Story and photos by Robin Brumm
Saturday’s weather was supposed to be perfect, so guess where I went? You guessed it, I went to Decorah to see Mom and DM2. I also wanted to see if I could confirm how many eaglets were in the nest. So I packed up my stuff Saturday morning, and headed to Decorah.
May 11, 2024: DM2 on the nest
When I got to the nest, I noticed one parent in the nest and the other parent on the broken branch where N3 used to be. I looked through my binoculars and it appeared that DM2 was on the nest and Mom was on the broken branch. I didn’t see any eaglet heads, so they must have been napping. I took a few photos of DM2, and then turned to take some photos of Mom. All of a sudden, she put out her wings and did the heraldic pose, or sun pose.
May 11, 2024: Mom in a heraldic or sun pose
Eagles are so majestic when they do that pose. It always takes my breath away. After quite a while, Mom flew off the broken branch and started to fly over the nesting area. DM2 flew off the nest and joined her. They both circled around in the area and would come together and then fly apart. Then they would come together again and fly apart. Eventually, Mom flew to the nest and DM2 flew off in the distance.
May 11, 2024: Mom feeding D40
When Mom got to the nest, she started feeding. As much as I want there to be 2 eaglets, I can confidently say that there is just one eaglet this year. I am so happy that Mom and DM2 have an eaglet this year. It’s been awhile and Mom is such a good Mom! Looking at D40’s plumage and the approximate egg laid date, I think that s/he is about 2 weeks younger than the eaglets at Decorah North Nest. After the feeding, Mom settled down in the nest with D40. D40 did a couple of wing stretches and walked around the nest a bit before laying down. After a while, DM2 came flying to the perch tree to wait for his next turn to watch D40. One thing I notice is that when the eaglets are still young, I do a lot of sitting and waiting for something to happen. Hopefully in a few weeks there will be more action, like flapping and hopping in the nest.
By this time I had been there for several hours and I needed to head for home. I always love watching Mom and DM2, and I miss seeing them on camera every day. Not only would I watch pretty much all day during nesting season, I also used to check the cam most evenings, to make sure everybirdy was safe at home and tucked in. I have to admit, when the Decorah Eagle cam goes to highlights, I will often watch them, because the highlights are Mom and DM2 videos. That means, I get to see close ups of Mom! She is still very beautiful and makes me smile.
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