None of us will forget the tragedy that struck the Barrier Islands off the coast of Florida with Hurricane Ian. Both Andy and Lena’s Osprey brand new Osprey platform was destroyed along with the new cameras. Connie and Clive had their nest tree torn apart along with all the new camera equipment.
Well, the Bald Eagle cam is up and working and guess what? Connie and Clive are incubating two eggs!
Here is the link to their camera:
At the NEFlorida nest of Gabby, V3 is working hard to impress her. Gabby appears to be cautious in making a decision as to who will be her mate since Samson has now been missing for more than a fortnight. Samson’s talons will be hard to fill and I am glad that Gabby is being careful.
Gabby was chortling with V3.
We wait. I would still like to see Samson fly in well enough to take on any intruders and keep his Gabby. It is difficult for everyone when there is such a huge unknown – what happened?
This is just a quick hello from the kittens to let you know about Captiva! The service is a bit sporadic. I do not see the Osprey nest cam up yet on Captiva. Take care everyone. See you soon. Thanks to Window to Wildlife for getting everything back working and to NEFL-AEF for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.
Missed likes to pose and she doesn’t like Lewis interrupting her photo sessions. The second image shows her hearing him coming!
Lewis does not look like he could ever get into mischief, right? LOL
It has been a cracker of an afternoon in Bird World. The ‘New Guy’ – to finally have an official name at noon on the 18th – is ready to step in and incubate when Annie calls. I like this fella’. No, he will never replace Grinnell – he is his own endearing self. Through his kindness and generous spirit of heart, ‘New Guy’ saved this clutch and won the heart of Annie and so many of us. Precious.
The more I watch the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest, the more that Mum endears herself to me, too – just like the ‘New Guy’. At lunch time, she had a huge chunk of Mullet (please correct me if I am wrong) to feed the trio. That is nothing extraordinary but how she checked on Little Bit offering it bites when Big Sib had calmed down, how she moved the fish to feed again when Dad came wanting leftovers, well…none of the chicks were left out. They all had a nice feed. Little Bit is spunky, too. Big tries to intimidate both Middle and Little Bit but, thankfully, is not all that aggressive. They wait and head back up, sometimes walking right in front of Big to get to the beak. I am impressed.
Each raptor mother has their own personality and way of feeding. Some feed fast and only to beaks open at the front. This Mum is slow and methodical, not stopping til all are full unless the fish runs out. Oh, I wish I knew more about this couple!
Little Bit managed to get some nice big bites amongst lots of smaller ones.
The bigger siblings can eat more at one feeding than Little Bit but this morning it appeared that Little Bit did a bit of a crop drop and wanted more fish. Excellent.
When the Dad arrived the Mum went to protect the hunk of fish and the chicks moved up and she fed them more.
Then Mum moved the fish and continued feeding -topping everyone up. She is very, very smart. She topped herself up, too. It is hot on top of that light stand – fill the kids up!
Little Bit wants more fish and Mum made sure he got some more.
Mum ate some of the nice fish once the babies were full and sleeping.
Then she began to call for Dad.
Food comas.
The third hatch at the Venice Golf and Country Club Osprey got some fish at the beginning of the 13:07 feed. All three are fine.
Blue NC0 and Laddie now have two eggs in their nest at Loch of the Lowes. Congratulations!
B15 is believed to be a female. She certainly is a big fledgling. B15 has stayed around the Berry College nest of her parents, Pa Berry and Missy, learning to fly and coming for food. Missy loves to feed her baby! This is such a huge help to the success of this gorgeous juvenile. It was a great year for Berry College.
There is another fledgling happy to visit home. Oh, is Kincaid ever loud! He will be just as happy if Anna wants to feed him, too, like B15. Last year Kistachie shot out of the nest never to be seen again. That is not especially a good thing. This year Kincaid is hanging around to the delight of everyone.
There is Kincaid on the branch of the nest in the Kisatchie National Forest near Alexandria, Louisiana. The sound on their camera is simply incredible.
Want to have a listen? Here is the link to the camera. The laughing frogs will put a smile on your face.
Martin and Rosa’s eaglet at the Dulles-Greenway Eagle cam lost all that baby down and is getting its juvenile feathering. The change seemed to come in a blink of an eye. The eaglet hatched on 13 March making it (counting hatch day) 33 days old today.
Just look at those ‘Daddy Longlegs’ on Little at the Captiva Osprey nest! Good gracious. He will rival Idris!!!!!! Little got the 11 am fish. Lena is calling Andy to get some more fish on the nest. She is so loud, you could hear her in Fort Myers.
There was a wonderful article about the Bald Eagle Mum at the Pittsburgh-Hayes nest that defended her three eaglets against a determined intruder. Have a read and look at the picture. That was an amazing event on this nest. I would never want to make an Eagle mother upset – absolutely never.
It is always nice to see Iris. What a joy it was when she returned to her nest at Hellgate Canyon in Missoula, Montana this year — the oldest Osprey in the world believed to be 28/29 this year.
So loved.
Port Lincoln posted a great remark on the chat for the PLO barge:
”Who said Ospreys don’t fly around at night. Mum returned to the barge at 23.02 tonight and Ervie was fishing off the end of the main wharf at 20.47.”
It is always wonderful to hear about Ervie!
Aran and Mrs G have been in the nest. Later in the evening, the pair fly out to a favourite tree of Aran’s admiring their territory. This is what ospreys do on a Friday night in Wales.
Idris is on his perch while Telyn works on nestorations. She is a great one for moving large twigs. Wow.
A nice fish came to the Dale Hollow nest at 13:45. Both of the eaglets had a great feed.
Big is full and now it is Little Middle’s turn.
Then Big wanted some more of that nice fish.
Both eaglets were happy and had nice crops. A whole fish doesn’t go a long way anymore. If you count hatch day, the DH eaglets are 47 days old today.
Can you tell who is who?
The way to tell Little Middle is that he has a more prominent white ruffle on the end of his tail! (The angle of the camera makes Little Middle who is closest to the bottom appear slightly larger than he is but…that good fish is really causing this eaglet to grow).
It has been a great Friday in Bird World! The sun is still shining on the Canadian prairies, the wind is calm, and the snow has stopped. Nice.
Thank you for joining me today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: UFlorida ospreys, VGGCO, Woodland Trust and Friends of Loch of the Lowes, Berry College, KNF, Dulles-Greenaway, Port Lincoln Ospreys FB, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Montana Osprey Project, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi, and DHEC.
Each of us has turned to watching and caring for the birds and other wildlife for as many reasons as there are humans. One of the most commonly cited is ‘The birds bring me joy’. Unlike scientists who try to be arm’s length, most of us have our favourite bird families that we watch. We even have our favourite chicks in the clutch. Certainly I admit to that – Ervie at Port Lincoln was always my guy out of the three. I like the third hatches that survive. They are spunky and creative and, I hope, have facilities for survival in the wild that maybe the eldest who often ate first and the most doesn’t have. It is particularly difficult when we see our bird families struggling. We worry. We cry. My fingernails get shorter.
It is easy to miss what is happening on the Dale River nest. If you look the rewind is only an hour. I wanted to find out what was happening on this nest. Did something happen to a parent? No, both came on the nest around 19:00. So I went to the link in the information under the streaming cam to find out about Wednesday’s feedings.
The Dale Hollow group were able to tell me the chicks had eaten well – all of them once and there was a second feeding in the morning. It was not videotaped so no one was sure if all ate. I also learned something else from Keisha Howell who has been making the videos of the nest and posting them on YouTube. In the early days, DH16 who I have been calling Little Bit, was fed so much for a tiny little chick that it actually balked at feedings. Apparently it still has trouble eating too much food at once. That is good to know. I included the video of the early morning feed in an earlier posting. If you missed that video, here it is:
I would encourage anyone interested in this nest to join the discussion group and ask as many questions as you like. There are very knowledgable people who will be happy to help you. This is how we all learn – by asking questions. And no question is a stupid question! Ever. The link to the group is:
There is concern as the Black Storks and Ospreys move from Africa up to Latvia, Estonia, and Finland that the wildlife will get caught in the war in the Ukraine. There is someone called Ann that is diligently creating maps and posting information on Looduskalender from information provided by the satellite tracker on Karl II. I have cut and pasted the most recent information from this discussion group below. If you would like to check this yourself, here is the link to Looduskalender:
On his fall journey to Africa, Karl II stopped in the Ukraine. There are many nature reserve areas along the shore of the Black Sea around Odessa. You can see from the simple map below the countries that he will fly over to reach a resting spot on the Black Sea. We worry for him, for his mate and for all the others who are making their way home to the Baltic Region.
California loves their Bald Eagle families. I often wondered why some nests were more popular in terms of viewers than others and as one reader, ‘B’ explained to me last week, the eagles are all over the news in California. Californians love their Bald Eagle families – they are celebrities. ‘B’ was referring to Jackie and Shadow at the time. Now it is Thunder and Akecheta’s turn!
I am going to bore you with baby pictures. These are Thunder and Akecheta’s threesome being fed by Dad, Akecheta, this afternoon at 14:43. There are slight movements in each frame. In some you can see their sweet tails and in others you can glimpse their faces. Talk about adorable! I haven’t been able to take my eyes off these three little cuddles since they hatched.
Cheta is taking parenting very seriously this year. He rarely leaves sight of the nestlings.
I believe we have, from left to right: Little Bob, Middle Bob, and Big Bob. Big Bob is longer and ‘lanky’ than Middle Bob who is more round. Being so much younger, Little is just little – but not that little. Gosh, they are cute. The age difference is the same between Little and Big as it is at Dale Hollow. That is interesting.
Oops!
Everyone ate well.
Thunder and Akecheta have been widening the nest cup so that all three can line up to eat. It is far too difficult if it is deep and narrow. Most often the little ones have trouble getting to the front or get trampled in the process. Not here!
The three had a nice fish breakfast Thursday morning. They seemed so sleepy when Thunder got them up for a feed.
There are some really outstanding Bald Eagle parents out there. Cheta has matured since he first had chicks at the age of 4 two years ago. Having lost two seasons he broods, has learned to feed quite well actually, and does security. I am impressed.
Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear are another super couple who also suffered for two seasons and who have just the sweetest little eaglet this year. How many feedings a day? There were eleven. It goes without saying that I wish River and Obey at Dale Hollow Lake would feed their eaglets more. The wee nestlings need less food more often.
Jackie and Shadow’s baby is 13 days old today. Eleven feedings. Look at all the fish on the nest. A Gold Star family.
One of those other Gold Star Bald eagle families is Harriet and M15 at the SWFlorida Bald Eagle nest. Their two this season, E19 and E20 are taking turns going higher and higher in the nest tree as they prepare for fledging. We will miss these two and their antics. They are super healthy and well prepared for living in the wild. Do you remember how excited you were as Christmas approached and hatch at this nest? Now just look at them! They were the first eaglets of the season (on streaming cam) to hatch if I remember correctly.
Both E19 and E20 were enjoying the breeze up on the branches this morning. They look healthy! That is great.
Jasper and Rocket at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest of Gabby and Samson are flapping their wings. It is not going to be long until they branch. Two really beautiful eagles – stunningly gorgeous.
It’s a foggy late morning at the NEFlorida nest in Jacksonville. Look at how big these two are. They are waiting for a fish delivery!
Beautiful Mum Gabby keeps watch over the nest with her two 2022 hatches.
Both Middle and Little (or Little and Mini) ate well at the Captiva nest Thursday morning. Andy brought in a fish at 10:29:30. Both were hungry. I continue to say that this is a good sign. Lena even had some nice fish left for her. At the both were full and wanted to watch the people on the fishing boat below.
It is hot in Florida today and all the news in the state is about Avian Flu. I sure hope these four miss that. We should know today or tomorrow the results on Big from the UGA Vet School.
Both chicks are hungry but luck closely at Middle. He wants all the little innards and Lena doesn’t want him to eat it particularly. He has his mouth open wide.
Both of the chicks are well behaved and Lena feeds Middle some first and then goes to Little. Neither are submissive to the other. The nest is very calm.
Middle is full and has gone to the side to see the boats and to get some air. Look he is so hot. Yes. My phone says it is 27 C. One of the hottest days so far.
There is fish left for Lena. She will enjoy the tail of the Sheepshead. You can see Little under her left wing. His feathers re coming in good now.
So cute. The pair of them together washing the boats. Best buddies.
Middle and Little were having some more fish around 12:30 Thursday. Lena is a great Mom keeping them hydrated and shading her ever growing babies.
B15 a the Berry College is up on the perch this morning. Making more and more progress. What a gorgeous bird!
Right on time. Big Red and Arthur now have their second egg of the 2022 season. It was laid at 11:05 Thursday morning.
The egg is wet and soft and Big Red will let it cool and harden before attempting to lay on it or it would break.
The only thing about Big Red that looks 19 years old are her feet.
How gorgeous. If you have never watched a Red-tail Hawk nest then you should join in with Big Red and Arthur. There is a moderated chat with experts that is open a few hours a day. It is amazing what you can learn and the fabulous Laura Culley, a long time falconer, will be on board.
Here is the link to one of Cornell’s cameras on the nest. As far as I am aware, there are only 2 RTH nests on streaming cam in the world. Egg 3 will be expected on the 19th!
There is great news coming out of the Loch of the Lowes nest. Laddie, LM12 arrived first in the UK on the 13th. He was joined by his mate Blue NC0 today. How grand. Both made it home for another fantastic Scottish Osprey breeding season!
Rutland Water’s Manton Bay is being worked on by the female, Maya. She arrived back in the UK on 15 March. Normally her and her mate arrive within half an hour of one another. No sign of Blue 33 yet. It is early days in the Osprey migration from Africa.
Port Lincoln Osprey posted this along with their news on their FB of other Osprey nests and platforms. Everyone noticed that Ervie was missing a claw when he was last on the barge eating his puffer. The posting was on 13 March. I found tracking information for Desy and the Phantom but could not find Ervie’s. He is fine and staying around Port Lincoln.
Have a super day everyone. It is so nice to have you with me. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Scottish Wildlife Trust and Loch of the Lowes, Google Maps, Looduskalender, West End Bald Eagles, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, SWFlorida and D Pritchett, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Berry College, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Rutland Water Manton Bay, and Friends of Big Bear Valley.
The Captiva trio are in food coma after their second big feed for the day. It is 16:56 nest time. Little Bob got his tiny but chubby bottom up to that table just like our dear Ervie. This little one loves to eat that fish! Little and Middle Bobs fell asleep at the table. Big Bob had left earlier and passed out on the other side of the nest.
That fish delivery came at 16:00:35. This time Andy ate the head so he had some nourishment, too.
One of my friends, ‘B’ suggested that it is the recreational vehicles at the weekend causing fishing difficulty for Andy. ‘B’ commented that it was the same issue at the Redding nest last season. Tomorrow is Monday. I hope Andy’s fishing returns to 3 or 4 fish. The adults need to eat as well too. It is like the oxygen instructions in a plane. The responsible party needs to put theirs on first and then take care of the others. Same for eating with Ospreys.
We will not worry about these three until tomorrow. Thanks Andy and Lena!
Window to Wildlife, the group affiliated with the cam and the chat, posted a short video of Little Bob hatching today.
I am just so impressed with the tenderness of some of the males. At the Dale Hollow nest today, Obey was clearing out some of the pantry items to see what he needs to bring in. All the while he was feeding River who was brooding the twins and keeping their pipping egg 3 nice and warm.
At the same time, River and Obey do another tandem feeding for the twins this afternoon.
I am so glad that I found this nest! They are an incredible family that is working so well together. Experience can do that!
The Port Lincoln Osprey nest is really lonely this morning in Australia. The pigeons are still doing clean up. I wish I could import them to clean up around my bird feeders! They look very thorough.
This is the latest tracking for Ervie posted yesterday on the Port Lincoln Osprey Project’s FB page. While he really did explore Port Boston to the right of the airport, Ervie continues to return to the area of the green pin to roost at night. The barge is the point right above the ‘t’ in Port at the bottom of the tracking image.
The juveniles, Jasper and NE27 on the Northeast Florida Bald Eagle nest are doing well. Here is a great image of NE27 standing tall this afternoon. Remember that this beautiful Bald Eagle will get a name based on the votes that the American Eagle Foundation receives of the five finalists. Jasper got her name because she was born when the named storm, Jasper, hit the area.
Message me through comments if you would like the information on voting.
The juveniles at the SWFlorida Bald Eagle nest in Fort Myers are several weeks older than those at NEFlorida. Harriet and M15’s E19 and E20 are really good at self feeding and they stand on the edge of nest rim and look about. Next stage is branching!
Big Red and Arthur have been working on their nest on the light stand. It looks so forlorn today with some snow and ice remaining.
I have not heard about a pip at the nest of Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear. When the pipping begins, the parent will hear the cheeping of the chick and can feel it moving about. You should notice the one on incubation duties looking down and listening.
I always hate to close with bad news. This are the two most recent postings for the Hilton Head eaglets. You will note that HH3 and HH4 are in critical condition. There is also information about the spread of avian flu and the deaths of other eagles. Anyone feeding birds needs to be vigilant in cleaning the feeders. If you were to find dead birds at the feeders and it is not the result of a cat or raptor, you might want to contact your local wildlife rehabber for advice. Do not handle the dead birds with your bare hands. You might want to do a major clean up as the lab results can take several days. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
Our thoughts go out to all of the bird families that have been impacted by this lethal disease. It is sobering to consider that an entire generation of eaglets (and other birds) could be wiped out.
I note that rodenticide poisoning also causes nestlings to literally fall out of the nest. One of my favourite wildlife rehabbers, A Place Called Hope, has admitted a Barred Owlet who fell out of the nest and is suffering from this poison. This is entirely avoidable. Everyone reading my blog knows rodenticide. Work hard to educate people so these beautiful raptors do not have to suffer.
Are you a falcon lover? The Peregrine Falcons are getting busy in Utica, New York. I am looking to find their streaming cam link and will post it tomorrow for everyone.
Thank you so much for joining me today as I did a hop, skip, and a jump checking on some of our nests. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Bald Eagles 101 FB, Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagles, Captiva Ospreys and Window on the World, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, SWFlorida Bald Eagles and D Pritchett, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Labs RTH camera, and Friends of Big Bear Valley.
In my excitement about the eaglets this morning at the KNF and the NEFlorida nests, I really did forget to say thank you to the people and the companies or government departments that sponsor and take care of the streaming cams so that we can learn about wildlife. My great hope is that by learning and caring about these amazing creatures and the challenges that they face, the more each of us will do to help out the environment whenever and wherever we can so that the lives of these beautiful raptors and seabirds continues.
Some of you might have seen the posting elsewhere but I want to mention it here in case you did not. A fully grown adult Bald Eagle flew into a plate glass window in a house in PA. It is in care.
This is nor the first time an Eagle has flown into a window although you are probably more familiar with the smaller birds that hit the windows and either get stunned and are alright or their necks are broken. There are solutions to this problem. The first one is to not clean your windows so that you can see reflections in them! Yes, I am inviting you not to make ever window in your house spotless. What a concept. The second is to install decals to prevent bird strike. Some of these work better than others. The third is to have ultraviolet barriers put on your windows. The last is something ingenious that I saw at our nature centre yesterday. They had 2 x 2 wooden boards cut the width of the window. Holes drilled in the bottom of the boards every 3 inches. Inserted inside were 1/4 inch nylon cords cut to the length of the window. They were glued into the holes. You could easily put the hole all the way through and tie the cord. These were hung outside the windows of the nature centre. The cords blew in the wind and they have never had a window strike despite having so many windows. I will take a photo the next time I am out there. I have so many birds in my garden and they all go flying madly in all directions if Sharpie arrives so, my windows are never spotless clean – never. I also have vines that hang down and the birds sit there and eat the berries or build their nests so – so far, any window strike problem has ceased.
In other Bald Eagle news, R-7, nicknamed Rover by the people of Brooklyn, was in Central Park giving everyone an absolute delight. How many Bald Eagles have you seen in Central Park? Incredible.
If you love urban raptors as much as I do and want to keep up with what is happening in New York City, I highly recommend Bruce Yolton’s blog urbanhawks.com
Everyone knows that I have a huge soft spot for the little eaglet of Anna and Louis. How could you miss it? At 15 days old this little one is a real charmer. What a beautiful image of it looking so lovingly up to its Mum.
The pantry is full of the most amazing things – all freshly provided by Kincaid Lake – Coots, ducks, all manner of fish including a large Bass today, and yes, turtles. With such a varied diet, this little eaglet and its parents are super healthy.
I am getting more than curious. Anna is feeding the eaglet on the KNF nest and there are 50 people watching.
Just look at that little one’s crop. No shortage of food, great parents, beautiful setting, super mods on the chat, super cameras, and great sound! That is what KNF has to offer.
There are 2129 people, as opposed to 50 at the KNF nest, watching the Bald Eagle incubate eggs at Big Bear.
What makes one nest more popular than another? I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Feel free to write me a comment or send me a note at maryannsteggles@icloud.com I seriously do not understand and want to!
The streaming cam at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge is still on the blink. For a few minutes Ervie was caught on the nest sleeping so all is well there.
For those of you that are fans of Xavier and Diamond, you might be aware that the temperatures in parts of Australia have hit all time highs of 50.7 C or 123.6 F. That heat really impacts the wildlife including the Peregrine Falcons who are being brought to the wildlife rehabbers for care. The one below is doing well!
Speaking of falcons, one of the pair (I could not make out which ones) was on the NE ledge of The Campanile just now at UC-Berkeley.
Diamond was on the ledge of the scrape. It was a bit foggy early in the morning with what looks like some rain. I checked and the temperatures seem to have cooled down considerably.
Well, I said it was civilized but despite an overflowing pantry provided by Samson, NE26 wants to be a bit of a ‘not so nice’ big sib at the most recent feeding. AWWWWWW.
Samson is really in competition with Louis for the most items in the pantry! Gabby is fabulous mother. “26, you need to settle down. Everyone gets fed.”
The eaglet at the Kisatchie National Forest just ate.
Anna filled up its crop. That baby is sound asleep in slumberland.
So if you don’t want to watch 26 bash 27 a bit, tune into the cutest eaglet at KNF. Here is the link:
Jack and Diane at the Achieva Osprey Nest were caught on camera mating on the nest today. Everyone is on egg watch as Diane settles. There is certainly excitement brewing amongst the chatters as Osprey season in Florida quickly approaches! Jack and Diane are the parents of Tiny Tot Tumbles – the third hatch no one though would survive last year but who did and became the dominant bird on the nest.
After watching Port Lincoln this year, we know that the atmosphere on a nest can change from year to year depending on the fish availability, the health of the adults, the temperature, and the gender make up of the chicks as well as the difference in hatch times. We wait to see how it will go.
The link to that camera is:
Thanks so much for joining me today. All other nests are doing well. We wait for Port Lincoln’s camera to get up and working again although there is no guarantee that Ervie will be there very much. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or their FB pages where I took my screen captures: NEFlorida Bald Eagle and the AEF, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, Falcon Cam Project at Orange and Cilla Kinross, Achieva Credit Union, and Minton Farms Animal Rescue FB, and Cal Falcons.
It is still super cold on the Canadian Prairies. You don’t even have to look at the temperature on the phone when you hear a super loud crunch when you walk on the snow. It is so dry, the snow, that you cannot even pack it into a snowball or a snowwo/man. The European Starlings were waiting for the first food drop, all lined up on the tips of the Lilac Bush branches. Surprisingly, the Sparrows beat them out. Four sparrows to one Starling. They will all eat but, most of the time, the Sparrows get shut out. The other day Little Woodpecker was here. He just stays away from all of them. Which reminds me – I need to go and fix his suet!
Looking back on the history of the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge, I realize that we probably have another month with the three lads. Last year DEW was last seen on 17:01 25 January. He was never sighted again after that time. Solly departed and flew West on 2 February. We know from her tracker that Solly thrived until that tragic day this fall when, after catching a fish, she landed on a power pole and died. I know that Port Lincoln has lobbied hard to get those poles covered and I understand that the power company is cooperating. For those who wrote letters to the Minister, thank you. Public pressure can help.
Ervie had advanced from flying to the fishing ramps to hanging around the commercial shipping yards over at the Marina!
That is Ervie on his perch. You can see that is crop is full.
Ervie and Falky on the nest hoping to get a fish from Dad.
The nest of White-tail Eagle, Milda, at Durbe has been covered with snow. Still, nest visits have taken place. Just look at the forest and the view. So beautiful. This nest will not become active until spring when I will be reporting daily on the happenings. Looking the White-tail Eagles raising chicks and the return of the Black storks.
Kindness’s nest is all covered in snow up at Glacier Gardens in Juneau, Alaska.
If you are wondering what Kindness might be doing, please have a look at this 2 minute video. It is a bit dated in the sound but the information is correct to the present time. The images of the eagles flying and eating are gorgeous. The video ends abruptly. I would have loved to hear about the two clans but, another time! There are so many Eagles in Alaska. They sometimes take over small trucks delivering fish to the canneries.
The Roe Deer feeder is in Latvia. Yesterday, for the first time, they caught a female deer cow and her calf coming to eat. You can see them arriving on the right to try and get some food. The males are the ones with the antlers and from my reading it can be dangerous. The mother and her baby will wait after being escorted by the leader of the bucks and return.
You can see the little one eating here. There is a hierarchy in all of the groups. This is, of course, why our birds try so hard to be dominant and why Ervie, once he established himself, expected to get the first fish of the morning. E19 and E20 are going through this process currently.
Andy and Lena were both alert and alerting at the Captiva Osprey Nest this morning.
Of course their eyes are so good. All I could hear were people below. I wonder if that is the issue? They sure have a beautiful site for a nest! Hopefully it will be a successful season for this lovely pair who continue to try and continually have the Crows steal their eggs.
You can watch Andy and Lena here:
Harriet and M15 are being kept busy by E19 and 20. You can hear the little ones chirping away to Mum and Dad.
The pair got started on all the beaking as soon as Harriet got up to feed them. Oh, my.
There are over 4000 people watching these two at any one time and a myriad of videos coming up on YouTube. You won’t be able to miss them!
Everything is just fine in Bird World. The eggs at Taiaroa Head have been candled and OGK and YRK’s egg is developing normally. We are a month away from hatch. Gabby and Samson are taking turns up at NEFlorida and you will see me getting pretty excited in a couple of weeks. Thankfully, Daisy has not yet returned to the WBSE nest that I am aware. The latest news was awhile ago on WBSE27 who is currently in rehabilitation. The two chicks at Hilton Head are doing great. My copy of The Season of the Osprey arrived in the post this morning. That is on the agenda for today. It is far too cold to be outside for very long.
Thank you so much for joining me today. Stay warm, stay safe and take care until I see you again.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screenshots: Glacier Gardens, Roe Deer Feeder in Latvia, SWFlorida Eagles and D Pritchett Family, Port Lincoln Osprey, Captiva Osprey Cam, and the Latvian Fund for Nature.
Redwood Queen is keeping an eye on that egg. If this is a successful hatch – and there is no reason to think it won’t be – it will be the first chick for Redwood Queen and her second mate, Phoenix. The egg is believed to be laid between 26 February and 3 March. What a wonderful event for this giant Redwood scorched with Iniko, Redwood Queen and Kingpin’s chick from 2020, inside. Both of the parents of this fortunate chick have survived major fires in the area. We know that Redwood Queen survived the Dolan Fire last year and Phoenix survived the Basin Complex Fire in 2008, the year he hatched. Redwood Queen is much older, having hatched in the Los Angeles Zoo, in 1998. She might have survived other fires. Let us all hope that the entire population of Condors – a little over 500 – is safe from any wildfires this year.
The Ventana Wildlife Society issues the following statement on 26 April:
“Redwood Queen and Phoenix are still incubating and we are hoping their egg will start hatching any day now. The hatch date of 4/24 was our best “guesstimate”, we could be off by as many as 2-4 days. We first observed the egg on March 3rd and estimated the egg was laid on 2/26. This was based on radio telemetry data and movements of the pair from the week prior. If Redwood Queen actually laid closer to March 2nd, which is possible, then the egg wouldn’t start hatching until April 28. So we have a 3-4 day hatch window.”
Speaking of eggs, an intruder eagle came to the nest of Milda and broke her remaining egg and made a mess of her nest. It is one of those blessings in disguise. It is believed that the egg in the nest was the first one that Milda had laid on the 12th of March and that it was non-viable. I am not an expert and cannot tell. The intruder eagle ate most of the insides of the egg. Now Milda can forage for food for herself and build up her strength. She is not a mate of Mr Chips (Cips) yet – they did not mate. I hope that she finds a really extraordinary mate and that she will have a successful clutch next year.
Grinnell has his hands full today. It looks like the little fluff balls of his and Annie’s are growing so fast that they will not fit under him anymore. Look how they look at their dad. Grinnell, you are so cute!
Isn’t Grinnell handsome? 27 April 2021
And talk about cute – have a look at this adorable little Moli waiting for its parents to come and feed it. This is a special Laysan Albatross chick. It is the 39th chick of the oldest banded bird in the world – Wisdom. Wisdom is 71 years old and her band number is Z333 (Red and White). Her mate is Akeakamai. Her baby has a temporary band so it is easy to recognize and that number is 33 in honour of its mother.
A bit of relief over at the Savannah Osprey Nest on Skidaway Island. The dad has brought in a fish and both are getting fed. Maybe this will ease the food competition and let these two get on to growing and enjoying one another’s company.
Yesterday it was a feast on the Achieva Osprey Nest in St Petersburg, Florida. Today it is hot, 29 degrees C, and there has been only one delivery. That came at 7:02:16. Tiny Tot got enough of that fish that he had a nice little crop. Still, he is at the quick growth stage and he needs more food more frequently. It is 4:30 on the nest. Fingers crossed for a couple of late night deliveries.
Tiny is grabbing the shade from Diane around 10am in the image below and Diane is calling. Chicks thought it might have been a delivery for a bit.
You can still see Tiny Tot’s little bit of a crop.
At 13:38:31 on 27 April 2021, a mysterious stranger with a metal band on its right leg landed on Iris’s nest at Hellgate. Well, now. This could get interesting.
I am going to say ‘he’ in the hope that ‘he’ might be a fantastic mate for Iris and claim this part of Louis’s plot.
Everything is just fine on the Red Tail Hawk Nest on the Cornell University Campus of Big Red and Arthur. There are three eggs being incubated and we are heading into hatch watch.
Thanks for joining me today for a peak at the nests. All of the Osprey Nests are doing grand in the UK except for the Loch Arkaig Nest. Hope that Aila will return from her migration to raise a family with Louis is quickly dissipating. Louis has been bringing fish to another female on platform 1 and they have been mating. It is an arduous migration. Many hope that if Aila did not arrive in Scotland that she settled somewhere else – she was loved by so many. And there is news that there are now three eggs on the Osprey nest in Urdaibai, Northern Spain. Take care. I hope it is nice where you are. The weather is grand on the Canadian Prairies and it is time to go and take care of the birds in my garden. The water bowls need filling. Everyone is enjoying a good bath today.
Thanks to the following streaming cams: Ventana Wildlife Society, Explore.org, Cornell Bird Lab and Red Tail Hawks, Cornell Bird Lab and Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab and Skidaway Audubon, UC Falcon Cam, Achieva Credit Union, and the Latvian Wildlife Fund. Thanks also to the Midway Atoll FB Page where the image of Wisdom’s Moli was posted.
The news on Tiny Tot is not so good. The last time he had a good feed was 9pm the 16th. Tiny Tot ate off bones yesterday and despite opportunities to feed him today, Diane gave him a piece of fish skin. Then she fed him 9 bites of fish and could have continued but stretched her neck to feed one of the big ones when they were full and not wanting fish. It does not bode well for our little one. Tiny Tot has not given up and he reminds me so much of WBSE 26 who was determined to be a normal sea eagle.
Diane feeds Tiny Tot 9 bites. 18 April 2021
At the Dyfi Nest in Wales, Idris and Telyn welcomed their third egg at 7:05 am this morning.
Three eggs for one of Wale’s favourite Osprey couples. 18 April 2021
It is still a lonely nest up at Loch Arkaig. Louis is waiting for Aila. Will she return? There remains some hope because KR3 (male) returned to Balgavies Loch yesterday so birds are still returning from Africa.
There were, however, two Ospreys on the Loch Arkaig nest in the very early morning. Not quite sure what is going on. Not Aila. A pair looking for a nest???
The little eyasses of Annie and Grinnell at the University of California campus at Berkeley are adorable. Both healthy and doing well. Two more to come. Grinnell will make sure that all are fed and plump! No worries on this nest. Gosh, I love falcons and hawks.
The two osplets over on the Savannah Osprey Nest are doing great, too. After so much issues with the third, believe it or not I am hopeful that this mother will have only two hatch with two healthy fledges!
Dylan has been delivering nice trout to Blue 5F Seren on Clywedog. Doing a hand off right at sunset on incubation duties. That first egg in the nest was laid on 16 April. We should be expecting the second tomorrow!
Kielder 1A with White YA and Mrs YA, an unringed female, laid their third egg today.
@ Forestry England. 18 April 2021. Kielder 1A Nest
So the United Kingdom Osprey Nests with three eggs currently are: Dyfi, Foulshaw Moss, Glaslyn, Kielder 1A, Loch of the Lowes, and Rutland Mantou.
Over in Taiwan at the Black Kite Nest, the eldest hatch, Pudding, fledged yesterday, 17 April. Pudding will return to the nest for about a month to eat or until their hunting skills are well established. In the image below, Pudding is coming down from the branch on the left while Brulee is being fed by mom.
Pudding fledged on 17 April 2021 and is joining mom and Brulee for lunch. 18 April 2021
We woke to a morning snow on the Canadian prairies. The birds are calling and there are new visitors to the garden, a few Brown Thrashers. Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me. Send the warmest of wishes to Tiny Tot. He is a rack of bones and has such a will to live. In his short life, he has now missed almost 13 days of food where the others have stuffed themselves.
Thank you to the following nests and their streaming cams and sponsors. This is where I get my screen shots, Taiwan Black Kite Camera, Achieva Credit Union Osprey, UC Berkeley Falcon Cam, Woodland Trust, Post Code Lottery, Cornell Bird Labs and Savannah Osprey, Friends of Loch Arkaig, and Clywedog.
Feature image is from the Taiwan Black Kite Streaming Camera.
Tiny Tot is growing. He is the third hatch of Jack and Diane at the Achieva Credit Union’s Osprey nest in Dunedin, Florida. It is on the coast, just north of Tampa. He is clever and he is starving. You can’t tell how small he is from the picture below. Tiny Tot is on the left.
17 April 2021. Tiny Tot is on the far left, then 2, and 1
So far, three fish have come on the Achieva Osprey Nest today. Tiny Tot got nothing. He was fed at 9:00pm last night for about half an hour. The skin is simply sagging off its bones.
For the past two years this nest has had only one chick on it to feed. Perhaps the parents are simply overwhelmed? Tiny Tot is used to being hungry. The food insecurity started on 12 March when he was a week old. He has never known any different – for Tiny Tot it is either famine or a feast. He is clever and he has survived this long because of it. He is the only one that has been self-feeding because he had to and then it is pieces of old flesh from bones. In doing the research on the ones who survive like this, they do well. Often living much longer than their siblings that were pampered. Some of those have not even made it to migration dates. I wouldn’t count his abilities to survive in the wild out – that is what I am saying. I hope before the thunderstorms come into Dunedin again that he gets fed. It is all we can do – hope.
In the image below, Tiny Tot has bulled the bone out of the rim of the nest and is trying to find some food. It is 4:12pm.
It is nearly 5pm and Tiny Tot is still working on that bone. Diane has left the nest. I hope she brings in a massive catfish, wide at the girth, so that Tiny can finally have some food. Or will she ignore him?
There is, however, something to cheer about. Over in San Francisco, the second hatch of Annie and Grinnell came around 12:12. Now they are four. Only two more eggs to hatch! These eyasses will not have a problem with sibling rivalry or food! This is an amazing nest to watch. I actually admire the hawks and the falcons. They can feed a family of four or five and not blink an eye – and all of the chicks thrive.
12:12 pm 17 April 2021
Annie often eats the yolk left in the egg and sometimes the egg shells to help her replenish the calcium that she loses laying the eggs. In fact, you can leave egg shells out for the birds in your garden to help them have strong shelled eggs – they need calcium, too. You need to wash the eggs and clean them good and place them in a 250 degree F oven for about 30-45 minutes to kill any bacteria. You don’t want to transfer anything to the birds. Alternatively I have boiled the shells for half an hour at a hardy boil.
Legacy is really branching today. She has gone quite a bit higher in her natal tree, the NE Florida Bald Eagle nest, near Jacksonville, Florida. Fledge watch is coming! She is such a strong girl. There is really something to be said for having only one egg hatch on a nest. The parents don’t get worn out and that chick gets lots of food. Legacy has learned from watching Samson and Gabby. She was self-feeding and mantling. She did not need a sibling to drive her to do those things that come to her naturally.
One of the others to benefit from being an only child is Kisatchie. He was born in the Bald Eagle nest in the Kisatchie National Forest in Central Louisiana- the first eaglet since 2013 to be born in this beautiful tree. His parents are both new to raising a family. Louis and Anna have done a fantastic job. Can you see the turtle shell? There are actually two of them on the nest. I wonder if they have been feeding Kisatchie turtle? The shells seem to move. I wonder if they were brought to the nest and are alive????
Over at the Duke Farm Bald Eagle nest in Hillsborough, New Jersey, Li’l and Big are losing the last bits of their soft white down just like Legacy and Kisatchie.
Oh, and another great nest is Pittsburg Hayes. It has been seven years since this nest had three eaglets; the last time being in 2014. Look at the trio now. H13 hatched on 23 March at 4:21 am, H14 hatched on 23 March at 21:57, and H25 hatched on 27 March at 5:33. And they are all doing fabulous!
Fish Buffet. 17 April 2021
You can see the wing feathers starting to come in.
Everyone has a food coma. 17 April 2021.
Proud mama and her big healthy babies.
17 April 2021
Family Portrait!
17 April 2021
The eaglets on the Minnesota DNR nest are doing great, too. They do like to scare the living daylights out of you. The youngest one likes to walk right along the rim of the nest. Harry, you might want to bring in some more twigs and big up that wall!
17 April 2021
Be careful little one!
17 April 2021
Food coma.
17 April 2021
So far, both of the Osplets on the on Skidaway Island Osprey Nest near Savannah, Georgia are doing fine.
Lunch time.
17 April 2021
Peeking out.
17 April 2021
NC0 laid her third egg on the Loch of the Lowes Osprey Nest this morning. Congratulations Laddie and Blue NC0!
17 April 2021. Now it is three.
What an amazing view – and a beautiful calm day for egg 3. Laddie you are going to be very busy!
17 April 2021
Also bringing hope is the arrival of an Osprey at Balgavies Loch. The resident male for the past two years, KR3, just returned. This is going to cause a disturbance on the nest as a new male, Blue YD, has already taken up with the female. The Balgavies nest was Blue YD’s natal nest and there are many hoping that he can retain control. But, this also means, that there is still hope for Aila to arrive at Loch Arkaig. Louis is still waiting.
Thank you for joining me for a hop, skip, and a jump around Bird World. I live in hope that Tiny Tot will get fed today. If he does, I will do a very short posting. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I get my screen shots: Achieva Credit Union Osprey Cam, UC Berkeley Falcon Cam, NE Florida and AEF Bald Eagle Cam, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, Pittsburg Hayes Bald Eagle Cam, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Cornell Bird Lab Savannah Ospreys.
There was a hatch on the Savannah Osprey nest on 13 April. The pip happened at 20:58:42 the night before. There is the cutie looking for some fish!
14 April 2021
NC0 laid her second egg on the Loch of the Lowes nest today, 14 April. The first was laid on the 10th. What a gorgeous view! NC0 was apparently very quiet and took everyone by surprise.
NC0 looks out over her territory. Loch of the Lowes. 14 April 2021
In the changing of shifts, you can see the two beautiful reddish eggs. The couple had one chick last year – will they try for three in 2021?
You can see both eggs at Loch of the Lowes! 14 April 2021
Louis is still waiting for Aila to arrive at the Loch Arkaig nest.
Louis waiting for Aila. 14 April 2021
Telyn or Blue 3J was busy rolling her egg over at the Dyfi Nest in the middle of the night. Might we expect a second egg eminently? The first was laid at 9:55 am on 12 April! Some are not leaving the streaming cam as Telyn is breathing rather heavy in the middle of the night.
Rolling the egg. 14 April 2021 Dyfi Nest, Wales.Telyn rolling the egg laid on 12 April 2021. 14 April 2021
Telyn sure is a beauty! Did you know that she is the daughter of unringed Maya and Green 5R from Rutland? She was born in 2013. No wonder she is so gorgeous.
Is Telyn laying another egg? 14 April 2021
What a beautiful sunrise at Clywedog. No eggs for Dylan and Seren yet! Dylan was back on 24 March and Seren on 29 March. Fingers crossed as the middle of April approaches.
15 April 2021. Sunrise.
The second egg was laid at Foulshaw Moss on the 13th with the first coming on the 10th. The image below shows Blue 35 doing her incubation duties. She is the mate of White YW.
Blue 35 incubating eggs. 14 April 2021
Maya is blissful incubating her three eggs at the Rutland Mantou Nest. Her mate is Blue 33 (11). The eggs were laid on 30 March, 2 and 5 of April.
Maya incubating her three eggs at Rutland. 14 April 2021
Wonder what is happening on the nest of Mrs G and Aran? Will there be another egg? The first for this much loved pair at the Glaslyn Nest came on 10 April, the second on the 13th and we are expecting the third on the 16th!
Mrs G (front and left) and Aran (right). 14 April 2021
As I was typing this, a fish came on to the Achieva Osprey Nest. Thank goodness. It has been incredibly hot there. There was speculation that something might have been wrong with one or the other of the parents. Was Jack’s leg hurt? Why wasn’t Diane fishing like she did yesterday? There was also worry that since the two older ones had not eaten they would be very aggressive. Tiny Tot grabbed that fish and wanted it but, as usual, he had to wait. Now the older sibs just weren’t that interested. Could it be that they ate so much yesterday they both need to cast a pellet and Tiny will get ‘fed up’. Diane fed him privately for 45 minutes. Bravo!
In the middle of the feeding of Tiny Tot. 14 April 2021 14 April 2021. Tiny Tot at the end of the 35 minute feeding. Nice crop!
And last, some news from UC Berkeley’s Peregrine Falcon Nest. There is now communication with the eyasses and expected hatch is 17 April. Splendid! Annie and Grinnell are amazing parents and there is nothing short of delirium watching a peregrine falcon nest. And no worries about siblicide!
You can join in the peregrine excitement here:
Thank you so much for joining me today. Oh, I can’t wait for these furry little falcons to hatch. What a riot it is when they figure out how to eat. You will love it! And I am relieved, like so many, that Tiny Tot got fed today. Don’t care what time just that he was fed. If another fish doesn’t arrive, he is fine til tomorrow. Tiny Tot has taught us that.
Thank you to the following streaming cams where I get my screen shots: UC Berkeley Peregrine Falcons, Achieva Credit Union, Woodland Trust, Post Code Lottery, Friends of Loch Arkaig, Rutland Water, Scottish Wildlife, Friends of Loch of the Lowes, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust’s Dyfi Osprey Project, and CarnyxWild Wales.
Here is a great shot of Tiny Tot after that good feeding. Food coma will come shortly!
