The millions who became captivated last year by the hatching and raising of three bald eaglets before a web-cam in Decorah, Iowa, might be interested to note that the egg watch is now on for a new season of bird drama and intrigue.
The parents of the eaglets, which have long since fledged, were seen mating this week, after having spent weeks rebuilding their nest (see video posted above).
If this season is anything like the last, millions of people from throughout the world can look forward to watching more eaglets breaking free of their eggs, being fed and protected by their parents, who will endure snow, rain and freezing winds.
There will be competition among the birds for food and parental care. They will be clumsy and ungainly at first, but will grow quickly and ultimately they will resemble birds that look capable of flying off to begin life on their terms.
The high-definition web-cam is even better than last year's and Bob Anderson and his Raptor Resource Project team are to be congratulated for serving up a second season of nature's greatest reality show.
Hopefully, the encore will be as entertaining. Below is the live camera feed. Enjoy:
Serious birders have keen eyes, but it's likely that not many have enjoyed a detailed glimpse of geese flying with their bodies turned upside down. The accompanying video captures this peculiar event, referred to as whiffling, in slow-motion.
(Watch the goose at the top, and in the middle of the screen at the 15-second mark.) Though the birds twist their bodies upside down, their heads remain upright.
According to New Science, geese perform this maneuver as a means of braking. Paul Stancliffe of the British Trust for Ornithology explains that the maneuver helps the large birds quickly lose height as they approach landing areas.
Stancliffe also said this event is very difficult to detect in real-time.
The video, believed to provide the first slow-motion footage of this phenomenon, was shot by Hans de Koning and Lodewijk van Eekhout, and earned them first prize in a competition organized by the Flight Artists group at Wageningen University and Research Center in the Netherlands.
Remember the world-famous bald eagles of Decorah, Iowa? Millions watched via nest-cam last spring and summer as three eaglets hatched, grew and ultimately fledged, after receiving praiseworthy care from their white-crowned and regal parents.
Today the Raptor Resource Project posted an update on its facebook page. The parents are actively rebuilding the nest and probably will produce more eggs in February or early March.
(The broadcast began Saturday. The ustream feed is embedded below and the eagles are most often seen early in the morning.)
The whereabouts of two of the three offspring from last year are unknown because only one was fitted with a GPS satellite transmitter. "We certainly hope that they are thriving very well and that they will remain safe as they begin their first winter season," the update states.
The young eagle wearing a transmitter is named D1 and, since leaving the nest last Aug. 14, has enjoyed a remarkable journey, north through Minnesota and south through Wisconsin before returning the the same general area when it was born.
"Many of you have asked what would happen if D1 tried to go back in her natal nest," it states in the update. "If D1 were to come within the territory claimed by her parents, either the branch or nest, the parents would most likely become very vocal and reject her.
"This is a normal reaction from parents after the juveniles have been on the wing for some time. It is unlikely that they would harm her, but they would enforce the general rule that she would not be welcome."
It will be interesting to see if D1 appears on the Ustream feed and how its parents will react. But the real interest will build once the eggs are laid and especially after they hatch. Last year's real-life nature reality show was unsurpassed in terms of popularity.
—Image showing D1 late last September at Yellow Lake in Wisconsin is courtesy of the Raptor Resource Project
The world's oldest known Laysan albatross not only has returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge for the first time this breeding season, she has laid an egg, which is impressive considering that the seabird is at least 61 years old.
Wisdom, who was sighted incubating her egg on Dec. 1, made headlines last March by surviving a tsunami that washed over parts of the mid-Pacific atoll in the aftermath of the major earthquakes that struck Japan.
Wisdom was banded in 1956 in the same location, behind the Bravo Barracks, at an estimated minimum age of 5 years old.
While Wisdom is the oldest known Laysan albatross, she may not be not the oldest known albatross. A northern royal albatross banded on New Zealand's South Island is also believed to be 61-plus.
Midway boasts the world's largest nesting population of Laysan albatrosses, more than 450,000 breeding pairs. The birds spend months feeding at sea during the non-breeding period (July through October) and prey on squid, fish, small crustaceans, flying fish eggs and practically anything on the surface that they consider edible.
Unfortunately, many ingest plastic and Wisdom's longevity is all the more surprising considering how much plastic pollution is floating in the Pacific. She is one tough, old bird.
If you're a nature enthusiast and don't know what a murmuration is, you'll probably want to witness one in person after watching the accompanying video, which was posted recently by Liberty Smith and Sophie Windsor Clive after their canoe expedition on Ireland's River Shannon. (Stay with the video and you won't be disappointed.)
They titled the video, "A chance encounter and shared moment with one of nature's greatest and most fleeting phenomena," and it involved a massive flock of European starlings (a murmuration) soaring above the river in what seems a choreographed ballet.
Murmurations typically occur at dusk in late autumn or early winter, as the starlings return to roost after long-distance feeding missions. The remarkable events are not rare, but since they happen suddenly and do not last long, witnessing them is fairly rare.
Some experts believe the starlings flock together en masse and fly in this manner in defense against predators such as peregrine falcons.
The video is part of a short film and has become an Internet sensation. Said Windsor Clive via email: "We never thought it would spread quite as far as it has [but] we are very happy that people are enjoying it, and that they can share a sight that is breathtaking."
Remember the three bald eaglets of Decorah, Iowa, who won the hearts of millions of people who watched them hatch and grow into fledglings last spring?
One of the young raptors appears to be coming home, according to a satellite tracking device placed on the bird by the Raptor Research Project, the same group that had installed a high-definition web-cam to monitor the eaglets' treetop nest at the Decorah Fish Hatchery.
(A new camera has been installed and fans can watch the eagles' parents rebuilding their nest in the Ustream feed below.)
D-1 surprised project director Bob Anderson by traveling on such a lengthy journey beginning in late August, first about 200 miles to Yellow Lake in northwest Wisconsin, then to Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota.
Anderson had expected the eagle to stay closer to Decorah or stake out territory along the Mississippi River. After a stay at Lake Superior, D-1 returned to Yellow Lake and on Oct. 15 left on a course toward Decorah.
Anderson was quoted as saying he he believes the raptor will spend the winter close to the Mississippi River, where open water will allow for suitable hunting.
Meanwhile the bald eagle parents, who did such a remarkable job of rearing all three eaglets to a successful fledge, are rebuilding their nest. By December they'll be in full courtship, and if that goes well more eggs will be laid in February and fans can enjoy a second season of what undoubtedly became the world's most popular nature reality show.
One of three world-famous bald eaglets from a treetop nest in Decorah, Iowa, on Tuesday was banded and fitted with a GPS transmitter that could enable scientists to track its whereabouts for years to come (see the female bird's post-banding release in the video).
Millions of people became enamored with the eaglets and their doting parents, thanks to a high-definition web-cam that spied on them day and night since the chicks emerged from their eggs as in early April.
Now they're as large as their parents, and although they've made their maiden flights they're remaining near the nest and still accepting food from the adult eagles.
Experts with the Raptor Resource Project maintained the web-cam -- and will do so again next season, when new eggs are laid -- as the eaglets and their parents became perhaps the most-scrutinized wild critters on the planet.
Based on the success of Tuesday's operation, project scientists are considering banding and attaching GPS transmitters to all three eaglets "to help us determine where they go and whether or not they survive," reads a statement on the RRP Facebook page.
Realizing that folks have become fond of the eaglets and are concerned about whether the banding might affect their chances of surviving in the wild, the RRP statement added that project manager Bob Anderson thoroughly researched the issue "and was not able to find any evidence that banding affected the survivability or reproductive success of eagles -- a finding supported by our own years of banding young falcons."
Elsewhere in the statement is this passage: "We understand that people are concerned about the eagles and our motivation for banding. However, at our core, we have always been about science, conservation, and education. Banding the eaglet will not harm it and will aid the service of all three areas."
In a recent interview with Pete Thomas Outdoors, Anderson said placing a transmitter on at least one eaglet will allow fans of the birds as well as biologists to track its progress.
"Every day we'll be able to tell the world that this bird is in Missouri, Mississippi or Des Moines," Anderson said. "We will have a website that will follow this bird for years to come. The most common question I get is, 'What happens to the babies,' so we're going to try to answer that question."
The RRP will soon provide a link on its Facebook page that will allow viewers to track the newly-banded eaglet's movements via Google maps.
A momentous week for the world's most popular bald eagles, and for hundreds of thousands of people who have gotten to know the raptors intimately during the past 10 weeks, was capped Saturday when one of three eagle chicks embarked on its maiden flight.
All three eaglets, made famous thanks to a web-cam that spies on their nest in Decorah, Iowa, on Thursday and Friday had flapped to and from a nearby branch. "Branching" typically precedes maiden flights, and on Saturday morning one eaglet flew a considerable distance from the nest and back again.
Bob Anderson, who runs the Raptor Research Project, said he witnessed a portion of the flight soon after dawn, as the eaglet was returning to the nest tree. "It looked as though it had been flying its whole life," he said. It's not known how far the eaglet flew from the nest tree. When it returned it perched above the nest, beyond range of the web-cam.
This is major news for the RRP, and for the many "Eagleholics" who have monitored the growth of the raptors since they were hatched in early April. If you'd like to enjoy some last looks at the two eaglets who have yet to fledge, check out the live feed:
The bald eagle parents will cope just fine with the departure of their three offspring, but what about the thousands of people who have become enamored with the eagle chicks and addicted to watching them on the web-cam?
To be sure, it'll require some adjusting for fans of Iowa's world-famous Decorah Eagles, particularly the chicks, who were hatched in early April, and who are preparing to leave the nest.
On Thursday they enjoyed their first brief flights, to a nearby branch. "Branching" typically precedes the fledge, or maiden flights away from the nest. These could occur at any time during the next several days.
Ordinarily, this would not be a big deal. Bald eagle chicks are hatched each spring throughout their range, and ultimately fly off to live on their own terms. But this is no ordinary situation. Web-cam viewership for the Decorah Eagles has surpassed 153 million. Since the eggs hatched, typical daytime viewership, at a given moment, is between 20,000-30,000.
Many are repeat visitors, watching from home, while at work, and even during late-night hours, thanks to infrared lighting. The more passionate among these admirers have, in essence, adopted the eagle family. One person, on a Facebook page devoted to the eagles, was already experiencing "empty-nest syndrome."
Said Bob Anderson, director of Raptor Resource Project, which maintains the web-cam: "It has turned into what is probably the world's most logged-on wildlife education tool on earth. Hundreds of thousands of people have been able to see the wonder of nature, the cruelty of nature and the awe of nature. It has been an incredibly popular wildlife education tool. I think it's unparalleled."
Reasons for the immense popularity of this particular raptor web-cam, when so many others exist, stems perhaps from its high quality, the use of non-intrusive night lighting, sound, and a camera that can be panned from a remote location. Updates have been provided via the RRP's Facebook page.
The parents, which in recent years have successfully reared other offspring from the same 80-foot-high nest, have done an amazing job with this trio. The family has endured snow storms, ferocious winds and sibling squabbles during a growth period that, for many, has seemed all-too swift.
And while it's about time to fledge -- admirers will be keeping a close watch during the next week -- it does not mean an end to this story. The eagle chicks, while they may or may not return to the nest after their maiden flights, will remain in the vicinity for at least six weeks, crying for handouts from their regal, white-crowned parents. Unless they return to the nest or nearby branches, however, they will not be visible on the web-cam.
To keep the story going, for research purposes, Anderson's team will capture one of the eaglets after its first flight and attach a solar-powered transmitter in an attempt to learn where it will spend the early part of its life.
"Every day we'll be able to tell the world that this bird is in Missouri, Mississippi or Des Moines," Anderson said. "We will have a website that will follow this bird for years to come. The most common question I get is, 'What happens to the babies,' so we're going to try to answer that question."
As for the parents, they'll stay put. In late October, barring incident, they'll begin to rebuild their nest. In December they'll be in full courtship and in February more eggs will be laid.
Will the world be able to keep tabs on the growth of that eagle family, too? Anderson, though he and his team have been besieged by emails and phone inquiries every day for the past 10 weeks, paused before giving an answer.
"I guess we have no choice," he said. "I don't think the world would accept us for not doing this again next year."
Nearly four months after the bald eagle mother laid her three eggs, and about 10 weeks after those eggs were hatched, the world-famous eaglets of Decorah, Iowa, are behaving as though it's time for them to leave their 80-foot-high nest and begin life on their own terms.
Based on their brief disappearances Thursday, from the lens of an immensely popular web-cam, two of the three eaglets have begun taking short flights to and from nearby branches.
Bob Anderson of the Raptor Resource Project has predicted that the eaglets will begin to fledge as early as the last week in June. "Branching" often precedes fledging, or first flights. The RRP on Thursday explained the branching phenomenon and how the RRP will respond with its monitoring cameras on its Facebook page:
"Branching means going from the nest to branches, then back to the nest, which we will try to capture on the PTZ camera as much as possible. Once they take their maiden flights, they will stay lower to the ground for 3 days or up to a week, on a fence, bridge, etc., which means they will totally be out of camera view then.
"We will try to get photos uploaded here during that time. After that, they usually make it back to the nest off and on, and the cameras will still be on during all this. The cameras will most likely be turned off about July 15th. Mom and Dad will still help feed them most likely through August, whether they are on the ground, perched elsewhere, or if they come back and forth to the nest."
The RRP also hopes to to band the juvenile birds and place a transmitter on one of them.
"The juvies will be captured on the ground a couple of weeks after they fledge," reads a statement on the Ustream website. "The small band with its identifying color and number goes around one of the ankles and does not bother or endanger the bird. The transmitter is mounted loosely and comfortably like a tiny backpack, and it does not interfere with flight or with head or neck movement.
"The process takes just a few minutes and does not frighten or harm the birds. It is possible to take measurements of the juvies as they are banded to determine their sex. Banding eventually gives researchers information on how far the bird has flown from its birth nest once it has died or is found injured; the band might also be spotted during feeding, nesting, or migrating and thus can be useful in tracking the eagle's movements."
At one point Thursday, at about 2 p.m. local time, only one eaglet was visible. That made what for months had been a very crowded nest appear strikingly lonely.
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