I find it very hard to watch them, and the babies, when it gets freezing and snows. 
Hope they all make it through another season.
SPD, I don't think you have to worry too much about the kids of 2011. They all made it to full growth. I think D-1 went north for the summer (as wouldn't we all like to do). Probably her/his instincts pulled her back south for easier feeding during the winter. I think there is still a lot of open water that has not frozen over so the eagles can still feed. My farm is 65 miles SE of Des Moines in the South Central part of Iowa. The folks up there tell me their winter has been super mild....just like here in the Kansas City area. Anyway.....one of the fellows following D-1 found her/him in a tree not too far from the community of Laurel, Iowa. This identification as to location concerns me because Laurel is quite a way west of Decorah.....south of Marshalltown, Iowa and north of I-80. So either the bird has done a little traveling again or the picture is not labeled correctly.
Taken 12/30/2011. Notice the increase in the white feathers showing as the Eagle matures. I don't know how long they mature before they pair up and mate for the first time. Maybe one of the rest of you has seen something on this. Anyway....mom and dad have been making occasional visits to the nest....sprucing it up a bit. They are magnificent birds aren't they?
Hooked up, just like humans!
That was a sad story when he lost his first wife.
Sooner Lake nest. Looks like Fred and Ethel (names commenter used) are sitting on the nest edges in the dark.
PS. thanks for the the updates and live feed links again.
Uniblurb3 wrote:Sooner Lake nest. Looks like Fred and Ethel (names commenter used) are sitting on the nest edges in the dark.
PS. thanks for the the updates and live feed links again.
That's a good sign, I hope that means they will be using this nest this year. This is the time of year they typically start building/repairing their nest for the season.
I wish those other cams had sound. I still feel so bad for nature and the conditions they must endure.
Guess we should do like next year, snap our own screenshots and post to share!
OK, I want to hold Freedom, too, LOL! Just amazing, and so much bigger than you expect, when you see the guy holding her.
I copied this photo off of the eagle cam at Decorah, IA yesterday. Forgot to post it.
hpmsrm wrote:I copied this photo off of the eagle cam at Decorah, IA yesterday. Forgot to post it.
I also saw the eagle, yesterday! Oddly it was not the same camera or camera angle. It was a tighter shot of the nest but just as I fired up the Ustream (Android) app and the nest was displayed, it flew away. My wife also noted bugs flying around, which must corelate with the warmer than normal winter.
Have you noticed the boat in the background of the tight nest shot?
Speaking of the Ustream app, it looks AWESOME on my 8" Vizio LED tablet!
I seems that bald eagles are not terribly shy around human civilization. As you all have probably noticed from the various images taken by the Decorah, Iowa nest cam.....there is quite a bit of nearby human habitation....the farm...the paved county road that passes by within eye sight of the nest.
In this morning's Kansas City Star this photo of an adult bald eagle was printed.....The eagle was gliding around in the area of the Missouri River right here in the Kansas City area....on the NE side of the metropolitan area I think.....anyway. It's a great shot I think. I'm getting a bug to take my DSLR and long zoom lens and go bald eagle hunting.
More Eagle Cams - L@@K!
I was playing with my Vizio Tablet and the U-Stream app and I found at least two new Eagle cams. That West End cam is the bomb! Amazing closeups of mom and dad. They are also expecting late Feb., laying and April hatching.
West End (Santa Catalina Island): http://www.ustream.tv/west-end-cam No IR, so daytime only.
A live view of the West End bald eagle nest on Santa Catalina Island, California. The nest is active from February through June. More information, links to other of our bald eagle cams, a Channel Islands Bald Eagle Discussion Forum, and weekly updates are available at the Institute for Wildlife Studies website (under Interactive) at www.iws.org. We have multiple cameras, so please visit http://www.iws.org/bald_eagles/nestchat.html for all our cams and chat combined.
CCB Richmond Eagles Cam (Richmond VA) http://www.ustream.tv/richmondeagles has IR
This video is being brought to you by the Center for Conservation Biology as part of our efforts to engage the community in discussions about the ecology and conservation of bald eagles. Moderators will be on the chat from 8am to 8pm Eastern time to answer questions. More extensive discussion of eagles and updates can be found on Facebook. During the nest building period, the best time to catch the adults in the nest is before 10am EST. Thank you for your interest in this magnificent species.
UStream is a great site, if you like web cams! I have been checking out webcams since the mid 90's but UStream puts many in one place. If you have an iPhone, iPod or iPad or an Android phone or tablet, you might want to check out the free UStream App.
Posted from Samsung GT-I9000
