OT: Bald Eagle cam

[nuthatch]

Well, well, well, Emma (the hummingbird) just finished building yet another nest, this time on the hanging patio chandelier that she had her nest on last year. No eggs yet, but it's expected she will lay sometime this week. Sure is neat to witness all this again. Here's the link.
http://www.ustream.tv/worldofhummingbirds

And the bluebirds are almost ready to fly. Wow, did they grow fast!!
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/blue-bird-nest

Yep, the eagles are almost ready to venture out from the nest. It's been great watching their development.

Here's another cam I just started watching. It's a nest box for a pair of peregrine falcons located high above the downtown area of Boise, Idaho. Three eggs were recently laid here, although I could only see two due to where the bird laid the eggs in the nest box. At first glance, the falcon looked like a pigeon until it got up and looked at the camera . . . definitely a falcon! Should be interesting to watch. Be sure to read the updates, lots of information here.
http://www.peregrinefund.org/subsites/webcam-peregrine/

Enjoy!
Joan

[nuthatch]

So cute! The bluebirds are clamoring to get the best view out of the nest box. Sure to fly away soon!

Here is a new cam I found. It is a nest of one of my favorites, a black capped chickadee. They are so tiny and sweet. The soft looking nest has 8 little speckled eggs in it now. Good color camera view.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/black-...kadee-nest-cam

I have lots of these birds in my yard and can tell when the new youngsters are out of the nest. They sound just like a doggie's squeak toy! I've been hearing them lately, so I know there's lots of new chickadees around.

And here is an osprey nest on a horse ranch in Montana. Beautiful bird! Added bonus is you get to se what's going on at the ranch too! The nest must be high up in a tree with lots of birds in it judging for the sounds. The osprey has an interesting call and you can see and hear it when she does it.
http://www.umt.edu/geosciences/facul...y2t/index.html

[nuthatch]

One more bird cam and I'll quit buggin' you all with my excitement.
This one is of a Great Blue Heron and young. Such beautiful birds and they make some interesting noises too!
Best viewed in the daytime, of course.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2433

p.s. one of the three bluebirds flew the coop today! Hope he/she is safe tonight!

[nuthatch]

For those of you who have followed Emma the hummingbird, there is some really groundbreaking stuff going on there now.
Recently I reported that Emma was constructing her nest on the outdoor chandelier again. She has since laid and is incubating 2 eggs. In the meantime, someone nearby, who was having trees trimmed, found that they had accidentally cut down a branch that had a hummingbird nest attached, containing two very new chicks. No mother hummer came back, so bird rescue was called. The chicks were very young and their digestive tracts too immature to be hand fed. They had no chance at survival without feedings from a mother bird. Since Emma had adopted another hummer before, they decided to give the orphans a chance with Emma, even though she is presently caring for her own two eggs.

While Emma was out of the nest, another empty nest was put up right next to Emma's nest to see how she would react. No problem, so awhile later the chicks were introduced to the extra nest while she was out. When she returned, she first checked them out and then started feeding them!!!
This can be watched on video here:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/22758...ghlight/265228

Unfortunately, she cannot sit on the chicks and her eggs too at the same time, so when it is too cool for the chicks at night, they are taken back to the bird rehab place to be kept warm. They're returned to the nest in the warmth of daytime. Emma will only be caring for the orphan chicks until they are past the "danger" zone, till they are about 9 days old. After all, she will have her own to take care of soon. But in the mean time, she is sitting on her eggs in her nest and feeding the two orphans in the nest that is right next to hers. She has even been observed connecting the nests together, believe it or not! Wow, who would have thunk!
Here's the link to the live feed.
http://www.ustream.tv/worldofhummingbirds

Here is another that shows near the end of the video (be patient, it does show eventually!) the rehab lady returning the chicks to the nest after the first night at the rehab center.
When you see the lady's fingers placing the chicks in the nest, you get a better idea of just how tiny, tiny, tiny these magnificent creatures are!
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/22799...ghlight/265606

Fascinating how you can see right through their translucent skin and actually see the food transfered from Emma into the chicks crops. Wow.
Enjoy.

[Frog42]

At least one of the owls in the Netherlands nest has hatched! Mama raised up for an instant and I could see a piece of eggshell. How very cool!

I just went back for another look and saw the chick when she stood up. I am so excited!

[agate]

I got to see the baby Great Blue Herons--what an experience!

[stillstANNding]

Nuthatch,

I hung a thistle sock for gold finches yesterday afternoon. It was full of thistle and sunflower chips. I was away last night and came home at noon to find it ripped open on the seam and very empty. Only thistle on the ground. Somewhere there is a squirrel that owes me $7!

ANN

[nuthatch]

Ann, good luck on collecting your $7. I hear squirrels are pretty tight with the cash and usually deny responsibility for any damages they may do!

I was given a thistle sock years ago and hung it by my deck. Soon I had tons of gold finches . . . beautiful little birds! Unfortunately, the sock was made of pretty flimsy material and didn't hold up long.
Since I had so many gold finches, I decided to make seed socks out of some netting type material that I had on hand. They held up much longer than the store bought kind and the finches were happy with it. I bought big bags of thistle seed at WalMart to refill the socks and enjoyed watching those colorful little birds for several years.

Since thistle seed was being flung all over my deck, I eventually bought shepard hooks and hung the socks from those instead, away from the deck, but in view. That worked fine for awhile, until my cats decided that they could jump just high enough to maybe snag one of the sweet little unsuspecting finches.
I'm not sure if they ever caught one, but they did rip the netting with their claws and out went the seed. After that happened a few times, I decided I didn't want to be an accomplice to the cat's murderous ways, so quit putting the seed bags out. Now, I have no gold finches around, but I do have squirrels and lots of other birds.

The squirrels never did bother the seed bags, but I had only thistle seed in mine. I don't think they like thistle seed, but they do love sunflower seed. If it was indeed a squirrel that ripped your bags, it was probably after the sunflower seed, not the thistle seed. On the other hand, it could have been a cat after the birds!
I love my cats, but sometimes they push my buttons!

[SalpalSally]

Someone sent this to me in an Email today....Enjoy the Robins..

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_...F&fullscreen=1










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[SalpalSally]

Those Eagle babies are flapping their wings, getting ready to leave the nest. I hope I'm lucky enough to see it.

I thought I was going to see it today. One of the babes was seriously trying, right on the edge and in the air, but finally settled on the edge and folded it's wings. LOL, it was fun to watch.