Nest Update March 12, 2013 - Hatchwatch Day 3

Good Evening, HatchWatchers!

As we left the nest last night Dad was occupying the position of honor on the egg. Sometime during the night he and Mom changed places and she was on the nest at dawn today. Also heard during the night were some Barred Owls with their “Who Cooks For You” call. They seemed far away and not a threat to the nest.

The day dawned clear and beautiful and Mom and Dad had a good morning until Dad’s OSD (Obsessive Stick Disorder) kicked in again. His attempts at stick placement were the source of much amusement to us all. Late afternoon Dad brought Mom an offering of Ruffed Grouse(we think) as an apology for the OSD and an incentive to get her to lay the 2nd egg. It didn’t help right away and my prediction of 5:22pm nest time came and went. Hopefully by the time I finish this post she will have had the 2nd egg!

Time for the days vids!

Some great panning and sunrise video!

MNBound Eagles Sunrise 

Dad’s OSD affliction struck again today with a vengeance!

MNBound Eagles Dad's Obsessive Stick Disorder

After all the stick shenanigans Dad brought dinner to the nest.

MNBound Eagles Dinner Gift from Dad

There are some great stills posted here:https://www.facebook.com/Minnesota.Bound.Live.Eagles . Look in the Recent Posts section.

As I sit here typing this blog we are waiting on Mom to lay another egg. Wish she would hurry it up but I guess we can’t rush eagle time!

I am going to post this now so I guess we will have to get our egg news tomorrow!

Update: Mom just laid the 2nd egg!!! Yippee!

Mom delivering!

1st look at Mom and her eggs!

I’ll post the video here later when it’s done uploading!

MNBound Eagles Mom Lays Her 2nd Egg!

Happy Eagle viewing and we’ll see you on the nest!

TalonStrike

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below or in the chat room.  Also, we'll be updating our official MN Bound LIVE Eagles Facebook Page regularly so you can follow along, like, or share with your friends.  We have several site moderators this year to help give optimal information to all that want to learn more about these magnificent birds.

Nest Update March 11, 2013 - Hatchwatch Day 2

Happy Hatchwatch, MN Bound Eagle Watchers!

Great day on the nest today! Dad played construction foreman again and chased away one of the squirrels, don’t know if it was Lunch or Dinner. Mom was incubating in the morning and then Dad took over when her spa appointment was due. She stayed away for quite a while, came back and then left again when Dad brought in another stick and stepped all over her. Mom went back to the spa and Dad stayed until after dark. 

Mich989Razzle made us some great videos today and we were treated to some great extreme close-ups by the cam gnomes at BBC.Thanks go to both for great work today.

Roll the videos! 

MNBound Eagles Close View of the Egg

Double wing slap by Dad when one of the downstairs neighbors gets nosy!

MNBound Eagles Double Wing Slap

Mom and Dad took time to scan the skies and give us some great close-ups!

MNBound Eagles Scan the Skies

Mom paused long enough to give us some more great close-ups and nice shots of the egg.

MNBound Eagles Mom Zoom Wow

Some great stills from today!

Dad Wingspan

Egg Super Close-upDad Looks at Cam

Thanks Bekka, Gazgeorgia and BBC!

Everyone is wondering when Mom will lay another egg! Well my money is on tomorrow afternoon at 5:22pm. Come watch with us and see if I win my bet!

Well, another lovely day at the MN Bound Eagle Nest goes by and we hope for a great one tomorrow!

Happy Eagle viewing and we’ll see you on the nest!

TalonStrike

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below or in the chat room.  Also, we'll be updating our official MN Bound LIVE Eagles Facebook Page regularly so you can follow along, like, or share with your friends.  We have several site moderators this year to help give optimal information to all that want to learn more about these magnificent birds.

Nest Update March 10, 2013 - Hatchwatch Day 1

Happy Hatchwatch, MN Bound Eagle Watchers!

Today was a pretty calm day on the nest except for the wind!

Mom had a pleasant night on the nest and Dad spent the night on his perch nearby.

The wind was bad for hearing them but it did help dry out the nest from the rains yesterday!

Speaking of yesterday, what a day it was with Mom giving us a lovely egg to watch and dote upon like aunts and uncles. Thanks Mom!

Mich989Razzle posted another video from yesterday of the fish Dad brought Mom just before the laying.

MNBound Eagles Dad Presents Mom with a Fish Gift 

There was some branch wrestling this morning. Mom and Dad were going at it hot and heavy with the branch and then Mom gave up and left. Dad struggled with the branch for a while longer and then decided to sit on the egg again. BBC gave us a nice close-up to check that the egg was OK! Thanks, BBC!

MNBound Eagles Wrestles Branch & Close Up of Egg

A squirrel poked his head up near the nest and Dad gave him a wingslap to let him know who’s boss!

MNBound Eagles One Big Wing Slap

Mom and Dad put on a big defensive display in the afternoon. We do not know what they were warning away but there may have been a third eagle heard in the video. It was too windy to tell for sure.

MNBound Eagles Strong Defensive Alert

Later in the afternoon Mom saw Dad with food and came off the egg to call to him to bring her some. Dad arrived quickly with a mallard drake for dinner. Mom proceeded to munch on duck and Dad played for a bit then left. Dad came back to play with the mornings stick for a bit and buried the egg under some grass. He finished the duck and found the egg and sat down again until Mom returned.

MNBound Eagles Dad Gives Duck to Mom

Mom returned at dusk and took over the duties for the night

Many chatters are curious about the size of the nest. Mich989Razzle made up a graphic to show the approximate size of the nest. You can also see the side view on the cam page under the video. Just scroll down to see it.

All in all a lovely day on the MN Bound Nest!

Happy Eagle viewing and we’ll see you on the nest!

TalonStrike

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below or in the chat room.  Also, we'll be updating our official MN Bound LIVE Eagles Facebook Page regularly so you can follow along, like, or share with your friends.  We have several site moderators this year to help give optimal information to all that want to learn more about these magnificent birds.

Nest Update March 9, 2013 - Hatchwatch Begins!!

Hatchwatch Begins, MN Bound Eagle Watchers!

Well, Mom laid the first egg at 3:53pm nest time (CST) today and everybody went wild!

The day started rainy and cold with a little work by Mom and Dad to get the nest ready. They were on and off the nest several times in the morning and then disappeared for a while. When they returned Dad brought a small fish which Mom proceeded to nosh right down and she stayed in the nest after. She played with the nest fill for a bit and then looked like she was a little in distress. It was soon recognized that she was in labor and at 3:53pm she gave us a beautiful new egg to watch and worry over. Thanks Mom! it was a very quick delivery and looked like everything went A-OK!

MNBound Eagles Mom Lays Her 1st Egg

A close-up of the egg right after laying.

Thanks Bekka!

And one of Mom and her new egg

Dad returned to the nest shortly after laying to see what Mom had delivered. He was very happy to see the egg. Mom got off the egg and had a post delivery snack of a partial fish Dad brought. They both trumpeted the news of the egg to the neighborhood.

MNBound Eagles Dad's 1st Visit to His New Egg

Mom then settled in to begin incubating in earnest.

MNBound Eagles Mom Begins Incubation

Mom looking at us saying “Did I Do a Good Job?”

Some chatters were worried that the blood on the egg was a sign of something bad. Anyone who has been through a birth will tell you that there is always at least a little blood. Alls well with the egg and Mom and we look forward to the next egg and a hatching in 35-37 days. All hail Mom for her great job today!

And thanks as always to BBC and the cam gnomes for the GREAT pictures! 

Happy Eagle viewing and we’ll see you on the nest!

TalonStrike

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below or in the chat room.  Also, we'll be updating our official MN Bound LIVE Eagles Facebook Page regularly so you can follow along, like, or share with your friends.  We have several site moderators this year to help give optimal information to all that want to learn more about these magnificent birds.

March 8,2013 - Camera Musings

“Why is the picture so ugly?”

Some watchers have asked why the cam looks so bad when it switches to night vision.

There isn’t an easy explanation but I will try. 

Since the cam is a “dual mode” cam, meaning that it can be used in daylight and at night, it has two ways of making pictures. The daylight way is the normal way, light comes through the lens, hits the sensor and makes great looking HD pictures for us, and then there is the night IR way. 

In night mode the cam must switch to a lower frame rate to allow the sensor time to gather enough light to form a picture. It also has to lower the amount of data that it sends out because of the lower frame rate. This results in a black and white picture that is grainy and harder to see. 

Normally with an illuminator this cam would make a fairly decent picture at night as we saw before the illuminator died. Now that we have no night light the cam has to work its hardest to make a picture with the available light. When the cam first switches to night mode the picture still looks bright and close to normal. However if you were at the nest you would see that the streetlights have come on and it is getting dark out. Thats why you may hear some of the chatters that live in Minnesota ask why it is still light at the nest when it is dark at their house. It’s just the cam doing its job as a night vision cam and giving us the best picture it can. 

As the season progresses we will have a picture much later into the evening as the sun stays up longer and twilight lengthens.

I hope this ramble on the cam has helped to clear up some of the questions you chatters have about the way the cam works. If you have more questions please post them in the comments below.

Happy Eagle viewing and we’ll see you on the nest!

TalonStrike

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below or in the chat room.  Also, we'll be updating our official MN Bound LIVE Eagles Facebook Page regularly so you can follow along, like, or share with your friends.  We have several site moderators this year to help give optimal information to all that want to learn more about these magnificent birds.