Bald Eagles on Ice at the Flyway Cam
Happy Saturday and welcome to this morning’s video round-up! Grab your favorite beverage and snacks and settle back, because we have a whole lot of videos here! We normally open with the Decorah Eagles, but we were so charmed by the eagles on ice that I put the Flyway first tonight! I also really enjoyed the Mom close-ups, the stick breaking in mid-flight, and the mating video from Decorah North. If you’d like to learn more about Hairy versus Downy Woodpeckers and how insects handle winter, don’t miss the Hairy Woodpecker visit at Decorah North. Have a great evening, everyone!
Mississippi River Flyway
01/03/18: Gorgeous Sunrise & Fun Morning, Juvies Playing On Ice – https://youtu.be/A7p7SwZuRhk. Watch the whole video or go to 6:40 for some eagle ice-skating followed by a little stick play. This is a really good example of how eagles are programmed to grab sticks, and very fun to watch, too! #YuriOnIce #MightyEagles
Decorah Eagles
01/04/19: Mom closeups, big stick, beakering – https://youtu.be/iXlH1ScjCgw. The video opens with a lovely close-up of Mom. UME2 comes in at 2:46 with a stick and starts Decorah-ating. We get a great fly-in starting at 6:28 as Mom comes in hot with a very big stick!UME2 joins her at around 9:19 with a talonful of husks. While the nibbles and beakering at 9:43 look cute, they quickly move into a full-blown Beakerson’s moment. Was Mom really upset, or was she just trying to get UME2’s attention? Mom gets her big stick into place with a little help from UME2!
01/03/19: Mom Breaks Stick Off Tree In Flight – https://youtu.be/fgTXkT__nHU. This is so cool! UME-2 flies to the nest with a large, wonky stick. Look for Mom to fly in from the right side of the screen starting at about :24. You might have to look hard, since she is in the background! She breaks off a stick (which you can hear!) and brings it to N2B for some stick tango with UME2!
01/03/19: Squirrel corn husk theft discovered – https://youtu.be/zWYF1p0EIiA. How are Mom and UME2 supposed to keep the place up when squirrels keep filching material for their own nests? Start the video at 1:30 to see a very quick escape! There aren’t really any branches below that side of the nest, which makes me think the squirrel must be scrambling down the side of N2B!
01/03/19: UME2, Mom, and Sunset – https://youtu.be/6mvS1B9UIko. A really nice sunset video. Mom and UME2 alternately nestorate and perch on the Skywalk against a blue, rose, and gold sunset. Beautiful!
Decorah North Eagles
01/03/19: Mating – https://youtu.be/XRueYQcNdls. While the Decorah North Eagles have been copulating for quite some time now, their copulations should become more frequent and intense as the days lengthen. Be sure to have your audio on – the mutual vocalizations are very cool!
01/03/18: Food fight! – https://youtu.be/HZrhmBgRTQI. Sometimes you don’t want to share! The female comes in with the male in hot pursuit. She takes off and leaves him in the nest. Some nice close-ups follow!
01/03/19: A Hairy Woodpecker female visit – https://youtu.be/5MUJ1Z2i3Wg. The video ID’s this as a Downy Woodpecker, but I think it might be a Hairy based on beak size and what looks like all-white outer tail feathers the few times we see them. This is not an easy ID, especially since we don’t have another woodpecker for a size comparison. More on that here: https://www.audubon.org/news/how-tell-hairy-woodpecker-downy-woodpecker.
So what is it eating this time of the year? Most wintering adult insects are hunkered down in a hibernation-like state called diapause, which makes them easy prey if you can get to them! Various larvae also winter as pupae, which makes them among the first to emerge in the spring. You can read more about that here: https://animals.mom.me/happens-caterpillars-winter-9007.html and here: https://infinitespider.com/the-woolly-bear-caterpillar-in-winter/.
01/01/19: Beautiful close ups American Kestrel – https://youtu.be/iXwMo2niNXA. A female kestrel perches and gives us a look at her beautiful colors. Check out a very nice look at her ‘eye spot’ – the spot on her head – starting at about 3:26.
01/01/19: Hot pursuit Male with food and SA – https://youtu.be/FmH_lRM5MjU. Life is never dull along the North Superflyway! After an intial pursuit right into the nest, look for beautiful close-ups starting at 1:29.
The Raptor Resource Project