Kick back, relax, and get ready for Nestflix from Decorah and the Flyway! Before we get into the rest of the videos: if you need some quiet, restful time away from everything, check out Tulsa’s quiet, lovely video of Mom and DM2 in the snow: https://youtu.be/HUf894JTeQM. Looking for a little spooky information about the spooky birds we watch? Follow this link: https://www.raptorresource.org/2019/10/30/birds-in-superstition-and-folklore/.
What’s going on in Decorah? A fresh deer carcass is attracting visitors to Mom and DM2’s territory, including a hungry juvenile red-tailed hawk and two sub-adult eagles. One of them is around five years old – the same age that Mom was when she arrived! – and is causing quite a stir. Why haven’t Mom and DM2 just chased her off? She seems more interested in the deer buffet than anything else, so Mom and DM2 might not want to risk an altercation with an eagle that doesn’t appear to be a threat, especially this time of the year. We’ve had a few interesting days at the nest and I hope to blog about what we’re seeing here and elsewhere next week! Have a boo-tiful day and a bewitching night…Happy Halloween, everyone!
Decorah Eagles
October 30, 2020: Handsome DM2 at N1
October 29, 2020: DM2 is one fine eagle! https://youtu.be/13CXeBKX6kc. The carcass of a deer washed up in the creek not far from N1. The cold stream water helps preserve the meat, making it a real pan-tree treasure trove for Mom and DM2! We see Mom eating while DM2 stands guard. He flies up to a favorite perch inn the second minute and the camera operator gives us an excellent look him! I enjoyed the whole video, but I’m especially fond of the tight profile studies beginning at about 11:05! Listen for the neighborhood crow watch throughout and note that both eagles appear to be paying attention to it. I suspect that this might herald the arrival of a five’ish year old young adult eagle!
October 29, 2020: DM2 has a young visitor – https://youtu.be/j3Utlb9P3h4. We’ve seen a number of visitors thanks to the new buffet that just opened near N1, including a red-tailed hawk and two subadult eagles! This visitor is notable because she is around five years old: about the time Mom was when she arrived on territory. So far, she seems to be hanging out around the carcass and not presenting any territorial challenges. We’ll see if she stays, leaves on her own, or is chased out.
October 30, 2020: Young adult visitor
October 29, 2020: A red-tailed hawk visits the carcass – https://youtu.be/umXjR_Z-Vs0. This is extremely cool! RTH don’t have a reputation for eating carrion, but they will if they are hungry enough! Experimental eaters are a little more likely to be always-hungry juveniles, who haven’t yet gained the hunting skills and experience of their older counterparts. The new buffet was delicious and well-worth the risk for this hungry young hawk!
October 25, 2020: Mom in the snow, DM2 arrives – https://youtu.be/HUf894JTeQM. This is a long, lovely, and very peaceful video for anyone who needs a little more restfulness in their lives. You can watch the whole thing or pick your favorite scenes, including DM2 perching in the snowy woods near N2B at one of Dad’s favorite spots and Mom on the Skywalk against a backdrop of autumn leaves and softly falling snow.
Mississippi Flyway
October 30, 2020: Mississippi Flyway Birds
October 30, 2020: Tundra swans – https://youtu.be/o6vhPLmH3ZM. At whatever moment you read these words, day or night, there are birds aloft in the skies of the Western Hemisphere, migrating. If it is spring or fall, the two great pivot points of the year, then the continents are swarming with billions of traveling birds. The migration’s breadth…shifts endlessly across distance and season. Scott Weidensaul, Living On The Wind: Across The Hemisphere With Migratory Birds.
Tundra swans are migrating from their breeding grounds in the arctic tundra to their wintering grounds on the east and west coast and in the Rocky Mountains, following the Mississippi River for part of their journey. This is a wonderful time to watch our Flyway cam: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/flyway-cam/
Odds and Ends
Trick or treat? In folklore, birds do both! https://www.raptorresource.org/2019/10/30/birds-in-superstition-and-folklore/.
The Raptor Resource Project