Decorah Bald Eagles: Mum Decorah feeds by the pond / Madam Goose lays 2 more eggs. 27-28 Mar 2022
I missed the laying of the second egg but it is shown on other YouTube channels. In this video, we see Mum Decorah on the maple tree (M2). Soon after she flies off, Madam Goose lands on nest N2B. She is pretty restless - there is a lot of scraping and shifting of position. Eventually, the third egg is laid. Scenes on the nest alternate with scenes of Mum Decorah eating her prey - is it a big fish? I have added a scene of Canada Geese at the creek, below the bluff, to show where any goslings hatched on one of the ledges will probably jump. The following day, Madam Goose is back on the nest, where she lays egg number four. This time, she remains on the nest and overnights there. The last 2.5 minutes of the video are a combination of still frames and short clips, and are accompanied by soft instrumental music. What about Mum Decorah and DM2? They have eggs at N3. For those of you who do not have a Facebook account, here's an excerpt of their recent post: "What has been going on with Mom and DM2 this year? RRP staff and volunteers have been monitoring Mom and DM2 at N3 and the hatchery, and we have a pretty good record of their whereabouts with boots-on-the-ground observations and appearances on the hatchery cams. We have documented her standing in the nest for long periods of time, but she didn't begin incubating until sometime between Robin's observations on Sunday, March 20 and Dave Kester's observations on the morning of Tuesday, March 22. Why was she so late? A lot of people asked if she had entered menopause. Like mammals, female birds hatch with a fixed number of ova in their ovaries. How many do bald eagles have? We don’t know, but Waha Thuweeka (a.k.a. Bill Voelker), director of the Sia breeding project, told us that his Golden Eagle Micah was 52 years of age when she laid the egg that produced her daughter Waipi. At 19 years old, Mom is just into Bald Eagle middle age, so menopause shouldn't be an issue. I briefly worried that DM2 had been replaced, since a new mate can also push egg-laying back, but we saw him enough on the hatchery cams to be sure we were seeing DM2. We also know that bald eagles, like many other birds, have internal circannual clocks that are timed in part with circadian rhythms: the 24-hour cycle of night and day that drives activities like reproduction, molt, and migration. But bald eagles can desynchronize, or be thrown off their reproductive cycle, if something disturbs them in the period leading up to egg laying, or their eggs are destroyed after laying. So Mom could have laid an egg that broke or was destroyed, or been thrown off her cycle by something that shut down her reproductive activity. Raccoons, chunks of ice, and sticks can all destroy eggs, while ongoing harassment by humans, eagles, and/or other animals can delay nesting activity" Link to the Decorah live stream: https://youtu.be/UmclL6funN8 Should you wish to donate to the worthy Raptor Resource Project, please visit their website: https://www.raptorresource.org/ This non profit organisation specialises in the preservation of falcons, eagles, ospreys, hawks, and owls. Music by kind courtesy of Roberto Zeolla Official: https://youtu.be/jMYEIKfBwWQ River Flows In You (Yiruma) - Roberto Zeolla on Yamaha Genos https://youtu.be/-_TOAOmtSns Information for new visitors to the Luceforall channel: Please note that this is an entertainment channel, even though you can still learn something about the eagles and I am always happy to share whatever information I gather along the way. I often make up little stories to amuse viewers and friends and, on occasions, I use instrumental music as background, so my channel is not suited to everybody. If your interest in eagles is more professional, there are more suitable and knowledgeable channels to follow, on YouTube.
I missed the laying of the second egg but it is shown on other YouTube channels. In this video, we see Mum Decorah on the maple tree (M2). Soon after she flies off, Madam Goose lands on nest N2B. She is pretty restless - there is a lot of scraping and shifting of position. Eventually, the third egg is laid. Scenes on the nest alternate with scenes of Mum Decorah eating her prey - is it a big fish? I have added a scene of Canada Geese at the creek, below the bluff, to show where any goslings hatched on one of the ledges will probably jump. The following day, Madam Goose is back on the nest, where she lays egg number four. This time, she remains on the nest and overnights there. The last 2.5 minutes of the video are a combination of still frames and short clips, and are accompanied by soft instrumental music. What about Mum Decorah and DM2? They have eggs at N3. For those of you who do not have a Facebook account, here's an excerpt of their recent post: "What has been going on with Mom and DM2 this year? RRP staff and volunteers have been monitoring Mom and DM2 at N3 and the hatchery, and we have a pretty good record of their whereabouts with boots-on-the-ground observations and appearances on the hatchery cams. We have documented her standing in the nest for long periods of time, but she didn't begin incubating until sometime between Robin's observations on Sunday, March 20 and Dave Kester's observations on the morning of Tuesday, March 22. Why was she so late? A lot of people asked if she had entered menopause. Like mammals, female birds hatch with a fixed number of ova in their ovaries. How many do bald eagles have? We don’t know, but Waha Thuweeka (a.k.a. Bill Voelker), director of the Sia breeding project, told us that his Golden Eagle Micah was 52 years of age when she laid the egg that produced her daughter Waipi. At 19 years old, Mom is just into Bald Eagle middle age, so menopause shouldn't be an issue. I briefly worried that DM2 had been replaced, since a new mate can also push egg-laying back, but we saw him enough on the hatchery cams to be sure we were seeing DM2. We also know that bald eagles, like many other birds, have internal circannual clocks that are timed in part with circadian rhythms: the 24-hour cycle of night and day that drives activities like reproduction, molt, and migration. But bald eagles can desynchronize, or be thrown off their reproductive cycle, if something disturbs them in the period leading up to egg laying, or their eggs are destroyed after laying. So Mom could have laid an egg that broke or was destroyed, or been thrown off her cycle by something that shut down her reproductive activity. Raccoons, chunks of ice, and sticks can all destroy eggs, while ongoing harassment by humans, eagles, and/or other animals can delay nesting activity" Link to the Decorah live stream: https://youtu.be/UmclL6funN8 Should you wish to donate to the worthy Raptor Resource Project, please visit their website: https://www.raptorresource.org/ This non profit organisation specialises in the preservation of falcons, eagles, ospreys, hawks, and owls. Music by kind courtesy of Roberto Zeolla Official: https://youtu.be/jMYEIKfBwWQ River Flows In You (Yiruma) - Roberto Zeolla on Yamaha Genos https://youtu.be/-_TOAOmtSns Information for new visitors to the Luceforall channel: Please note that this is an entertainment channel, even though you can still learn something about the eagles and I am always happy to share whatever information I gather along the way. I often make up little stories to amuse viewers and friends and, on occasions, I use instrumental music as background, so my channel is not suited to everybody. If your interest in eagles is more professional, there are more suitable and knowledgeable channels to follow, on YouTube.