Come join us for coffee, donuts, and a Decorah Eagle movie matinee! In Decorah, Mom and DM2 keep showing up in and around N2B. We’re glad you like hanging out at the hatchery…perhaps you’d like to move back in? At Decorah North, DNF shares a muskrat dinner and she and Mr. North bond. If she lays her first egg on February 16th again, we are just 20 days away from our first egg! Better get your comfy couches and baby-eee books ready while you can!
Decorah Eagles
January 27, 2022: Mom eats breakfish on N1
January 27, 2022: Mom catches fish, eats it on N2B – https://youtu.be/5DWG-aEighk. Mom expertly catches a fish at 1:57, barely breaking the surface of the water as she scoops it up! She flies into N2B with her prize and eagles it down in a couple of minutes, expertly slicing it into bite sized pieces and gulping down the frozen fish tail at 6:32.
The feather is left over from Mom’s frozen pheasant feast on January 25: https://youtu.be/DdwCNNi2Gwk. Look closely, and you’ll see Mom’s eye-cicles: frozen moisture that collected and froze on the rimal feathers around her eyes.
January 26: Mom on the Y-Branch. We saw both Decorah eagles perch here today!
January 26, 2022: Mom & DM2 are watchful on the Y-branch – https://youtu.be/zdhmfZUwH1g. The video opens with off-screen eagle vocalizations. At 37 seconds, we switch to the Y, where we see DM2 perched in a wind strong enough to rumple his head feathers! Look closely and you’ll see Mom behind him, her tail feathers and beak just visible as the two lean watchfully into the wind. She starts vocalizing at 10:13 and DM2 joins her, warning whatever they are worried about away. The two fly out upstream at 10:56.
Decorah North Eagles
January 27, 2022: DNF and Mr. North eat muskrat dinner together
January 27, 2021: Copulation – https://youtu.be/DMQSwMGBpvY. The days are getting longer, egg-laying is drawing closer, and sex hormones are flowing! As courtship deepens, eagle couples move from working and perching together to pecking, footing, body brushing, and displaying as they signal their growing interest in bonding. We’ll see a lot more copulation in February: regular copulation helps to ensure fertile eggs and eagle pairs seem to enjoy it!
Read this blog to learn more about eagle courtship and copulation: https://www.raptorresource.org/2020/02/06/courtship-copulation-and-other-things-romantic/
January 26, 2022: DNF eats muskrat and Mr. North gets a snack – https://youtu.be/nmVkMseEhQw. DNF is eating a very fresh muskrat when Mr. North flies in. She vocalizes and erects her feathers, but he grabs a tidbit for himself and joins for for an evening supper. The two eat peacefully side-by-side until Mr. North gets a little too close at 2:39. DNF vocalizes and he backs off. He tries again at 3:52, she protests, and he flies away!
January 27, 2022: All eagles like to eat, but DNF especially seems to enjoy tucking into whatever is on her plate!
This wasn’t Mr. North’s first attempt to eat dinner with DNF, but she wasn’t interested in sharing the first time! This video includes some really nice closeups of DNF at 4:03. It’s good to see DNF enjoying a hearty meal and nice to see them eating together the second time: https://youtu.be/XViXQN9BB3E
The Raptor Resource Project