GSB Falcons and Blogs

March 9, 2021: Territorial Battle At Great Spirit Bluff

March 9, 2021: Territorial battle at Great Spirit Bluff

On March 9 at about 6:37am central time, GSB watchers witnessed a peregrine falcon territorial battle. Resident female Nova came back after a three-day absence and drove interloper Nina away. After ousting Nina, Nova copulated with Newman and disappeared again. Are the falcons okay? Neither falcon appeared to have been seriously injured in the fight. We zoomed in on Nova’s eyes – our primary concern – and they appeared to be fine. Either Nina or Nova could come back to

News and NestFlix from around our nests!

March 8, 2021: Mr. North on DNN.

What’s going on around our sites? Mr. North and DNF are incubating their eggs as we count down to the beginning of hatch in roughly 20 days. The embryonic eagles are a little over halfway through development right now, growing leg scales, tiny talons, and plantar foot pads in the cozy darkness of their shells. We haven’t seen any new eagles in Decorah, although the nest attracted a hungry squirrel this morning, we saw Northern Shoveler ducks in the retention

March 4, 2021: Midnight Movies!

March 3, 2021: DNF rolls her eggs

Put your feet up and get ready for tonight’s midnight movie madness! While the Decorah North eagles incubated their two eggs in peaceful splendor (countdown: 24 days), Decorah and Great Spirit Bluff kept us all on the Tilt-o-Whirl! Will a new eagle couple take over N2B? Is Mom warning them away? Who was that banded female falcon at Great Spirit Bluff? Grab your drinks and snacks and get ready for nestflix, information, and a little #musing as we review a

March 2nd, 2021: Spring Nestflix!

February 27, 2021: A stunning look at Mr. North! We can see every detail of his face: the nictitating eyelid sweeping in from the side, his yellow cere and large oval nostrils, the edges and curved tip of his beak, the rimal feathers that line his eyes, and the rictal feathers around his 'beak lips'.

Spring is coming and birds are busy at (almost) all of our nests. At Decorah North, DNF wing-whacks a mouse and enjoys lunch, while Mr. North sounds the alarm over an intruder. We have stunning close-ups of both eagles, but we can’t quite get a peek at their egg! Love is in the air at GSB as an unknown female falcon courts Newman and Newman courts mate Nova. He didn’t quite sweet-talk her into their nest box, but it wasn’t

Newman and Nova are back at Great Spirit Bluff!

February 24, 2021: Newman seems very confident back on the scene at Great Spirit Bluff. We have heard him enforcing his No-Fly zone already!

By RRP Director John Howe Peregrine Falcons Newman and Nova are back at Great Spirit Bluff! On February 24th, we saw (and heard) male Newman reclaiming his territory and favorite spots, protecting his No-Fly Zone from local eagles, turkey vultures, and owls. Mate Nova joined him on February 25th. What about the owls? We have been testing audio and visual owl deterrents by shining a light at favorite perching spots and broadcasting the sound of barking dogs. Our deterrents appear

January 22, 2021: A Raptor Movie Marathon from Decorah North, Decorah, and GSB

January 20, 2021: Resident eagles at Great Spirit Bluff

Happy, happy Fri-yay, everyone! The sun is setting and I’m kicking off my Friday raptor movie marathon with a great big bowl of popcorn! As usual, Mom and DM2 continue to tease us with little visits to N2B…not enough for serious nestoration, but just enough to keep us hoping they come back! Mr. North and DNF are very busy working on their 2021 addition, while eagles are stacking up at Great Spirit Bluff, which has just the right amount of

Racheting Raptor Toes: An upside-down eagle at Great Spirit Bluff

A bird's talon-locking mechanism

An eagle locked on to a branch and flipped upside down at Great Spirit Bluff on Thursday. It hung there for roughly 32 seconds, looking at its perch mates and flapping its wings every few seconds, seemingly unable to let go of the branch it had fastened on. So what was going on? Flexor Tendons and Grip Let’s start by talking about tendons: the tough tissue that connects muscle to bone. Our human flexor tendons run from our forearms to

NestFlix: Decorah North and Great Spirit Bluff

January 14, 2021: DNF and Mr. North on the North nest

We have your NestFlix from Decorah North and Great Spirit Bluff! I liked all of these videos, but I loved the North Nest bath time with both eagles – I’ve already got a number two favorite video this year! – and Mr. North’s tree trimming. If you want to see bald eagles, don’t miss the eagle icecapades at Great Spirit Bluff. How many eagles can you count? I counted well over twenty on the ice! Thank you so much to

January 6, 2020: Decorah North, GSB, and the Flyway

January 5, 2021: DNF at the North Nest

We have your NestFlix! While we wait for John’s report from Decorah later this week, we’re watching the Decorah North Eagles, Great Spirit Bluff, and the Flyway. I liked all these videos, but do not miss the first two Decorah North videos (I love the birdsong and close-ups of DNF), the Great Horned Owls at GSB, and the Northern Harrier on the Flyway. I miss seeing Mom and DM2, but I love seeing the diversity of birds and wildlife at

January 5, 2020: Nestflix

December 31, 2020: Mr. North (left) and DNF (right). DNF is signaling an interest in copulation by lowering her head, tipping forward, and hunching her shoulders.

Unwind, relax, and chill with videos from Decorah North, Decorah, and Great Spirit Bluff! I liked all of these videos, but I especially enjoyed the two eagles playing at Decorah North (five days into 2021 and I already have a candidate for next December’s top ten list!), the interaction between three adults in Decorah, and the beautiful eagles and coyotes at GSB. Thanks so much to our camera operators for finding such special moments, our videomakers for sharing them, and

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