We have come to the conclusion that HD and HM are building a new nest elsewhere. We kept hoping that they would return to N1, but it doesn’t seem likely at this point. Robin Brumm will be sharing her pictures and day trip to Decorah later this evening. Before then, we wanted to address the question that watchers have been asking since HD and HM began carrying sticks somewhere other than N1: Why? And the short answer: We don’t know.
October 31, 2023: HD and HM in a tree near hatchery bluff.
There have been some big changes around the N1 nest. It’s possible that the loss of their roost tree played a role. As watchers might remember, the tree next to N1 fell during a storm in early June. While the nest itself wasn’t damaged, the eagles’ home tree also lost some large limbs.
Eagles are unpredictable. We worked at four sites this year and eagles are active in three of them. HD and HM chose a nest tree last year that had cameras in it. How lucky were we!! We don’t know why HD and HM decided to move, but we wish them the best of luck in their new home and we’ll do our best to keep everyone posted on what they are up to.
Thank you so much for watching, for sharing, for learning, for caring, and for your understanding. We’ll miss watching HD and HM closely in the nest this coming season. If you’d like to watch bald eagles, Mr. North and DNF have been busy working on the North nest. This is a personal favorite of mine: the North nest is wonderful and the Valley of the Norths is a beautiful place: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-north-nest/. Xcel Energy’s Fort St. Vrain eagles have also been very busy working on their nest – a fun site to compare, since Colorado’s flora and fauna are quite different than northeast Iowa’s! https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/xcel-energy-cams/
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The Raptor Resource Project