Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
NEFL Nest, courtesy of American Eagle Foundation. 8 September 2024
Videos have been published of Beau coming to the nest a few times, but also last season's visitor with the necrotic feet. He was there early this morning, and Gabby did not appear to be rejecting him. In all this, impossible to tell whether Beau and Gabby have met elsewhere in the Hamlet area. Gabby had a very daring visitor, a bit later this morning, as she was engaged by this darting mad squirrel, who got away with it :)
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Hello, subscribers and friends!
Regrettably, my hospital adventures did not end with the fractured ribs, back in February! At the time, they found I had an inflammation of the appendix, and this degenerated into a perforated appendix, which required an urgent procedure. I was admitted into hospital on 13 June. After the procedure, one lung collapsed and the intake of oxygen was so bad that I had to be 'intubated' (tracheostomy). To add insult to the injury, I also developed flu. After nearly two months in intensive care, I was gradually able to breathe by myself and I was transferred to an ordinary ward and slowly reintroduced to solid food. I opted to return home without full rehabilitation, as they wanted to send me to a more distant hospital and, by then, I simply had enough. Fearing that they might not see me anymore, my family got seriously concerned and my brother flew to England for a few days just before I got discharged, but my partner took care of him, at home - I felt so bad not being able to be there for him, cook nice food etc!
I have physiotherapists coming home this week. I lost so much muscle tone in over 2 months of immobility (as well as 7 kgs in weight!)! I dread opening my e-mail box, now!
It may be a while before I resume my YouTube activities - we shall see :)
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As I am sure I have posted already, I am following a Live Swan Nest on the Robert E. Fuller channel (UK based). I have asked for permission to publish videos and Robert has agreed, so I plan some sort of diary, soon. Sad thing is, only two cygnets are left. Five were taken by a buzzard - I don't know what we will find, when the family gets back, tonight.
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Hobby Falcons, Dorset, UK, courtesy of WildlifeWindows, 6 June
The Live Stream is back! There are two eggs on the nest, who knows whether a third is due! I shall be keeping an eye on this - in both 2022 and 2023, I ended up missing hatching day!
youtube.com/live/8PpL6Y349ug?si=EN-2491Q-VLLUrc7
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Decorah Eagles, courtesy of Raptor Resource Project/EXPLORE.org
While the eagles stay in the background, by the bluff, Canada geese families have formed a creche by the pond. One Canada goose with a speckled neck adopted an egg on nest N1, laid the same day the goose family jumped off the nest, in mid April. She slowly gave up, many days after hatching time, but never completely abandoned the nest. Eventually, in the very early morning of 2 June, a raccoon climbed onto the eagles' nest and, after 20 minutes of toying with it, broke the egg. When the goose returned, in the morning, she looked very confused. If she ever comes back, we shall know because of her speckled neck. Picture 2 - Charlie the red-winged blackbird blocks our view of the pond - such impertinence! PS: Charlie is only my name for it.
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West End Eagle Cam, courtesy of Institute For Wildlife Studies (IWS) / explore.org.
The West End trio (Koa, Sterling and Treasure are doing great and are on the verge of fledging. Some have been 'rocking' (well, we cannot say 'branching', here!). Many fellow video makers have published footage on this nest, and my friend @jmcnature8114 has published a short video, a few days ago, where both historical and current nest appear - you can see Thunder, as well as the eaglets! Here are some pictures - old/new nest locations, Thunder bringing fish and the trio all looking up - I believe they were watching a raven. Because the camera had to be relocated in order to view the new nest, images are zoomed in and resolution/clarity have somewhat suffered.
The eaglets will not be banded, this year, so we shall not know their gender (just make educated guesses).
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If you need 15 minutes of soft music relaxation, while looking at a wildlife slideshow (enough time is given to 'take in' each picture), I have just come across such a video. In some cases, the caption plays an important part (and makes the picture funnier). Winners of Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2015 https://youtu.be/dD4bYOnKVFI?si=fhCPp...
For my part, I have been following the progress of the goose families who nested at N1 and N2B, Decorah - for the first time, the camera has given us the opportunity to watch the goslings grow, at and around the retention pond, thanks to Raptor Resource Project and explore.org. As written before, I do hope we get to watch the goslings learning to fly!
More recently, I have been watching a family of Mute Swans here in England, courtesy of Robert E. Fuller, and yesterday he gave me permission to publish footage! There were 10 eggs on the nest, but two were not viable (one broke during the night, so just one is visible) and, unfortunately, the first chick did not survive the hatching process. Seven cute cygnets said hello to the world on 23 May, and I have been able to follow their progress. I think I shall create a playlist, for this family.
1) Pen (mum) and cygnets, one day after hatching
2) Same as above, cob (dad) to the right
3) Cygnets hesitate to follow mum into the water (only three did, that day)
4) Mum-climbing is one of their activities :)
Shame that the weather has been mostly dull, so far - only some glimpses of sunshine
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Decorah Eagles North Nest, courtesy of Raptor Resource Project/explore.org. 20 May
Cutie faces time! DN17 and DN18 were watching something... maybe a parent at some distance, or maybe some other creature!
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Decorah Eagles, courtesy of Raptor Resource Project/explore.org. 19 May
Most of the images are zoomed in from a distance, so the definition is not perfect. Some of you know that both nest N2B (Mum Decorah's old nest) and, 700 yards away, nest N1 (vacated last autumn by the Hatchery Eagles, who built a new nest near the bluff) have been used as nurseries by Canada geese, this season. Just one chick survived/remained with the parents, at nest N2B, whereas 5 chicks joined their parents on the ground after jumping off nest N1. Just hours later, a goose laid an egg on N1. Another female (a leucistic goose, with a distinctive mottled pattern on the neck) arrived and ended up incubating the egg. This should have hatched by 13 May (it takes 25-28 days for eggs to hatch), but nothing has happened. The surrogate would-be-mother is still brooding it - I wonder how long it will take her to tire and abandon it.
The Hatchery pair, Bald Eagles HM and HD, are ever present, albeit mostly in the background, but there seem to be no eaglets, this season - let's hope they decide to return to N1, in the autumn!
Mum Decorah and DM2 are far from camera range, but photographer Robin Brumm occasionally visits the new location (near the local Walmart, it seems) and she reports seeing at least one eaglet, on the nest (N4)! On the Raptor Resource Project page (Facebook), there is a post about this visit, together with some photos.
Pic1 - Sometimes, families join forces. That must be the N2B survivor, close to the tree!
Pic 2 - a closer view of the gosling and mum
Pic 3 - Parent and offspring, again, with Charlie the red-winged Blackbird in the foreground. Well, I don't know if it's the same one (by the way, Charlie is the name my partner and I gave him) who used to pester Mum Decorah and DM2 at N2B, but he keeps following the geese around, the little tinker!
Pic 4 - The leucistic goose at N1 and her 'adopted' egg.
Pic 5 - One of the Hatchery pair at one of their favourite perching spots by the bluff.
Oh, I saw a family of geese (5 chicks) in/by the stream, near the Hatchery, but I don't know if they are the N1 family!
This is the first time, in three years, we get to follow the geese around the retention pond, and watch the chicks grow. I have read that, at 2-3 months of age, parents teach the goslings to fly. Will they hang around long enough to witness some such scenes? Today, for the first time, I have witnessed the chick from N2B dive like the parents :)
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Happy Sunday!
I had already advertised, in the past, a British (and delightful) channel I have subscribed to - @RobertEFuller - I have now discovered Robert features live streams too! For instance, I have watched one about a mute swan nest, situated in Yorkshire. Very peaceful! There are 8 eggs on the nest and I understand, from the chat, that hatching may start next week! The first egg was laid on 2 April, and brooding does not commence until the clutch is complete. It takes 6 weeks for the cygnets to hatch. The male swan is called a cob, and the female a pen.
LIVE Swan Nest youtube.com/live/Rx5iJgWHX-g?si=x88ShL50QAg7WJBo
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Thank you for taking an interest in my channel. Putting together movies is something I enjoy doing. I often select music to cover my clips as I cannot always record the sound and, when I do, I cannot say the results are great - QuickTime is not the best recorder! Please note that, although I have published a vast amount of videos concerning eagles (and some other birds) in the past few months, this channel is not especially dedicated to birds - may I suggest you look at uploads to select what may interest you. I have also created a playlist specifically designed for my videos on eagles.