of Bald Eagles from being able to access their nests is causing a lot of outrage in British Columbia. You can sign the petition, too, by copying the link into your browser!
BirdGuides finds many human-induced changes to the environment that are killing the migratory birds. Of these infra-structure, hunting, and earth warming are the top three.
The birds are on the move and I found a super guide to Osprey migration. Everything you wanted to ask and were afraid to…It will give you some great insights as to what is happening at all the nests.
While Loch of the Lowes is empty, the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G still has three chicks yelling at Dad to bring in the fish!
Louis has delivered a nice fish to Sarafina at the Loch Arkaig nest this morning.
Idris brought a nice fish to Padern who appears to be the only fledgling at the Dyfi Nest. Paith was last seen at 1700 on the 29th.
I got a little emotional when I saw that Bonus and Kaia were just 25 km apart in Belarus. My heart beat a little faster wondering if it was possible that they would fish together along the shores of the Priyapat River. It was not meant to be…Kaia flew into the Ukraine again and then set a trajectory quickly east. Meanwhile Karl II remains in Estonia enjoying an empty nest (yes, parents do love their children but it is also nice to have some quiet and fish to one’s self). I want to give a real shout out to those that are posting the maps and images on the Looduskalender site for Karl II and his family’s migration. I have included their comments and image notes so you can see where Bonus and Kaia are in the image below.
Moving forward, on the 31st, here are the locations of the individual Black Storks.
The other big nest news is that Diamond has now laid her third egg. It happened at 0525 on 31 August 2022. Historically, Diamond has only laid 3 eggs and for the past two seasons, only one of those has hatched.
You could tell things were happening. Diamond was focused and standing.
Xavier comes into the scrape box and he is so excited!!!!!!!!! Diamond is happy to show him the three precious eggs. The bowing and the rituals fascinate me…oh, to be able to speak falcon!
In celebration, Xavier brought Diamond a very nice breakfast. Now we can get a good look at those three beautiful eggs.
Diamond took a break and Xavier comes into the scrape to incubate the eggies…he loves doing helping out. Diamond does not always oblige him but he can incubate those eggs with the best of them!
“Oh, she’s back….maybe she won’t see me here!”
The Sea Eagles are picking up sticks and 29 is standing stronger and doing some wingersizing. Both are fine.
The light on SE29 really shows off the variation in plumage colours. One year I was thinking that everyone should go to their stylist and ask for a 26…the little eaglet at the time but, this year, right now, it could be a 30. They just get more and more beautiful.
As many know, my first love was hawks. There is nothing cuter than a precious Red-tail juvenile. One of the moderators of the Sea Eagle cam who also was the admin on the Cornell Chatters kept poking me and telling me that I would change my mind the minute I saw a sea eagle juvie. ‘TCR’ you were positively right, of course.
This eaglet just makes me melt. So gorgeous. Talk about clown feet! Whoaaaaaa. Did I hear someone say they would like to cuddle with this cutie pie??? Now before you hold up your hand, just look at those very sharp talons and think about your answer carefully.
This image shows the difference in the back plumage. SE 30 is on the left and SE29 is on the right. Plumage progress is going well for these two.
But if SE30 sits differently, it is hard to tell them apart!
SE 29 flapping those wings! SE30 is watching carefully.
I should warn you…when they both start flapping on that nest -at the same time – you are going to need some worry beads!
Everything is fine on the ledge in the CBD of Melbourne. Dad is really enjoying getting some incubation in the warm Australian sun.
All is well at Port Lincoln. As the month changes from August to September, we are now only two and a half weeks away form hatch. It has just been too long since we have seen a little osplet with its back stripe in a nest.
Just like it was at the marsh, it is pretty quiet in Bird World today. Everyone is on the move, incubating eggs, or enjoying a time not raising chicks and getting strong again.
Thank you so much for joining me this morning. Take care of yourselves wherever you are. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, posts, and videos which make up my screen captures: vancouverisawesome.com, LOTL Visitor Centre and Wildlife Reserve, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Dyfi Osprey Project, Looduskalender, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam at Orange, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, and Friends of Osprey.
