July 8: Videos from Decorah, Decorah North, GSB, and the Flyway!

We’re not seeing much of our eagles right now, but I’ve posted the few videos we could get. Looking for something to watch? The GSB and Flyway cams are both very active right now as Carson hones his hunting and flying skills, and birds take advantage of the sandbar and dropping water levels to rest and feed. It’s a great place to see sandhill cranes, great blue herons, ducks, eagles, and wading birds of all kinds! Don’t miss the lovely rainbows, bald eagles and playing dogs, the update from SOAR, or Carson close-ups. Thanks for watching, learning, and caring, everyone!

Decorah and Decorah North Eagles
We aren’t seeing much of our eagles. Based on what we can see, they are still being impacted by blackflies. They may be spending more time in flight or in areas with more wind and fewer gnasty gnats! Mom and DM2 have been reported along Trout Creek slightly east of N2B, and in one of the videos below, an eagle flies in from the creek west of N1. We appreciate the reports from our boots on the ground and hope to have more to share with you soon!

07/08/19: A quick flyby – https://youtu.be/13GFwicLEdY. Don’t close your eyes! An adult eagle flies in from the left at about :03 – slow down the video and look way upstream to see it! It’s moving fast, so don’t blink or you will miss it!

07/07/19: SOAR Update on Eaglets – https://youtu.be/w9neQdY1bxw. SOAR posted this to Facebook and we shared it to our page, but we thought our non-Facebookers might like a chance to see the eaglets. D33, DN9, Allamakee, and Calmar are all in the eaglet nursery. D32 remains in an intensive care crate.

07/05/19: Mr North and DNF perched in the scary tree – https://youtu.be/aPEIb3Aftm4. It’s great to see our eagles! We’ll have to see if we can get some boots on the ground out here to figure out where they are when they aren’t in our view. As you can see from the videos, the eagles are dealing with blackflies. We hope to have a more thorough report on the flies soon.

Great Spirit Bluff Falcons

07/08/19: Flight training! https://youtu.be/sFtA4b8kHiw. The early bird catches the…flight training? You have to skip around in the video to see it, but there are some great flight training scenes. Check out 5:21 for a classic training chase, 7:19 for a very cool view, another chase at 7:37 (further away), and another chase around 10:33. This video gives a great look at how fast and acrobatic peregrine falcons are in flight!

07/06/19: Carson feeling the wind and flight: https://youtu.be/_Epd7MA7-oc. Some nice flight scenes and close-ups as Carson learns more about his world!

07/03/19: Carson close-ups – https://youtu.be/KQZoHHuYLds. A really nice video from Tulsaducati. This video gives us a great chance to see how the brown, cream, and buff plumage of a juvenile falcon differs from the slate-blue to black back and barred white underparts of adults. Assuming he makes it, Carson will gain his adult plumage at right around two years of age.

07/01/19: Carson following Michelle – https://youtu.be/aqruiz6eRpU. Some close-up footage of Carson. We would love to know whether Carson caught the bird himself or won it from Michelle in a game of tag!

Flyway Cam

07/03/19: Eagles perching, dogs playing in the river – https://youtu.be/3bdNUng0xL4. Go to the end to see two dogs playing and splashing in the river. They do not come too close to the eagles and the eagles seem unconcerned with their antics!

06/24/19: Rainbows over the Mississippi – https://youtu.be/15CcHQzWC8s. I meant to share this earlier! Lovely rainbows form and fade.