My goodness. Can you believe that we are 16 days away from 2023? Did we blink and 2022 flew by? The good news…it seems that Gabby might have been persuaded by V3’s charms. They were in the nest together and on the branches this morning!
In the garden it is snowy wonderland. About 17 cm fell – or should I saw blew in from Colorado with some more to come today. The birds do not like the heavy wet snow any more than I do. Mr Crow flew in and complained along with 27 European Starlings and a host of Sparrows.
The Starlings also knocked a solid seed cylinder to the ground and have been trying to eat it. I don’t think they like getting their feet in the snow.
The lone Blue Jay, Junior, has decided that eating the soft suet like the Starlings is a delicacy. So happy to see him enjoying it. Of course, Dyson is busy working away at the brand new solid seed cylinder that I put out this morning. Apparently Dyson & Co can eat a whole one in two days. That surprised me. They must have been eating all night!
In the World Cup of Birds, it is the French Gallic Rooster versus the Argentinian Rufous Hornero.
Channel Islands eaglet seen. San Miguel is the most remote of the islands and in this article Dr Peter Sharpe says he has not been there since 2017. The spotting of the eagle is excellent news.
Deborah North Eagles caught mating. New season. New Hope.
Goodness. That Pepe at the Superbeaks Bald Eagle nest in Central Florida had some good fishing today. Just look at the size of the fish he brought in for the family! Incredible.
At the California-Berkeley Peregrine Falcon scrape of Annie, the new guy continues to come and try to wow her. However, twice he has brought prey and twice he has eaten it! I don’t think he read the ‘courting’ manual carefully. Annie is too much of a treasure. Let’s hope that this new guy shapes up or ships out!
In Louisiana, there was severe weather and tornadoes. Tonya Irwin reports on the nests in the Kisatchie National Forest:
It looks as if the male at the Metro Aviation Nest in Louisiana got hit by flying debris on his head ?? or had some other injury. It seems he will be alright.
This is a long but, a good eye-opening read from the Raptor Persecution UK. It has been suggested by Geemeff that I give you a warning before reading this. It is distressing to the extreme. Baby Hen Terriers stomped to death by humans!!!!!! Having just read Bowland Beth and a stack of books on the plight of the Hen Harrier and the Red Kites, I find this article distressing. How can we convince people that all of the animals have as much right to life as we human animals do?
Early morning at Port Lincoln and Zoe is wishing for a fish!
We will miss that amazing Indigo when they leave the territory of Xavier and Diamond. Indigo is adorable. He has been stashing his leftover prey in the corner and Diamond has been taking it – obviously to teach Indigo many life lessons. He retrieved his prey from Mum. Look at how proud he is!
As Wednesday ends at The Hamlet, Gabby and V3 are on the nest tree together.
This image of Gabby with V3 is from this morning, Thursday 15 December. It seems Gabby might have made up her mind!
Two other love birds…Samson and Jackie. Oh, stay safe you two!
And last, some very good news sent by Geemeff —especially if you have been following The Flight of the Osprey! A live event…
Thank you so much for being with me today. Wherever you are, take care. See you soon!
Thank you to Geemeff for the heads up on the Flight of the Osprey live discussion. Thanks to the following for their postings, videos, and streaming cams that make up my screen captures: FOBBV, Port Lincoln Osprey, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, NEFL-AEF, Raptor Persecution UK, Tonya Irwin and Raptors of the World, Cal Falcons, Superbeaks, Raptor Resource and Explore.org, and Vancouver City News.
Good Morning Everyone from a snowy, icy landscape – the Canadian Prairies. As many of you suggested, it was a huge culture shock going from bright sun and warm seas to frozen. It is always good to be away but, it is equally nice to get ‘home’. Thank you for all your wonderful letters and best wishes. I had an epic time!
The big news is still coming out of Samson and Gabby’s nest in The Hamlet near Jacksonville. Will there be a nest take over? will Gabby get a new mate? where is V2 this morning as I write this? did Samson appear? Wow. Everything else pales in comparison.
This is a short catch up on some news that we are following this morning.
I want to start with a disgusting arrogant display that has gone viral. It was posted by Geemeff, one of our readers.
What a disgusting individual.
Was it Samson visiting the NE Florida nest? We would have to see his toe – one is flattened. But, gosh, it sure looks like him.
Maybe the word is out and all of them know that Gabby is now single (sadly) and they are lining up for her to choose? They should try bringing her fish!
There was a musical nest. V2 was there and gone, then Gabby left and V2 returned, and then he saw Gabby and escorted her back to the nest.
Postings of a third visitor.
But where was V2 last night. It looks like Gabby spent the night alone – again!
Gosh, I love these daily videos that Elain posts of the highlights at the Orange scrape in Australia of Diamond and Xavier. That little Indigo reminds me so much of Izzi – chasing the parents out of the scrape in the morning, pair bonding, and snacking.
Why do I like them? Elain edits the entire day into a short video and includes the main highlights.
Now for a few smiles.
Falcons in the Middle East fly in their own 747s. Challenger the famous US Eagle in the care of the American Eagle Association likes to fly SW Airlines.
Have you been following the World Cup of Birds? Let’s see who is left standing! Pick your favourite bird out of those left and follow what happens. Morocco stunned everyone when they beat Brazil putting the Rufous Bellied Thrush out of action. So will Moussier’s Redstart take home the cup? England is playing France today – the Robin vs the Gallic Rooster! Stay tuned.
For all Osprey fans, there is an Osprey still in Londonderry today – at the Bann Estuary. Does this bird know something we do not know? I mean seriously shouldn’t he be sunning himself in Spain right now or Africa? or does he need to get out of town quick?
Zoe is flying over shallow water and getting those wings to work. Dad brought Zoe 3 fish yesterday and Mum brought her 1. They are taking good care of their daughter! Here is her most recent tracking release.
We haven’t done a check on Karl II’s family recently so let’s have a look and see where Waba and Bonus are today.
Waba is still loving Sudan and fishing at the Nile River.
Bonus started flying over the Eastern Desert. There has been no transmission since the 4th of December. We wait. Please send Bonus your best wishes.
Thank you for being with me for this quick look at what is the main story in Bird World – Gabby and her nest. Send out your warmest wishes to Rita who is healing nicely in Miami and to dear Alden and Samson – we wish you would still appear! Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, videos, and posts which make up my blog this morning: NEFL-AEF, Bald Eagles Live Nest Cams and News, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam Project and Cilla Kinross and Elain, American Eagle Live Nest Cams, Southwest Airlines, Raptors of the World, Port Lincoln Ospreys FB, Looduskalender, and Geemeff.
Oh, the best of the morning to all of you! I hope this newsletter finds you well and happy and taking some time to de-stress out of doors if you need it — or watching our marvellous birds from inside your home or on the streaming cams. It is so nice to have you hear with us.
The weather continues to be wintery with no break now until spring, late spring normally here in Canada. The garden animals have been all flooded up keeping warm. Me, too! It is, however, very hard to imagine that in 40 days it will be a brand new year.
Dyson never disappoints in her ability to find and get food efficiently. She has a perfect spot on a branch where she sits and can eat right out of the bird feeder!
The Starlings really are lovely. This one flew down to check out what the Blue Jay was interested in on the deck but, normally they always stay in the lilacs or the back trees.
The Starlings and Sparrows share the Butter Bark.
In the Mailbox:
‘J’ sent a link to a blog that some of you might find interesting. It goes to the heart of our earlier discussions about birds and emotions. Thank you ‘J’!
‘BG’ and I both agree that we neither fans of soccer or Twitter but, a World Cup of Birds – yes! Each team in the World Cup has been assigned a bird. Let’s follow and see who wins. Thanks ‘BG’ for sending me this!
Jer Thorp: “We’ve got 4 days until the World Cup. 4 days to decide the MOST important question: Which country in the tournament has the best national bird? 16 birds have already flown home. 16 are ready for glory. Welcome to the knockout stages of the #WorldCupOfBirds!!!”
Making News:
‘B’ sent me a note. Annie and Alden were on camera at The Campanile on the grounds of UC-Berkeley on Sunday. I admit to shedding a couple of little tears – tears of joy – to see them together and with such a nice crop. Looking forward to screaming eyases. Can’t wait. Thank you ‘B’. I know that everyone has been wondering about this lovely couple – Alden another one of those amazing males that stepped in and saved the season.
Emyr Evans of the Dyfi Osprey Project in Wales has permission to post all the information about Paith. Faith was the youngest of the three osplets (2 females, 1 male) of Idris and Telly at the Dyfi nest. The information that Evans has comes from early September – so awhile ago but he just received it. Faith was in Brittany, one of the northern most areas off France and due south as straight as a crow could fly from her nest in Wales. Is she on her way to Africa? or will she overwinter in France?
To get the full story and see the maps, and migration ages of the osplets from Dyfi, please go to dfyispreyproject.com
Tiger Mozone has also posted some information that indicates there are Ospreys that do over winter in this area of France. I think this is really interesting because it is always presumed that the birds go all the way to Africa. It appears not and we do know that many are now over wintering in Portugal and Spain. It may help with the decline in populations due to migration incidents and it might also speak to the changing landscape in Africa in terms of fish availability.
Congratulations goes out to Dave Anderson who has won the prestigious prize – the RSPB Species Award. Anderson is well known in the UK raptor world for his work with White-tailed Eagles and, in particular, promoting research on them by using satellite tracking. I cannot think of a more deserving person. You can read all about him and his extensive work with raptors – a life dedicated to bettering theirs – by clicking on the link in the announcement below.
Australian Nests:
Early Monday morning in Australia, Xavier went to the scrape box with a nice prey item for breakfast. Was he trying to lure Rubus and Indigo to the box?
Indigo will arrive in the box and will be seen on the top of the tower but, Rubus did not fly up to join Indigo. They have been seen in the trees and it would appear that all is well. Xavier was there with them for some time and Diamond was photographed flying around the trees keeping guards on her precious fledglings.
News has come in regarding Rubus today: “Rubus fledged yesterday at 0818 h and has been found alive and well in a pine shelterbelt a few hundred metres from the tower. He was in a tree (so can fly at least a bit). He was still in the same area this morning, but a bit closer to the tower, He was found on the ground and placed in a tree in the woodland.”
Shines found Rubus and wrapped him in a blanket and placed him on the tree branch. Thank you, Shines!
Xavier and Diamond have both been in and out of the scrape. It is entirely possible that they are trying to lure Rubus back into the box so that he can rest and they can feed him there.
In Port Lincoln, Dad flew in with a whopper for Zoe at 1015. Port Lincoln has a severe wind alert for gusts up to 34 kph. Mum and Dad are very smart. This is one way to keep Zoe on the nest – a big fish!
Mum flies in while Zoe mantles the fish.
Just look. Dad had a good feed and Mum is looking down knowing there should be some left for her, too. I wonder if Zoe will want all of this fish to herself?
Zoe is trying. She has her talons in the fish holding it down and is doing a pretty good job eating away.
That is a big fish!
Mum would really like to have some of that nice fish but Zoe isn’t quite ready to give up.
At 11:56 Mum takes control of the fish. Zoe looks like she wants Mum to feed her. She has not made much progress on it herself.
Mum had different ideas. She wants some fish, too and it looks like Zoe ate enough to have a nice crop. Mum flies away with that fish so she can enjoy it all to herself. I wonder if she will bring any of it back to Zoe?
Zoe was not happy!
Of course, the answer is ‘yes’. Mum ate her fill and returned to the next some time later to feed Zoe.
That fish was sooooooooo large that the entire family had a nice big meal. How grand. Thanks Dad!
Zoe did some serious helicoptering. She is ready to fly! It will be soon.
Montagu’s Harrier is the most rare of any of the birds of prey in the UK. This incredible raptor was not in any nest records in the UK in 2020 nor in 2021. Their numbers began to decline in 2015. That year there were only 5 nests in the UK. It is feared that they might already be extinct, not just vulnerable.
These are magnificent raptors that fly low, like the Hen Harrier, in search of rabbits, small birds, lizards, insects, and shrews. They also soar high above the fields in the thermals and their flying and hunting has been described as ‘spectacular’.
Just look at that stunning plumage. Again, it is anything but a drab grey. How about a light blue steel grey on the wings with a light cream around the eye, a very slight dark blue grey eye line and band around the cream. How else would you describe this magnificent species?
They are a medium sized raptor, 43-47 cm long, that is slim with very long pointed wings like a Hen Harrier. They have a long tail. The upper body of the male is grey. The primaries are black and the secondaries have a black stripe or band across them. They are white underneath. The female is a gorgeous dark brown. The bills are hooked and black with a bright chrome-yellow cere. Their legs and feet are also chrome-yellow. Notice the striking yellow eyes.
The demise of the Montagu’s Harrier is due to the over and expanding use of pesticides, the expansion of fields into modern agriculture, the destruction of their nests which are on the ground in the fields during harvesting. In addition, their food sources have declined dramatically due to the use of pesticides! These raptors need protected areas for nesting and an end to the use of contemporary pesticides that kill the birds by secondary poisoning or by killing their food source. The Montagu’s Harrier migrates to Africa and so, in both of their respective homes, they are subject to ever expanding agricultural practices and the use of deadly poisons. Those poisons should be banned internationally. They are also quite dangerous to humans. Ask anyone who has lived around a farm in Canada who has developed asthma and breathing issues early in their life.
This is an immature. Notice that gorgeous rust brown above the yellow legs, the barred tail with the grey and espresso brown, the light grey around those chrome-yellow eyes…what a beauty.
I couldn’t leave without posting an image of a mature female Montagu’s Harrier. These females are stunning in their own right. Look closely. Their plumage is anything but a drab brown. Starting with the head and around the eyes, that bright chrome-yellow cere stands out amongst that deep chocolate brown. The white around the eyes with the espresso eyeliner and eye liner inside of the dark espresso band on a camel coloured head and breast are brilliant. It took a lot of the crayons out of the box to come up with this outstanding colour palette. That camel mixes with the deep chelate again on the back, and the wings while holding its own on the breast, chest and underparts. She is gorgeous.
Oh, thank you so much for being with me today. It is always my pleasure to carry on and on and on about the beautiful feathered friends that bring us so much joy – and most often, tranquility. Take dare of yourselves. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their posts and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: ‘BG’ for the World Cup of Birds, ‘B’ for letting me know about Annie and Alden, ‘J’ for her great link in the mail re birds and emotions, Cal Faldons, Dyfi Osprey Project, Gregarious J Toonen for Ospreys Pandion Haliaetus FB and Tiger Mozone, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, and Open Verse.
