Monthly Archives: December 2021

About that Steller’s Sea Eagle…

Where did the Steller’s Sea Eagle in Massachusetts come from? No legal zoo or individual in the United States reported a missing Steller’s Sea Eagle, but we can’t rule out an escape from an illegal menagerie. This blog assumes the eagle made a one-of-a-kind flight from the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia to the Western Hemisphere. We hope that is the case!  We’re getting a lot of questions about the Steller’s Sea Eagle last seen in Massachusetts. How did it get

December 27, 2021: Your Monday night Mega-movie Raptor-Roll!

December 24, 2021: DM2 and Mom show up at N2B and give watchers an early Christmas present!

It’s a Monday night Mega-movie Raptor-Roll! We have Mr. North and DNF, Mom and DM2, a Short-eared Owl, a Northern Harrier, and what I think is a Rough-Legged Hawk. Mom and DM2 have been thrilling us with appearances since December 21, DNF and Mr. North are hard at work on their nest, and tundra birds are taking a break on the Flyway. I loved all of these videos, but I especially enjoyed Mr. North’s hover, Mom and DM2’s repeated visits

Airmail from D36 and D27!

December 26, 2021: D27's map

Thanks for the postcards, D36 and D27! The last time we posted, the two eaglets were crossing paths on the Turkey River near Clermont, Iowa. D27 came back to the Decorah area in late November and has been looping around it ever since! She flew west to farm country, turned south to Spillville, cut back through Calmar, checked out a favorite river valley just south of the hatchery, and flew back to the Ten-Mile Creek area, where she remains as

2021 Memory Lane Moments

Happy Holidays from the Raptor Resource Project! May your days be merry and bright!

Some favorite moments from Decorah North, Decorah, Great Spirit Bluff, and the Mississippi Flyway. I had a really good time putting these together, although it was hard to pick and choose special moments! If you’d like to remember 2021, visit our youtube channel and select one of our playlists to watch videos from 2021 – or any other year we’ve collected: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoC_-rIBtLCzAl5l-834jZQ.

North Nest Chases and Eagle Ice-Capades

December 20, 2021: And the answer to Mr. North's question? Not very often, especially with all of these hungry migrants coming through! Fortunately, the North Valley and the Mississippi River Flyway are rich in food resources!

Look at the North nest! The 2022 nest addition – which hadn’t been started when we did camera work in September – has got to be 10 to 12 inches high at least! We saw Mr. North and DNF begin bringing sticks to the nest on October 20. If the two added an average of four sticks every day since, they have added an incredible 288 sticks so far – and their pace should accelerate as the days begin to

As The Nest Turns, Decorah Edition

December 19, 2021: unknown eagles exploring N2B at around 2:41.

Sit down on the Confusion Couch and get ready for another episode of ‘As The Nest Turns’! John visited Decorah yesterday to check on N3 and see what Mom and DM2 were doing. He stopped at Walmart at 11:25 and saw two eagles – presumably Mom and DM2 – perched in the branches above N3. At 12:15, John took off for the hatchery, where he saw an adult eagle perched on the bluff. Could Mom or DM2 have beaten John

Raptor Resource Project: Field Updates

Travis Tammi and Sarah Howe at MPL Hibbard in Duluth, MN. The Richard I. Bong Memorial bridge and Lake Superior are behind them.

To download our banding report, follow this link: https://raptorresource.org/raptorresource/pdf/2021BandingReport.pdf After 2020’s masks, gloves, and site limitations, it felt good to get out in the field, band falcons, and see old friends again. We banded 80 falcons at 29 sites in four states this year: a record for us! 11 sites were on cliffs, 9 were at power plants, 4 were at grain mills, 4 were on buildings, and one was on a water tower at 3M. We couldn’t band at

Raptor Resource Project: Our volunteers and landowners

We couldn’t do what we do without the help and support of our volunteers and landowners. RRP camera operators and moderators create community, document and share important moments, and introduce countless people to the magic of raptors and the places they live. Landowners share information and stories, care for the plants and animals on their properties, and let us band the falcons that live on their cliffs. We asked a few of them why they volunteered and what drove them

Raptor Resource Project: Director’s Message

John Howe and friend on Xcel Energy's Monticello stack in Monticello, MN.

To download our winter newsletter, follow this link: https://www.raptorresource.org/raptorresource/pdf/2021-winter-newsletter.pdf Please accept a big thank you for your part in helping the Raptor Resource Project to succeed. Whether you are a raptor fan, teacher, landowner, partner, or volunteer, we could not do what we do without your help and support. You have been here right beside us for the short term…and for the long term. Your involvement, dedication, and care are critical to our mission of conserving raptors and igniting a

Memory Lane 2021: Mr. North and DNF care for DN13

March 26, 2021: DN13 eats breakfast!

DN13 is just one day old and seems so vulnerable – that downy head, those tiny features, that wavering stalk of a neck! Mr. North and DNF give their hatchling expert, tender care: gently depositing tiny morsels into its hungry, wavering beak, shuffling over it to keep it warm, and paying close attention to its vocalizations and behavior. Eaglet feedings are always a memory lane favorite! Today’s original Memory Lane video was made by EagleCam. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/68_BP7wx9GI

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