Decorah, Iowa, Bald Eagle Cam

[Bob]

https://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles


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[Bob]

Look quick.  Right now.

[m1469]

There is a birdy.

[Bob]

They're fluffing up the nest and rebuilding it for the next batch of eggs.

[Bob]

... And they're gone.

[birba]

They have a similar thing in the capitol building in Lincoln, Nebraska (Yes, I'm cornbeef stock) of the nest of a pellegrine hawk(?).  I watched it for months a few years ago until the eggs hatched and the chicks flew!!

[littletune]

Look quick.  Right now.

Yes I saw the birdy! I just didn't have time to comment then... Cute!  But now the nest is empty again...

[m1469]

Is this our forum pet?  I wonder if there is also something in a bear den or so?  hmmmm ...

[littletune]

Is this our forum pet?   I wonder if there is also something in a bear den or so?  hmmmm ...

Yes yes a forum pet!!!   But then we should give the bird (or birds) a name!! 
oh what's bear den? or where?

[Bob]

There is a bear webcam on there too.  Some bear sanctuary somewhere.  Those bears kind of looked lazy though.

There are two eagles, the mother and father. They'll probably have a clutch of eggs in about a month or two.

I've only heard people refer to the eagles as "Mom" and "Dad."

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There are some Youtube videos of them.  A lot of videos actually.
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That will search for the latest videos posted.

[m1469]

Here's the bearden!

https://www.ustream.tv/lilyblackbear

[Bob]

https://www.ustream.tv/woodlandparkzoo
I'm not sure if this is the other bear cam I saw before or not.

The aquariums and Australian Galah cams are interesting too.
https://www.ustream.tv/opensea
https://www.ustream.tv/kelpforest


Here it is.  I watched this bear cam for a while before.
https://www.ustream.tv/channel/north-american-bear-center-webcam

Galahs
https://www.ustream.tv/channel/peacheyroo
Although this page has two cams...
https://www.backyardgalahcam.com.au/

And the penguins.
https://www.ustream.tv/calacademy-penguins

[littletune]

Wow! We could have a lot of forum pets! 

Is this bird's name Bob??

[Bob]

Bob is the guy in charge of all that.  It's his job.

They tagged one of the three baby eagles from last year and call it D1, for Decorah the D.  That eagle went from Iowa up to Minnesota during the fall and just returned back in the area this week.

[littletune]

Oh ok... then maybe you're really that guy!  cause you know so much about it! 

Well it would be cool if the birds had names! (I mean real names not just D1).

[Bob]

I watched it last year.

They have an infrared camera on at night.  And a couple mice living in the nest now too from the Youtube videos.

[m1469]

The nest is keeping me company while I practice ... but nobody's home 

[m1469]

There's a mouse cruising in the nest!  He's walking all around like he owns it!  How does it not get caught and eaten, and why does it go there?

[Bob]

Yes, I've put the cams on while practicing.  It's good low-activity background viewing.

That nest is the size of a bed and literally weighs a ton.

[m1469]

That nest is the size of a bed and literally weighs a ton.

That's crazy!  There's snow on it now ... no birdy, though.  They're (it? is) gone a lot!

[Bob]

There's a branch nearby they sit on sometimes.  When the guy is there, he pans the camera around.

Wow.  Yeah, they got some snow.  Looks like sleet.  I doubt those mice could survive long, but who knows? 

There's a fish hatchery next door.  That's where they get their food.  There are fish runs and then a pool where the hatchery puts all the dead/rejected fish.  Easy pickings for the eagles.

There is a second camera on the eagle nest too.  Sometimes they switch camera views.

[littletune]

Really? How can a mouse be in the nest?? Aren't they afraid of the birds?? Do they only eat fish?

[Bob]

They came out at night.

That nest has to be full of stuff for creatures to eat.  It's full of other creature parts.  Old fish, rabbits, deer, etc. And all the bugs and ants that were crawling around on that nest this summer.

[littletune]

Wow this mouse is sooooooooooooooooo cute!!!!!!!!!!!! Ohhhhhh........ how can they climb so high into the nest?! I hope the eagles appreciate that they're cleaning their nest so well! This is how it should be with people and mice too... that mice would just be cleaning people's houses and everyone would be happy! too bad it doesn't work that way!!

[pianowolfi]

Wow now they're there! How beautiful!

[m1469]

AH!  I caught a glimpse of one and now it's gone! 

[Bob]

Both back right now with more fluff for the nest.

... And gone again.

... And back again... With a stick!

[m1469]

I didn't see when they were both there!  I did see one fly away and bring back a stick.  I see they also brought more moss and little twigs, too .

[m1469]

They're both there, now, rearranging (together) a stick!

[littletune]

Yes I saw that too! It was funny. 

[pianowolfi]

Heeee there's a little sparrow! well now there are three of them   well, there are more now! ecosystem live

[Bob]

Back again.  That's the female.

Now it's the male.

And both.

[m1469]

One of the eagles is back now ... ah ... now gone.  I don't know who's who.  

Those sparrows were workin' the nest!  Which, I must say, is looking pretty stylin' today  .  *wants to lay it in like a baby eagle*


*watches for mice*

[m1469]

mousey is there!

[pianowolfi]

Oh yeah! so sweet!

[Bob]

The female is...
Bigger.  About 1/3 larger than the male.
Has a heavier brow.  Looks a little more evil.

The male...
Is about 2/3 the size of the female.
Has a brilliant, bright white head.
Has a speck "beauty mark" on his check.
Has "guyliner," a black line around his eyes that makes his eyes pop out more.
And generally he looks a little more feminine and prettier than the female I think.

There's something about the length their beaks go back but I'm blanking on what that is.

And there's a good Youtube video that shows how to tell them apart.
Here it is...

Here's a funny video from last year.

They kept moving that corn husk around when the other one took a shift on the nest.  They have an incubation path on their belly area and they wiggle to get the eggs close to their skin to keep them warm.  Hence the "shimmy."  That's what they're doing.

[Bob]

Time to pan... Horses!

[pianowolfi]

Gosh that looks windy right now!

[Bob]

https://www.iptv.org/iowaoutdoors/story.cfm/story/8612/iao_20110809_105_eagle/video

How they captured and tagged "D1" last July.

[Bob]

Back for now.

I don't know why the male is sitting on the nest.   Maybe he's testing it out.

Sounds like the female is nearby.  She's making noise.

*Bob wonders if there's a reason we can't see what's going on off camera.*

[Bob]

Someone's there right now.

With a stick of course.

They're both there.  Busy morning.  Lots of sticks to position.

[Bob]

They're back!

[Bob]

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Hmm...
The male eagle went after a mouse the other night.
Today one of them brought a rabbit back to the nest.
And they're starting to flirt and mate.  Last year the eggs were laid around the end of February I think.

[Bob]

Someone's back.  The father.

And I see they brought a corn husk.

In another month there could be eggs.  (There's a youtube video up from yesterday of their "egg preparations.")

Both are on the nest now.  Moving sticks.

[Bob]

Haha... If you tune in around 10 or 11am Iowa time -- which is in the central US time -- you might get to see some "pre-egg activities."  The camera guy wasn't online this morning but you could hear them. 

*Bob is amused by this view of the national emblem.*

[Bob]

Someone's on the nest now.  Female I think.  There could be eggs any day now.  She's not sitting though.  She's standing.
https://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles
Sleepy eagle...


Dominance display?  I've never seen this before.  Looks like mating, but that's the female on top. Haha.  

And the mouse came back again last night.  Or *a* mouse in case it's not the same one each time.

[Bob]

Hmm... Sitting now.  Maybe they'll be an egg soon.

[Bob]

She did lay an egg.  First one for 2012.  Friday, Feb 17, at 7:47pm central time.

It takes 35 days to incubate, so that would be about March 31st.


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You can see the one eagle curl up their talons at the end so they don't poke the egg.

[pianowolfi]

So beautiful!  

Fortunately they don't seem to notice that everybody can watch and observe their private life 24/7. Though, today I noticed a watchful glance towards the camera when it was moving a bit.

[Bob]

I found an article or photo site a while ago with what the camera looked like.

Here's the father eagle picking at last year's camera.

&feature=related

And a chick from last year found the camera.

I wonder if they sense the electric field or can hear the camera whirring a little or something.


They replaced the cameras -- two them them -- last fall.

When the 2011 babies were in the nest one of them pooped on the camera.  They back up and fire out poop like canons.  Eventually one of those launches hit the camera window. So they moved the cameras up higher for this year.
Like this...

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Here's what last year's camera looked like.  I imagine the replacement would be similar, except higher up.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=D2&Dato=20110409&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=104090803&R