We have your Sunday Nestflix movie matinee! Nest work is kicking into high gear in Decorah, Mr. North and DNF reinforce their bond with a lovely duet, and a sandhill crane’s spectacular beauty is on full display. I hope you enjoy these videos as much as I did! Thanks so much to our camera operators for finding such beautiful sights, to our video makers for sharing them, and to you for watching, learning, and caring. Happy Sunday, everyone!
Decorah Eagles
Sunday, October 25: DM2 delivers a stick under Mom’s watchful eye
October 25, 2020: DM2 brings a stick, does a quick nestoration, flies out – https://youtu.be/Dq3IYBUYRHQ. The video opens with Mom perched on the Skywalk – she roosted there all night, while DM2 perched nearby. He flies in with a stick at 1:48 and places it under Mom’s watchful eye!
Nestorations are taking off! While the eagles vary their schedule from day to day, you are most likely to see them early in the morning and late in the evening. Mom spent her first night in the Skywalk last night.
October 24, 2020: 4 pm Mom brings squirrel to N2B, defurs, takes it to a nearby perch – https://youtu.be/M1yrp-uWy6Q. Warning: not everyone will want to watch Mom eating a squirrel. Mom comes in with a fox squirrel, defurs it, and takes it to a nearby perch. If you watch and listen to the video, you will hear the neighborhood crow watch start sounding the alarm at 12:02. It is always a good idea to stop, look, and listen when crows start calling – you can see some really interesting things that way or, if you are an eagle, identify territorial and personal threats before they are right on top of you. Mom stops, looks around, and goes back to eating – but when they start calling again at around 12:30, she pays a lot more attention! We can’t see what she is looking at, but she doesn’t go back to eating. At 23:29, she flies up with her prize, circles back around right over the nest, does a touch and go, and flies up. We hear a strange loud crack at about 23:33. If you slow the video down and watch very, very closely, it almost looks like there could have been an altercation with another bird, but we can’t be certain who or what it was. Mom keeps her squirrel and resumes eating on a nearby branch.
Decorah North
October 25, 2020: Mr. North and DNF at the North Nest
October 23, 2020: A late Visit and Mr. North fishing – https://youtu.be/m2k5Aj-f_RU. Exactly as the video says! We get some lovely views of Mr. North in the nest before he flies out for a little personal spa time on the love branch. After a nice little preen, he perches over on tree three (I think – I need to brush up on my tree skills!) before catching a fish and eating it on the bank of the stream. He finishes his evening sushi and flies back to the branch. DNF visits the nest at 13:36 and we get some nice views of her before she flies over to perch in the same tree as the Mr. He flies over to her at 17:23 and the two begin duetting, a lovely vocalization that helps to reinforce their bond.
The brains of male and female white-browed sparrows synchronize when they sing duets. Bald eagles aren’t especially like sparrows: still, I wonder if they do the same thing – https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190612141406.htm.
October 21, 2020: Decorah North Woodpecker – https://youtu.be/8a38L1L_z84. A male Red-Bellied woodpecker perches on Yonder Branch near the North Nest. We know it is a male because its has a red crown. Females lack the crown, but have the bright red nape.
Why do they call this bird a red-bellied woodpecker? Presumably red-headed was already taken and adult males have a light blush of red on their belly, although it is often very hard to see. I am totally down with Sharon Steitler/Birdchick’s suggestion to change its name to the vermilion-naped woodpecker – I think that is a much more appropriate name!
Mississippi Flyway
October 21, 2020: A stunning Sandhill Crane on the Mississippi River
October 22, 2020: Mississippi Flyway Cranes – https://youtu.be/5DA4VphxFkg. A spectacular look at one of my favorite birds as a group of cranes stop to rest and refuel along the sandbars of Lake Onalaska/Pool 7 of the Mississippi River.
The Raptor Resource Project