3 eggs so far...and one crazy brave little mouse!

I had said I was finished watching - well never mind- -peeked in in a few times to see what was happening and got hooked again. I wanted to see what difference a male eagle would make since I started watching right after the dad disappeared last time there were eaglets, and Mom had to bring them up all by herself. . As for the mouse, I suspect if she was not sitting on eggs he would have made a tasty little snack. lol.

Edited to add: just read he annoyed her one too many times popping up here and there and right in front of her - so she finally nabbed him and gulped him down easily. Kinda felt sorry for the mouse, but he tempted fate one too many times. . -

I saw it, and the first feeding . Now hopefully the other one will hatch soon and all will be well. Glad to see Dad doing his part and Mom has some help this time around, although we know she is capable of being a single super mom

I dislike when the chatters anthropomorphize human emotions on to the eagles, yet, hypocritically enough I do it too at times when the male comes to the nest and does something or other and the female gives him 'the look.' You know the look, when your spouse or SO does something really stupid or annoying, and your face shows it. This eagle male usually puts his head down, moves further away or flies off - he obviously gets the message

The new eaglet is bigger than I thought it would be, still very wobbly though. I watched a few feedings and was surprised the older sibling was so aggressive and pecked at the other sibling's head viciously and knocked him/her over several times. The Mom did nothing and she seems to feed the older one and makes little effort to accommodate the new baby. She also did not seem to step in when the little one got continually pecked at, and I think got way less less than half the food offered even though it tried so hard to get her attention best it could. Now, I know they want to teach the eaglets to be aggressive - but to not take extra care of a weaker new born seems unnecessarily cruel. I have not become fond of eagles since I have watched these cams, but I have found them interesting and do care about the little eaglets safety. As far as eagles go though, I do not find them majestic (only when flying) or a good example to be the USA bird icon. They are rather nasty birds and what they do seems to be strictly instinctive, and nothing more than that. They may even eat an eaglet if it dies or they poach it from another nest. Even with their babies they really don't give a damn about the ones who may be weak, not a wit. They do what they have to, to make them into strong eaglets and if they are not - well, too bad. Wonder whoever named it 'Mother Nature' when the weakest are sacrificed and survival of the fittest has no room for compassion, love, or empathy. Not like any good human mother I know who cares for all her children, regardless.

Evidently it is a common occurrence the bonking lol. The little one has started to bonk back and I cheered I did not start watching when the eaglets were this little so is new to me. The older one got tangled in the mom's feather and she almost flew off with him - then he fell. He struggled for a while to get back up and for a bit did not seem like he would be able to turn over, but he did it and i cheered involuntarily - so I must be getting emotionally involved with them despite thinking I wouldn't. lol.

I thought the sizes were odd too - but on the site the powers that be say it is normal and the little one will have a growth spurt soon.

You know, I just realized that the link to the live cam isn't in this thread. Sorry folks! lol

https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-eagles/

Soggy eagles tonight.

They have grown so much in a short time it seems, almost as big as Mom now - they will be off and fledge soon.. The one that was smaller is now larger than his sibling, and the sibling may regret all that bonking he/she did lol.

Welp. D32 is still missing. But there is an update on D33 today from his rehabbers. From the SOAR fb page:

~ D33 arrives at SOAR ~
The hatch-year (HY19) bald eagle from the nest near the Decorah Fish Hatchery and famous from the Raptor Resource Project nest camera tumbled to the ground under the nest on 5 June. Hatchery staff were alerted and the juvenile was safely retrieved and taken to the hatchery.

Black fly bites on the side of D33's head. Admitted to SOAR 5 June 2019.

Also on 5 June, this eaglet began the journey to SOAR for evaluation and any treatment needed. During transfer to SOAR Executive Director, Kay Neumann, she provided an initial assessment. The eaglet has numerous bites near the eyes and nostrils (nares) and on the back of the head from buffalo gnats (AKA blackfly). These bites have left behind bloody scabs and left this eagle thin, anemic, and bit dehydrated. Kay could feel no fractures or swelling in the legs and wings. Bonus.

Kay also noted before she even picked up the juvenile that the tail and wing feathers were not long enough for this bird to fledge. Look at the photo included of the inside of the left wing. You can still see primary (flight) feathers encased in the sheath.

A view of the inside of D33's left wing. Flight feathers still have growing to do.

D33 is interested in food and ate 1/2 a quail on the ride to SOAR. More food and water was offered once in ICU. Pieces of beef heart are on the menu this evening. The heart muscle is high in iron to help combat the anemia.

We know that many, many, many people are concerned for this eagle's welfare. As are we.

The abundance of blackfly / buffalo gnats is unfortunate, but part of the cycle of life. Wetland habitat improvement and development would provide quality environments for the blackfly natural predators - dragon and damselflies! **Watch for a separate post about the black fly!

As updates on D33 become available, those will be shared. Please understand that we have over 30 hatch-year raptors admitted already this year, in addition to other adult raptors needing care.

If you would like to support SOAR’s efforts in raptor rehabilitation, education, and research, please visit https://soarraptors.org/support-soar/

If you are one of the many that have already donated - thank you. Plus a special "shout out" to those of you who give monthly to support the work of SOAR.

Another nest Decorah North - the eaglet fell off a branch as well. He/she has been spotted, but not sure if they will attempt a rescue. I imagine he/she is in the same shape as D33, but they want to wait and see as RRP believe the parents are aware of where the eaglet is and may still take care of it which is preferable than taking it to SOAR. The buffalo gnats (blackflies)are terrible this year and the eaglets were being eaten up - I think that contributed to them losing balance while branching by trying to scratch at the same time they lost their balance. Wondering if we will ever know what happened to D32 totally disappearing after he fell. I read that 40-50% of eaglets die in their first year; I never imagined it is such a tough world for eaglets and eagles in general.

Good news, they found D32!!

Update: Decorah Hatchery Nest eaglet D32

D32 was located yesterday evening in Trout Run Creek by a couple of local residents. The eagle was located tucked in along a bank downstream from the Decorah Hatchery nest. It was in rough shape, and the residents informed the DNR Hatchery personnel, who then retrieved it from the creek, and placed him/her in a “turkey box”, shown in the picture attached here. The hatchery staff notified RRP, and we quickly set a plan in motion to get D32 the care it needed. Our Bald Eagle expert and board member Brett Mandernack, and our Vice President Laura Johnson, a veterinarian doctor specializing in raptor care, were consulted quickly, and a plan was enacted to get D32 to Laura, about an hour away, for immediate assessment and care.

Once transferred to Laura, D32 was found to be weak, a bit hypothermic, underweight, and showed signs of anemia with many black fly bites. Laura administered fluids and electrolytes upon arrival and repeated the treatments overnight. This morning, Laura was able to get D32 to eat some venison dipped in electrolytes and will continue to try to feed D32 every few hours.

Laura will continue to monitor and care for D32 while we await further updates. When we have new information, we will share that with you, but please understand that the care of the eagles comes first and we may not have continuous updates.

We would like to thank the local residents who found D32 and acted quickly to get help, everyone at RRP working nonstop to search for, capture, transport and help the eagles in every way possible, and BIG THANKS to the Decorah Chuck Gipp Fish Hatchery staff and management for their continued support of our recent bald eagle monitoring and recovery efforts and the wildlife surrounding them.

Also, D9 the eaglet from the north nest was taken into rehab today as well. Mom & dad weren't thrilled about it, but it was time. Here's the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEoqMbR ... ZHOApjbYcw

That is good news - have not had a chance to check the sites today and was so glad to read your post. I am sure D32 is very weak as he was missing longer, but hopefully he/she as well as the other eaglets make full recoveries.