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[STLbf]

Phyl, stay watching for a few minutes, the grackle chicks are more active today so you might see all of them.  Their bright red mouths make a good target for feeding.

[STLbf]

Lovely day at the Norths valley. 

[Ginger52]

STL -- the Subadult was eating something and Mr. N. arrived and chased it away.  Here's are a couple of  gifs. posted on Explore chat board by JanJ.

https://i.gyazo.com/638aceaf30553ebf5faa072faaa6b2eb.gif

https://i.gyazo.com/7d37769ac584946439354f71d619e671.gif

[STLbf]

Ginger, thanks for the gifs.  If it was what MrN was eating on at the picnic log, it was a dried carcass of something unknown, not fish.

[Ginger52]

Posted this morning on DNN chat board by mod GABear:

Some sad news this morning. From what we are seeing right now, it appears that our grackle young have perished. There hasn't been any movement this morning when food was brought.

There are so many possibilities. Fail rate on songbird nests (just in my boxes and such) is pretty high. Parasites, fungal diseases, etc.
The parents lack of brooding for 2 nights when temps there were in the 40's didn't seem normal either.
A couple days ago, the parents were picking at something in the nest bowl really often. Looked like it was consumed (not fecal sacs, something too small to see). I wondered about some insects in the nest then. I never saw black fly visible on cam, but I suppose that's possible too, given that we are seeing the adult eagles being bothered by them.
Just speculation. We'll never know. Many songbirds are able to nest more than once in a season. Hopefully this pair can try again somewhere else.

[STLbf]

Oh, Ginger, what sad news about the grackle chicks perishing. Early morning closeups appear to show dark mass in their nest bowl. A parent brought food and nothing moved, then parent left.  Wonder about predator --raccoons perhaps.  It's soooo quiet at DNN live at 11:00 AM.

My bird book says that grackles lay two broods per year, so we can hope they are more fortunate soon.

And the sun came up at dawn, and life in the North's Valley goes on.

[Ginger52]

It is sad, STL.  Definitely not raccoons.  I scanned back in rewind and would have seen any predator since the cam was on the nest all night.  The very last movement I saw by any of the chicks was at about 3:12 a.m. and that was a very slight movement.  The parent came to feed at 5:29 a.m. and none were responsive.

[LisaG1967]

Ginger, thanks for the update and info. 

[STLbf]

Thanks to the cam ops for finding several songbirds and crows for us to watch around 1:00 this afternoon.  A special favorite of mine is the brown thrasher, a prolific singer, that I recall from my childhood in northern Indiana.

[Phyl]

It is sad, STL.  Definitely not raccoons.  I scanned back in rewind and would have seen any predator since the cam was on the nest all night.  The very last movement I saw by any of the chicks was at about 3:12 a.m. and that was a very slight movement.  The parent came to feed at 5:29 a.m. and none were responsive.

Such very sad news.     Many thanks Ginger for the update.

[STLbf]

Still pretty quiet at the North's nest and area.  To see the 3-D effect, watch the rewind.  Wind conditions are just right to make the nest move differently from the other branches at about noon.  Very cool, thanks to the cam ops.  If you get seasick, never mind.

[STLbf]

DNF has been in the Scary Tree for a while, being hassled by red-winged blackbirds. 

[STLbf]

The Norths have been perching in the creek trees overnight and during most of today.  Scary Tree, maybe the Spit Tree and the Claw Tree.  No pics of them. 

But great closeups of several little birds again, with a mystery bird ( identified as an Eastern Kingbird ). 

And the cattle clustered near the Scary Tree (rewind to about 2:00).

[Linda M]

But great closeups of several little birds again, with a mystery bird (that's one whose name I can't remember from last summer). 

Mystery bird looks like Eastern Kingbird.  Thanks for all the close-ups!

[STLbf]

Linda, thanks for the ID on the Eastern Kingbird!  Exact match for pic in my bird book.  Will fix Pic label here also.

DNF has been perching in creek trees this morning.  A sub-adult has joined her and seems determined to sit close by!

Bucks are growing antlers now.