By Sherri Elliott
Decorah North fledgling DN12 is 12 1/2 weeks old (88 days) today and while his/her size dwarfs its parents, it’s still a young’un. Adult size of about 3ft in length and its ginormous wingspan is between 6-7ft. If a bald eagle was sitting on the center of your standard size 6 ft sofa, extended wings would reach to each armrest, or if standing next to my computer could see my monitor. (Amy’s note: want to stand six feet away? Just envision a Bald Eagle’s wingspan!)
June 26, 2020: DN12 and Mama DNF
DN12’s momma DNF came to the nest with rabbit this morning and DN12 wasted no time in dropping down from a tree across the stream, and squeeeing to eat. Setting his/her speed to warp drive, DN12 shot across the pasture some 500ft to the nest in about 30 wing-flaps and hollered the whole way before barreling in with a full mantle to bowl into its parent and claim the prey. While DN12 is showing super skillsets and fierce independence since fledging from the nest, and clearly capable of tearing prey apart to feast, it’s hard not to laugh when the baby pulls the prey closer to its parent and squeees to be spoon-fed, please!