We have your Decorah Eagles, Flyway, and Decorah North Eagles videos! A Sunday short and sweet: thanks for finding, creating, watching, learning, and caring. You all rock! ?
Decorah Eagles
12/08/19: Mom & DM2 Close Ups and nest work – https://youtu.be/F_qePs2uxf4. The first three minutes and fifteen seconds of this vdeio are featured below. At about 3 minutes, DM2 flies into N2B with some cornstalks. There must have been a two for one sale at Nest Depot – the bowl is filled with them! More nestorations and perching follow. At 10:04, we see Mom at N1. She moves a few sticks around – got to get them just right! – before doing a cool hop-flap up the branch to join DM2. The two spend some time perching together on the Y, the barn behind them, before DM2 flies upstream.
12/08/19: Mom on the Y, dramatic fly-away – https://youtu.be/t17ALoEFHOk. A beautiful view of Mom on the Y, including dramatic looks at her facial features: the dark feathers, grey eyeshadow, and deep brow that are her ID markers. At 4:52, she begins looking up. She stretches her neck, reminding us that eagles have 14 cervical vertebrae and can stretch and turn their heads a lot farther than we can. At 4:57 she gathers herself and springs into the air, where she appears to get briefly stuck on a branch. Was she trying to tear it off, or was she unintentionally snagged? She frees herself and flies away!
Note: Eagles and other birds of prey sometimes find it hard to loose their grip, even on an inanimate stick. Instinct can compel them to keep holding on even when it isn’t helpful. Mom could have been determined to break the stick, but she could also just have had a hard time letting go of it. This is one reason that we sometimes find talon-locked birds on the ground, and can be a problem if an eagle (or hawk) gets you in a toe-lock!
12/7/19: DM2 on the Y, Mom on the maple, long flyoff – https://youtu.be/OoobSst2GmE. This video includes a great look at DM2 preening on the Y starting at 54 seconds. His amazing feathers resemble a puffy down jacket (which they are!) as he preens, reaching around behind his wing, spreading his tail, and digging deep to straighten feathers and remove dirt and parasites. In the middle of caring for his leg feathers, something catches his attention. Spa time ends abruptly as he looks around, although he doesn’t vocalize or chase and we don’t hear the neighborhood crow watch sounding an alarm. At around 6:15, we get a fantastic look at his feet and long black talons. It’s easy to see how he catches fish: his feet are very strong and his talons are longer than most fishhooks! Look for stunning head portraits around 12:13, including a very cool look at his ray-ban nictitating eyelid around 12:39 (slow the video down to really see it well)! The video concludes with a long fly-off up the creek.
12/7/19: 5pm sunset – https://youtu.be/8NGRbYMwdDE. No eagles, just a lovely peaceful screensaver sunset in Decorah with a flock of migrating birds at about 8:56.
Mississippi Flyway Cam
December 8, 2019: Eagles on the Flyway
12/7/19: Fun interactions, juvies and adults – https://youtu.be/0Snxc-ObnQs. It’s time for eagle college! You need to see the first part of this video, which features a fly-in/fly-out food squabble, complete with kick-boxing, wing whapping, squealing, hovering, and steals. If you stop the video at :06, you’ll briefly see the food – almost certainly a fish, or at least part of a fish – clutched in a young eagle’s talon. This is an excellent look at eagle table manners and the ways in which eagles can compete for foot while avoiding serious damage or dangerous brawling.
Decorah North
December 8, 2019: DNF at Decorah North
12/8/18: Beautiful closeups of DNF – https://youtu.be/A5GtYBdMlTE. Exactly what the title says! These are stunning close-ups of DNF: views of her eyes, nictitating eyelids, feathers, feet and talons (it appears her feet are shedding), anf commissure (aka beak lips). We get a nice look at the nest towards the end of the video! Like Mom and DM2, DNF and Mr. North are making good use of corn husks for lining and insulation.
The Raptor Resource Project