Put up your feet and take a deep breath…it’s time for NestFlix! Today’s Diction-aerie word is ‘eggnant’: a female eagle’s condition immediately prior to laying eggs. Our bald eagle Moms are shifting fat to their brood patches and retaining water as their egg follicles swell and mature. We’re planning to begin egg watch on Friday, but we’ll also be watching for DNF, Mrs. T, and Ma FSV to begin loafing around the nest and ‘practice’ laying as eggs draw nearer!
As always, thanks to our camera operators and videomakers for capturing such wonderful moments and to all of you for watching, sharing, learning, supporting, and caring. It might be 20F and snowy, but it’s starting to feel like spring to me!
Decorah North Eagles, Decorah Iowa
Countdown to egg watch: four days
February 10, 2025: Fly like an eagle! Mr. North shows off his long wings and unparalleled aviation skills
February 10, 2025: Mr. North grabs a stick and finds the perfect place for it – https://youtu.be/B7AuSiir3Gc?si=ZgMLXRvGHl8aETZJ. Mr. North is a lumberjack! After a few false starts, he deadlifts a large stick from the ground (37 seconds) and carries it into the nest, where he finds the perfect place for it!
This was quite a feat of strength on Mr. North’s part! The stick was large and couldn’t have been easy to lift. While he had it oriented in the most streamlined position, there was no wind he could take advantage of. And the stick was relatively short, but looked quite heavy: his flight was all flap and very little glide. It was extremely rewarding to see him get it into the nest and place it. Way to go, Mr. North! How much weight can a Bald Eagle carry? https://www.raptorresource.org/2025/02/10/how-much-weight-can-a-bald-eagle-carry/.
February 8, 2025: Hey! That’s me you landed on!” Chat about the furniture – https://youtu.be/Vi45dM8pM6c?si=N3idKMmHhH3G990F. Even the most skilled fliers sometimes miscalculate the landing! Mr. North comes in hot with a stick, landing on top of DNF. A discussion about the furniture follows: both know where the stick should go, but they don’t entirely agree on placement. Unsurprisingly, DNF has the final say. Look for stick tango and enjoyable eagle flirting, including side-by-side nestorations, soft vocalizing, and gentle pecking. The nursery is growing by leaps and bounds!
Mr. North, glowing with health and vitality, resplendent in winter snow
For another very enjoyable look at nestorations and a wonderful glimpse of eagles in snow, check out Tulsa’s video, made the same day: https://youtu.be/nzmPvbzSdG0?si=0fqYiqJ1ulT7rhc5. I especially loved the footage of DNF at 7:50.
February 6, 2025: DNF flies out, hovers & glides on wind; harvests a stick – https://youtu.be/aBvscmu1-zI?si=KcImlUHiwZB0e6tu. Fly like an Eagle! Chat mod Glog gave me a very enthusiastic thumbs on the video, which follows DNF as she flies out of the nest and across the field, hovers and glides upstream into the wind, turns tail, and uses the wind’s momentum to help her break off a large stick and carry it to the nest. I could not believe how fast she cracked the whip as she flew downstream. Amazing!
Xcel Energy Fort St. Vrain Eagles, Platteville CO
Countdown to egg watch: 14 days
February 10, 2025: Mom nesting material delivery – https://youtu.be/_uuGeOJr4Lg?si=7heJytQCas9b_NuJ. I’m never in the nests when they are filled with soft, fluffy grasses, so it’s a delight to see just how cozy they are getting! In all likelihood, Ma and Pa still have a couple of weeks to prepare for eggs. But they aren’t wasting any time getting the nest ready.
The Fort St. Vrain Eagles are nesting in a cottonwood tree at Xcel Energy’s Fort St. Vrain plant near Platteville, CO approximately 45 miles northeast of Denver, CO. This is actually our oldest eaglecam: Bob Anderson and Rob MacIntyre first put an eaglecam here in 2023 and we are on at least our second pair of mates. Ma hatched in 2002 and first nested here in 2008: New Pa (sometimes called Pa Jr.) showed up in 2021. Watch this nest here: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/xcel-energy-cams/.
February 9, 2025: Pa Welcomes Ma To Nest With Love in the Evening – https://youtu.be/qxBhrMgp4NU?si=rd9i2PJDeCt146r-. A lot of the eagles we watch seem to have location preferences when it comes to copulation, but the FSV eagles are the only couple that seem to prefer the nest! Videomaker Keith first documented copulation on February 5 (https://youtu.be/oJqURNnAl-E?si=1cJCI9-TMp3q9_7P), and here we see it once again! Since she accepted New Pa as a mate, Ma usually lays eggs at the end of March.
The Raptor Resource Project