26 March 2025
Good Morning Everyone,
Tuesday was an unforgettable day on the Canadian prairies. At 6:30 PM, I glanced outside and was mesmerized by one of the largest skeins of geese I’ve ever seen—more than 100 incredible birds soaring overhead! I only wish you could have witnessed the spectacle and heard their joyful honking with me. Spring has undeniably arrived; you can practically smell it in the air, and the snow and ice are finally melting away.
You may have noticed that we haven’t been out walking as much this winter. The trails have been treacherously icy. Although I’m usually accustomed to anything winter can bring, I took a spill once and quickly realized I needed to prioritize safety over stubbornness. Riding the indoor bicycle has been my alternative, but honestly, it doesn’t compare. There’s something profoundly uplifting about watching little birds flit around, nibbling seeds from your hand; those moments wash away any troubles and remind you of the beauty all around us.
Every year I find myself thanking Heidi for all of her reports. She has been such a big help in keeping up with many of the US arrivals and I will thank her today before I forget! [I also want to thank everyone that sends me news, images, articles, videos, or just lovely e-mails to chat. I do so appreciate them!]
Heidi’s Osprey Report:
OBX – Outer Banks osprey nest (North Carolina): Frederick and Betsy are back together.
Moraine Preservation Fund (PA): Mom and Dad have both returned for another nesting season.
Maryland Western Shore: Arthur and Marilyn have both returned to their dockside home.
3/25 – Geese have taken over the Sandpoint, Idaho osprey nest. Momma goose laid her first egg on 3/25. Keke and Keo are expected to return in about a week.
UK Osprey News:
Birds of Poole Harbour: CJ7 has arrived at her nest at 1828 on Tuesday! Blue 022 was very happy to see his mate! Geemeff caught the moment on video: https://youtu.be/UYSUPLELU5M? She will have to send Blue 1H1 packing!!!!!!! 1H1 has refused to leave. CJ7 even defended her nest against her mate on Wednesday! Things are confusing but osprey love is not happening yet. CJ7 will become fierce toward’s Maya’s girl – let us hope no one gets hurt.
Llyn Clywedog: Dylan has returned to the nest at 1650 on Tuesday.
Dylan’s arrival on video: https://youtu.be/RdqUXIPfWkQ?
Roundhouse Loch Doon: Frankie and Angel were so happy to see one another they were doing ‘osprey kisses’.
Allin’s Cove West: The male arrived earlier and the female arrived on Tuesday the 25th.
Allin’s Cove East: The male arrived on the 24th of March.
Loch Arkaig: Please return Louis and Dorcha.
Frenchman’s Creek: It is hard to catch a glimpse of the Only Bob but it is doing fine. Pin feathers are coming in. Look carefully and you will see its little tail.
Loch of the Lowes: Blue NC0 waits for a dark handsome male to arrive at the nest in Scotland.
A dark osprey has appeared on Wednesday at her nest. I am awaiting confirmation to see if it is the Dark Knight from last season.
Glaslyn: Elen waiting for Aran to return today. Fingers crossed.
Dyfi: Idris waits for Telyn to come home.
Llyn Clywedog: An unringed female was on the nest with Dylan. We are awaiting the return of Blue 5F Seren, his mate.
Loveland, Colorado: Both ospreys are back at the nest.
Bald Eagle News:
Sauces Canyon: The miracle baby has a name!
Decorah North: The Raptor Resource Project posted the following:
https://www.facebook.com/RaptorResourceProject
“We are sad to announce that DN19 died in hatch. We saw the egg’s first external pip at 12:03 PM on March 20, but after four days of hatch in progress, all movement ceased. Hatch had been proceeding for about 103 hours at that point: longer than the longest documented hatch time that we could find, and much longer than the 24 to 48 hours post-pip that we usually see here.
As of this post, we don’t know why DN19 failed to hatch. As usual, DNF laid two eggs about three days apart. She and Mr. North incubated them through roller-coaster temperatures and some bad weather, but spring is unpredictable: if bald eagles couldn’t cope with weather variability, they wouldn’t be nesting here. The first external pip happened on schedule and things appeared to be proceeding normally…until they weren’t.
What about the second egg?
We finally got a good look at the blunt end of the second egg and confirmed that there was not, contrary to our Thursday announcement, a pip: good news, since it means that DN20 could still hatch. DN20 turns 39 days old today and we are watching for a pip.
We’ll be sticking to DN19 and DN20, even though DN19 failed to hatch. We’ll discuss future plans moving forward: nomenclature gets complicated, and I’d like to know what researchers have done in similar situations.
What will you do if both eggs fail to hatch?
If both eggs fail, we’ll try to retrieve them for necropsy and testing. We might not learn what happened, but there are causes – malpositioning, HPAI, environmental contaminants, injury – that we can confirm or rule out.
We would especially like the eggs tested for HPAI if neither egg hatches. Early on, it was believed that the disease was fatal to Bald Eagles regardless of age: if anyone had HPAI, everyone died. But it’s become clear that isn’t the case. If the outbreak is killing young at greater rates than adults, that could have serious implications for population health five to ten years from now.
Will the Norths reclutch if both eggs fail?
Right now, the North’s hormonal regime is driving incubation and brooding behavior. If egg two remains intact, they will probably incubate it for quite some time: long enough to interfere with any potential reclutching. But if it breaks or we retrieve the eggs, they might reclutch. We saw a reclutch at the North Nest in 2018 and reclutches have been documented elsewhere. Mr. North would need to bring DNF back into condition for reclutching to happen.
For you, the broken-hearted nest watcher, I quote Kaeli Swift: “Please, rather than shutting down those deep feelings you have for wildlife…lean into them. Teach your friends and neighbors and children to feel those deep feelings. Because it’s from that space that we can do best by wildlife…”. Thank you so much for taking this journey with us.
Hatch watch starts at our Fort St. Vrain nest on March 31st, and at our Trempealeau nest on April 9. If we have any new updates about the North nest, we’ll post them on our website and Facebook page.”
Big Bear: Big Chick climbs the rails! https://youtu.be/z9jLmPOi860?
West End: There have been more territorial disputes it would appear. Haku arrived at the nest covered in blood on Tuesday. I know that we all cannot even contemplate that Akecheta and Thunder are not on this nest, but it would be good if territorial matters calmed down in this region. That is the problem with successful breeding – fighting over the best nest sites!
‘J’ has updated the information list on Bald Eagle season. (Thank you so much).
BALD EAGLES – SEASON 2024-2025
eagle nest dates chart from
facebook group Raptors of the World
any typos are mine
101 eggs laid:
6 broken
2 taken by ravens
4 non-viable
1 failed to fully hatch
6 eaglets died
44 hatched (incl those that died)
38 surviving hatches
4 fledged
0 fledged but died
december: 6 hatchlings
january: 8 hatchlings
february: 6 hatchlings
march: 24 hatchlings + 1 not out of egg
14 december hatch 1 SWFL E24 † 26 january 2 eggs, 2 hatched, 2 died
17 december hatch 2 SWFL E25 † 28 january 2 eggs, 2 hatched, 2 died
19 december hatch 1 Superbeaks SB5 / Keke fledged 12 march 2 eggs, 2 hatched, 2 fledged
21 december hatch 2 Superbeaks SB6 / Barron fludged 16 march 2 eggs, 2 hatched, 2 fledged
24 december hatch 1 Captiva C12 / Dasher fledged 16 march 2 eggs, 2 hatched, 2 fledged
26 december hatch 2 Captiva C13 / Dancer fledged 16 march 2 eggs, 2 hatched, 2 fledged
11 january hatch 1 Dade County R7 2 eggs, 2 hatched
12 january hatch 2 Dade County R8 2 eggs, 2 hatched
13 january hatch 1 Dataw Skylar 2 eggs, 2 hatched, 1 died
14 january hatch 1 Dataw Whisper † 2 eggs, 2 hatched, 1 died
20 january hatch 1 NEFL NE31 / Bodie 2 eggs, 1 dnh, 1 hatched
22 january hatch 1 JBS JBS22 2 eggs, 2 hatched
23 january hatch 2 JBS JBS23 2 eggs, 2 hatched
30 january hatch 1 KNF E3 03-03 2 eggs, 2 hatched, 1 died
1 february hatch 2 KNF E3 03-04 † 2 eggs, 2 hatched, 1 died
8 february hatch 1 Hilton Head E1 2 eggs, 2 hatched
12 february hatch 2 Hilton Head E2 2 eggs, 2 hatched
25 february hatch 1 Duke Farms 3 eggs, 3 hatched
27 february hatch 2 Duke Farms 3 eggs, 3 hatched
28 february hatch 3 Duke Farms 3 eggs, 3 hatched
3 march hatch 1 Johnson City JC25 2 eggs, 1 hatched, 1 dnh
3 march hatch 1 Big Bear † 3 eggs, 3 hatched, 1 died
4 march hatch 2 Big Bear 3 eggs, 3 hatched, 1 died
5 march hatch 1 Bluff City BC26 2 eggs, 2 hatched
7 march hatch 2 Bluff City BC27 2 eggs, 2 hatched
8 march hatch 3 Big Bear 3 eggs, 3 hatched, 1 died
11 march hatch 1 PA Farm Country † 3 eggs, 2 hatched, 1 died
12 march hatch 2 PA Farm Country 3 eggs, 2 hatched, 1 died
13 march hatch 1 Port Tobacco 3 eggs, 1 dnh, 2 hatched
14 march hatch 1 Sauces SC1 / Betty Lou 3 eggs, 2 broke, 1 hatched
14 march hatch 3 PA Farm Country 3 eggs, 2 hatched, 1 died
14 march hatch 2 Port Tobacco 3 eggs, 1 dnh, 2 hatched
18 march hatch 1 Ott Family 3 eggs, 1 hatched, 2 pipwatches
18 march hatch 1 Cardinal Land 2 eggs, 2 hatched
19 march hatch 1 Farmer Derek Kanza 2 eggs, 1 hatched, pipwatch
20 march hatch 1 NCTC 3 eggs, 3 hatched
20 march hatch 2 Cardinal Land 2 eggs, 2 hatched
21 march hatch 1 Folfan 3 eggs, 1 hatched, 2 pipwatches
21 march hatch 1 Bartlesville 3 eggs, 1 broke, 2 hatched
22 march hatch 2 NCTC 3 eggs, 3 hatched
23 march hatch 1 Fraser Point 3 eggs, 1 broke, 2 hatched
24 march hatch 2 Bartlesville 3 eggs, 1 broke, 2 hatched
24 march hatch 3 NCTC 3 eggs, 3 hatched
25 march hatch 2 Fraser Point 3 eggs, 1 broke, 2 hatched
25 march eggling Decorah North DN19 † eaglet couldn’t get out of egg
19 january 2025 Dataw Island Conservancy, one of two eaglets, 5 or 6 days old
26 january 2025 E24 SWFL, 43 days old, avian flu
28 january 2025 E25 SWFL seizures & fell off nest, avian flu
14 march 2025 Misty, Big Bear eaglet, lost in the snow
16 march 2025 PA Farm eaglet, cod unknown
20 march 2025 E3-04 KNF-E3, siblicide, no food
CHICK STUCK IN EGG †
25 march 2025 DN19 Decorah North eggling did not get out, longest struggle ever seen on livecam
CHICKS FLEDGED
Captiva Dasher 16 march
Captiva Dancer 16 march
Superbeaks Barron 16 march
Superbeaks Keke 12 march
alfabetical:
Abby Eagle Country 2024
Akecheta West End 2025
Claire US Steel 2024
Thunder West End 2025
Other Birds:
‘PB’ sent more news about Sandhill Cranes.
Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary shows all of the gorgeous Sandhill cranes: https://www.youtube.com/live/wDYrRVUPWRo?
Thanks so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, Heidi, J, PB’, Outerbanks Osprey Cam, Moraine Preservation Fund, Western Maryland Shore, Birds of Poole Harbour, Llyn Clywedog, Geemeff, East Ayrshire Leisure, Woodland Trust (LOTL), Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, IWS/Explore, Raptor Resource Project, USFWS, Allin’s Cove East, Allin’s Cove West, Woodland Trust (Loch Arkaig), Audubon/Explore