12 May 2024
I wish all mothers—that is, anyone in the world who has ever cared for another living, breathing soul (feathered, furred, gilled, scaled, or human)—a very happy day today.
Ah, it was hot on Saturday, but the skies were clear, and it was a good day to head to Delta Beach – or so I thought – when I left the City. The wind began to pick up as I neared the wetlands at the south end of Lake Manitoba. By the time I was on top of the lookout tower, they were so gusty that it felt like one could be blown to Oz. The wind and the heat did not do much for bird watching. The Black-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds and the Robin and Song Sparrows were out. A few geese and ducks and a pod of American Pelicans were flying overhead. The Bald Eagle in the nest was hunkered down tight and the frogs were so loud you could not hear a thing. It was a long drive there and back with onerous black clouds overhead and heavy rain on and off on the return.
Pelicans flew overhead.
A Common Tern has a small fish.
A female Yellow Warbler liked to play hide and seek with me in the thick of the tree.
The Killdeer ran up and down the beach in front of the Bald Eagle’s nest.
If you squint you can just barely make out the head of the adult on the nest. This nest makes me really nervous. It is not supported on one side.
Before I left, I checked on the third hatch at Lake Murray. It had some of the first two fish and on my return I did a quick recent check and the little one had a crop.
Felt relatively satisfied that the little one had done alright.
I did a few nest checks in the early evening, but the girls feel a tad neglected, and Calico has stretched out on top of the book we are reading. She is sending a loud message – as loud as Mr Crow, who quickly tells me that the hot dog dish is empty and needs replenishment. What a character they both are! I have noticed that I am later in sending out my post in the summer so, a warning that the post will go out by noon – Winnipeg time from now until the fall. (So you don’t worry that something has happened…you are all so sweet).
‘H’ sends us an exciting report that Mason fledged and then recovered and flew back to the nest. Way to go, Mason!
Two other updates from ‘H’: “
“5/11, Chesapeake, Kent Island osprey nest of Audrey and Tom: Audrey laid the second egg of her second clutch at approximately 18:30. Unfortunately, the egg was broken either during laying or shortly thereafter.”
“5/11, Fortis Exshaw osprey nest of Louise and Harvie: Louise laid their third egg at 22:24, but we have yet to see the egg”
The first hatch at Manton Bay is a cute pie. That baby hatched at 23:19 on Friday the 10th of May.
I know that Redwood Queen is a favourite of many of you for her heroic attempt to save her chick Iniko during the Dolan Fire. Iniko was saved but Redwood Queen lost her mate King Pin. Now she has a new baby with Zenith and it warms my heart.
At Cornell, N1 and N2 are sleeping with their dinner. All that prey and two chicks – these two are growing fast!
I love seeing the comparison of the tree nest and the urban nest on a human light stand. I wonder how many trees Big Red has to choose from and why she choose the light stand? There is certainly much more room for the chicks to run and flap.
‘A’ loves this nest and writes, “Oren has brought in even more green oak leaf sprigs to their RTH nest, and it is full of greenery. I do hope it helps control the insects on the nest (I presume that’s the idea). It does look very festive and cosy. Ruth is preening her sleeping hawklets, and breakfast has not yet been served (it is 12 May and still very very early). The three are doing exceptionally well, with devoted parents and lots of food. They are such cuties. It has been raining a lot at the nest for the past two or three days and poor Ruth has looked absolutely miserable, but her hawklets have remained warm and dry in her underfluffies throughout. They really are very well cared for, these three. “
I have every confidence that if this precious egg of Iris and the New Guy hatches, the NG will supply plenty of fish for Mamma Iris and baby. We could be witnessing something wonderful and remember, I always wanted Iris to have a holiday from Louis. She seems contented and it is so nice to see someone bring her fish and care for her.
Another great mate is Louis at Loch Arkaig! So far they have kept the intruders away.
Remember that banding for the Cal falcons who are getting their tail feathers is on the 15th.
‘A’ writes: “I do so love a falcon scrape. That youngest at Cal Falcons is significantly smaller than its three siblings, who hatched within about 24 hours of each other, with the fourth chick coming nearly three days later (because of course Annie started hard incubation after laying egg three). So it has always been much smaller, but right from the beginning, it has been a little jumping bean just like Rubus, competing vigorously for bites.
The four are being given far fewer feedings per day than was the case a week or ten days ago. They lay about the scrape for more than five hours between feedings today, until the 16:07 feeding, which began with the youngest and one of its older siblings grabbing big juicy bites until they were joined by another of the older chicks, and then finally, the fourth one joined in. By the time chick four arrived, the older of the initial two feeders had given up, the younger one never gives up, and the second two to line up were getting the most of the food. By the time the meal was over, all four had large crops that, if measured, would have been extremely close to being exactly equal in size. Seriously. That’s how good a parent Annie is when feeding her chicks. And if necessary, she would have moved the food, or her own position, or both, to ensure that all four were fed an adequate meal. No-one goes hungry at Annie’s table.
The eyases compete for bites, and sometimes have a tug of prey over a bite, but not once is there any hint of aggression towards a sibling. Never. Not once. It is a beautiful thing to watch, and I do keep wondering how it is that good falcon parents can dole out food fairly to a clutch double the size of most eagle clutches, fledging four chicks instead of one or two. So I still cannot work out how sibling rivalry helps.”
Feathered kids also copy their parent’s behaviour.
‘H’ has been tracking several nests. One is at the Patuxent River Park and she reports that there are now three little bobbleheads.
There are concerns for Swampy from Eagle Country. Swampy was last seen on 9 May at 1006.
Sharon Lee also shows us where Dixie and Mason have gotten to on the natal tree.
Cute little White-tail eaglet peeking out from the adult at the Kemeri nest in Latvia. The other White-tail Eagle nest of Milda in Durbe County in Latvia failed this year.
One beautiful Golden Eaglet in Estonia.
Altyn and Nova, Eastern Imperial Eagles, have two eggs in their nest that they are waiting to hatch. Egg dates were 17 and 20 of April. In about ten days we should have a hatch!
The first of the two eggs of Bety and Bukacek in Mlade Buky has hatched on the 12th of May.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Keep an eye out on Mlade Buky and Manton Bay. Those last eggs should be hatching!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, H’, Lake Murray ospreys, Heidi McGrue, Chesapeake Conservancy, Fortis Exshaw, LRWT, Lady Hawk, Cornell RTH, Syracuse University RTH Cam, Montana Osprey Project, Geemeff, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Patuxent River Park, Eagle Country, LDF, Eagle Club of Estonia, Alton and Nova RU Imperial Eagle Cam, and Mlade Buky Stork Cam.