Nest Update April 11, 2013 - Hatchwatch Day 33

Good Evening, Fellow Snowynestians! 

Today started with some wild weather at the nest. Thunder-snow was in the area and Mom hunkered down to protect the eggs from the elements. I was awake about 4:45 nest time and caught this snap of mom buried in snow. The snowglow lit the nest fairly well.

About 6:20 am Razzle found her in even more snowy straits.

About 6:30am she stood up and tried to shake off all the snow.

MNBound Eagles Snow Covered

About an hour later the cam gnomes at BBC decided a little panning would start the day right. We could all see how cold and nasty it really was in the nest area. Thanks BBC!

MNBound Eagles Snow & Ice

Another hour later approximately 8:25am Dad came to the nest to keep her company for a while. They both looked a little miserable with snow stuck to their beaks and faces. BBC panned for us some more as Dad moved around on the nest. His feathers were taking a beating in the vicious wind.

MNBound Eagles Wind, Snow & Ice

Some more pics of Mom with ice and snow on her beak and eyes.

Dad and Mom together.

Dad finally relieved Mom late morning and she flew away to warm up and flex the kinks out from sitting all night. Dad sat the nest for about an hour and a half . Mom returned to take over again. As usual Dad was reluctant to give up his seat. He finally left and went to Sticks Depot and came back with a doozy! Mom had been napping after her ordeal but put up with his OSD to get him away from the nest quicker. She kept the warm seat and Dad left for his perch.

MNBound Eagles Sticker Doodle

In the afternoon the weather improved a bit and Mom decided to nap the day away. One of our chatters caught her napping for us.

She napped the rest of the day away. BBC came back and panned for us some more in the early evening. Mom stood and showed us the eggs for a moment. Some chatters went wild and thought they saw a pip. Turns out it was dirt and to top it off it was on the wrong egg. Oh well!

Well, we are starting PipWatch tomorrow as one never knows with Mother nature. The mods and all the chatters will have their eyes glued to their monitors for any sign of a pip for the next few days. Here’s hoping it comes sooner than later! 

Well that’s about it for today on the nest. It was a wet and wild day and we sincerely hope the weather improves for Hatch Weekend!

Grayc’s Countdown to Hatch Clock!

Hope you had a great day on the nest and we will see you there tomorrow!

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 April 10, 2013 - Hatchwatch Day 32

Good Evening, Fellow Cottonwoodians!

Old Man Winter decided to stick around for another day. Or maybe two. The forecast is for more snow tonite and tomorrow with 7 inches possible in some areas. BOO! We need some spring weather for the hatch soon to arrive. Oh well, they are saying in the 50’s for Sunday at the nest. Let’s hope so! 

We are about 2 days away from a PipWatch here at the nest. Mom and Dad are hunkering down trying to take this weather in stride and keeping the eggs toasty warm. Mom came back to the nest late morning/ early afternoon and Dad finally got up and did a hover flyaway in the stiff wind. Mick did a slo mo for us so we could enjoy every frame of it. The perchers in SS were comparing it to yesterdays landing and were awarding style points for the one they liked the most. I’ll post both here so you can compare, too.

Todays: MNBound Eagles Dad's Hover Fly Away & Slo-Mo

Yesterdays: MNBound Eagles Dad Lands Backwards

We had another great panning session from BBC today. Some good shots of the neighbors were taken and we got to see them close up.

Believe it or not there are TWO geese in this picture!☝

This is what dirt on the egg looks like. There will be many false alarms as we wait for our first Pip. Please let us confirm the pip before going crazy in the SS!

And I found a great pic comparing egg sizes  in the archives of this blog.

Well it was a pretty dull day on the nest with the way the weather has been so I will leave you to hope and pray that the weather tomorrow will be better than they say it’s going to be.

Grayc’s Countdown to Hatch Clock!

Hope you had a great day on the nest and we will see you there tomorrow!

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 April 9, 2013 - Hatchwatch Day 31

Good Evening, Fellow Nestafarians!

Old man winter made what we hope will be his final appearance of the year at the nest today. 

Before the weather turned rotten Mom and Dad shared the nest for about 16 minutes this morning. Dad really did not want to leave the warm spot.

MNBound Eagles Nestle Together

The day was blustery and cold and the sleet and snow started to come down late morning.

Mom spent a miserable lot of hours on the nest as she rode out the storm. About 3:30pm dad came back and executed a perfect backwards landing as he let the wind carry him into the nest. Mom stood up and rode the wind up, up and away!

MNBound Eagles Dad Lands Backwards

They gave a great view of the eggs as they swapped places.

On one of Dad’s egg rolls he sat down with his tail to the wind. Not a good move.

MNBound Eagles Back Against the Wind

He finally got smart and turned a different direction. 

As we were watching and the talk turned to skirts and kilts blowing in the wind a bit of doggerel verse popped into my head. It sorta bombed in chat but I’d like to preserve it here to remind myself I’m not really a poet. LOL

His kilts are a blowin’ in the wind

and his wings are a tiltin’ once again

he likes it even tho the wind will win

and then he can start it all again.

Mick989Razzle has put together a Countdown to Hatchwatch video of all the preparations that Mom and Dad have done in the past week to be ready for the new eaglets coming soon.

MNBound Eagles Countdown to Hatch Watch

So, as I am sitting here writing this at 11:40 pm nest time the weather has gone bad with a vengeance. There was some thundersnow about 20 mins ago and the nest and Mom are covered in snow. The wind is howling and the tree is swaying. Stay safe, Mom and we’ll see you in the morning.

Thanks again to Razzle and BBC for all the great vids and pics from today!

Grayc’s Countdown to Hatch Clock!

Hope you had a great day on the nest and we will see you there tomorrow!

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 April 8, 2013 - Hatchwatch Day 30

Good Evening, Fellow Hatchatoonians!

Another great day on the nest at MN Bound!

It started out a little spooky this morning in the fog.

When did we move to Transylvania??

Dad had another visit from the downstairs renters and showed his displeasure with a full wing display. He stayed that way for 15 minutes as I guess he decided it was too much trouble to pull them in.

MNBound Eagles Dad Shows His 7' Wingspan

Razzle posted a couple of pics to show the progress of the nest from just out of mothballs to ready for hatchlings.

Mothballs

Ready as of today

We had some classes visit today and Squirrelmama sent along some of their drawings.

Dad of course had a bout of OSD today with some panning mixed in for good measure. Thanks BBC!

MNBound Eagles Who Left This Stick Here?

And Mom and Dad both did some nest prep today.

MNBound Eagles The Pair Prepare

And late in the day Mom had a little OSD going herself. Dad tried to help her without getting off the eggs.

MNBound Eagles A Mom Sized Stick

We also got a snap of the loudmouth next door.

All in all a very nice day at the nest even if it was a little rainy and overcast. Tomorrow a big wintry weather system is going to move into the area and give us our last taste of winter. We hope! But the weather gremlins say it will warm up in time for our hatch over the weekend. Yay!

Grayc’s Countdown to Hatch Clock!

Hope you had a great day on the nest and we will see you there tomorrow!

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 April 7, 2013 - Hatchwatch Day 29

Good Evening, Fellow Eggamaniacs!

As we get closer and closer to the Hatch you can feel the anticipation growing. We have had a lot of new chatters join us the last few days. Myself, all the mods, BBC and MN Bound would like to thank all of those joining us here at the cam for helping to make this the Best Cam On The NET™. We are having a blast now and we can make it even better if you all invite all of your eagle friends to join us. And please hit the "Follow" button when you do visit. Thank you!

I am going to start today with a video I missed posting yesterday. Mick captured this during the late afternoon panning session and it shows Mom winging in to land on the tree and later fluttering down to the nest. She fiddles with Dad’s stick after tromping around him to get him to move. He finally gets up and Mom takes over.

MNBound Eagles Mom's Fly-By & Landing During Camera Pan

This morning a chickadee stopped by to watch Mom sleep and to ponder the meaning of life.

In the late morning Mom was on the nest when either Lunch or Dinner decided to get vocal about the rent. They chattered for a bit and then scampered across the far left branch. Mom showed them who’s boss with a full wingspread display.

MNBound Eagles Squirrel Chatter

And a still from the video above of Mom at full wingspread!

In the afternoon Dad was on the nest when a Red Tailed hawk came flying nearby. Dad kept his eye on it and you could hear the classic movie raptor call from above the nest. Mom and Dad both warned it away and it seemed to get the message. Dad put his wing out just to be a little more intimidating.

MNBound Eagles Hawk Flying Overhead Intruder Alert

One if our chatters posted the URL of some awesome pics from the Southwest Florida Eaglecam today. They are of the fledgling Hope being attacked by a juvie eagle and Hope’s dad Ozzie coming to her rescue. Take a look, they are pretty spectacular!

Hope Being Attacked

I found some pics on the net of our nest as it was 3 years ago. These were taken by KARE as the first webcam was being installed at the nest. It was thought at the time that the nest was 7 years old. It has become a lot bigger since then. Thanks KARE!

Closeup Nest

Nest from the ground

Well that wraps up another great day on our nest! The weather is supposed to be cold and rainy all week but we hope it will clear out by Sunday so we can have good weather for the hatch! Cross your talons!

Grayc’s Countdown to Hatch Clock!

Hope you had a great day on the nest and we will see you there tomorrow!

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.