News and Blogs

What are Canada Geese Doing in a Bald Eagle Nest? 

Did I expect to find myself completely charmed by Canada Geese? I did not!

Why are we talking about Canada Geese? We’re watching geese in two abandoned Bald Eagle nests right now! Both nests have six eggs, although the geese in N1 – the first nest we watched Mom and Dad in – began laying on March 9 and the geese in N3B – a replacement nest we built in 2015 – began laying on March 18. Hatch watch for N1 starts on Saturday, April 12. Hatch watch for N2B starts on Monday, April

The Decorah North Nest has failed

February 28, 2025: Mr. North's gift

We are sorry to announce that the North Nest has failed. DN20’s egg is 40 days old with no signs of hatching. Based on everything we know, it’s not going to. We don’t know why the nest failed, but we’re discussing next steps and will keep everyone posted. We have hatch at two other eagle nests coming up. They are: This is not the outcome we wanted or expected, but thank you for sharing this journey with us.

Eaglet DN19

February 15, 2025: DNF's eggs. Eagle eggs don’t freeze easily or quickly.

We are sad to announce that DN19 died in hatch. We saw the egg’s first external pip at 12:03 PM on March 20, but after four days of hatch in progress, all movement ceased. Hatch had been proceeding for about 103 hours at that point: longer than the longest documented hatch time that we could find, and much longer than the 24 to 48 hours post-pip that we usually see here. As of this post, we don’t know why DN19

Decorah North Hatch Update!

1:23 PM on Saturday, March 22.

Hatch update! The hatch windows are getting larger and both eaglets are still making progress, although it’s been slow going this year and the cold, wet weather isn’t helping when it comes to glimpses. Mr. North and DNF are old hands at this, which means they aren’t dallying when it comes to covering the hatchlings! A huge thank you to our camera operators. The cold, wet weather means that these glimpses are few and far between. But they are there

Peek inside a Bald Eagle egg – at hatch!

Peek inside a Bald Eagle Egg - at hatch!

The camera operator gave us a wonderful peek at the eggs when Mr. North left this morning. The hatching window is larger, and we can see the outer shell, the inner membrane, and the eaglet moving around inside the egg. I’m not sure whether this is DN19 or DN20: we saw the first pip at 12:03 PM and the second one at 1:18 pm, which means these two eaglets will probably be hatching very close together! It wasn’t especially warm

Who’s That Bird?

March 19, 2025: Three adult falcons in the nestbox at Xcel Energy's High Bridge Plant

Spoiler alert: There are three of them! Three adult falcons showed up at Xcel Energy’s High Bridge nestbox in Saint Paul, MN yesterday! Present were: Watch live here: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/xcel-energy-cams/#peregrines. While the males were very slightly antagonistic toward one another, there was none of the usual fighting. They both courted Joe’l, who seemed a little more interested in Elken. Elken has been courting her for about a month and he brought a food gift, but Monty showed up empty-taloned. While she

Announcing: Hatch Watch at Decorah North!

Hatching is hard work!

Hatch Watch begins at our Decorah North nest tomorrow! DNF’s first egg will turn 36 days old and, while her first egg usually hatches at about the 39-day mark, hatch is a process: the third great landmark in the life of a chick. Watch live here: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-north-nest/. Before hatching, the eaglet must shift from relying on membranes and external blood vessels for oxygen and nutrients to breathing with its lungs and digesting with its gastrointestinal system. It shuts off blood

Neighborhood Watch: Goose Edition!

Papa Gosse takes umbrage at an exploring raccoon!

What was going on with the geese this morning? A raccoon tried to get into the nest while both of them were there! This went a little better for the raccoon who investigated the eggs last week, before MG started full incubation: https://youtu.be/4QnHay1ajUo?si=QArQZVmF14IVnUiV and https://youtu.be/M9UbphJOjic?si=JNFzPJumJ-eVOwI1. But geese are large, formidable foes and the raccoon quickly backed down. How large are Canada Geese? Cornell tells us that they are 29.9-43.3 inches long (76-110 cm), weigh 6.5 to 20 pounds (I’m assuming

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