Decorah Iowa Eagle Web Cam

[poky5mom]

I know some of you watched this last year when they laid a couple eggs and the baby eagles hatched - there is a new egg nowhttp://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

[Pocketlint]

Thanks for reminding me...and everyone else!!!

Folks, this is one of the best video links you'll ever watch if you like watching bald eagles.
It's something every child should watch as it's the "real deal" when it comes to this sort of thing.
Live 24/7 cam with excellent sound.
You get to see just how these birds lay eggs, incubate them, and raise the young till they fledge.
It's utterly fascinating watching the parent birds, especially when feeding the young.
This is nature at its finest.
I watched them for HOURS and HOURS last year.
Makes me wish I had my cable connection back.

pocketlint

[Pocketlint]

I just saw one eaglet briefly. They laid 3 eggs again this year.
http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles
This is a must see for those of you with kids. Get them off that awful Facebook to watch something far more beneficial.

pocketlint

[Pocketlint]

I got a better look. Two eaglets with one egg yet to hatch.
Cool watching the parent rip apart a squirrel in lil bits to feed them
1st hatch was 3/27, 2nd was 3/28.

pocketlint

03/29/2012
Dad brooding eaglets. The white fuzzy mass just right of dad's shoulder is the squirrel they have been feeding the eaglets.

Dad got off and mom takes over in bottom pic

[Pocketlint]

The 3rd lil eaglet hatched 3/31

pocketlint

[Pocketlint]

Here they are after about a month

Dad is in the back in top two pictures. Mom is the closer one.

Shortly after he brought this fish in(in front of him) mom chased him off.

Dad on the left as both parents feed fish Dad caught. Mom has been very aggressive towards dad when he brings home food. She usually "puffs up" and humps over shrieking at him till he leaves. THEN she feeds the babies. Women "rule the roost"


Fascinating to watch them!

pocketlint

[Pocketlint]

Later today the camera ops were panning the camera and zooming it. I got these "screen shots" with Prnt Scrn
Dad landed in the nest with a fish while she was out on her perch in the pic below. She immediately began than banshee like "shrieking" at him. Hopped over to the nest, "puffed" up, hunched over and drove hime away. Mom seems on insisting on doing the bulk of the babies' feeding at this stage.
She did the same thing again as I was typing this when dad came back with another fish.
VERY interesting watching their behaviour. Beats the hell out of anything on the idiot tube TV. Glad I don't have TV anymore

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

pocketlint

Mom was out on her limb perch for this closeup. Magnificent birds.

One of the three babies

[Pocketlint]

The camera is live 24/7
Here is what it looks like at night with infrared illumination.
The camera this year is a better, higher resolution camera. Great quality live video imo.

pocketlint

Mom here in the nest with her baby eaglets tonight. She doesn't always stay with them now that they can thermoregulate themselves.
Last night she was "brooding" them, trying hard to keep them dry because it was pouring rain. The babies are so big now that she couldn't completely cover them...but bald eagles are tough critters. They've been doing this for a long time.

[Selkie]

Thanks, Pete! Some extraordinary views.

[Mzambo]

I did not realize you had this on here!!!! Very cool summary so far! Boy they have gotten big since I last had a chance to look.

[Pocketlint]

One of the eaglets today at ~30 days from hatch. A PRT SCRN from live video.


pocketlint

[Mzambo]

Boy they have grown very quickly, these parents seem to have it down. How old do they have to be to fly?

[Pocketlint]

Boy they have grown very quickly, these parents seem to have it down. How old do they have to be to fly?

They fledge around 12 weeks give or take. And yes these parents have successfully raised 3 chicks 4 years running. They do have an ideal situation. The nest is on a fish hatchery property with a nice stream running right under the tree. The mixed open woodland and farm area is also ideal habitat for small mammlas like squirrels and rabbits. So there is plenty of high quality food available which is key for eagles that have 3 chicks to feed. "Dad" brought back a pretty nice trout the other day. Looked huge but was probably about 16".
The eaglets should be able to feed themselves pretty soon. They're getting big enough to stand without falling over
They need to be strong enough, and be able to "balance" well enough, to stand on a fish and rip at it without falling over.
I keep saying this, but I believe it to be true.
If you have children, these eagles are a must see.
This is real life....unlike the crap on so-called "reality TV"

pocketlint

Right after I made the above post, I checked on them . Mom drug a rabbit over to the far side of the nest and is standing on it feeding them.

Then Dad arrives with a fish. You can see it by his feet. The eaglets then all come over for some fish.

Mom(head on lower left) promtly scolds Dad and runs him off so she can do the feeding. This behaviour fascinates me Moms rule!!

[Pocketlint]

This was at 7:53 MST 04/04/2012 during a thunderstorm. Mom And Dad(foreground) both in the nest trying to keep the eaglets half way dry. This is a screen shot of live video. Nest is illuminated by an infrared light. The eagles are totally unaware of this infrared light. Very cool videography. We can observe their behaviour night and day in all sorts of weather. The microphone is very sensitive too. I could sleep well to the "night sounds " if I could pipe it into my BR LOL!! You can hear the tree frogs really well. Reminds me of growing up in Florida and hearing all the tree frogs at night in the big oak tree outside my BR window.


Mom sheltering babies. Dad flew over to his "Y" branch as you can see from the moderators conversation to the right. Storm was letting up but I could still hear still lots of thunder and see lightning flashes. Raindrops get on camera lens sometimes is why the blurry spots


pocketlint

[Pocketlint]

They are quite large now and will begin "hovering" in the next week or so and "branching" not long after that.

Mom with her youngsters