I'm working on the banding report now. I can tell you overall that, despite our cliff losses, we had five more babies at RRP sites this year than last: 66 as compared to 61. I'll be interested in seeing how other banding groups fared with their cliff populations - we've gone from a maximum of nine cliffs in 2008 to 6 in 2009, and 4 in 2010.
We've been getting a lot of requests for status updates on the fledgling eagles. Everyone will be pleased to know all three are doing well...
On the peak of a nearby barn...
On a tv antenna...
and in a tree.
Bob is also busy building nestboxes (some are replacements for older boxes, and some are new) and working with a glider (more about that in the next post). Over the next few months, we'll be hanging nest boxes, replacing eaglecam wires with (hopefully) squirrel-proof counterparts, and releasing our annual report. We're also talking about how to make eaglecam even better next year, and how to add a few more peregrine cams to the mix.
6/17/2010
I'll get updates published in the forum tonight. We banded four babies at Greysolon on Tuesday. They were roughly 30 days old, and a real handful!
John Thiel did find peregrines at Alma, although it is too late to band them. He reports:
"I went to the top of the turbine building after I called Bob and confirmed
at least two additional juvenile falcons in the new eyrie (Total of three).
They were hidden by vegetation from below. I have centered the PZT camera on
this location so we now can see the new location. It is located in a deep
crevice about 15 feet below the old DNR nest box which is visible on the
camera."
The Alma link is back in the cam list. Gary Grunewald also reported seeing the female at Maiden Rock, so Bob is going to check that eyrie on Saturday. And finally, Paul Simonet, who spotted Mae at the King plant back in the late 80s, reports seeing a falcon near Osceola, WI. There are some bluffs in that region that we will be looking at.
We'll be back at Dead Cow and Lansing next Thursday.
6/7/2010
Regular banding updates will be posted by site, over in the forum, until season is done. Overall, we have banded 23 babies so far, and encountered two babies that were too young to band.
We had a very interesting weekend - it was nothing like I expected. We started at 9:30 down below Maiden Rock. Bob and I had both seen falcons there - he had seen a mature adult male and I had see a female come out of a pothole, escort a turkey vulture off the premises, and quickly return to the eyrie. Things looked good for babies.
I pulled in to see Gary Grunewald already watching the bluff. We were joined shortly thereafter by Brenda from GRE, Rick Gaugin, his wife Elaine, and a group of people from the West Wisconsin Land Trust (they own the bluff), Ben Ogren, John Dingley, Dot K, and several others - I'm sorry if I missed you! We were very surprised to spot an immature adult male sitting in a snag at the top of the bluff, and there was no sign of the female. We watched for about half an hour, but saw no food transfers or female. Nor did we hear any kekking or food begging.
We decided to call Maiden Rock off and proceeded to West Bluff. Gary and I had both been watching this one and while I was quite sure they were not in the overhang eyrie, neither one of us knew where they were. After turning the banding over to me (gulp), Bob and Gary stayed down to guide us into the eyrie.
As we came up to the bluff, both adults swung into the air and started kekking. Ben Ogren and David went down first, at the downstream side of the bluff, near the very first eyrie. They looked around, but found nothing. Bob radioed up and asked me to check the overhang eyrie, which I did. The overhang rock is probably dolostone (it's a hard caprock over limestone) with sharp crystals deeply embedded right where your rope hangs. Protection required.
I didn't see anything in the old eyrie, but I did scare the female up from a pothole about 10 feet downstream. Ben roped up and came down. He didn't find babies, but he did find a peregrine egg that appeared to have hatched, and two unhatched eggs. He came up and we once again scrubbed the banding. However, Gary did think that he had heard babies here, so he is going to continue watching this bluff.
Bob called John Thiel and asked him to check the eyrie at 12-Mile Bluff, which can be seen from the roof of the turbine building. We were checked to hear that John couldn't see any babies in the eyrie. We headed to 12-mile ourselves, but it had started to rain fairly hard. Although we spent some time looking for any falcons at all, we didn't see a thing. I believe that a couple of Dairyland Power interns are going to spend some time watching this bluff to see if they can determine whether or not there are babies, and where those babies are.
The Lansing female
The next day, Bob, David, Amy, Brett Mandernack, and Nora headed out to the Lansing power plant bluff and Dead Cow bluff (also in Lansing). We hiked up to the top of Lansing bluff, passing through a really pretty cedar forest on the way to the little goat prairie up top. Although we were burdened with three ropes, the kennel, and the banding equipment, the hike wasn't bad. Once we were up, I cast off the bluff to find the new nestbox. We've got two up there, and we were not sure which they were in.
I was a little surprised that the female didn't rise up after us. Normally, you get on top of the bluff and the female starts scolding. I was down about 8-10 feet from her box, tossing loose rock and calling up to the guys. Where was she?
I came back up and Brett and I roped up and went down in the right spot. I really thought we had another failure on our hands until, when I was roughly three feet from the nestbox, the female flew out. I got down to eye level and found one tiny baby and two unhatched eggs. That falcon was less than 24 hours old! We got out of there asap, and Mom was back into the box before we were all the way up the cliff. It looks like Dave Kester is going to get to join us for cliff banding this year after all.
We headed to Dead Cow bluff where Mark, who rents just below the bluff, showed us a road to the top that probably saved us hours of walking. We went across one of the loveliest meadows I've ever seen and found the drop in a little woodland. Dead Cow is so-named because the owners run a few cows up here and, despite the barbed wire that edges the drop, at least one has gone over.
I'm not going to lie - Dead Cow is spooky. You've got to drop the rope bag over the barbed wire and pull the rop under the fence, since rope + barbed wire = very bad. You set the anchor, climb over the fence, get on your equipment, and go right over the bluff before ever really getting on your stuff. Normally, we anchor away from the face and back up to it, giving ample time to make sure everything is on, tight, and working. Not here! You get it right or you find out too late.
The female flew out of the nestbox and started kekking at us, which looked good. I descended over the loosest rock that I've personally been on, pulling all the way. I tossed one rock that was as large as a dinner plate and considerably heavier. It was located directly over the nestbox and could easily have been dislodged by my rope, since it was so loose it didn't even require tugging to remove it. I removed what felt like a ton of smaller but still dangerous loose stuff, and warned David about the rock so many times that he was probably tired of hearing it. Finally, I got down to the box, only to discover a falcon that was maybe five days old - way too young to band. David and I went up. In the future, I recommend sending just one climber down on the upstream side of this box, where the rock looked a little better. The topman can run the kennel, but the climber will have to be able handle babies by him or herself. The fewer people that go up and down here, the safer it will be.
Considering what happened yesterday, we are holding out some hope for West, Maiden, and Alma, although Saturday was very disappointing. The late babies are quite strange - last year, we banded Lansing cliff young around 25 days of age on June 6th. Between the 5th and the 9th, we consistently banded cliff babies that were 21+ days of age. Combined with the cliffs that falcons flat out failed to return to, we are worried about the state of peregrines along the river.
I hope to have some pics to accompany all this text very soon!
5/28/2010
We banded one baby at US Bank and four at Genoa yesterday. The Genoa young were sleepy and full. I think all the little falcons I band should be sleepy, full, and right around 20 days of age. I was only footed by one of them, and none of them wanted to go near the front of the box.
The Eagle Dailies are running again!
5/26/2010
We've had some emails about a limping eaglet at the Decorah nest, and some requests to get the limping eaglet from the nest. We are unable to do so - if we tried to go up to the nest, all three eaglets would jump. They are not old enough to fly yet, so that would be disastrous. We'll keep an eye on the nest, which is all we can do right now.
Here's a rough banding schedule. Please let us know if you'd like to attend a cliff banding - just email ries93@gmail.com.
May 27th
10:00AM - US Bank
Afternoon: Genoa
June 1st
Bay State Milling Winona, MN
June 3rd
Cassville power plant AM
Lynxville cliff PM
June 5th
9:30 AM - Maiden Rock
12:30PM - West Bluff
2:30 PM - 12 Mile Bluff
June 6th
Dead Cow Bluff and Lansing Power plant cliff-Leo's Bluff.
June 7th
Agri-bunge
June 8th
10:30 AM - King plant
1:30 PM - 3M plant
June 9th
Red Wing Grain AM
Prairie Island PM
June 10th or June 11th
Blackdog
River View Terrace
June 14th or 15th
MN Power
Duluth hotel
Hibbard Plant
We banded 4 healthy young babies at the Horizon Milling plant on Tuesday - three males and one female. We had a very tense moment when one baby jumped up on the perch as we were trying to remove them from the box, which hangs over the edge of the stackhouse. Bob quickly grabbed a broom an very carefully hustled the intrepid baby back in the box, where we were able to grab him.
And Belinda, as sharp-eyed forum members noticed, laid six eggs this year.
5/23/2010
What a week! We saw hatch at the Pawnee kestrel box and the peregrine King, Blackdog, and Cohasset boxes. Banding starts Tuesday at 10:30 at Horizon Milling in Lake City. The Canadian Peregrine Foundation has a very nice page showing young peregrine development - check it outto learn more.
Here's Belinda at the King plant. Belinda laid 5 eggs again this year, and went far beyond the estimated hatch date, making everyone nervous.
Here's a cute video of the Pawnee kestrel nest from kittenface. That brood is a real handful! She also uploaded a video of a feeding at the GRE nest:
Here's a quick synopsis of the sites we know about:
Lansing Dead Cow Bluff: Most likely has young. New site.
12-Mile Bluff: Most likely has young
Lynxville Bluff: at least one young
5/15/2010
Things are getting very busy at the falcon nests! GRE, Sherco, and Red Wing Grain all started hatching yesterday. A couple of astute forum members captured these shots...
King and Blackdog should start in a couple of days, but might go earlier than my estimation. We also have a new nestbox at Riverside Terrace in Minneapolis. Rob MacIntyre set it up to help with pigeon abatement, and peregrines have moved in. We are anticipating hatch sometime next week at the latest.
The Horizon Milling cam is still not functioning correctly, but it occasionally gives a newer shot of the babies. Here they are on May 11th. Compare that to May 3rd, just below. Birds have the fastest growth rates in the animal kingdom. For those of you who are in the mood for some learning, this article about growth and development in birds is good. If you really want to read academic science literature, check out considerations on sibling competition and avian growth rates.
Here's an interesting video of the GRE nest from kittenface. You can briefly see the young falcon under Mom when she 'flips'. Parents need to be careful with their feet when very young babies are in the nest - their toes are long and their talons are sharp
There is some neat discussion and links on the osprey thread of our forum. Diane, one of our members, monitors ospreys in the metro area. Click here to check it out. In addition to the Forst St. Vrain eagles and owls, the area is home to ospreys.
Also, take a look at our youtube channel for some new videos - PeggyJean and Kittenface have both been busy! The video up above is a time-lapse of the Decorah eagles nest, shot by PeggyJean.
5/06/2010
We had hatch at Horizon Milling. It was estimated for 4/29 and there were three on Monday morning, so I'm sticking with that.
5/03/2010
We're planning on starting cliff banding on Wednesday, June 9th. So far, it looks like we'll be banding at
West Bluff WI
Maiden Rock WI
12-Mile Bluff WI (behind the DP Alma plant)
Lynxville WI
Dead Cow Bluff, IA
Lansing Cliff IA
Leo's Bluff, IA
No falcons were seen at Homer, Castle Rock or Maasen's Bluff. Falcons were seen copulating at Twin Bluffs in Nelson, and at the box in Fountain City, but Bob doesn't think that there are eggs in either place this year. He did see a male falcon on a cliff just south of Homer (Homer south) earlier this year, but has not seen him since. I've got the results of Bob's helicopter survey up on the blog for anyone who is interested.
I'll give the power plant banding dates as we have them - I know we're talking about the 7th for the King plant, but I don't have that one for sure. Also, it looks like the HM cam is back down. Cargill is working on it - I'd like to see that nest, so I hope it is fixed soon!
The Decorah eaglets are starting to get their juvenile feathers in through the dark baby down, as the picture below shows. Compare it with the one from 4/20, below, to get a look at their astonishing growth rate. No wonder they spend so much time sleeping - think about the physical consequences of their incredible growth rate, coupled with two 'outer covering' changes - white baby down to grey baby down to juvenile flight feathers.
PeggyJean has a cute new video of the Decorah nest. It is fun to watch the babies pick at the nest like miniature adults.
The Fort St. Vrain eaglets are a little ahead - they have almost all of their dark juvenile feathers and (I think) spend a little more time up and about than they did during the ferocious period of growth they experienced earlier in life:
4/27/2010
The Horizon Milling Cam is back up - and just in the nick of time! We should be seeing peregrine hatch here very shortly.
In the meantime, a few videos. I really liked this Decorah video from PeggyJean (she has more, which you can view on the RRP channel or from the original source...)
Kittenface follows the Fort St. Vrain nest:
A few things. First of all, these series of videos really illustrate how quickly birds of prey grow. Secondly, I like the peeks into eagle behavior these videos yield. I've seen adults return after dark with live prey, adults spreading their wings and bouncing like young, young eagles spreading their wings, adults protecting young from rain, and so much more.
Bob's helicopter report will be published tomorrow.
4/23/2010
It may be the incubation 'doldrums' for the falcons, but a lot is still going on. I added a page showing a shot from the FSV nest (almost) every day - that can be seen in the nest viewer, on the FSV eagles page, or by clicking here. A big thanks to the forum members who capture and post images, slideshows, and videos - many of these images came from you. I also have some new videos from kittenface and Peggy Jean on our youtube channel.
The Decorah eaglets are well-fed - and growing fast, too! In this photo, the size difference between the youngest sib and its older clutch mates seems to have dimished, although the youngest one is still whiter. These eaglets have been eating a lot of fish!
Bob and John Thiel spent the day in a Dairyland Power helicopter, surveying some cliffs that could only be viewed from the air! Bob is going to write up a full report, which I'll post, but in the meantime, here is a photograph of the helicopter on top of Raleigh Buckmaster's bluff, just south of Lansing.
Female: S/72 - falcon from American Republic, Des Moines, who took over nest last year.
He also got the numbers for the male at 12-Mile bluff, behind the Alma plant:
Male: 23/M - Mark, 2002 Castle Rock. Same male as last year.
Gary Grunwald reported a falcon at Twin Bluff in Alma, WI. Could the box at Bay State Milling explain the absence of falcons at Castle Rock, and the box on the Nelson cliff explain the absence at Maasen's bluff? It would be wonderful to get the band numbers at these locations.
This video from PeggyJean documents 'Abel and Cain' syndrome at the Decorah eagle nest, although the youngest eaglet seems to be healthy and well-fed despite the harrassment of its older sib. As can be seen from the nest, the eagles have been bringing in plenty of food. Forum members have commented on (and taken videos of) suckerfish, rabbit, and muskrat. Eagles eat a wide variety of food - just two years ago, the FSV eagles were feeding very heavily on turtles.
Birds have the fastest growth rates in the animal kingdom, and age can mean a very big difference in size at the right time of a young bird's life. The first eaglet in the Fort St. Vrain nest hatched just eights days ahead of the first eaglet at Decorah. This video of the FSV nest by kittenface shows the size difference just eight days means. Note the dark down at FSV.
Nora's picture of the Decorah nest also gives a good look at it. Baby three hatched six days after baby one:
We finally have an egg at Cohasset, although it will be the latest power plant nest this year. The full list of estimated hatch dates (I'm going to guess at Cohasset based on one egg) is:
Horizon Milling - 4/29/2010
Genoa - 5/9/2010
Red Wing Grain - 5/14/2010
Sherco - 5/15/2010
Great River Energy - 5/15/2010
King - 5/17/2010
Blackdog - 5/17/2010
Cohasset - 5/20/2010
Unfortunately, we have lost the IR camera at the Decorah eagle's nest and had to switch to the backup cam. We think that squirrels chewed the wires. Hopefully, they will leave the remaining cam alone. Here is a picture of the adults protecting the babies from the rain.
Peggy Jean caught the eagles bringing in a suckerfish.
This is most likely a white suckerfish. Suckerfish are bottom feeders, so I was wondering how the eagles caught them, since they don't plunge deeply into the water. According to Trout Unlimited, they are spawning...
In spring, when water temperatures reach about 50 degrees, white suckers make their spawning runs, or migrations. White suckers lay their eggs on gravel beds in lake and river shallows, generally after dark.
So I imagine that eagles have been catching and eating white suckerfish for a very long time. I'm not sure how long spawning will last, but it looks like the eagles will be dining well while it does - suckerfish are apparently quite good to eat, although a little hard to debone.
4/10/2010
No eggs at Cohasset yet, but I've got estimated hatch dates as follows:
Horizon Milling - 4/29/2010
Genoa - 5/9/2010
Red Wing Grain - 5/14/2010
Sherco - 5/15/2010
Great River Energy - 5/15/2010
These dates are based on 33 days after the third egg, when falcons usually go into full incubation. However, they are not always spot-on: eggs could hatch a little sooner or a little later than my estimated dates.
In other news, the third eaglet hatched in Decorah!
We also captured footage of Dad bringing a fish to the nest just after dark. The fish is still alive.
You can see it here, captured by a forum member. You might find these photos a little disturbing, however. The fish starts to move at minute 1.02:
Blackdog finally has eggs. Of cammed sites, Cohasset remains the only holdout...
4/7/2010
The second eaglet hatched yesterday. Bob sent a picture of the adult eagles shielding the babies from the rain. One of the things that really strikes me about eagles and falcons is how wonderfully they parent their young.
PeggyJean captured this great feeding video. The little eaglets are hungry!
I have added the FSV Owl Daily pics as a link in the nest viewer. If they go live with video on that, I'll add it as well.
And we finally have an egg at GRE, as of the 5th. We are going to have a tightly packed schedule at our power plant sites!
4/5/2010
Turns out the hatch was on 4/3/2010, as caught by PeggyJean.
It was an eventful Easter and Easter Monday looks busy also! We also have egg one at Sherco, as of about 6:30pm, egg one at the King plant as of this morning, and both Ospreys back at the King Osprey nest.
4/4/2010
First hatch at Decorah! Yayyyhhhh!
Here are two videos. The top is from PeggyJean, and the bottom is from CAL04FYI. Thanks so much!
We also have the second egg at Genoa (laid on 4/2/2010) and the first Osprey back at the King Plant (4/3/2010).
3/30/2010
The third egg has been laid at Horizon Milling, and the first egg has been laid at Genoa. I'm estimating a hatch date of April 29 at Horizon milling, but it could be a little earlier than that, given that we are estimating third egg date.
PeggyJean caught one of the eaglets exploring the nest yesterday. This video is really fun - I can't believe how quickly they start getting about!
Check the forum for the latest - our posters don't miss a thing! I'm going to be connecting to new video later on this evening.
3/23/2010
First egg of the season, once again at Horizon Milling Lake City. Falcons are Gretsch and Lolo!
This ties with the other earliest date, also set by Lolo and Gretsch, in 2007. That was followed by a reclutch in Valmont the next day, and eggs at Genoa and King. In watching the nests, MandyRose, the Blackdog falcon, looked kind of hunkered down this morning. As always, the latest news can be found on the forum.
Nora emailed me with photos from Red Wing. Her photos were of an unbanded male, and we believe we have a new female there as well.
3/20/2010
Despite heavy snow in Colorado, the Valmont owl was in her nestbox last night. We're still not sure whether or not she is going to recycle, but her presence in all the snow certainly seems hopeful.
There was a territorial battle between falcons at Red Wing, and we're not sure whether the falcon is still Husker. Her band was a faded red over black, so if we can get a glimpse of her band, it should be fairly apparent.
One of the things we've been interested in is Bald Eagle behavior at night. As the Derby pregrines proved, peregrines hunt at night. PeggyJean captured this time-lapse video of the eagles in their nest:
Bob did a river survey, and I've got the information from Minnesota (and one Iowa location). He reported falcons at:
McGregor, IA (Agri-Bunge nestbox)
Great Spirit Bluff, MN
Queen's Bluff, MN
An unnamed bluff south of Homer, MN
John Latsch state park, MN
We know they are back at our power plant nestboxes as well. It looks like it could be a busy season for us! I was checking out PeggyJean's youtube channel, and it looks like the peregrines in Maine are already laying eggs!
The Decorah Eagle Dailies will get back to normal today.
3/13/2010
I never thought that Bald Eagles would look vaguely like chickens when they were sleeping...
I've seen my chicken Violet tuck her head under her wing in almost exactly the same way.
There is hope that the Valmont Owls will recycle their clutch. In 2007, the first clutch failed following a huge snowstorm that filled the nestbox with snow. The owls reclutched 17 days later. We're at 16 days now, so we'll see what the next couple of days bring. If you are ever curious about nest events this year (or in years past), check out the calendar. I've got data in it going back to 2006. Here's a snapshot of March 2007.
I think Patriot's Girl might have captured copulation here on 3/02/2010, but I can't decide for sure:
Peregrine falcons and kestrels should also start laying eggs soon. Last year, the Pawknee kestrels laid their first egg on March 16, and falcon egg laying started at Horizon Milling on March 24. Forum members are reporting two falcons at the King Plant - a male was first identified on camera on March 8.
Finally, one of our forum members posted about the Myrick Hixon Ecopark, which just opened in downtown LaCrosse. Here's a link: http://www.mhecopark.org/. The Raptor Resource Project worked with Dairyland Power on the peregrine falcon exhibit.
3/03/2010
The Decorah Eagle Dailies have been fixed! Now with more eagles, at the scheduled times...
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.
