Story and photos by Robin Brumm
I went to Decorah today. I know it is only two weeks since the hatch, and wasn’t expecting to be able to see the eaglets yet, but since it was a nice day and I decided to take a chance and just check.
April 19, 2021: Robin sees DM2 with two bobbleheads!
When I got there, DM2 was on the nest. I couldn’t see any eaglets, but it looked like things were pretty quiet. I waited quite a while and saw DM2 looking down. I zoomed in and there was an eaglet sitting upright in front of DM2. Yay! I snapped a few more photos…wait…another eaglet!! Yay, Yay!!…two bobbleheads! DM2 got up and started to feed. Looking through my binoculars I scanned the nest for little eaglet heads. DM2 kept feeding, one, two, hmmm is that a third one? I couldn’t tell. DM2 settled into the nest and things were quiet again.
April 19, 2021: Robin sees Mom feeding three bobbleheads!
After a little while, Mom flew into the nest, and DM2 flew off to the dead tree nearby. A few minutes later mom looked down and I could see eaglets in front of her. I took a photo and looked at it, and saw 3 bobbleheads!! Yay, Yay, YAY!!! Mom got up and began feeding, then settled back down in the nest. I watched and waited and after a short time, she called out and then flew off the nest. That must have been her “taking a short fly-about break” message, because within a few minutes DM2 flew to the nearby dead tree, preened a bit, and then flew to the nest. I wished I could have stayed longer and gotten elebenty billion more photos, but it was getting cloudier, the breeze was picking up, and I needed to head home. I looked around (to make sure no one was nearby) and then I said in my loudest whisper voice, “Way to go Mom and DM2…Congrats!!” I then said my goodbyes to them and Decorah’s newest trio…D37, D38 & D39. I promise to be back soon!
RRP greatly appreciates Robin’s observations, as well as her photos which are copyrighted, and remind you that they may not be downloaded without her express written permission. Thanks, Robin!
The Raptor Resource Project