Another Egg for Ma FSV?
As of this post, we have one egg at Decorah North (hatch estimated on or around March 28), two eggs in Decorah (hatch estimated on or around April 4), and two eggs at Fort St. Vrain (hatch estimated on or around April 10). Ma usually lays three eggs, so it’s possible she could lay again on March 9th.
Are the geese going to lay eggs again? We’ve seen them checking out N2B, but HD doesn’t seem very excited about renting the property out to strangers! Having said that, two geese spent a couple of hours at N2B today. In 2022, Mother Goose laid her first egg on March 24. If the geese nest at N2B again, we’ll work with explore.org to establish another channel so we can watch both nests at once.
The Turkey Vultures are Back!
The Missouri Turkey Vultures are back! Chuck H. first reported vultures in the neighborhood on March 1 and we’ve seen them in the loft several times since. In 2022, egg laying started on April 23, so we won’t see them lay eggs this week. But we might see them prospecting, courting, and sunning their beautiful dark feathers. Watch them live here: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/missouri-turkey-vultures/.
Spring Migration on the Mississippi Flyway
The great tide of spring birds is flowing north on the Flyway. Spring migration is much quicker than fall migration, since breeding birds are eager to get back to their nesting grounds, claim territories, woo mates, and get about the business of making baby birds. Still, it is a real treat to see ducks, large convocations of bald eagles, and – was that a Sandhill Crane this morning? After months of quiet, the Flyway is a riot of sights and sounds once more.
The Bachelor: Falcon Edition
While Newman at Great Spirit Bluff is especially known for his irresistibility – at least when it comes to female falcons – we’re seeing returns and altercations at a lot of our sites. Newman is currently courting Savanna (bl/blu 40/Z), a 2019 hatch from Bank of the West in Fargo, North Dakota, and she’s already driven off Julie (bl/blu 90/Z), a 2019 hatch from the Ford Parkway Bridge in Minneapolis, MN. It will be at least a few weeks before things settle down. We’ll see what else happens and whether or not Zooey returns.
Where are D36 and our Golden Eagles?
Our inboxes are stuffed with airmail and we’ll be sharing the postcards tomorrow! In the meantime, you can explore our interactive eagle maps here: https://www.raptorresource.org/learning-tools/eagle-map/. I’m just starting to add the golden eagles so their travels are a little rough. I’ll have them properly fixed up tomorrow!
The Raptor Resource Project