TGIF and Happy Fri-yay! We have Nestflix from Decorah, Decorah North, and the Mississippi Flyway. I loved all of these videos, but don’t miss the barred owl visitor and giant stick at Decorah North (the stick was big enough that it took planning to get to the nest), coyotes on ice, or Mom’s very fresh two for one fish special in Decorah! I love seeing life in and beyond our nests and on the Mississippi. Who would’ve guessed that we’d see coyotes on ice in the middle of the day? What else don’t we see all around us? Thanks so much for watching and learning with us as we begin another year! <3
Decorah Eagles
1/11/19: DM2 nest work continues – https://youtu.be/W1dlS1Sbak4. Wow! I’m really hoping to get a time lapse done soon to document the amount of work that Mom and DM2 have done on N2B this year! The bottom of the bark diamond is covered, the crib rails are raised, and the bottom of the nest is filled with shredded husks and grasses.
1/10/19: Early bird two-for-one fish special – https://youtu.be/SCJ6I4WWbgg. Why take one fish when you can BOGO? Mom brings two floppy fish to the nest. She must have been hungry because they don’t last very long!
1/09/19: Nuthatch visitor – https://youtu.be/gYqWNOIXIB0. A tiny little bit of nuthatch cuteness as a white-breasted nuthatch visits N2B. Nuthatches will happily eat protein, so it may have been looking for scraps.
1/09/19: Mom with 2 fish, one still floppy – https://youtu.be/lCgyRKkQz0E. The video opens with a beautiful look at the nest bowl and what will eventually be the nest cup. Mom flies in with two fish – one still flopping! – which made me think of her SuperMom spring. Look for alert vocals in the 3rd minute, followed by a very fresh sushi lunch!
Decorah North Eagles
1/10/19: Decorah North Eagles Owl Visitor, Vocals & Copulation – https://youtu.be/lc76r93mIPQ. The barred owl visitor is extremely cool (although the North eagles would disagree)! Thanks to a morning-owl camera operator, we get a great look at it (check its eyes, which are fully dilated since it can’t see IR light). The camera operator switches to the eagles and then back to the owl, who is now in the nest, at 3:33. The video concludes with copulation and nestoration by (I think) the female eagle.
1/08/19: Navigating with a huge stick – https://youtu.be/0IhSjLntUZQ. Holy cow, look at that stick! The male has to rest out in the pasture and perhaps plan an approach for bringing it in. After he gets to the branch, go to 1:32 to watch him take off. As we see at about 1:52, he flew out across the field (listen for crows between 1:32 and 1:52) to get the best approach. Stick tango follows!
Flyway Cam
1/9/18: Coyote is back, with friends – https://youtu.be/tnpPH8uAZUs. This is so cool! A coyote trots across thin river ice. Since it wouldn’t need to do this to travel between territories or get to mates, it may be looking for gizzard shad or other carrion on the river ice and in shallow water. A second coyote follows at 2:13 and we get a nice look at them together starting at 4:37. A third coyote joins them at around 5:23. Note that two are tails up and one is tail down. If you look closely, hackles are also up. After what looks like a dominance interaction, the three continue slip-sliding on the ice, although everyone’s tail is now up. I’m going to find some coyote people to talk with about what we are seeing here.
The Raptor Resource Project