News and Blogs

Program Spotlight: Luther College Banding Station

Dave Kester, station master at our Decorah hawk banding station, teaches a student intern how to safely handle a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. Correct handling of a bird ensures that neither the hawk nor the handler gets hurt!

The awe never really goes away,” says Mary McTeague ’22. “Whenever I handle a hawk, I’m struck by both their beauty and their strength.” Brynn Olsen ’23, an environmental studies major, agrees. “You’re holding a wild raptor—it never gets old.” Luther College students like Olsen work with the Raptor Resource Project to band migrating raptors, growing our body of knowledge about how these birds live and move in a changing world. McTeagueand Olsen are two of six Luther interns employed

October 21: It’s stick time! News and NestFlix from Decorah North and Trempealeau

October 14, 2024: DNF and Mr. North enjoy a little spa time!

It looks like eagles at all of our nests have started nestorations! DNF, Mr. North, and Mr. and Mrs. T are visiting Nest Depot, flying in sticks, inspecting one another’s work, and tangoing away to put everything in the perfect place. While HM and HD don’t appear inclined to come back to N1 or to adopt N2B, we have seen them fishing the pond and carrying sticks to the east. We’ll go scouting for their latest nest and for Mom

October 16, 2024: Trempealeau Eagles, Decorah North, and the Flyway!

This is my happy face! A beautiful eagle on the Flyway this morning.

It was a busy day for eagles – and other birds! – today. At Trempealeau, Mr. and Mrs. T attended to some sticky business as they figured out furniture placement, tangoed, and made early home improvements. We believe that it’s Mr. T’s second year as a mate and father, so we’re very curious to see how he’ll do with food gifts to Mrs. T, brooding, and feeding his young. Trempealeau Eagles At Decorah North, Mr. North and DNF are continuing

October 14, 2024: What’s brown and sticky? DNF’s first stick of 2024/2025! News and NestFlix from Decorah North

October 14, 2024: DNF is so lovely against a background of fall foliage. What a treat to see her again!

DNF eased our minds when she brought her first stick of the season to the North nest today! While we’re keeping our talons crossed for nest occupancy just a little bit longer, nestorations are a good sign that the pair has accepted our rebuild. If they do, it will be our fifth successful rebuild: once at N2B, once at N1, once at Fort St. Vrain, and twice at DNN! Perhaps we should start an eagle construction company? I guess we

Join us this Friday for a welcome back chat!

Mr. North and DNF visit DNN 3.0. So far we've seen them pick up a treat we left behind, eat stream-caught trout, and move sticks. Talons crossed that they will continue to approve!

Come join us at 10AM CDT on Friday, October 11 for a welcome back chat at Decorah North and Decorah…and visit our regularly scheduled Mississippi Flyway chat at noon the same day! We’ve got lots to talk about and we’re crossing our talons that DNF and Mr. North will show up, especially since they’ve been visiting DNN 3.0! Mississippi River Flyway While we’re waiting for the Decorah cams to turn on, I’m watching the Mississippi River Flyway. We’re seeing a

October 5, 2024: Welcome back, Mr. North…and our live Decorah streams!

October 5, 2024: Mr. North on the North nest.

Hello, Mr. North! One of our camera operators reported that Mr. North visited the new north nest this morning, where he moved a stick around and ate a fish he caught! We’ll keep our talons crossed until we’re sure the North’s have moved into their new home, but this is a very good sign. Missing the Norths and Decorah in general? We’re turning our Decorah and Decorah North streams back on on Friday, October 11, at 10AM CDT. In the

Decorah North Nest Rebuild

Attaching another brace to expand the nest and prevent slumping. John's first bionic limb rebuild out at Xcel Energy's Fort St. Vrain nest happened after the nest slumped.

We completed the Decorah North nest rebuild, cleaned the cameras, and are (mostly) on to our next project on the Mississippi Flyway. I’ve posted a few pictures so you can get a look at how we rebuilt the North nest. Spoiler alert: we used a bionic John-built limb to support a nest ‘basket’, which we filled with branches and mulch. We left two lovely trout for Mr. North and DNF! Click on the photos to enlarge them and see how

August 26, 2024: A quick update from all around our nests!

August 25, 2024: A juvenile Bald Eagle near the North Nest! Is it DN17 or DN18 making a last trip home before dispersing? It didn't get close enough for us to tell

We’ve got a quick update from all around our nests! We’ve seen DNF and a juvenile – DN17 or DN18, perhaps? – around the Valley of the Norths, although neither DNF nor Mr. North have visited the nest we built for them yet. We’re not too worried about it, since the Norths don’t typically begin nestorations until October. But we do wish the mice hadn’t taken our housewarming gifts…those trout weren’t for you, mice! Given the amount of free food

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