What are we looking forward to for the week of February 13? Tick-tock egg-clock, everybody…we’re getting egg-cited!
- Eggs at Decorah North. DNF laid her first egg on February 16th in 2021 and 2022. Will we have a three-peat this year? It seems possible, especially since the two appear to be working on an egg cup: https://youtu.be/ODY5bU10M6s (we get a nice view of the cup at around one minute in).
February 13, 2023: Mr. North and DNF are getting their egg cup ready!
- HM and HD have finally gotten their groove on! We don’t know when she’s going to lay eggs, but they’ve been working on the nest and have finally ramped up copulation. The nest looks wonderful: HM and HD have built up the crib rails and are filling it with shredded husks, stalks, and grass. Look for their egg cup next! https://youtu.be/zoMFSDApl5U.
February 12, 2023: Is HD building a log cabin?
- Eggs at Xcel Energy’s Fort St. Vrain site? Ma FSV has laid in early March since she accepted Pa Jr. as a mate. But the FSV group reports that they’ve been very active and it looks like an egg cup is starting to emerge from the pile of fluffy grass at the bottom of the nest.
February 13, 2023: Egg cup at Xcel Energy’s Fort St. Vrain eagle nest.
- Newman’s return! We saw a male falcon on February 11. If this is Newman, it is the earliest he’s ever returned, so keep your eyes and ears on the skies at Great Spirit Bluff! https://youtu.be/zILElqtOzxk. Newman set his previous arrival record on February 12 of 2018.
February 13, 2023: Newman at Great Spirit Bluff
- Bald Eagles on the Mississippi Flyway. While we shouldn’t see ice-out on Lake Onalaska until late February or early March, warm weather south of us is opening up the ice and starting to push the early birds north. The one we saw on the Flyway this morning could have been a local, but we’re also seeing subadults around Great Spirit Bluff.
February 13, 2023: An eagle on the Flyway!
The Raptor Resource Project