Kick back, put your feet up, and grab something warm to drink – it’s our Sunday night raptor movie marathon! Mr. North and DNF finally check in at the North nest, Mom is interested in fish, but not very interested in DM2, and snowy owls and coyotes are thrilling everyone who watches the Flyway! The dog owner in me loved ‘A canid is a canid’, I was thrilled to see both the Decorah and Decorah north eagles on Saturday, and the close-up of the Snowy Owl was magnificent! Thanks so much to our camera operators and videomakers for finding such amazing sights, and to all of you for watching, sharing, learning, and especially for caring!
Decorah Eagles North
January 8, 2022: Mr. North and DNF at the North nest.
January 8, 2022: Early visit from the Norths – https://youtu.be/z365IH8MK74. Saturday dawned a lot warmer than Thursday or Friday and the Norths made a quick visit to their nest. Although they didn’t bring any grasses in, DNF started scraping before Mr. North flew away. She flew away not long afterwards.
Why didn’t we see much of the Norths last week? While bald eagles are well-suited to an Iowa winter, last week’s polar plunge had them reducing activity and seeking shelter. You can read more about bald eagles and cold here: https://www.raptorresource.org/2019/01/17/flashback-blog-how-do-eagles-stay-warm-in-cold-weather/.
January 7, 2022: The fur itches terribly – https://youtu.be/GmVRkM2-Zd0. An itchy squirrel takes a break from foraging through the North nest to scratch its fur and groom its tail!
A squirrel’s tail keeps it toasty warm in subzero temperatures, shades it from the sun, and protects it from light rain. Squirrels use their tails for balance, as parachutes, and to communicate with other squirrels. It’s no wonder that they spend a lot of time taking care them! This is an old blog, but it has more information about squirrel tails and a lot of photos of squirrels: http://www.nutsaboutsquirrels.com/1695/why-do-squirrels-have-bushy-tails/.
Decorah Eagles
Mom eating a frozen fish stick on N2B! I’m not sure where she found this fish – it was frozen stiff!
January 8, 2022: Mom not in the mood, back to N2B, finishes breakfish – https://youtu.be/DULmbRLMKFE. Mom is not in the mood for love! DM2 attempts copulation but Mom shakes him off. The two fly out and Mom returns to N2B at 3:04 with a frozen fish stick! She slices open the deeply frozen meat before she gobbles it down whole, nibbling left over tidbits from the bottom of the nest. She flies out at 7:07 and perches in a tree. This video is similar, but quite a bit longer. It includes three large birds flying over the valley: https://youtu.be/KBFDYz_zQr4.
DM2 on the Y-Branch.
January 8, 2022: Mom, DM2 on bluff perch, Mom to N2B, DM2 joins her – https://youtu.be/YS-m8EQ6f5w. Mom eats breakfish and we see DM2 on the Y at 4:43, feathers puffed up against a chilly wind. At 8:06, the camera cuts back to Mom, who has brought another fish into N2B. Like DM2, she is pretty puffed up – check 9:46 for a look at her beautiful down jacket! DM2 joins her 1t 18:08 and the two vocalize together before Mom flies out. We see the attempted copulation from the first video toward the end of this video.
Mississippi Flyway
A Snowy Owl on the Flyway.
January 8, 2022: Snowy owl on the Mississippi River Flyway Cam! – https://youtu.be/rYbSgM5dudI. This video opens with a really nice look at a snowy owl! It is perched on a snag overlooking grasses or reeds. At 23 seconds, we see a snowy owl sitting on the snow. At 25 seconds, it swivels its head! At 38 seconds, we see an owl flying and another owl flies in and chases it. the flight at 1:19 is very cool – we get a really good look at how owls their tails and wings to glide low over the ground. If you’d like to see a full length video of the owl – it opens with coyotes! – follow this link: https://youtu.be/XswntdZKK4I or this link: https://youtu.be/ZYKXBc5GHvU.
January 7, 2022: Snowy owls out flying – https://youtu.be/EEq1TcmGeWM.
January 7, 2022: A canine is a canine – https://youtu.be/3MsUGvYFX_s. A coyote enjoys a luxurious scratch on the river ice at 3:24, a nice roll in the snow at 5:13 and 7:25, and a good poop at 11:33. Dog owners will recognize a lot of this behavior…after all, a canid is a canid!
The Raptor Resource Project