News and Blogs

Your questions, answered: the goslings and the leap of faith

April 28, 2022: A soft place to land!

The goslings in N1 are hatching and we’re getting a lot of questions about the gosling Leap of Faith, which should happen tomorrow or Monday. Will the goslings jump? How will they survive? Are they really ready to leave the nest? Read on for the answers to your questions! Will the goslings really jump? They will!  Watch for The Leap of Faith to happen roughly 24 to 48 hours after hatch. Mother Goose will leave the nest and both parents

Second-Week Milestones: An Illustrated Book!

April 6, 2024: Day 12 and 13

(More than) an eaglet a day: an illustrated book of DN17 and DN18’s second week of life! Click through the photos to see and read about their milestones and behaviors. Thanks to our camera operators, our moderators, and STLbf on our forum for photos, information, and text! April 4, 2024: Grey thermal down tracts are peeking out between feathery white natal tufts, the eaglets are more alert and aware of their surroundings, and they have enough strength, balance, and coordination

April 8, 2024: What are we looking forward to this week? News and NestFlix from around our Nests!

April 6, 2024: Look at those clown clompers! The eaglets' feet and legs have turned orange and are growing rapidly. It won't be long before they can stand on their feet.

What a weekend! The second eaglet hatched at Trempealeau, a male eagle – Mr. T? – has finally started to help with brooding and stocking the pantree, and the tiny North nest bobbleheads were replaced by great growing eaglets in grey flannel pajamas. We’re looking forward to hatch at Xcel Energy’s Fort St. Vrain nest on or around April 10, hatch at the N1 goose nest next weekend, and the leap of faith a day or two later. It’s springtime

Eaglet Growth and Development: Week Three

April 6, 2024: Sleeping - and dreaming! are part of eaglet growth and development.

We’re writing a series of blogs about the first few weeks of an eaglet’s life. An eaglet spends roughly 75 to 80 days in the nest. For about the first half, it grows and gains weight. For about the second half, it grows flight feathers and starts developing the skills it will need post-fledge. We will focus on week three in this blog. DN17 and DN18 turned 15 and 14 days old today. During week two (seven to 14 days),

Hatch Fundraiser!

April 6, 2024: Talons make the most comfortable pillows! Eating and snoozing are important, especially when eaglets are growing so rapidly!

Welcome to our hatch fundraiser! We know that not everyone who watches can give, but any donation in any amount helps us meet our mission of education, conservation, and research: https://www.raptorresource.org/support-the-raptor-resource-project/make-a-donation/. You are also welcome to join us for chat: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-north-nest/. If you are reading this, you’ve watched our Bald Eagle cameras and you know what a marvelous year it’s been so far. But beyond the cute overload – and DN17 and DN18 are so cute! – we research bald

Trempealeau Eagles Update

April 4, 2024: Feeding T1 at Trempealeau

What’s going on at the Trempealeau eagle nest and where is Mr. T? We haven’t seen him since March 28. Prior to that, he and Mrs. T were exchanging incubation duties and he was acting like a normal eagle Dad. But we haven’t seen him on the nest since his last shift and no one has reported or found him, live or dead, in the vicinity of the nest. The couple’s first eaglet hatched on very late on April 2nd

What’s Up With the Geese? Canada Geese, Reproduction, and Conspecific Brood Parasitism

April 1, 2024: the resident geese struggle with the intruder.

On Saturday April 1, goose watchers at N2B saw a female goose fly into the nest. After a lot of biting, pushing, and tussling, she laid an egg despite MG and PG’s best attempts to repel her. One of the local eggs dropped out of the nest, although MG and PG ended up incorporating the intruder’s egg into their own clutch. At one point, it was thought that Canada geese were strictly monogamous. Close observation has yielded a more nuanced

April 2, 2024: News and NestFlix from Decorah North, Decorah, and Great Spirit Bluff

April 2, 2024: A snowy shift change. This reminds me of the care Mom and Dad took with their eaglets, who stayed safe and warm in the worst spring weather.

The wind blew and the rain and snow flew, but DNF and Mr. North fed the eaglet crew! The terrific two ate nine times today so far, including a dual feeding by Mr. North (DN18) and DNF (DN17). The P’s shielded their eaglets from the wind and snow and got food in them quickly before Mombrella settled them under her warm feathers. This winter has felt like one long April Fool’s joke, with the punchline ending – we hope? –

« Older Entries Recent Entries »