Story and Photos by Robin Brumm
The weather finally cooperated and I was able to go to Decorah and not get snowed or rained on. So I got up at dark o’clock (not really, it was light o’clock) and headed off to Decorah. I was thinking about Mom and DM2 on the way over and had my talons crossed that they were still incubating. Their last 2 seasons haven’t been successful and I hope that this season will be a good one for them!
March 30, 2024: Can you see DM2’s wing in the nest? Eagles can be surprisingly hard to spot for such large birds!
I got to Decorah, grabbed my camera, binoculars and lawn chair, and headed down the trail. I got set up and grabbed my binoculars. Hmmm… I didn’t see anything in the nest or in any of the surrounding trees. I know the last time I was there, they were difficult to see in the nest so I sat down and (im)patiently waited. I took hundreds of pictures and zoomed in to see if there was anybirdy on the nest, and I didn’t see anything. I was starting to get worried. Finally after almost 2 hours, I saw what looked like a flash of a wing. I quickly took a photo and zoomed in. I think I saw some wing feathers! There was somebirdy in the nest the whole time! Whew!
A little while later, an eagle flew to the perch tree. I looked through my binoculars. It sure looked like Mom! I looked back over to the nest and DM2 was standing up and flew off the nest, as quick as a flash! In fact he flew off so fast I couldn’t even get a photo of him! Mom flew from the perch tree over to the nest and began to incubate. I stayed for another hour or so, and got a few more glimpses of Mom, and then decided it was time to head home. I was a bit disappointed that I really wasn’t able to get any good photos of Mom or DM2 on the nest. You will be able to see how hard it is to see them when you see the N4 pictures. They sure like to hide deep down in the nest bowl. Maybe if I was about 80 feet tall I could get better photos. Do they make 80 foot tripods or selfie sticks? Lol! (Amy’s note: we wish they did, too)!
On the way home I was thinking about the eggs hatching. If I calculated correctly, I believe that the hatch window for Mom and DM2’s nest will start around April 4th. Knowing how hard it is to see Mom and DM2 incubating in the nest, I may not be able to tell how many eaglets there are until they have their brown juvie feathers! Lol. Hmmm…April 4th. I wonder what the weather will be like next weekend??
RRP appreciates Robin’s generosity in sharing her photos and reminds you they are copyrighted and may not be downloaded without her express written permission.
The Raptor Resource Project