Eagles Nesting In Iowa – 2/10/2012

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

Classmate Mary Palmer Strange shared the above link to a streaming video site showing  a pair of eagles preparing their nest for use this season. The web site has audio so if the eagles make noise you should be able to hear it. My own experience shows these two are the strong silent type. According to info I have read this is the 5th year this pair of eagles have nested. The 2011 nesting resulted in them raising three chicks to maturity.

I check in on the “action” several times a day to see what they are doing. Yesterday, the male was breaking a thumb sized limb into pieces to put onto the perimeter of the nest. I was amazed at his perseverance. Watching his efforts was kind of funny because most of the time it looked like the limb was winning.  As of yesterday no eggs had been laid, but that is the next big event to look for. The nest site is about 80 foot off the ground in a tree located on a farm near Decorah, Iowa. The temps in that area are in the teens at night time and the wind seems to blow constantly. I read that last year it came a heavy snow while the female was sitting on the eggs. She didn’t budge. Every once in awhile she would pop up through the snow, shake it off, and go back to her efforts to hatch those eggs.

If things like this interest you, check it out at the link above. If you like what you see pass the link along to others you think might enjoy it.

Added - 02-11-2012

http://www.raptorresource.org/maps/latest.php is a link to a mapping/tracking system for the female Eagle. Play around with the mapping links and you can get a pretty good idea of the geography of the area and where the eagles go when they are not on the nest.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68092929@N03/sets/72157628446687953/show/ is a link to a slide show of the eagles during the 2011 nesting season. There are some really good close ups of the eagles in these photos.