Tag Archives: wildfires impact wildlife

Late late Sunday in Bird World

Is there a better way to spend a snowy Sunday than to watch little eaglets being fed in their nests?

Gabby and Samson’s NE26 hatched at 03:04 on the 23rd of January. It was caught in an image that Pascale Ragon posted on FB. What an adorable little eaglet! It is also very strong, holding its head up high and not bobbing along so much!

The image of this sweetie below shows clearly the very sharp egg-tooth that was used to break out of that shell. It looks like 26 has already caught on to the latest in eye liner styles!

This ‘new born’ is also eating large flakes of fish. I could not believe it. Oh, what a sweet little tongue.

Gabby and 26 have this all worked out. Mom tilts her big beak 90 degrees and baby brings its beak straight up the middle. Bingo! I cannot tell you how impressed I was with what was going on at this nest today — but mind you, Samson and Gabby are always at the top of my list for Baldie parents.

Look at this sweet one looking up to Mum. That is simply adorable.

Hi there.

I feel like a new grandparent showing off pictures — I could seriously have cut and pasted so many you would be bored to tears. It is hard to take your eyes off a 12 hour eaglet!

The eaglet at the Kisatchie National Forest Bald Eagle nest had 10 feedings today, again. They began at 06:47 and ended at 17:40. I compares the times from one day to another. So, on Friday, the first feeding was at 06:52 and the last one at 17:41. There was a similar pattern for Saturday. Does Anna have an app that tings at the same time each day? Or are the feedings linked to dusk and dawn? Bald Eagles are diurnal. They hunt and eat during the daylight hours. The little eaglets are trained and treated as such from the time they hatch.

You can see that this eaglet -who is 11 days old today- is beginning to change. The light grey fluffy down is giving way to the darker thermal down. This will mean that once that thermal down is all in, Anna will not have to brood the eaglet so much.

Today, Anna let the eaglet have quite a bit of warm, not hot, sunshine. Both her and Louis were close but they let the little one have some air!

In the image below, the ‘baby face’ is also disappearing. The beak is growing longer and the egg tooth is almost totally gone. If you look at the wings you can see little black lines. Can you believe feathers are coming??

I have had the Big Sur condors on my mind and was very thankful when Ventana Wildlife Society posted this message on their FB page today. What a relief! Little Iniko 1031 was only released back into the wild six weeks ago, on 4 December 2021, after being caught in the Dolan Fire and having a long rehabilitation.

The Kakapo Recovery are also very happy. This is the ‘white board score board’ for the eggs. It looks like it could be a really super year if they all hatch and the chicks survive.

Each time I went to check on Ervie, the nest was either empty or there were pigeons doing clean up.

Then, all of a sudden, at 13:00:51 Ervie comes flying in. He was sure putting on the breaks. Just look at those magnificent wings. Oh, Ervie, you are so special.

Ervie must have a motion detector for when Dad is coming to the nest with a fish! It was 13:01:09. Ervie arrived 15 seconds before Dad!

That timing is not a coincidence. So where did Ervie see Dad with the fish? Was Ervie on the old barge while Dad was fishing?

It was a really nice fish and Ervie will enjoy every morsel!

Ervie spends several minutes mantling and alarming before he digs into his lunch.

Ah, thank you Port Lincoln! Ervie is a beautiful bird.

Two hours later and Ervie is screaming for more fish!!!!!!!!! I bet they could hear him across the bay!!!!!! No wonder Mum and Dad don’t stay on the barge when Ervie is about.

R1 and R2 were well fed today. This is the coldest day Miami has experienced this season. It is currently 16 C – which on the Canadian Prairies would be considered a nice summer day! But, if you live in Miami, everyone would be cold.

Rita was making sure that everyone was eating.

Both eaglets had nice crops before Rita informed them it was bedtime!

Rita tucked both eaglets in as best she could to keep them warm from the wind and what would be to her, the cold temperatures.

There has been a bit of concern by the watchers of the Berry College Bald Eagle Cam. Missy stepped on the left wing of the eaglet. Something startled Missy about 20:12 and she got up abruptly. Is it hurt? I do not know. We will have to wait and see how it is doing tomorrow.

The eaglet was moving its wings fine at the time of the image below.

All is quiet now and then something startles Missy.

She gets up, looks to her right and stumbles around the baby.

Send warm wishes to this little one that everything is alright. They are so fragile at this stage and B15 is doing so well. Something startled Missy about an hour later, too. Everyone is tucked in now and we wait to see how the baby is doing tomorrow.

I will leave you with a nice shot of Ervie with his crop. What a handsome osprey you are, Ervie.

Thank you so very much for joining me today. With the exception of the worry at Berry College, Bird World is looking good. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen shots: The Kakapo Recovery, Ventana Wildlife Society, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Berry College Bald Eagle Cam, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, and the WRDC Bald Eagle Cam.

Wildfires and Sky Tables – the birds need our help

All across the Mediterranean, wild fires are burning out of control. The impact on the storks migrating to Africa from Northern Europe is nothing short of devastating. Storks have been falling from the sky and dying in Greece. The Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said it is his country’s “greatest ecological disaster in ages.” Anticyclones (areas of high atmospheric pressure bringing hot dry summers) have hit Italy and caused extremely high temperatures and fires. Now Turkey is also ablaze. Spain and France are on high alert as temperatures reach 40 C or 104 F.

“Forest Fires” by RobW_ is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The areas of the fires or the high heating that could lead to more fires cover both routes of migration for the birds – the eastern one previously known as the Asia Minor Route and the one over Spain. As it stands, this will not only impact the storks that have already begun their migration and are dying from the flames or smoke but also the Osprey, the Eagles — but all of the birds that make their way to Africa for the winter months.

Look closely at the map below and you will see that every migratory route is set to be impacted by the smoke and fires around the Mediterranean.

Let us all hope that rains come. Right now I want all of those Ospreys I have been writing about and the storks and eagles to wait before leaving. Sadly, we can only wait and watch.

With all the frightful news of the changing climate and the impact of the heat on the wildlife that are beginning their migrations, it is nice to find a good news story. It helps to give us all some balance and some hope for the future. This is just how I felt when I read an article titled, “Guess Who is Coming to Dinner” in The Guardian this evening.

In the United Kingdom, farmers and large land owners are banding together to provide food tables for hawks and vultures. Many of our beautiful raptors get injured or killed trying to get road kill off the highways. Farmers in the UK wanted to help the raptors as well as helping themselves.

“Turkey Vulture & Road Kill” by goingslo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The Guardian reports, “A solution from some bird-lovers is to build a “sky table”, on which they put carrion – dead foxes and deer – and leave it to be fed on by corvids and raptors. The grubs and maggots which feed on the decomposing body also provide food for smaller birds.”

The tables are about 2.5 m off the ground or 10 ft. The table is about 2.5 m square. Pieces of the carrion are left for the raptors. It looks like this could be a win-win situation for everyone. One of the farmers said, “The eagles follow the ravens to see where to eat,” he said. “We’ve had ravens, magpies, carrion crows, buzzards, red kites. Woodpeckers have used the carcasses too, and starlings have fed on the grubs and maggots there as the carcasses decompose. It’s providing a wide range of food.” Another man said that he slapped together a 2 m or 8 foot table and left out a deer. It was gone in 3 days. He noticed a buzzard and some Red Kites circling the table. As Britain works hard to rewild and to reintroduce bird species this is a great way to help them by providing food that would otherwise be burned.

“Road Kill – Dining on Deer” by Larry Lamsa is licensed under CC BY 2.0

This idea should take hold around the world. If you know a landowner or a farmer where there could be dead animals at one time or another, tell them about this approach. Tell anyone you know. Spread the word! The fires and the extreme heat are limiting the food for the wildlife. Many other animals are dying. It is a great way to clean up the environment and feed our beautiful raptors at the same time. The report in The Guardian mentioned that Spain has such a programme and offers legal exemptions for farmers who leave dead animals out for the vultures to eat as there simply is not enough food for them otherwise.

The entire article is here. I hope that you can open it.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/14/guess-whos-coming-to-dinner-roadkill-placed-on-sky-tables-to-lure-rare-birds-of-prey

An alternative would be for motorists to pull over when they see carrion, take out the shovel that we are all going to keep in our vehicles, and move the road kill way off the pavement where the cars are located so the raptors can eat it safely.

Now if we could get another movement started for building fish tanks and stocking them for the Osprey in areas where the heat is killing off the fish – wow. That would simply be grand. I am so hopeful that humans will take our responsibility for what is happening seriously and find ways like the ‘sky tables’ or ‘fish tanks’ to help the birds and other wildlife whose lives we have so horribly impacted.

You might have other ideas of ways to help the birds in your area. Try it out and please let me know how it went. Urbanites can help by leaving out clean water bowls – old ceramic dishes are wonderful. Because so many cities spray, there is often a lack of insects. Our local shop that sells bird seed has special summer suet cylinders with bugs, lots of nuts, and berries. The little woodpecker at our feeder loves it. All of them are keeping us busy with the water bowls. It is wonderful. The Blue Jays have learned to squawk really loud – they have trained us.

Take care all. Thank you for joining me today. Take care. Stay safe.

They Don’t Look like Ospreys!

Maybe it is better not to make plans! We have so hoped for rain and this morning the forecast said – ‘70% chance of rain’. My heart skipped a beat. If it would just pour. As I write this I can hear thunder.

One of my readers wrote to ask about the fires we are experiencing. First, just so everyone knows the area where are talking about you need to know where Manitoba is. Our province is on the Canadian prairies between Saskatchewan and Ontario. We are directly north of Dallas, Texas. If you drove without stopping, it would take you 24 hours to reach Manitoba if you started in Dallas.

There are two very large lakes, Lake Winnipeg on the east and Lake Manitoba in the West. Both are north of Winnipeg; it is about a 90 minute n drive to the southern tip of each. Many of the migrating shore birds and large raptors, Ospreys and Bald Eagles, have their summer breeding areas around these lakes.

Our provincial Department of Conservation and Climate reports that there are currently 159 wildfires in our province today. 17 of those started in the last 48 hours. They also reported that the yearly total of acres lost to wildfires is 904,111. That impacts wildlife. There can be no question. Here is the current fire map:

The purple areas are fires that are being monitored; the red areas are fires that are out of control; the green areas are fires under control while the yellow ones are fires being held. We are fortunate that fire crews from other provinces have come to help. The smoke from the fires impacts everyone but the city of Winnipeg is not under any threat. My concern is the area around the Osprey nests and that is in a monitored area.

That is the state of our wildfires. Of course, our thoughts are also with those people in California where the Dixie Fire is raging and has already scorched 275,000 acres.

With the promise of rain, we head to one of the most beautiful areas in our City: Assiniboine Park. It is named after one of the two rivers that meet here; the other is the Red River. The park has our zoo, an area known as the English Gardens and the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden (Mol is a noted local sculptor who worked in bronze) as well as the Duck Pond.

“Leo Mol Sculpture Garden” by D-Stanley is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Turns out this was a great decision. We managed to get lost and when we asked directions, a wonderful woman offered to show us the way. Then she stopped. “You know we have a family of Cooper’s Hawks right in that tree”. If it was not for pandemic restrictions, I would have thrown my arms around her in thanks. As it was, I quietly stood jumping up and down in my mind. It was simply magical.

The couple have three fledglings this year. They are all about the grounds catching bugs. The tripod proves cumbersome. Remember I have only practiced with this lens at home. This is the test to see if I can manage it.

A squirrel has the attention of the hawk in the back.
This hawk is looking up at a chipmunk.

Cooper’s hawks are about the size of crows. The Cooper’s are constantly confused with the Sharp-shinned Hawk. In flight, the Sharp-shinned has a squared-off tail and the Cooper’s is rounded. The prey for both are small birds, chipmunks, small squirrels and the books say small hares but Sharpie, who visits my garden) has never bothered the garden rabbit, Hedwig. The Cooper’s were busy eating bugs but also keeping their hawk eyes on a squirrel and a chipmunk! The eating of ‘bugs’ is not mentioned in any of the bird books. These hawks are adorable. It was fun to stop photographing and sit and watch the adults teaching the fledglings to hunt. They were having so much fun!

Next stop – Canada Geese! They are not Canada’s national bird. That is the Canada Jay – a grey version of a Blue-Jay (OK that is simplistic but it is a good description). The Canada Geese were in the pond but also seemed to be everywhere eating grass. Sadly, it looks rather dead in places from the lack of rain. Speaking of rain, we did get some. Probably not enough to even measure but it might help the grass!

And we have an update on your favourite goose – Arnold! The veterinary team at the Cape Wildlife Centre decided to remove Arnold’s bandage and boot today. Their assessment is that Arnold is doing great. He will not need any more bandages and will get to spend some time in the outdoor enclosure with a pool. Amelia comes every day and they get to spend time together having meals in the playpen. It will not be long until Arnold will be able to be in the wild with Amelia again. Isn’t that positive news?! What a great team.

@ Cape Wildlife Centre

Before I close, here is a reminder of a great fundraiser going on right now. I do not normally mention fundraisers unless I know that the funds really go to help the project – so I am delighted to mention this one again. I realize it is only August and everyone who has children or is a student is thinking about getting ready for ‘back to school’. I would like for you to think about birthdays and holiday gifts, too! If you are looking for something unique associated with the matriarch of Ospreys, Iris, whose nest is in Missoula, Montana – well, this is for you!

Dr Erick Greene of the University of Montana and the Montana Osprey Project gathers up the twigs that have dropped from Iris’s nest. These are twigs that Iris has broken off of trees and bushes in the area. The type of wood varies. Dr Greene then sends off a box of twigs to South Carolina to the workshop of master wood workers, Richard and Sharon Leigh Miles. They turn those twigs into beautiful pens. The patterns and colour depend on the type of wood. Iris goes out and gets Black Cottonwood, Douglas Fir and, sometimes, Choke cherry. Everything is sustainable and no one interferes with Iris when she is on the nest. Those sticks get knocked off and Iris will not go down on the ground and pick them up just like she won’t pick up fish that falls off the nest. This is such a unique fundraising even for the Ospreys but the number of pens are very limited.

I think they are gorgeous and can’t wait for mine to arrive. It is on its way. The cost is $45 USD. That includes postage within the United States and maybe parts of Canada.

@ Montana Osprey Project

This time I want to include the directions for you. Sometimes it is hard to find things on FB.
1) Send an email to montanaospreyproject@gmail.com
2) If your mailing address is in the US, on the subject line of your email, type your full name followed by Pen Order
For example To: montanaospreyproject@gmail.com
Subject: Your Name – Pen Order
3) If your mailing address is outside the US, on the subject line of your email, type your full name followed by International Pen Order
For example To: montanaospreyproject@gmail.com
Subject: Your Name – International Pen Order
If yours is an international order we will get back to you with a few additional instructions.
4) The email’s body should include the following information:
a) Your name
b) Your email
c) Number of pens you would like to order.
d) Total amount ($45.00 per pen). Shipping is included in this price.
e) Your mailing address just as it should be on the envelope.
f) Send the email to MontanaOspreyProject@gmail.com
5) For those of you who live in the United States, make out a check out to:
Montana Osprey Project – Erick Greene
(We are not set up to take credit card or Pay Pal orders. Sorry – has to be a personal check or money order)
6) Mail your check to:
Dr. Erick Greene – Montana Osprey Project
Division of Biological Sciences
32 Campus Drive
University of Montana
Missoula, Montana
USA 59812
7) For those of you who live outside of the US, send us the email with all of your information, but hold off on sending a check. We will get back to you with a few more instructions.

Thank you so much for joining me today. It is always great to hear from everyone. I have received a few letters this morning and there is some excellent information in those that I will share with everyone tomorrow! For those wondering about Malin, her feathers seem to be improving. We hope that her fish deliveries do the same. Take care. Stay Safe.

Thank you to the Montana Osprey Project FB page and the Cape Wildlife Clinic FB where I took my screen shots of the Iris pens and Arnold.