Kick up your feet and get ready for Nestflix! HD, HM, Mr. North, DNF, and an intrepid fox squirrel are all busy with nestorations, while eagles are pouring into the Flyway! I enjoyed all of these videos, but I especially liked the stick deliveries in Decorah, Mr. North fishing – check out his polar plunge! – and the aforementioned squirrel filching nesting material from Decorah North. As always, 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. I hope you enjoy these videos as much as we did!
Decorah Eagles
November 20, 2022: HD and HM gleam in the sunlight, resplendent against the bright blue sky
November 21, 2022: Stick delivery continues, stick tango, Beakersons – https://youtu.be/OWZF-E9jEak. HD is in the nest when HM floats in with a stick at 59 seconds (look for her shadow at 30 seconds). The two work on the nest, moving sticks and fine tuning soft grasses and corn husks. We get a few gentle pecks and some mutual nestoration at 1:44, a prime ‘Mom look’ at 1:58, more digging at 2:23 (don’t dig through the nest!), another HM stick delivery at 5:35, and a short round of stick tango at 5:41!
November 21, 2022: Close-up handsome HD – https://youtu.be/H36XLoGSGT4. Just what the title says – a brief, lovely look at HD! Although he does remind me of Sam the Eagle in the first 30 or so seconds of the video…
November 21, 2022: Close-ups of handsome HD in Decorah.
November 21, 2022: Serious stick shopping, lost count at 15 – https://youtu.be/MJAG4uSENd0. Buy one, get one? How about buy one, get 14! HD and HM bring in short sticks, long sticks, and wonky sticks to pile their nest high and deep. If this level of activity keeps up, we might end up watching the side of the nest!
November 19, 2022: Raccoon napping below N1 – https://youtu.be/q62FeqKuUVs. Is the raccoon okay? While we think of them as nocturnal, it isn’t uncommon to see them napping in tree branches during the day. It might have been attracted to HD and HM’s nestovers, or it could have been out on a little nighttime walkabout and decided to spend the day napping in the tree. We’re looking at deterrents.
November 19, 2022: A raccoon takes a nap below N1
November 19, 2022: HD brings frozen fish, not sharing with HM – https://youtu.be/VqmNL7qceHw. HM doesn’t care to share her frozen fish, HD!
Male and female eagles hunt for and feed their eaglets, but male eagles are more likely to surrender their prey to their mates. Male eagles give food gifts as part of eagle courtship and keep their mates well-fed during the sensitive egg-laying period and first five days of eaglet life. In 2022, DNF did 82% of the feedings and 41% of meal deliveries during the eaglets’ first week, which means that Mr. North was handing over a lot of food! More here: https://www.raptorresource.org/2022/08/18/whats-on-the-menu-at-the-north-nest/.
Decorah North
November 21, 2022: Mr. North goes fishing…and swimming!
November 21, 2022: Mr. North goes fishing…and swimming! – https://youtu.be/WlXJDtxlVag. I’ve done both at the same time, so why not? Check out Mr. North’s extremely cool polar plunge at 15 seconds. He almost looks like an osprey at the very end of his dive! He wing strokes through the water and ends up on the opposite side of the stream, grasping his prey tightly before he dispatches and eats it. It’s a long way across the field, but we get some cool close-ups beginning at 5:18.
Why isn’t the water frozen? Spring-fed streams in Decorah have large open spots through the winter. The water comes out of the ground at about 44 degrees and flows swiftly, which prevents freezing. The cold aerated water is ideal for oxygen-loving trout and the eagles that like to eat them!
November 18: A fox squirrel fiches nest material from the North nest!
November 18, 2022: Squirrel gathering nest materials – https://youtu.be/rYS3zHI4vXQ. I thought this video was very funny. An intrepid fox squirrel gathers corn husks and stuffs them into its mouth before scrambling out of the nest!
Why is the squirrel risking an eagle’s nest? Corn husks are a hot (pun intended) insulation material and the squirrel is safer in a tree than on the ground. Gathering husks from the field would require a dash of 20 or more feet across open ground – a big deal for a squirrel, especially when there isn’t any place to hide! I enjoyed watching the squirrel’s antics.
Mississippi Flyway
November 19, 2022: A large multi-age group of bald eagles hunts coot on the Mississippi Flyway.
November 19, 2022: Bald eagles hunting waterfowl – https://youtu.be/hPaFIK0D5M8. I debated whether or not to share this because it could be upsetting. A large multi-age group of bald eagles hunt waterfowl trapped in a large hole in the ice. There are too many eagles for the coots to fly away and they can’t escape by diving, although they try. The eagles chase the flock from one end of the hole to another, dropping out as they catch coots, give up, or tire of the sport.
The Raptor Resource Project