Grab the popcorn and kick back, because we have a whole lot of Friday night Nestflix and a blog on incubation! In Decorah, Mom wants eggs, she and DM2 vocalize and defend the nest, Great Blue Herons appear on Trout Creek, and we get fantastic close-ups. Watch out for those talons! At Decorah North, a squirrel makes a close escape and we get a fantastic fly-in, nestorations, and close-ups. And at GSB, a falcon – Newman, maybe? – perches on the bluff. We hope you enjoy these videos as much as we did!
Blog: Do bald eagles delay incubation? https://www.raptorresource.org/…/do-bald-eagles-delay-incu…/. I chose this blog because the eagles at Fort St. Vrain are spending a fair amount of time off their first egg and we were getting questions about it. That nest can be watched here: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/xcel-energy-cams/
We’re still waiting for egg #2 at Fort St. Vrain. We made some changes to the stream viewer on our site, which should make it more accessible for everyone. You can check it out here: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/xcel-energy-cams/.
Decorah Eagles
2/14/19: N2B- Nestkeeping, Food, and Alert Vocals – https://youtu.be/gaNufXR6j3A. From chickiedee: “Mom & DM2 arrive at the nest with great fly-ins and work a little on the nest. DM2 brought some more husk material. Looks like Mom Brought some grasses . She leaves shortly after and when she returns she acts as though she was followed and begins giving warning vocals with DM2 quickly chiming in. After the intruder threat is over Mom starts eating an DM2 assumes watchman duties from the skywalk. It looks like Mom may be eating some type of water fowl. DM2 finally takes off leaving mom on the nest eating away. Thanks for watching!” I liked the whole video – there are some great nestorations, but check out the cool vocals at 4:21.
2/13/19: Mom wants eggs – https://youtu.be/WaoSwA9cN-Y. We’ve seen a lot of dominance displays this year and we’ve been talking with our panel of eagle experts about it. While no consensus was reached, Brett thought semen transfer could happen as long as there was a cloacal kiss, even if gravity might work against it. We’ll see what happens!
2/13/19: Herons on the pond at Decorah Eagles – https://youtu.be/NFc6PGH51II. I was surprised to see Great Blue Herons, but I checked eBird.
They have been reported over on the Mississippi River this time of the year, although not in Decorah. We reported them! Note that they are standing on one leg. Like eagles, they don’t have much in their legs but tendons, and their leg muscles are located up under their legs. When their legs get cold, they tuck them up under their feathers to warm them up!
2/13/19: Mom, DM2, talon closeups – https://youtu.be/GzKoYaUGlVA. I really liked the opening of this video, which shows DM2 working on a snowy nest. We switch to the maple, which is empty, and then come back to the nest. Some really nice close-ups of Mom follow starting at 2:40.Talon close-ups start at 3:54 and they are impressive! This shows some of the same footage with more added at the end: https://youtu.be/2WINUqXk8YU.
Decorah North Eagles
2/14/19: Lucky squirrel – https://youtu.be/7mKLmi7CIfA. A fox squirrel makes a very narrow escape at 1:40, and Mr. North and DNF work on covering up a snowy nest with layers of grass. Check out DNF’s cool fly-out at 4:58. She turns, cocks her very large wings, and flies out of the nest.
2/14/19: Morning valentine visit, beautiful close up of DNF – https://youtu.be/Q4Y3lWAiVkk. I’m not sure how the camera operator did it. The video opens under IR candlelight on the snowy nest. At about 13 seconds, the camera pans across the field and finds both of the eagles perched in a tree across the screen. We get to see Mr. North fly into the nest in softly falling snow, where DNF joins him just a couple moments later. I loved the scene at 1:20 where Mr. North works on the nestbowl while DNF stands behind him. Some nice close-ups follow as both eagles alternately work on the nest and look alertly around. She takes a turn in the nestbowl at 3:30 for another close-up. It must have met with her approval because she stands up and clambers up the babysitting branch. Check for some really nice color close-ups at 8:07! Her head feathers are darker than Mr. North’s, but a little lighter than Mom’s.
Great Spirit Bluff
It looks like Newman could be back! While we’re not sure in this video (don’t blink or you’ll miss it – also look at all the ice fishers!):https://youtu.be/QiSGmJcPP6g, this video from today clearly shows an unbanded eagle, and close-ups of part of the nape of his neck show what could be a paler streak on the back of his head – one of Newman’s field marks. I’m not talking about the large spot here – look up and to the left!https://youtu.be/SHjw5q5iR0I
The Raptor Resource Project