Eagles, eggs, and Season Two of The [Falcon] Bachelor!

Eagles, eggs, and Season Two of The [Falcon] Bachelor! The weather outside is frightful, but the Decorah North eagles and falcons at Great Spirit Bluff remind us that spring is just around the corner. I loved all of these videos, but I especially enjoyed seeing Mr. North’s sticky gift and incubatory insistence, Mom devouring breakfish on N1, and a beautiful visitor at Great Spirit Bluff. While we haven’t confirmed Newman’s arrival yet, female falcon Geisler was definitely interested in something! It looks like Newman will be passing out roses for the second year in a row.

Happy Fri-yay, everyone, and thanks so much for watching with us. It’s happy dance time!

Decorah North Eagles

It was a busy day at the North nest, with a total of ten incubation switchovers between 6:27am and 5:24pm. We saw at least two interlopers (one adult and one subadult) and both Norths seemed quite alert, vocalizing and tracking as strangers passed through. We are looking for egg #2 on Saturday!

February 18, 2022: Mr. North on the North Nest.

February 18, 2022: Mr. North on the North Nest.

February 17, 2022: Mr. Closeupshttps://youtu.be/cWojG0LP9a4. Gorgeous close-ups of handsome Mr. North, including a head study, and body and wing feathers.

This beautiful video gives us a wonderful view of Mr. North’s feathers! Look for rounded, broad, overlapping contour feathers on Mr. North’s body, asymmetrical primary feathers along his wings, the cape or cloak of feathers just beneath his nape, ragged pale feathers ready for molt, and crisp brown feathers newly molted in. Read more about feathers here: https://www.raptorresource.org/2019/05/19/what-are-feathers-what-is-molt/.

February 18, 2022: My turn, dear!

February 18, 2022: My turn, dear! See the egg?

February 17, 2022: Mr. brings a stick, insists on shift changehttps://youtu.be/WIKHgERUoFk. DNF is on the nest and Mr. North is perched nearby. We get some nice closeups of her before she starts calling for Mr. North at 5:33. He flies in with a sticky gift at 5:48 as she continues to softy vocalize. He nibbles at and moves nest materials, dragging his tail over her head as he moves around! She gets up at 6:51, giving us a brief glimpse of the egg, and he takes over. Look for a cool fly-out at 8:02 and a classic Decorah Shimmy at 8:32!

February 16: DNF lays egg #1 at 3:17 PM CT. Videos:

Decorah Eagles
February 16, 2022: Mom gobbles down a quick breakfish on N1

February 16, 2022: Mom gobbles down a quick breakfish on N1

February 16, 2022: Mom on M2 then breakfast on N1https://youtu.be/zP2EfoH8X6M. It was thrilling to see Mom catch a fish at 2:39 and fly it into N1 for breakfish at 3:07! It was a small fish and she made short work of it, consuming it completely in under two minutes and feaking her beak in the loose substrate on the nest before flying out to perch on the Y-Branch.

February 16, 2022: DM2 brings a stick to N1, moves to the Yhttps://youtu.be/nci6SMQ3-Ko. The video opens with a look around the hatchery area and N1. At 1:28, DM2 brings a stick into N1! He places it and looks around – is this the right nest? – before flying out to perch on the Y-Branch, barn and field behind him.

Great Spirit Bluff
February 16, 2022: Falcon E/84 'Geisler' was banded by Bob Anderson in 2014 at Maiden Rock

February 16, 2022: Falcon E/84 ‘Geisler’ was banded by Bob Anderson in 2014 at Maiden Rock

February 16, 2022: The [Falcon] Bachelorhttps://youtu.be/Go_-9QNrIxM.
Peregrine Falcon E/84 ‘Geisler’, a Bob-banded 2014 hatch from Maiden Rock in Maiden Rock, Wisconsin, appeared at the Great Spirit Bluff nest box on February 16, 2022. She e-chupped and generally appeared interested in another falcon that we saw only briefly in flight. Was it Newman? We weren’t able to ID it, but he commonly returns from migration in mid-to-late February. Welcome to season two of The [Falcon] Bachelor!