About the Geese
We have not adopted names for the geese and don’t know whether they are the same pair that nested here in 2022, although it seems likely. In general, the geese arrive in late February or early March and begin laying eggs in mid-to-late March. The goslings begin hatching roughly 33 days after the first egg is laid. They will jump from N2B, which is about 70 feet high, 24 to 48 hours after the first egg hatches. Geese are precocial, which means that goslings are capable of moving around, self-feeding, and leaving the nest shortly after hatch: https://www.raptorresource.org/2022/03/25/canada-geese-precocial-versus-altricial/.
To learn more about Canada geese, please follow this link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website. Visiting Decorah to see the eagles or the geese? Please read through our guide to eagle etiquette >> Bald Eagle Etiquette.
Nest Territory and Locations: N0, N1, N2, N2B, and N3
Five nests (N0, N1 [twice], N2, and N2B) have been built on the Decorah territory. Bald eagles built N0, N1 (once), and N2. Neil Rettig and Kike Arnal built nest N2B in August of 2015 after N2 was destroyed in a storm, and Kike Arnal and Amy Ries rebuilt nest N1 in September of 2021 after the original nest dwindled away. As of 2023, bald eagles HD (Hatchery Dad) and HM (Hatchery Mom) are nesting in N1, and the geese are nesting in N2B.
- 2022: Canada Geese hatch young in N2B: https://youtu.be/rhQCa2yUPuA and a new pair of bald eagles adopts N1.
- 2020: Mom and DM2 begin a new nest (N3) behind the Decorah Walmart and begin nesting there in 2021.
- 2018: Dad disappears in April of 2018. He is last seen at N2B on April 18, 2018. After two male eagles come and go, Mom accepts new mate DM2, for Decorah Male 2. The two begin working on N2B in October.
- 2015: N2 is destroyed during a storm the morning of July 18. In August, humans build a nest (N2B) to encourage the eagles to begin building near the former location of N2. Mom and Dad adopt N2B in October of 2015. Watch the N2B rebuild here: https://youtu.be/2-xRSBBeIYs and read about it at our old blogspot: http://raptorresource.blogspot.com/2015/08/n2b-or-new-decorah-nest.html.
- 2012: Mom and Dad begin a new nest (N2) in mid-October on the north bank of Trout Creek about 700 feet from N1, which is still standing
- 2007: N0 is destroyed during a storm. Dad and OM begin building a new nest (N1) in the yard of a home just north of the hatchery. OM disappears in early fall. 2007: A four-year old female (Mom) joins Dad at N1 in early December.
- 2002’ish: the male eagle (Dad) and his original mate (OM) build a nest (N0) in the hills to the east of the hatchery
The Raptor Resource Project