What’s going on at the North Nest? While we’re busy puzzling out Decorah, the North Eagles are working on their treetop palace! This particular nest has room enough for multiple families of mice and birds, but that isn’t deterred DNF and Mr. North from adding more space for next year’s clutch of eaglets. I hope you like these videos as much as we did, and thanks as always to our dedicated camera operators and video makers for finding and sharing such special moments from the lovely valley of the Norths!
Decorah North
December 7, 2020: Mr. North and DNF
December 7, 2020: Some nestorations – https://youtu.be/F16GMQTEXHo. The video opens with a lovely view of the North nest, which looks like an eagle palace! Mr. North flies in, followed by DNF just a moment later. The two move soft materials around before Mr. North flies out at 1:19. He flies back in with a long, straight stick at 3:41, almost hitting DNF as he comes in! We get beautiful close-ups starting at 5:52 and 8:16.
December 6, 2020: DNF Crop Drop – https://youtu.be/5Q0SmXekoCs. See DNF’s big crop? She is shifting food from her crop into her stomach, and she may also be breaking it down in her gizzard. Since birds don’t have teeth, they break food down in part by grinding it with small stones or grit before shifting it lower into their digestive system.
December 4, 2020: Nice morning views of the Norths – https://youtu.be/VVCmIZ4vxLw. Close-ups start at about 57 seconds as DNF gets busy with nestorations and extreme close-ups start at 2:33. Note her facial and feather features if, like me, you sometimes have trouble id’ing her. She has a deep ‘V’ in her neckline and the classic female eagle smokey-eye. She looks around, perhaps responding to a noise in the neighborhood that sounds somewhat like a truck going by. At 4:19, we see Mr. North standing guard on the branch just above the nest. It’s a lovely domestic scene of a classically beautiful eagle couple!
The Raptor Resource Project