We have just two videos tonight, but both are worth watching! Mom and DM2 get into a food chase in Decorah, while Sandhill cranes migrate and forage along a flyway that is rapidly icing over! The cranes will be fine – birds that nest in the north are used to inclement weather, even if they migrate – but after a lovely warm autumn, it’s a shock to see them in ice and snow.
What about Mom and DM2’s food chase? Sometimes watchers worry that an unwillingness to share a meal is precursor to eagle ‘divorce’. While food sharing is an important part of bonding, eagles don’t always want to share – and it’s not impossible that a chase between two bonded eagles could have an element of play (although Mom always seems pretty serious when it comes to food). Either way, today’s food chasing is a completely normal behavior – and a lot of fun to watch! We hope you enjoy these videos as much as we did. Thanks to our camera operators for finding special moments, our video makers for sharing them, and to you for watching, learning, and caring!
Decorah Eagles
November 13, 2019: Food chase!
11/13/19: Squirrel visits, Mom and DM2 flybys and flythroughs – https://youtu.be/uwWNmeTNfBI. The video opens with a red squirrel searching through the nest for food and nesting materials to pilfer. At 5:33, the fish chase begins in the lower left corner of the screen. At 5:44, DM2 flies into the nest, clutching a trout. A hungry and very insistent Mom follows him in, but he is not in the mood for sharing breakfish and takes off as quickly as he arrived! She follows closely on his tail, eagler for the fish! At 6:18, we hear squeeing, followed by the chase. The two quickly bounce through N2B – slow down the video, and you’ll see that DM2 still has his fish – and Mom is still hot on his tail!
Mississippi Flyway
November 13, 2019: Sandhill cranes on the Mississippi River
11/13/19: Sandhill Cranes: “What’s Going on?” – https://youtu.be/wm1fWXbWblY. From ginger: “Sandhill Cranes resting and preening on a very cold November morning. Winter has come early to the Flyway. Suddenly at 01:44 heads pop up. The sandhill cranes look to the right and then to the left. Eagle vocals are heard at 02:03. At 02:08 heads rise upward and then to the right. Lots of noise by birds off cam and at 2:43 loud eagle vocals are heard.” Make sure your audio is on – the vocals are spectacular!
So if global climate change means that things are getting warmer, why was Minnesota so cold in October and early November? Just lucky, I guess…but here’s an article for anyone who wants to dive into weather, climate, and what might be making parts of the US so cold right now: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/11/07/why-is-minnesota-one-of-the-coldest-places-in-a-warming-earth
The Raptor Resource Project