We’re scrambling to get ready for ATF, but we wanted to share some extremely cool videos of a bald eagle/sandhill crane interaction on the Flyway, another look at Mom and the sub-adult, some great footage of both North eagles, and a nice look at Carson. We hope you enjoy these videos as much as we did! Thanks to our camera operators and videomakers for their hard work capturing and sharing the natural world with all of us, and to you for watching, learning, and caring!
Mississippi Flyway
7/17/19: Standoff: Sandhill cranes versus juvenile Bald Eagle – https://youtu.be/cqUF-mPe9ns. Wow! A pair of sandhill cranes approach a juvenile bald eagle, who doesn’t care for them! This is a fascinating video!
7/15/19: Sandhill crane swallowing eggs – https://youtu.be/iaQQKZoTVJU. It appears that the crane at the beginning of the video dug up eggs from the sand bar, carried them over to the water, and dunked them. If so, these were probably buried turtle eggs. I found the whole video to be quite fascinating. While cranes are known to eat eggs, I was not aware that they dunked them – possibly to remove sand? This is another fascinating Flyway video – well worth the watch!
7/14/19: Sandhill crane and mama duck – https://youtu.be/sSNF1i5n3w8. Mama duck did not appreciate how close the crane was to her not-so-little young!
Decorah and Decorah North Eagles
7/16/19: Mom hanging out: https://youtu.be/I6UnBiOZF0M. A lovely look at Mom silhouetted against a blue sky, although the blackflies are still bothering her. They may be S. Meridionale, which has multiple generations per year. We’re hoping their numbers will decrease as things dry out.
7/16/19: Mom and sub-adult on the Y: https://youtu.be/iZKmsdrOXpI. Who is this mysterious sub-adult and where is DM2? The 4-1/2 year-old subadult has been seen on and off for several days, with no protests from Mom and nothing from DM2. We’ll have to put ourselves on Eagle Time while we wait to see what happens.
More Mom and Sub-adult Videos
7/15/19: Mom and a sub-adult on the Y: https://youtu.be/wcZ85967PZ8
7/15/19: Mom vocalizes on the Y: https://youtu.be/jnnZqm4oFZU
7/18/19: Decorah Eagles North visit by both parents: https://youtu.be/wSJdaUQBj54. Mr. North left, DNF right. It is so good to see them together!
Great Spirit Bluff Falcons
7/17/19: Carson visits! https://youtu.be/EqfTc6x1ZkM. A fantastic look at a handsome young juvenile peregrine falcon. We’re getting a lot of questions about dispersal. According to John, dispersal at Great Spirit Bluff usually happens in mid-September, although we’re already starting to see less of Carson as he gains his wings. Carson will not disperse or migrate with Michelle or Newman, although he may connect with other juvenile peregrine falcons. While peregrine falcons aren’t gregarious off territory in the same way bald eagles are (that we know), groups of juveniles have been recorded on oil rigs and ships in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Raptor Resource Project