Nest Update July 5, 2013 - Failure To Fly Friday or FledgeWatch Day 8

July 6, 2013

Good Evening, Fellow VirtualEaglePushers!!

Hopes for a fledge were dashed again today as the kids stubbornly refused to leave the nest. Maybe the strong winds had something to do with it or maybe it was the thoughts of all the chatters not wanting them to leave. Let’s try to be positive tomorrow! Harmony and Peace need some encouragement to get off the nest and flying! So cheer them on as much as you can tomorrow. I am sure they will appreciate it. I know I will.

Breakfish today was another aquatic avian (gosling, we think) and the usual scuffles ensued. Peace takes delivery, Harmony steals, Peace tries to steal back.... ad infinitum. They both got a fairly good meal out of it and were back being best buddies 30 minutes later. They played fake out the chatters and the cam gnome when he was around. Up the tree, down the tree in all the possible combinations. Napping, PSing and treasure hunting in the nest were also on the agenda today. Peace did find something semi- edible on the edge of the nest and Harmony succeeded in stealing that, too. Late in the evening (and I do mean late, you could hardly see on the nest) DAD delivered a tasty fishy for the kids to wrestle with and parked himself on the trunk to watch. The scenario went as described above. Peace is a nibbler and needs to learn to eat faster and bigger. That way Harmony won’t get as much of Peace’s dinner.As darkness completed falling there was the sound of contentment on the nest. In other words, it was quiet for the first time today.

On to the pics and vids of the day!

Razzle put together a great update for us today

MNBound Eagles Update with Peace & Harmony

The end of the week antics on the nest

MNBound Eagles Friday Follies at MNBound

And a selection of the pics of the day

The kids set off some fireworks last night! Thanks nvyseal!

If we do this they will think we are friends!

If we scream loud and long enough I'll bet we get some food!

A tickle of the feather to Razzle and BBC for the fine pics and videos again today! Thanks!

Well, another day of eagle watching comes to an end. Hope you had a good Friday whatever you were doing. Remember to think those positive flight thoughts 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 July 4, 2013 - Happy Birthday, America!

July 4, 2013

Good Evening, Fellow NestPatriots!!

Happy 4th of July!

I hope all of you Nestizens had a great 4th of July. Here on the nest we were hoping that one or both of our nations newest symbols would make the leap to freedom today but, alas, it was not to be. Harmony and Peace didn’t like the flying conditions today and put off fledging for another day. Both Mom and Dad delivered breakfish today albeit at slightly different times. Both brought avians of some type to eat. The kids had fun consuming those and then settled in for a quiet morning of napping, wingersizing and hanging out on the cam mount. The afternoon was a calm and peaceful one too until both parents showed up as Dad delivered a good sized headless fish for dinner. Peace scored the delivery and had it for a good few bites until Harmony decided she had yelled at Mom enough and used her patented steal move on Peace once again. Did I mention that Mom had parked herself on the trunk for this meal? Harmony noshed down a good bit of the fish until she seemed to lose interest. Mom then came down to claim it and actually had it until Peace stole it right out of her beak. Peace then went to the corner of the nest and nibbled the rest of the fish away. Harmony came over for a steal and Mom even tried to get the final piece of tail with a slide down the trunk but Peace triumphed and swallowed her first whole tail of the year (I think it was her first, been so many tails its hard to keep track!). After that meal which consumed (forgive me) about an hour the kids settled in and stood side by side on the nest digesting their 4th of July feast and enjoying the late afternoon sights from the heights. As darkness fell we were treated to some more panning (did I mention we had panning a lot of the day? The cam gnomes did a wonderful job again today and caught most of the action for us. Thanks again BBC for being there for us!) and the kids settled in to await the fireworks later in the evening. A Happy Fourth to Us All!

On to the pics and vids of the day!

There was a lot of action on the nest today and Mich989Razzle worked diligently to capture it for us. She has been here with us from Day 1 and has made so many wonderful videos for us that Youtube has been warning her she uploads too much. Without her and her skills as a videographer this blog would be pretty dull. All thanks and praise to Razzle for her great work!

Morning breakfish antics on the nest with Mom and Dad

MNBound Eagles Mom & Dad Pay a Surprise Visit

Afternoon fish wrestling with both parents on the nest

MNBound Eagles Wrestling for Fish

Mom tries to finish the fish and Peace steals it away

MNBound Eagles Mom Can't Steal from Peace

And a selection of pics of the day!

Well, these two ARE better behaved than Harmon!!

Let's see. Maybe a hip check and some high winging would work?

Well, the 4th of July was a great day at the MNBound nest! Hope yours was a blast, too!

See you on the nest tomorrow! I think we’ll get a fledge!

TalonStrike

Nest Update July 3, 2013 - FledgeWatch Day 6

July 3, 2013

Good Evening, Fellow LessHoHumDayers!!

Well, the morning started out sorta interesting anyway. Chatters thought Peace had fledged and it turns out she only made the leap up to the branch. How do you know, Talon??, you say? The vid was scrutinized and she was nowhere else to be found. And the other clue is she stayed in the nest tree for the rest of the day. If she had fledged she would have most likely been gone from the nest tree all day exploring her new found abilities. So I think we can safely say no one fledged today.

We think they had another short breakfish today. The cam was looking at the pond when squeeing and mantling sounds were heard. When the cam panned back to the nest a couple minutes later no food was seen. Did Peace blow it again? Or was it a false alarm? We’ll never know I guess. The day went almost the same as yesterday with the kids sitting on the cam mount for most of it. Harmony and Peace took turns nibbling on the mic wire at the base of the cam mount near the nest. They also got in lots of wing practice and quite a few good hovers. Mom brought a fish (we think it was Mom but she was in and out very fast) and Peace took delivery. Harmony put a good move on Peace, scored the takeaway and polished off the fish. Mom came back a little later with a second fish. This time Peace got a little more of it before Harmony scored again. That was it in the food department today. Not that they didn’t squee up a storm asking for more. It was a squee chorus practically all day. BBC treated us to some great panning again today and we are very grateful for the attention they are paying to the cam. Thanks BBC! As darkness fell on the nest the cam zoomed to the pond to see if there was anything in the larder. We saw one lonely waterfowl that was urged to run and hide by the chatters. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day in the food department.As night came on the kids went down below to settle in and all was quiet (except for the frogs) on the nest.

On to the vids and pics of the day!

Peace wants to fly like an eagle!

MNBound Eagles Peace is Ready to Fledge

Peace’s false alarm this morning

MNBound Eagles Peace Flies Up to Branch

Harmony gets some airtime with the wind

MNBound Eagles The Pull of the Wind

And a selection of pics of the day!

I'll bet you guys think you're clever, doncha??

One of the neighbors doing some stunt flying

Ok, Just picture me with white head feathers and a yellow beak.....

Here's hoping for a Fourth of July Fledge!

A pop of the firecracker to Razzle and BBC for all the great pics and vids today! Thanks!

Hope your last day before the holiday was a great one! A Happy Fourth of July to all and hopefully we’ll see a fledge on our nation’s birthday!

See you on the nest tomorrow!

TalonStrike

Nest Update July 2, 2013 - FledgeWatch Day 5

July 3, 2013

Good Evening, Fellow HoHumDayers!!

UPDATE: Sorry it took so long to get here today. Had some trouble posting last night!

It was a very Ho Hum day on the nest.

Except, of course, for the great panning that BBC did today! Thanks BBC! Seems that one (or several) of the cam gnomes are watching over the nest more closely and we are very grateful that they are here with us. Hopefully, one will be there when fledge time happens! Thanks again, BBC!

Mom delivered breakfish early today and as usual Peace took delivery. No one saw what was delivered and she mantled it and worked it over for a very short time until Harmony came in for the steal. When the scrum ended there was no food to be seen and speculation was Peace was fumble-taloned again and lost it over the side of the nest. Both H and P looked over the side where Peace had the food last further fueling the speculation. Alas, that was to be the last food delivered today. The kids retreated to the high perch and watched and waited and squeeed while Mom and Dad were off doing other things. The P’s made several passes by the nest at a distance and the kids would set up a ruckus when they spotted them. Well, at least we know their eyes work well and their syrinx’s as well. The rest of the day was the usual stuff of hovering, flapping up and down the trunk, napping, wingersizing, and sharpening their talons on the cam mount. Peace did do her thunderbird imitation for a good bit in the afternoon and both got in some OSD practice with a large stick on the nest. As evening deepened there was hopes of a food delivery but none turned up. As darkness fell the kids settled in for a long hungry night.

On to the pics and vids of the day!

Jumping and playing and a stick, oh my!

MNBound Eagles A Long Jump, a Stick & a Smile

Peace is getting real good at posing for the cam.

MNBound Eagles Peace Peers at Cam Perfect Pose

And a blog exclusive vid of the full 360˚ pan of the nest area. Razzle sped this up a bit so it’s only half as long as the real thing. Thanks, Razzle!

MNBound Eagles Pan of Surrounding Branches - Blog Exclusive

And a fine selection of pics of the day!

So, how long to clear that desk when we fledge??.... Just curious.

Like Atlantis before it the island has sunk!

Smile! They will be fledging soon and you can get your housework done!

Another fine Minnesota day comes to an end!

Well I hope your day was less ho hum than the day on the nest. Maybe tomorrow will be fledge day even though I am hoping for Thursday.

See you on the nest tomorrow!

TalonStrike

Nest Update July 1, 2013 - FledgeWatch Day 4

July 2, 2013

Good Evening, Fellow FlapDodgers!!

We are getting close! The kids are warmed up and ready to fly. Both Harmony and Peace are staring off the nest like they want to go see what’s out there! Mom started the day off with a fish delivery at 0845 and 1100. The kids contested for both as usual. Their favorite place in the tree is the cam mount BBC installed for the new cam this year. Thanks BBC! They sat on it most of the day and daydreamed of catching thermals with Mom and Dad. They also practiced wingersizing and Harmony had a great sustained hover towards the end of the day. Peace made a few leaps of her own from nest to branch and back again. In the late evening Mom had a great fly-in with a bird snack that Razzle made into a blog exclusive video for us!

As darkness fell the kids polished off the snack and settled in for the night.

On to the pics and vids of the day!

Peace make a super leap from the nest to the branch

MNBound Eagles Peace's Mighty Big Jump