Meanwhile, peregrines (and other raptors) are coming back! Belinda has been back at King for several days - since late February - and Bob will be doing a river survey this weekend.
Dot, I've heard you talk about Alice the owl before. This video is for you...
The Decorah Eagles laid their first egg last night!
Last year, the first egg hatched 37 days after the eagles began laying eggs. I'm estimating hatch beginning on April 4th. This is five days earlier than last year, on March 2nd. Here is a link to a hatch slideshow, contributed by one of our forum members...
Peregrine falcons are beginning to return - they are back in LaCrosse, WI, and Lake City, MN. A look at our calendar shows a lot of activity beginning in March of previous years. We are always interested in reports of peregrines, especially on Mississippi river cliffs, where they can be hard to spot. We often find them by watching known or likely spots (high bluffs with exposed faces) and listening or looking in favored perching spots, such as large dead snags on cliffs. Although the information in this map is a little old, it does show many of the spots peregrines are nesting at >> nest map.
On the Mississippi, we look from roughly Diamond Head, WI on down through southern Iowa. If you see a peregrine, or think you see a peregrine, on the river cliffs, please give us an email!
2/25/2010
It appears there has been a territorial fight at the Valmont Owl nestbox. We are not sure of the outcome. It was reported that one of the owls appeared burned, as though from flue gas. That is incorrect. Dave, a plant employee who works closely with the nest, got out binoculars. The owl has dried blood on its face. You can also see a lot of feathers in the nestbox.
Here is Dave's post:
Thanks for your support and concern for the Valmont GHO's. The adult female is currently perched outside the nest just out of the camera's view. Observing her with binoculars from about 100 yards away, she appears to have dried blood on her face. The adult male is roosting in a favorite spot directly below the nest and he appears to be healthy. There has been a third GHO, probably female based on size, in the immediate area for over a week. I am speculating that the nesting female got into a territorial fight with the intruder last night. There has been no sign of the third owl today. Hopefully, the female's injuries are superficial and she will recover quickly.
GHO's have been nesting at the Valmont power plant for over 30 years. In the 13 years I have been watching them, only 1 nest has failed, although there has been plenty of excitement. They are remarkably adaptable. The nest cameras give us incredible insight into the challenges they face. Their three eggs are almost certainly nonviable after being exposed for so long. They may possibly lay a second clutch in two weeks or so like they did several years ago.
Be assured that we are keeping a close watch on the owls. I will submit another post if anything significant occurs here. Thanks again for your support.
I was asked why the owl nest had failed (which Dave references). There was a terrible storm and the nestbox filled up with snow. Despite the female's efforts to incubate the eggs, the embryos died. This happened back in 2007.
Maple, a forum member, posted:
I had just finished reading about "floater" owls - usually too young to breed- that drift around, never hooting,and trying to remain hidden from the owls who occupy the territory. Perhaps that is the sort of situation here. In "Owls of the United States and Canada" the author states, "Some owls are indeed non-territorial, at least temporarily, and skulk around in the occupied range of territorial pairs, risking detection, aggressive expulsion and even death."
2/24/2010
I am said to announce the Dennis Buri has passed away. Dennis and his wife Myrna owned Twin Bluffs in Nelson, WI. They wanted a falcon nestbox very badly, and we got them one. I didn't see them often, but enjoyed the time I spent with them. Dennis was a neat guy, and I am sorry for his family's loss.
Falcons are back at US Bank in LaCrosse, and in Lake City, MN. We'll be starting river surveys soon, so let us know if you see any falcons. We look along the river from Red Wing south. Bob told me that he tends to find them by hearing them.
Greencashew caught three eagles at the nest. I think, although I'm not positive, that Bob might have thrown that trout out for them.
2/19/2010
Derby Cathedral Video Proves Peregrines Hunt By Night
You may find yourself feeling sorry for the woodcock, but it is a pretty interesting video. I'm going to try watching the GRE cam at night this year, and I know Bob is watching the eaglecam at night - he's very curious about eagles flying after dark.
I need to do some forum maintenance over the weekend. I'm planning Sunday night right now.
2/18/2010
I should have checked the forum - the Fort St. Vrain Eagle laid on the 14th! The webmaster is embarrassed. Egg #2 was laid yesterday, and Peggy Jean caught it on video.
The eagles incubated for 37 days in 2008, starting from egg 1. I'm going to estimate the hatch date on March 24 for the Valmont Eagle nest.
2/17/2010
The Fort St. Vrain eagle laid her first egg on the 17th last year, and she's certainly looking ready to lay now. As of last night, there was no egg in the nest, though:
As regular watchers know, the Valmont owl laid egg number two on the 15th, and egg number 3 on the 16th! She appears to be in full incubation. However, ravens have been hassling the pair - well documented in the Valmont thread.
In honor of the Valmont Owls, today's video, by Sandy2138, shows the female laying her first egg. The tail wiggle reminds me of the GRE peregrine. Check out our youtube channel for more video of the birds, captured by their fans. Visit the people I subscribe to for many, many more videos!
Got egg? In 2008, the first egg hatched 34 days after it was laid. I'm estimating hatch on 3/16/2010. Hopefully this will be a good year for the owls.
They do seem to be eating a lot of rats this year. In this picture, she appears to be resting on the rat before eating it.
Another great Decorah eagle video from PeggyJean. If you are making videos, please email me the link or post it in our forum.
The Decorah eagles had a visitor today. Any guesses as to what kind of bird this is? It only showed up for one frame.
2/9/2010
I've got the Decorah Eagle Dailies up roughly by hour - click here to see it. The eagle images are great, and we'll have the timestamp back shortly. The real image is quite a bit larger than my sample below...
There aren't any eggs in the Valmont Owls nest yet, although she was in the box for much of the day. Maybe tomorrow?
2/7/2010
One of the owls has been in the box since 6:44 this morning. I think we might be seeing egg-laying.
Also, the Decorah eagle dailies have returned (for now)! I don't have them arranged into hours yet - we need to fine tune a couple of things first - but here is a page with all of the images for your viewing pleasure. I'll be breaking the images down into hours and adding thumbnails over the next couple of days.
2/3/2010
I'm holding my breath as the likely time for Valmont Owl egg-laying draws near. Will they nest in the box this year? Snowflake was in the box for 45 minutes or so last night, between 10:00 and 11:00.
C'mon, Snowflake - nest in the box!
The Fort St. Vrain eagles laid their first egg last year on February 17th. It looks like we'll be seeing eggs again this year, per this video from GreenCashew...
We're going to try adding Decorah eagle dailies tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed. In the meantime....
Check the forum for ongoing pics and discussion, including Diane's pictures from the release of Harley the Eagle.
1/15/2010
The Decorah eaglecam has been running fairly well, and the eagles have been very busy working on their nest and building the nest cup. Bob is also planning on putting together a curriculum with a blog for this site. We'll keep everyone posted. We may need to go to a smaller image because of bandwidth issues, although Bob has ordered a faster line. We're also looking at a way to do dailies again.
The owls laid their first egg on February 6th last year. Watching them this year, however, I'm beginning to wonder if it won't happen earlier. Keep an eye on this nest!
There is a film festival in Decorah Iowa, next weekend! From the website:
The Oneota Film Festival is two days packed with almost 25 hours of feature-length and short films about sustainability in food, energy, and living – plus eco-tourism, short comedies, and local productions. Some sessions will be followed by panel discussions where you can connect the dots, share ideas and get helpful information from local and national experts.
The American Eagle, which was filmed in part at the Decorah Eagle's nest, will be shown on Saturday. For more information or to register, click here: http://www.oneotafilmfestival.org/index.html
I was happy to see the owls back after the big snowstorm, but I'm not quite sure what this is in the osprey nest. I'm thinking it is an owl - it appeared out of nowhere and was only in the picture for two frames.
Of course, you can also spot pigeons here during the day...
This nest seems to have its share of visitors, although I really like the little mammals you can sometimes see in the Decorah eagle's nest. I've been surprised by the number of fauna the nest attracts.
12/19/2009
The owls Dan and Snowflake are putting in appearances at their Fort St. Vrain nestbox. They've got a nice scrape now.
