It's been a while since I posted any bird nest updates. I've been studying a lot for my upcoming real analysis exam, so between that and work I haven't had much time for updates. I'm also working on moving my bird updates to bellesbirds.com, but since there's lots of nest news at the moment and the new site isn't ready, I wanted to quickly post some updates here.
First up, some new nests! There's a savanna nightjar on a rooftop in Taiwan who just hatched a chick. There are two live feeds and the cameras often move to try to track the birds as they run around the rooftop.
The mum has amazing camouflage and the baby is just a ball of fluff, so they're very fun to watch. My bird guide (they're vagrants here in Australia, but we have related nightjars here, apparently) says their feet are weak and underdeveloped, and they're not great at walking but very graceful in flight. You can definitely see that they have an awkward waddle when walking around on the rooftop.
I love how the chick wears the mum sometimes, to keep warm and stay out of the rain.
There's also a new chick in this UK puffin nest on Coquet island. The chat calls him Kevin, and he's an adorable ball of fluff. Also, the puffin parents make really bizarre grumbly noises when they're in the burrow sometimes. Definitely worth having the sound on to hear that. There's also another puffin live cam here, where they've just started incubating an egg.
Two lesser spotted eagle nests have new chicks, which I'm very excited about (1, 2). I loved watching these nests last year, and luckily both nests seem like they'll only end up with one chick this time (LSEs are known for siblicide, where only the first chick survives if multiple hatch).
A few other cams worth noting: the Egyptian vulture is back and incubating new eggs, this goshawk nest has 2 chicks, and the buzzards in this former lesser spotted eagle nest have 3 big chicks now.
Finally, our albatross chick in NZ is doing well, continuing to put on lots of weight every week and growing some dark feathers now.