Wiped Out

The picture on the left is what the female eagle looked like around 6:15am today. It looks like she got so tired her head fell face down and her beak stuck into the straw and other nesting material. I call this shot of her “Wiped Out.” She woke up a few minutes after this picture when the male called to her from a nearby limb where he had roosted overnight. She flew to the limb and in a couple of minutes the male took over nesting duties. The picture quality of the female is somewhat low because the video camera in the tree uses infrared light for night time videos. That way you can “see” the eagles at night even though they aren’t bothered by the glare of conventional lights.

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

10:20am – The picture on the right is the male who is handling nesting chores this morning. The natural light of the sun makes for a much clearer photo of him than the infrared light did for the female earlier this morning.

9:50pm – Just checked the NWS and they say 100% probability of snow in Decorah, IA tonight. Less than an inch though so no big deal for those folks who get this type snow frequently during winter. However, it looks like the snow is melting and refreezing on the straw and twigs in the nest. The Female is back on the nest tonight and speculation seems to be declining that she’ll lay the 3rd egg tonight. She seems to be in pretty much the same sleeping position she was in the photo above upper left.About the only movement you can see is the rise and fall of her back as she breathes.

11:00pm - I checked on the nesting eagles once more before I turned in. The female was still on the nest but woke up while I was watching. She shook her body to clear the snow off and laid back down. I got a pretty good shot of her on the nest. Notice the dark areas around her eyes in the image below. Compare that to the male in the picture directly above on the right. Note that the shading around her eyes is darker over a greater area than is the male’s. That’s usually the quickest way to tell them apart. But if they are not together it may still be hard to tell which is which till you “get to know them” a little better.

The links to all the action are shown below on the February 10, 2012 blog article if you wish look in on the eagles for yourself.