Grab a bowl of popcorn and kick up your feet – it’s time for Friday nestflix! We’ve got videos from Decorah, Decorah North, and the Mississippi Flyway, and Odds and Ends from all over! Read on to learn more about birds, suckers, Ojibwe horses, and river otters in Iowa.
Thanks to our camera operators and video makers for finding and sharing such special moments, and to you for watching, learning, and especially for caring. Happy Fri-yay, everyone!
Decorah Eagles
November 4, 2022: A beautiful subadult eagle near N1. Could it be part of the Decorah Eagle Dynasty?
November 3, 2022: Subadult on M2 and up on the bluffs – https://youtu.be/KKDYXzZXSyE. A beautiful subadult eagle perches on M2 and up on the bluffs. While I don’t think of eagles as cryptic – they are usually pretty easy to spot! – it was very cool to see how well it blended into the cliff top. I suspect we’ll be seeing and hearing a lot of eagles in the weeks to come, so keep your eyes and ears peeled and watch for winds out of the north!
Could this eagle be part of the Decorah Eagle Dynasty? While we can’t know for sure, Mom and Dad were among the first bald eagles to nest in the Decorah area. Competition was low and conditions were extremely favorable. Read this blog to learn more about the eagles we’ve tracked, eagle nesting behavior, and Mom and Dad’s potential impact: https://www.raptorresource.org/2022/10/21/could-hd-or-hm-be-one-of-mom-and-dads-offspring/.
November 3, 2022: Nestorations and fit test – https://youtu.be/v-7oCFf9CMQ. HD takes a nice long sit in the bark-a-lounger while HM keeps watch. Nestorations begin at 3:45! Watch and listen closely as HM hurtles out of the tree at 3:47 and disappears to the northeast, perhaps in response to whatever the neighborhood crow watch was sounding off about. HD tracks her and we hear the crows a few more times before she returns. Watch out, HD – HM is coming in hot!
November 2, 2022: HD does not want to share his fish!
November 2, 2022: HD eats and defends a fish, HM brings sticks – https://youtu.be/yBTR0DwxkBA. Sometimes eagles don’t want to share! HM and HD practice their best eagle table manners: HM wheedles while HD turns his back and ignores her pleas, eventually flying into N1 with his prize. HM flies into the nest with a stick at 15:42 and the two get into a beakerson’s beak-off as he mantles over the nestovers and she insists he share. He eventually flies to the Y with his catch as she fine tunes the nest.
Decorah North Eagles
November 3, 2022: Splish-splash…it’s an eagle bath at the North nest!
November 3, 2022: Eagle bath time– https://youtu.be/SVvPwzGL_i8. Splish splash, it’s time for an eagle bath! An eagle – possibly DNF – takes a nice long bath in the stream. She dunks her head and splashes water over her back and wings to get her feathers into tip-top shape! I loved the beautiful opening scene and the meadow’s morning splendor.
Mississippi Flyway
November 4, 2022: A migratory morning on the Flyway!
November 4, 2022: Mississippi Morning – https://youtu.be/g5FKYZhwuNw. A lovely morning with Canada Geese and Sandhill Cranes on one of the world’s great rivers. It’s late October and the birds we watch on the Mississippi Flyway are pouring south while local plant and animal populations dwindle in response to diminishing daylight length, colder temperatures, and reduced food availability. How do migrating birds find enough to eat in the diverse, rapidly changing habitats they travel through? Read this blog to learn more: https://www.raptorresource.org/2021/10/29/four-foraging-stories-from-the-flyway/.
November 4, 2022: Sandhill Cranes on the Flyway
Odds and Ends
How far can a northern pintail duck migrate? Two ducks migrated from Louisiana to Russia and back again: https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/pintail-duck-migrate-russia-louisiana/.
We know that suckers are important to nesting bald eagles. Did you know they are important to the food web overall? This overlooked ‘rough’ fish is vital to stream health! https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/07/suckers-scientist-best-supporting-fishes-great-lakes-food-web/. Minnesota peeps: the legislature is asking the DNR to reconsider rough fish and propose fishing limits. More on the ‘No Junk Fish’ bill here: https://www.stcroix360.com/2022/04/minnesota-lawmakers-ask-dnr-to-reconsider-rough-fish/.
No junk fish? We’re believers (well, mostly. Carp remain a problem in North America) https://blog.nature.org/science/2021/08/30/the-end-of-trash-fish/
“I think when people think about Native people and their horses, they think of Lakota people or southwest people, but he would tell me, don’t forget that we are horse people too,” said Loerzel, a descendant of the White Earth Nation. Ojibwe horses: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/08/23/return-of-rare-ojibwe-horse-lifts-spirits-but-still-needs-help.
Otters are thriving in Iowa! https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/23180428/river-otters-iowa-restoration. We saw one in Decorah! https://youtu.be/89LVnVEV4WQ
November 1, 2022: A beautiful buck at Decorah North. Rut is drawing near and deer are changing their behavior as a result. Please remember to hunt and fish lead-free! Our eagles thank you!
The Raptor Resource Project