Bald Eagle Nest

 Around 50 years ago the bald eagle was nearing to the edge of extinction. The chemical insecticide DDT was traveling through the natural food chain and building up in the predators, like eagles, that were at the top. DDT did not effect the eagles directly, instead it made the egg shells very thin so when the eagles sat on the eggs to incubate them they would break. With few new eagles hatching their population decreased as the older eagles passed away. DDT was banned in the US in 1972 and with increased protections the bald eagle population has made quite a rebound. They were taken of the Endangered Species List in 2007. Here in Minnesota we have the second highest nesting population of any of the states in the United States. So nests like the one above typically produce one to three new chicks each year and can even be found here with in the Twin Cities.  

Grey Cloud Island Eagle Nest

Earlier this year I heard about an active eagles nest out on Grey Cloud Island. So while I was out checking to see if any osprey were nesting on the osprey platform on Grey Cloud Island I decided to see if I could find the eagles nest. The nest was located on a portion of the island that is still wild. Fortunately it was located right on the shoreline so it was visible from the roadside across the water.

I made several stops to the nest in May to photograph the three you eaglets that were in the nest. My first stop was on May 2nd. The first photo in the post was taken on that day. At that point I could barely see the eaglets. It was not until I got home and looked at the pictures that I determined that there were 3 young, at first I only saw what I thought was two. Eagles generally lay one to three eggs. In this second picture, which was taken one week later, you can see that the eaglets still have not begun to grow in feathers over their down but they were begin to sit up more often which made them easier to see and photograph.

By May 27th, which was when the photo above was taken, all of their feathers were in and they had grown quite a bit. Mom no longer had to stay in the nest all of the time to keep them warm, which is fortunate, because she could now help dad catch fish in the surrounding Mississippi. The three young eaglets were almost as large as their parents. Unfortunately because of bad weather and my schedule I did not get the opportunity to photograph their first flights but that leaves me something to look forward to in 2011.

Yellowstone Eagle Nest

Whenever we go to Yellowstone in the spring we stay in West Yellowstone. One of the advantages of staying in West Yellowstone is the active eagles nest that is right off the road on the west exit. The area around the nest is a no stopping, parking or walking zone, but you can park behind the signs and still see the nest fairly well.
Even with the signs people still stop and park, it just drives me crazy. I have yelled at more then one person over the years. I am not sure how much it bothers the eagles though because they keep coming back and nesting each year. Last year when we were there we could catch glimpse of the young eaglets in the nest. This year we did not see any sign that the eggs had even hatched yet, and with the late spring it is possible that they are behind.
Eagles mate for life, sort of. Actually a mated pair will find a territory and build a nest. Late in the fall, after the chicks have fledged, the eagles will migrate to an area near open water. At this point the pair may go their separate way. In the spring when the water ways in the north, and in the mountains, begin to open up the pair will return to the breeding territory. If both return they will mate again, continue building up the nest, and try to produce more young. If only one of the pair returns then it will go off in search of a new mate. Since a lot of the water in Yellowstone does not freeze, because of the geothermal areas, it is possible that these eagles stay in the area year round. Perhaps we will have to visit Yellowstone some time in the winter and find out.

Signs of winter in Minnesota

Well winter is just around the corner here in Minnesota. The butterfly and dragonfly are long gone as are the warblers and most other passerines. It seems, this week, as though the sun has left with them. The thing I dislike most about winter in Minnesota is the number of grey cloudy bleak days that we get. What we have left for birding, at least around the Twin Cities, are ducks, which are now passing through on their way south, eagles, red-tails, robins, chickadees and woodpeckers. Not a lot of variety.

Another sign that winter is coming was the opening of the eagle observation deck in Wabasha which occurred on November 3rd and 4th. I decided to go down to Wabasha, and do my first eagle run of the winter, on the 4th. It was a great day to go eagle watching. It was cool and crisp with bright blue skies. Typically the eagles gather down around the Reeds Landing and Wabasha area because the Mississippi River does not usually freeze up there. The river does not freeze in that location because the swift flowing Chippewa River, which dumps into the Mississippi just south of lake Pepin on the Wisconsin side, churns the waters. Bald eagles are not that effected by cold but do require on open water source to survive.

Since it has not gotten real cold yet, and most of the lakes and rivers still are open, many of the eagles have not yet moved into the area, however there is always a small population around to view year round.

I arrived down in Lake City, on the shores of Lake Pepin, just in time to catch the sun coming up over the lake.
Lake City, which is about 15 miles north of Wabasha, is a great place to watch eagles until Lake Pepin freezes up. So I made my first stop at the Hok-Si-La park in Lake City. Hok-Si-La is a 252 acre park located on the shore of Lake Pepin. Most of the park is wooded with trails leading through it. There was plenty of wildlife to see including woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadee, and black, grey and red squirrels.
Even though I never spotted any there were plenty of signs that there are beavers living inside the park.
Walking down one of the nature trails I spotted an eagle perched high in the trees above. I was kind of surprised because usually they are in the trees on the shore looking out over the water instead of looking out over a nature trail.
Later on while exploring the park I located an eagles nest.

It is a little too early for eggs but I did see that there was a pair that was occupying the nest.

Eagles tend to mate for life. However the mating seems to be less attached to the individuals then it does the nesting territory. Eagles will mate, work on their nest, raise young and then go their separate ways. When mating season comes again the eagles will return to the mating territory. If both eagles make it back then they will mate again, if one does not make it back then the other will find a new mate.

After spending a couple hours wondering Hok-Si-La I decided to go down by the Lake City Marina where there are a few large trees that the eagles sometimes use to scan the lake. There were no eagles there yet but I did get a nice shot of a European starling.

A lot of people do not like starling very much because they tend to bully other birds at feeders. I kind of like them, even though they are an introduced species. I think that they look really cool when the sun hits them right, they kind of almost shimmer. Since there were not any eagles down by the marina I decided to continue south to Wabasha. Since It was still early I decided that I would cross the river at Wabasha and head down to Alma, WI before I made a visit to the National Eagle Center. Alma is about 15 miles south on the Wisconsin side of the river and is sometimes a good place to observe swans during migration. While I was crossing over the river, which is a part of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, I spotted an eagle on a snag.

Unfortunately he did not seem to like the idea that I had stopped and he quickly took off.I continued on to Alma bu there was not much there except for a few ducks that where quite a ways out. I think most of the swans where further south on the river, near Brownsville, MN. So I headed back to Wabasha and visited the National Eagle Center. I sat in on another program and then went out and spent some time on the observation deck. It was getting late and I was getting hungry so I decided to start back home. On the way past Hok-Si-La I spotted a red-tailed hawk perched on the side of the road. I turned around and then pulled over on to the side of the road to see if I could locate him to get a picture. Just as I stopped the car I saw the hawk fly from its perch about 25 feet in front of me and land on a branch right above my head.I missed the flight shot but got some good pics any way. The rest of the trip home was pretty uneventful but I could not complain because it had been a great day.

Yellowstone Briding 2: Raptors

Near the west entrance to Yellowstone there is an active bald eagles nest in a tree very close to the road. It is an Eagle Nesting Management Area and so people and cars are not allowed to stop or walk with in 50 yards of the nest. There are spots outside this area where you can stop and get a descent picture. A couple of times the adult eagle was on the nest as we passed and the light was good so we stopped and took a few shots.

There was at least one chick in the nest. I caught a couple glimpses of a wing as I was shooting but the nest is very large and the chicks were not yet old enough to start venturing out to the branches surrounding the nest.
We also spotted some osprey, sometimes called fishing hawk. We sat and watched one fish in the Gibbons River on Monday morning. It would fly over the water looking for a fish. Then it would stop and hover, almost kestrel like, over it's target and then fold up it's wings and drive down plunging into the river.

It was very cool to watch. Unfortunately this time he was not successful.
Later in the week I spotted an osprey in Lamar Valley near the Lamar River. It was sitting on a tree that had one time housed an osprey nest but the tree had died and the nest had been abandon. I went in for a closer look and the osprey took of and flew a short way down the Lamar River. I watched where he flew and saw that he had gone to where his mate was sitting on a nest.
The nest was on the top of a tree that was at the shore of the river. This left the nest slightly below my eye level as I stood on the hill above. I took some shots and hoped to get a glimpse of some eggs or chicks in the nest. Unfortunately I began to draw attention from other park visitors who stopped to find out what I was taking pictures of. The nest was not visible from the road because it was below the hill so most people just drove past not aware of the nesting osprey and I really wanted to keep things that way so I packed up and moved on.