Mississippi Flyway Cam and Blogs

Oh-oh…he sees us!

November 19, 2024: Subadult Bald Eagle on the Flyway

Uh-oh…he sees us! The arrival of winter weather has sent the last migrants south by the hundreds. Our Golden Eagles are back on their Driftless wintering grounds and Bald Eagles are pouring through the Flyway, gathering in large multi-age groups as they go. The Diction-aerie lists ‘convocation’ for ‘a group of eagles’, but watchers have also suggested quarrel, rabbler (as in rabble), congress, recess, carnival, rave, gawk, confusion, scrum, and frat party! Foraging in large groups helps any given eagle

October 28, 2024: Tricks and Treats from the North Nest, the Flyway, and Trempealeau!

October 25, 2024: DNF in the North Nest.

Happy Halloween week! Today’s treats include a meteor shower, a splish-splash eagle bath, and a fox squirrel stealing a pileated woodpecker’s snacks…the naughty trickster! This week, we’re looking forward to nestorations, Flyway and North Nest arrivals and departures, especially on Wednesday when the warm southerly wind finally changes direction, and more sightings of our North Nest neighbors. The warm extended fall makes it feel like summer, but the north nest neighbors are clearly preparing for winter and – in the

October 16, 2024: Trempealeau Eagles, Decorah North, and the Flyway!

This is my happy face! A beautiful eagle on the Flyway this morning.

It was a busy day for eagles – and other birds! – today. At Trempealeau, Mr. and Mrs. T attended to some sticky business as they figured out furniture placement, tangoed, and made early home improvements. We believe that it’s Mr. T’s second year as a mate and father, so we’re very curious to see how he’ll do with food gifts to Mrs. T, brooding, and feeding his young. Trempealeau Eagles At Decorah North, Mr. North and DNF are continuing

July 10, 2024: Turtle Yoga!

July 10, 2024: Turtle Yoga

We took a break from Bald Eagles to bring you…TURTLE YOGA!! The U.S. is a global hotspot for turtle biodiversity, with more than 60 known turtle species recorded here. This turtle Yogi is a Ouachita Map Turtle based on its very wide eyebrow bars, chin spots, and the black knobs on its carapace. It had a lot of company: we counted 16 turtles of various species basking and stretching on our photo snag yesterday! It’s a great time to watch

June 24, 2024: NestFlix and News from Decorah North, Trempealeau, and the Mississippi Flyway!

June 23, 2024: The nest's framework makes a most unusual pillow for DN17!

We saw a real tug-o-fish today as DN18 and DN17 scrapped over a small trout that DNF brought in. Note that DN18 used his eagle table manners – gorging everything but one bite down quickly. No one can steal it once it’s down the hatch…exception here: https://lauraerickson.substack.com/p/parasitic-jaeger-in-july! Fledge and post-fledge activities are going on at all of our eagle nests right now and several people have expressed concern that the fledglings aren’t being fed. It’s common for feedings to decrease

June 21, 2024: NestFlix and Chill!

DN17 at the North Nest: growing, learning, and adapting. I love this stage of eagle life!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting our fledge fundraiser. You donated $16,000 dollars to support our education and research work yesterday, which is amazing! Your donations keep cameras streaming, scopes trained on peregrine falcon bands, autumn banding stations open, classrooms learning about bald eagles and peregrine falcons, and so much more! So again, thank you – and a special shoutout to our volunteers for a wonderful day. John and I had a great time chatting and

News and NestFlix from Decorah North and The Flyway

April 24, 2024: Family portrait: DN17, Mr. North, DN18, DNF

DN17 and DN18 turn 30 and 31 days old today! The dynamic duo are tracking and paying attention to life outside the nest: the place that their parents come from and go to, often bearing food, and the world that their parents see, hear, and respond to: birds overhead, animals on the ground, other eagles, one another. It’s a wonderful look at the ways in which instinct and imprinting unlock an important behavior and all the learning that goes with

March 18, 2024: NestFlix and Chill!

March 18, 2024: HD visits the N1 tree, upsetting the geese.

We have your Monday NestFlix, but let’s look at the week ahead before we put our feet up and chill! We’re looking forward to hatch beginning at Decorah North on Saturday or Sunday, first eggs at peregrine falcon sites (my bet’s on Dubuque for the first egg at a nest we monitor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFtQqGanrX0) and a possible return of winter weather later this week! Well, we’re not really looking forward to that last one, but we are curious about what egg-laying

January 22, 2024: NestFlix and News from Decorah North and the Flyway!

January 22, 2024: Carpeting the floor of the nest bowl with grass

Put up your feet and chill – we have your NestFlix roundup! I especially enjoyed watching DNF and Mr. North disagree over who gets lunch (Mr. North does not want to share, DNF!), a chunky squirrel sunbathing and eating, and a lovely Cardinal eating multiflora berries! It’s almost enough to make me appreciate multiflora (almost). Stay warm, everybirdie…egglets will be here before we know it! Decorah North January 18, 2024: Great Horned and Barred Owl calling – https://youtu.be/O2H6JIZj84g?si=er3onZE8bUddJr8g. The video

Friday, January 12: News and NestFlix From Decorah North, Decorah, and the Flyway!

January 11, 2024: DNF ate well before working on the North nest. I wanted to reach in and wipe off her beak!

Happy Fri-Yay, everyone! We have news and NestFlix from Decorah, Decorah North, and the Flyway! I loved all of these videos, but I especially enjoyed seeing DNF working on the North nest and watching and listening to duetting eagles on the Flyway. Thanks so much to our dedicated camera operators and videomakers for bringing us such amazing sights and sounds, and to you for watching, sharing, learning, and especially for caring. Rock on, everybirdie! Decorah North January 11, 2024: North

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