News and Blogs

A Reflection and a Thanksgiving: Dave Kester Remembers Bob

Dave Kester and Bob Anderson at Command Central, Decorah Eagles, circa 2011.

Thanksgiving 2025 is upon us. This year, it falls on Bob’s birthday. Dear Amy has asked/tasked me to write a reflection of my thoughts on Bob Anderson and what he means to me.  This request feels simultaneously like a big ask and also a simple one.  It’s been ten years now since we lost Bob to the ancestors and I find I miss him more as time passes. The same day Amy asked me to this I had taken my

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Join us on Tuesday, December 2, for our Giving Tuesday Fundraiser!

Join us for Giving Tuesday!

We’re holding our Giving Tuesday Fundraiser on Tuesday, December 2. Your generosity keeps cameras running, supports field studies, protects nests, and brings the lives of raptors into homes and classrooms around the world. Thank you so much for your support! We’ll hold Giving Tuesday chats as follows, all times Central Daylight: Join us to talk about HD and his new mate’s work on N6 (we plan to have the cameras we placed in the N6 tree online soon), the Decorah

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2025 recaps: A truly rewarding season at Great Spirit Bluff

Look at that face! 😍

We’re kicking off our 2025 year-end recaps with a standout season at Great Spirit Bluff! Following an eventful start, Elaine paired successfully with Newman, and the two produced four healthy young falcons. We banded the quartet on May 30, and by June 14 they were beginning to launch into their first flights, filling the sky around GSB with fledgling wings. Watchers enjoyed seeing the sibling squadron chase, bicker, hang out together, and gain the skies. By August, the young peregrines

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N6: A New Nest To Watch!

HD and his new companion working on N6.

What nest are you showing in Decorah? For the last few days, we’ve been watching HD and his new mate work on N6, which is right next to Siewer’s Spring Road just north of the trout hatchery. You Are Entering the Decorah Nest Zone. Hard Hats Optional! There have been six nests built in the vicinity of the hatchery. Dad and OM, or original mate, built N0, the first nest, in about 2002. She was blind in one eye and

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A Golden Eagle from the Blue Mountain

Jack trapped alone that day in 1992 when he banded the eagle Krumrie and Morales recaptured in early 2025. Here Jack Holt holds a Golden Eagle trapped on the Kittatinny Ridge in 1999.

Guest post by K. L. Frock “Golden Eagle. Also uncommon, occurring mostly in late October and early November. As many as six can be seen on a major flight day. Capture is another matter. Adults are seldom caught but immatures are quite easily trapped providing they are hungry and haven’t been banded by a researcher before us. Their approach has all the finesse of a freight train without brakes – and sounds much the same way. They frequently overshoot the

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Put Up Your Feet and Take a Deep Breath – it’s Time for NestFlix!

November 12, 2025: Big wings, big nest!

Today’s Diction-aerie word is eagletecture [ea·gle·tec·ture]: the relentless, stick-by-stick eagle pursuit of nest perfection. Mr. North and DNF have been amusing us with their sticky antics and their neighbors have been showing up and showing off. We’ll link a few videos from Trempealeau and GSB tomorrow, but for now, it’s all about the (very busy) Norths! As always, thanks to our camera operators and videomakers for capturing such wonderful moments and to all of you for watching, sharing, learning, supporting,

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Birds and Nest-Building

Power couple DNF and Mr. North! She's left, he's right.

When I say ‘bird’s nest’, you know the type of nest I’m talking about, right? It could be a bald eagle’s stick platform high up in the branches of a tree. Or perhaps a peregrine falcon’s scrape in dirt, sand, or gravel on a shallow cliff ledge. Or maybe the burrows that bank swallows and belted kingfishers excavate in dirt, the cavity nests that woodpeckers excavate in dead wood, or the woven nests that orioles and weavers build. When I

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Tails from the Banding Station: How We Band Birds

A Red-tailed Hawk being banded at our banding station

We spend the fall trapping migrating raptors. But what do we do with them? Here’s a look inside of our blind walking you through all the steps of processing a bird we’ve trapped. Above all, we prioritize the safety and care of the raptors we work with throughout the process. The data we obtain is important to understand the trends of our local raptor species’ populations and we’re so glad we can share the experience with so many interns, volunteers,

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Twenty-Nine Sticks And Counting!

November 2: DNF and Mr. North have raised the rails and carpeted the floor! Look closely and you'll see this year's nest taking shape on the base of last year's nest. Like trees, an eagle's nest has rings: annual layers that reflect nest building, stick replenishment, trampling, and settling. Look for them here and in Trempealeau.

Mr. North and DNF have been very busy with nestorations! Between October 31 and November 5, our camera operators documented the power pair delivering 29 sticks and three talonfuls of soft nesting material to the nest. Their seasonal décor choices have been especially on point: we’ve seen a corn-ucopia, a festive Halloween tree, and of course, the ever-popular wonky stick. The first image, taken on the morning of October 29, shows a nest that’s just beginning to take shape: growing,

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