Photos and story by Robin Brumm
I have been to Decorah a few times since I last wrote a day trip, so today you get an assortment of my favorite memories from my recent visits.
7/10/20. D35 on a DNR hatchery truck. Fish Iowa!!
One memory that stands out was from an early July visit to Decorah. The Juvies were on the ground at the hatchery and flying back and forth all over the place. All of a sudden, I noticed D35 flying low across the hatchery grounds. She flew toward the back of the hatchery and landed on one of the hatchery trucks. I believe it is one of the trucks they use to carry the fish when they stock the streams. I took a photo, and when I looked at it later, I noticed that D35 was in the perfect spot, because on the side of the vehicle, it said, “Fish Iowa”, lol.
7/16/20. D34 with a fish and D36 thinking that it should be his fish! D34 flew off with the fish shortly after this photo.
I have a favorite food frenzy memory from 7-16-20. It was a very foggy day and when I got to Decorah around 6am I could barely see both Mom and DM2 in the new maple (M2). DM2 flew off, but Mom stayed on M2 for a while. She flew to the large hatchery pond, caught a fish, and landed on the ground. Both D34 & D36 flew over to her mantling and squeeing the whole time. D34 got that fish, but D35 flew in to see if she could steal, while D36 stood off the side squeeing. D34 got the fish and flew off toward the mulch pile with both D35 & D36 chasing. D34 then flew off across the street with his fish followed by D35 who landed on the shed roof. D36 stayed on the ground near the large hatchery pond. A few minutes later, Mom flew over the pond to catch a fish but came up empty-taloned. She landed on the ground beside the pond and kept an eye on the fish. She flew over the pond, grabbed a fish, and took it to the mulch pile. D36 ran (yes, ran, on the ground, lol) to the mulch pile to claim the fish. After mantling and squeeing for a while, D36 took his fish to the shed roof and ate it there. Meanwhile, Mom went fishing again and caught 2 fish this time. She took the fish to the tree in the horse pasture to eat. She started eating one, and I saw the other one fledge to the ground. After she ate the first fish, she flew to the ground to get the one that fledged. I’m not sure if it was small and she gulped it down, or if she took it with her when she flew off toward the dead tree area. Whew, what an exciting thing to watch. There were wings and squeeing and fish everywhere, lol.
7/27/20. D35 says, “It says HANDS, not talons!”
Another memory was from 7-27-20. When I got to Decorah, Mom was in the maple tree and the Juvies were at the hatchery. They were all squeeing at Mom. I think I heard D34 squeeing from the back of the hatchery area, but wasn’t able to find him. D36 was on the light pole and D35 was on the edge of a raceway standing next to a sign that said, “Do Not Place Hands in Water”. I’m pretty sure I heard her say, “It says HANDS, not talons!!” Shortly after that, D35 flew to a tree in front of the shed, and D36 was perched on a T pole at the hatchery and both were still squeeing at Mom. I had walked over toward the Kiosk and was taking a photo of D35 in the tree and looked up and saw a Juvie flying over toward the dead tree area behind N1. I think it was D34! Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of the flyover, so I can not be sure that it was D34, but I like to think it was. Meanwhile, Mom decided it was time to go fishing in the hatchery pond but she missed and landed on the ground. She happened to land close to a sign that said, “Authorized Personnel Only”!! In case you were wondering, yes, she IS authorized personnel, lol.
7/27/20. Mom IS Authorized Personnel!!
My most recent trip was on 8-7-20. Shortly after I got to Decorah, DM2 caught a fish and took it to a tree to the east of the retention pond near the base of the bluffs. D36 followed him over there and grabbed the fish and ate it. I have never seen the parent take a fish to that tree before. I guess they found another picnic table! Mom was perched in the pine trees back by the hatchery offices, and eventually, they all flew off to the dead tree area. It was fairly quiet that day, and every so often I would watch the turkey vultures that were flying over. Late morning, I noticed that there was a Juvie flying with the vultures. I knew it was D36 because at that time D35 was on the skywalk. Later in the day, I again was watching the vultures and noticed 2 Juvies soaring with them up above the bluffs to the west. The vultures moved on, but D35 & D36 continued to soar above the bluff. They were having fun flying back and forth. They would come close together and one would turn upside down with talons extended, and then would turn back over and fly apart, then they would come together again with talons extended, and then fly apart. They were so high up I could only see them with my binoculars. I tried to get photos of the talons extended, but they were too far away. Eventually, they were so high in the sky, I could no longer find them.
It makes me smile to see them learning all the things they need to survive as adult eagles. It will be fun to see where they both fly to. I’m hoping they stay together, but as long as they fly high and fly safe, I’ll be happy!
RRP appreciates Robin’s generosity sharing her photos and reminds you they are copyrighted and may not be downloaded without her express written permission.
Photo links:
7/9 & 7/10/20 Day Trip https://robinbrumm.zenfolio.com/p171139179
7/16/20 Day Trip https://robinbrumm.zenfolio.com/p324881680
7/27/20 Day Trip https://robinbrumm.zenfolio.com/p287591838
8/7/20 Day Trip https://robinbrumm.zenfolio.com/p488899529
The Raptor Resource Project