Might there be a third one like last season?
Last evening at 6:o7 P.M. eagle egg number one in Decorah, Iowa was laid. The eagle nest watching season is now underway!
And you can be a part of the adventure by linking to the nest cam and watching all the action unfold. There will now be a widget on the sidebar of my blog for the rest of the nesting season for you to link to and enjoy.
Earlier this year a pair of horned owls had tried to take over the nest for their home this season, and there were a number of late-night turf battles caught on tape that prove how powerful and brave all these birds are when push comes to shove. While owls will hijack a built nest the prevailing wisdom is once an egg is laid the battle is over.
Last season this pair of eagles that have been nesting in Decorah for years produced three eggs and all left the nest but then tragic events took over. One of the young eagles was electrocuted by a power line, and another was severely injured and will always be kept in a facility. The third female youngster is tagged/wired and has been trekking over a sizable portion of Iowa and Illinois and is doing well.
The mother stayed on the nest all last night but was seen leaving the nest for food as the male took over this morning of sitting on the egg.
Lets hope we have a couple more eggs. Just sit back and watch this amazing real world adventure take place and beware it is so awesome that it will consume your time. In a number of weeks this is what we will see.
Awww……
UPDATED…below.
D18 as a baby this spring.
Sad news tonight from Decorah for all of us who have followed and loved these little guys for the past months.
D18 is on the right side of pic but obviously not with the white head. One can only see his outstretched wing.
Bob Anderson has released this statement:
“This morning the one young 2014 male eagle was seen soaring high over the bluff near Decorah compost site. We were all impressed by his flying skill. We believe that the young eagle was on his way back to the compost site when he …attempted to land on the power pole about 1/2 mile from the compost site. This was a high transmission power pole and the eaglet suffered burns on its wing (wrist) and singed feathers on his feet. The electricity either entered through its feet and out the wing or vice versa, and his wing was nearly severed.We are all very saddened as his flying prowess led us to believe that we would have a long lived male eagle to compliment the data from our famous D1″.
You may recall the Decorah eagles D12 and D14 were both electrocuted in 2012, and while many of the power poles around the nest and hatchery were retrofitted, not all poles in Decorah were, and this pole was quite a distance from the nest tree.
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Yesterday’s electrocution was extremely unusual. The line was a 69Kv distribution line that appeared, during our initial inspection, to be appropriately protected. We don’t know whether EWOT tried to perch or collided with the line, although it was clearly killed by electrocution. The company that owns the line is an independent holdings company, not a local or regional power producer. We are trying to contact them this morning.
This is a photo of the pole. The ground wire doesn’t carry electricity and is on top of the pole. Roughly three feet down, the first hot wire is separated from the pole by an insulator roughly a foot or so long. About three feet down from that on the other side of the pole, we have hot wire two.
The famed Decorah eagles that have a cam which is watched by many are facing a tough summer.
This spring three eggs were laid, and it was a pleasure to see each hatch and the birds grow healthy and strong. But several weeks ago the gants and biting flies that have proven to be a problem in so many places around the Midwest started attacking the young birds. At about the time the birds were to fledge from the nest to the tree branches and then back for meals and nighttime resting did not take place. Instead the young eagles just took flight and got the heck out of Dodge and never returned.
One of the eagles was so tired and unable to fly successfully it landed in a river area with a broken wing. It was rescued and had surgery this weekend. The prognosis is good but it will be a slow mend.
The other two have been located but their story is not completed as they are still in need of learning to hunt and make it as adults. The parent birds know of their location and that part of the story from the Decorah Eagles Facebook Page is well worth the read.
Bob Anderson writes the following.
“I was at the hatchery a little past 6AM this morning. David and Ann Lynch were down at the city compost site. The adult female eagle was perched in the maple tree. I lobbed a quail out on the cement and as usual the female did not respond. Every few minutes I would toss the quail high in the air hoping that the male would see the offering. After a few minutes I drove… down to the compost site and met up with David along with several other eagle people who ventured out early to see eagles. Soon, the adult male eagle came flying in to the site carrying the quail. He landed next to the immature bird (EWOT) who snatched the quail and mantled.
David and I then set off to track down the young eagle with the transmitter. She spent last night in a corn field. This AM we found her laying down tucked up against a wire woven fence. She must have spent quite a bit of energy trying to get through or over the fence. I was able to grab her and quickly put a hood on her head. David then drove while I held the young eagle (EWT) and we made a direct line to the compost site.
Once we got there, we tossed three quail up on one small mulch pile very near the mulch pile with the other eaglet (EWOT). As soon as I released her on the pile she began to devour the quail. She ate all three in short order. I ran back to the hatchery and set out two small trout, hoping the adult male would snatch one and return to the compost site. All of us that were watching were rewarded when we saw the adult male eagle arrive with one trout and deliver it to the eaglet without a transmitter. The adult male then flew over to another mulch pile. Before the adult male arrived with the trout the eaglet without a transmitter flew over to the bird with the transmitter. They interacted a bit and then eagle EWOT flew back to his mulch pile.
I returned to the city compost site around 2:30 to check on the eaglets. Both of them were perched together on the tallest mulch pile. The adults have visited and the adult male brought food. It has clouded over and with luck the eagles will remain for more feedings from the adult.”
This is one of those unusual series of photos that just deserves to be posted. For weeks I had a widget for this nest on the sidebar to my blog.
The eaglet at Berry College has fledged and now only visits the nest for some meals and at times at night to sleep. Since leaving the nest for the first time last week the young female eagle has been tormented by blue jays. While they are a pretty bird (there were many of them around when I was a boy back in Hancock, Wisconsin) there are far fewer on the Madison isthmus.
For the eagle just starting her way in the world, as the pics show, she can not find peace even when eating. All in all a most unusual situation.
On the right hand side of this blog is a link to the Berry College Eagle Cam.
The eagle couple spent several months repairing and adding to the nest and catching fish and coots in the nearby Berry quarry, Oostanaula River and Garden Lakes. An egg was produced on January 14, 2014, followed by a second egg on January 17. An eaglet chick hatched on Saturday, February 22, from one of the two eggs laid in January. But the other egg is not viable and has been buried in the nest.
Earlier this month there was an intruder to the nest and the female eagle took protective action.
Hat Tip to James.
The couple spent several months repairing and adding to the nest and catching fish and coots in the nearby Berry quarry, Oostanaula River and Garden Lakes. An egg was produced on January 14, 2014, followed by a second egg on January 17. An eaglet chick hatched on Saturday, February 22, from one of the two eggs laid in January. But the other egg is not viable and has been buried in the nest. This is the only live, streaming video camera of a bald eagle nest in Georgia.
Over the past couple of summers the eagles at Norfolk Botanical Garden have had a prime spot with a widget on Caffeinated Politics. Through the triumphs of eggs hatching, and young eaglets growing and leaving the nest to the sad times of the death of the female and the removal of the young, readers and viewers have had a front row seat to Mother Nature.
But that will no longer be the case at Norfolk Botanical Garden due to the safety factor for the eagles due to the close proximity to the local airport. Too many mishaps are taking place, and it has generated enough concern that the eagle nests have been taken down.
While this sad, it is also wise.
Federal, state and local wildlife officials said one complete nest and a partial nest had to be taken down because of the danger to wildlife and aircraft coming and going from nearby Norfolk International Airport.
The FAA cited concerns about four bald eagles being struck by aircraft in the last 10 years. The USDA identified bald eagles as “an extremely high” hazard risk to aircraft.
The city applied for state and federal permits to remove the nests before nesting season begins in the next few months. The permits came in this week.
A post on the City of Norfolk Facebook page said “While we all have enjoyed the eagle’s at Norfolk Botanical Garden, encouraging them to find a new home ultimately ensures the safety of the public, property and the eagles.”
The removal didn’t take long – perhaps 5 minutes – because the nests weren’t as intricately-built as they expected. The branches were put into a chipper and ground up.
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 