IMPORTANT UPDATES: NOBIRDY HAS LEFT FOR MIGRATION! IRIS ON NEST TODAY 08:38:16

~As I was working on this video description, I heard Iris coming in! =D

Awesome news for everyone, in case you don't already know

How ironic that on the very day we get the following update Iris flies into our sight and lands on the nest!! Wow!

Dr. Erick Greene's FB Update via Hellgate Osprey Twitter today Sun 91524
Twitter:
https://x.com/HellgateOsprey/status/1...
Facebook Direct (don't need FB account to see, just X out popup):
~Scroll down on rt. to see post re their surveying the river yesterday:
  / 100057579484512  

So, it would seem the whole family is still there!

~This makes sense bec of all the vocalizations we can hear beyond our views. Also we see Antali, from the nest, vocalizing quite often to birds he sees in their area plus those flying around closer to the nest.

~It's been my feeling that Sumeh has tried on a number of occasions, to return to their nest but we see Antali claimed their nest as HIS castle and that is that. Lol.

~It also makes sense re when Iris was seen atop the stadium lights on Tues 910. After being there for a very long time AND eating a fish up there, she flew off. She headed back into their area; it appeared she carried some fish in her talons.

~Since at the same time, we saw Finnegan delivering fish to Antali on their nest, I had wondered: was Iris taking that fish to Sumeh? Maybe!

So now we know for sure, nobirdy has migrated yet!

TYVM to Dr. Erick Greene and everyone involved w/The Montana Osprey Team, for going out there to look for the whole family!

TYVM to EVERYONE involved in getting this info out to all of us, including Mod(s) in Twitter!

What fantastic news, huh?!

Okay, on to this video clip here...

Here we get to observe our beloved lil' Nest King, waking up to the new day on a breezy and brisk morning.

Such a wonderful treat that goes to the heart, when they turn and gaze seemingly right at us. We get a LOT of those in this clip.

Did you know tucking one leg up under themselves is a way to conserve body heat? Fact.

So the daylight is making its way in, pushing night away and we see our Prince do his morning stretches.

Don't you just love it when they wiggle their tail feathers? I sure do. Then he fluffs right up and looks even more adorable. =D

And then?! he squishes all the way down, feathers tight against his body and looks so small all of a sudden. Did he see somebirdy he didn't like to see out there? We can't know...

Anyone who thinks birds don't feel sure don't know birds!
~We can hear their emotions via their different vocalizations, we can see their emotions via whatever their bodies do, in addition to their behaviors. So to those who cry out: "anthropomorphism!" I say keep it. Sorry for you bec imo, you are missing a heckuva lot! 'Not to mention of course you sell these beautiful creatures short in who and how they are. ...

Then we see Antali start to fluff up his feathers again bec that is how they can help to regulate their body temp..

So peaceful to just observe him watching everything going on out there...

Eventually, Antali seems to see somebirdy and he gets a tad excited, thinking someone might come to the nest.

"Are they coming here? Do they have a fish for me?! Oh I hope they have a fish!"

It's clear he did think somebirdy was coming in. No Cam Op on cam at the moments when Antali jumped to nest. It's my opinion that no, nobirdy else came to the nest.

Now that we know for sure, the rest of the family is out there, in their area, it makes sense all of these many vocalizations from Antali.

So it takes a while before Cam Op returns to the cam, then moves it to the nest.

But if you watched my last video clip from F 91324, and read the description, then you know he had 2 fish nestovers.

He had a sm tail portion leftover and a larger partial fish also leftover at day's end on Fri night. So he dug into those in lieu of any fresh fish that he thought was coming...

After a few minutes, The Cam Op returns and switches the cam focus back to the nest. There would not have been enough time for Antali to have received a new fish, then consumed it by the time the cam view was returned to the nest.

So we see he is working on the nestover tail end of one fish. Lookit his cute little wonky white feather! =D

At one point, he sees somebirdy fly by and does some soft vocals about it. He then works on that little tail, glances at bigger fish to his left, stops eating and just watches out there.

Finally, he eats from the tail in earnest, eventually downing it all. W/a quick wing spread, the wonky feather falls back into place and he heads to the perch.

After some feaking of his beak, off he goes!

~Thanks for watching!

~TYSVM Cornell Lab Bird Cams and The Montana Osprey Project!