Birds and Nature

Around noon mst I checked in and saw both Bald Eagle parents in the nest.  Dad was taking a turn at feeding the chicks.  However he must not have done enough feeding as mom took over feeding chicks after dad flew out of nest.   A few minutes later he flew back in to the nest and vocalized.  He stayed for about 15 min not doing anything but spending time there then flew off again.  Interesting to see the real lives (this is true reality tv) of Bald Eagles.  SeEtta

6pm-dad just brought in fresh food-a large fish-dropped it in the nest and flew. Now mom is feeding babies and herself fish.  6:15-dinner over and mom tries to cover chicks with her body.  However the oldest is often able to wiggle out and sometimes the others do too.  SeEtta

I swear that the oldest nestling Bald Eagle grew 6 inches overnight.  It looks really large today and is now moving around the nest away from mom.  SeEtta

Up late and checked in to see mom still on nest then heard what I expected was calling from the male who must have landed on a tree limb nearby (but didn't see him in nest). She became quite alert and soon repeated the vocalization and raised her head straight up and back, like cranes do. Very interesting. Chicks awake and peeping. SeEtta

Female is doing better at judging food size for chicks. Earlier she kept trying to give way too big piece to youngest who could not even grasp it. Really fun to watch her feed them. Given their young age she will likely be feeding every few hours (maybe less) so tune in. SeEtta

The third egg in Eagle nest hatched yesterday--now some views of all three fuzzy hatchlings off and on. They are too cool. SeEtta

This is a very long--over 10 min-video capture from the streaming video. At the beginning both parents loaf in the nest. After the male flies off, there is an extended period of time with the female just lying in the nest. If you don't want to watch a number of minutes of this, if you let the video run then come back in time for it to hit the 7 minute mark you will view the second hatchling. At one point the female carefully touches the hatchling with her large and potentially harmful beak--very touching how gentle she is. SeEtta

"First baby hatched at 6:10am mst " There are two unhatched eggs in nest. I missed the hatching and haven't seen the nestling yet either--hit and miss when you look in, parent may be covering the young hatchling. Here is the captured video of the hatching (how cool, dad flew in to see it!) SeEtta

"Decorah Eagles @ Ustream.TV: First hatch is imminent. It could occur anytime today"

This afternoon I opened the live streaming video to see the camera zoomed in to get a super close up of this eagles feathers. A little later the eagle got up and turned her eggs while the camera was zoomed in on the 3 eggs. I just pop in every now and then to see what she is doing, a great way to see how an eagle on the nest spends her time. The group that brings us this live streaming video, Raptor Research Project, has some a nice video clip they captured yesterday of the eagles tongue with the camera zoomed way in super up close. See it on this Raptor Research Project Update link as well as other information. Please consider giving them a donation (they are providing us with this entertainment as well as great conservation work so future generations can enjoy raptors too)--there is a donation link on this page . Please don't forget to shut the video off when you are not watching--let's don't waste bandwidth. There are usually thousands, some times tens of thou...

Wow, just checked the Bald Eagle on nest (10 pm MST) and she has her head tucked in to feathers on her back like a swan or something. Amazing to see what eagles on nest do during day but even more astounding at night. SeEtta

I dropped in this evening to see if it was on and was pleasantly surprised that it appears to have infra-red viewing so it is on at night. Though it was around 9 pm in Iowa where the nest located, I caught the end of the bird feeding. She turned the eggs and then herself around in the nest so she was facing the camera and then she rested. She appeared to doze though didn't appear fully asleep during the few minutes I watched. So there is activity at night in a Bald Eagle's nest. And now we can see how a large raptor sleeps. SeEtta Post note: Later this evening I dropped in and she was laying down in the nest and appeared to be sound asleep. BTW-please don't leave the live streaming video on as this takes bandwidth as there are thousands of viewers watching at various times. SeEtta

3-30-11-Move video to right side of page so it will stay on top This is a very good quality and close up live streaming video of a Bald Eagle on her nest in Iowa courtesy of the Raptor Research Project. Even cooler is that they estimate eggs will begin hatching on April 1. Be aware that when you click on the arrow it may take you to the Raptor Research Project page but this is cool as the video screen is larger than it would be here--also you can open as a full page video viewer with very good quality by clicking on the box in lower right hand corner of viewer. (Only catch is you have to put up with some advertisements, obviously to support this expensive venture, though the google ads can be deleted by clicking on the 'x' to the right and above the ad). Post Note 3/29--later yesterday I saw a rabbit this eagles mate apparently had brought for her to eat and today I see it still in the nest, by the end of it's tail, uneaten. SeEtta