Nest Update July 10, 2013 - Squees, Flying, And The Occasional Crash

July 11, 2013

Good Evening, Fellow NestWingabouters!!

Well, our midweek day was fairly interesting. Breakfish was a less than fresh fish that Mom, we think, delivered about 0630. Dad was present also for the family meal. Harmony and Peace tussled over it of course with Peace winning the first round as usual. Harmony went in for the steal and a tug-o-war ensued. The fish split apart (why we think it was less than fresh) and Peace ended up with the smaller piece. At some point there was some mystery food delivered and more tussles ensued. Some interactions with Dad and Mom ended up with food being shuffled around again. Eventually it was all consumed and the kids went back to being teenagers with new licenses to drive. Harmony did a great takeoff from the back branch to let us see she could actually fly! What a marvelous sight. She flew off over the river toward the compost pile where Mom shops for new carpet. Peace was content to hang about the nest area for a while until she decided she liked the branch across the way in the top right of our frame. She flew over there no problem but later on when she decided to return, after squeeing up a storm, she misjudged the landing as badly as an Asiana Airlines pilot and kinda bounced off the side of the nest. She took an impromptu trip to another branch of the tree and worked her way back about 2 hours later. I think she didn’t want us to see her red face. Late in the evening both the kids were on the nest and the back branch, jumping around and giving the cam gnome fits. As darkness fell they were both near the nest and settling in for the night.

On to the vids and pics of the day!

More scrambles than a Denny’s at breakfish today

MNBound Eagles Drop in For Beakfast

This flyin’ thing is getting easier (we hope)

MNBound Eagles Learning To Fly

Harmony has a squeefest and digs up memories of meals past

The Harmony 2-Step

And a selection of great pics of the day!

Harmony!! Stop doing loop de loops and come eat your breakfish!!

If they don't get here soon I'm eatin' this myself!

You guys still here?? Our contract was up at fledge! I'm calling my lawyer!!

I heard the cam broke. Maybe they can't see me here!

A shuffle of the olde rabbits foot to Razzle and BBC for the great pics and vids today! Thanks!

I hope your Hump Day Wednesday was as pleasant as the day was on the nest. We’ll see you here again 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 9, 2013 - Talking Turkey Tuesday

July 10, 2013

Good Evening, Fellow Eagle-A-Tarians!!

So much to talk about and only so many words left in this keyboard!

First off, Harmony and Peace came back to the nest late today to show the chatters and the mods that they had indeed fledged. Until we get ground confirmation (and we may never get it) we are saying they have fledged from their behavior. They were heard all over the tree today and even from very far away. They both seemed to fly in for their guest shot on the nest. After their appearance to calm the chatters Harmony flew off the nest and Peace rested up the trunk. And maybe over the next few days they will be in the nest more so we can tell for sure they have fledged. We wish them all the best as they begin this next phase in their lives of being the apex predators of the skies.

Second, the cam is indeed kaput as far as tilting goes. BBC believes the belt that drives the tilt is stripped and is unreliable. The pan mode is also very unreliable so the cam is parked for now on the nest. The good news is the zoom still works. It may be when BBC goes up the tree this fall they will find that the cam was knocked off kilter and setting it back to level will correct the problem. And then again they may find a new way to wow us with an even better cam and equipment although this year would be a tough act to follow. We thank them for their diligence and expertise in bringing us all the wonderful views we have had of this great eagle family again this year. Thanks, Broadband Corp!

And finally, the moment you have all been dreading. The cam will tentatively go off air for good on Sunday, July 28th. Thats means if circumstances warrant we will extend the viewing until we feel there is nothing left to see. I personally think Peace and Harmony will be off on their juvie adventures by then and the cam will shut down on time. But we shall see.

But Talon, you say, what about the blog?? Well, I’ll tell ya. I have not made a firm decision yet. It has been a long season (129 blogs so far plus great guest blogs, announcements, about a million words in the social stream + chat, and two worn out keyboards,) so a period of rest looks inviting. For something that was supposed to be an occasional thing it really turned into a labor of love and a chance to communicate with hundreds if not thousands of you that could not be in the Social Stream with us. I will miss doing this every day. I will miss the people that read it every day. I will miss watching our friends the eagles every day. But everything must come to an end to make way for something new and different. I will let you know here in the next couple of days when I will be ending the blog for this year. And maybe some news about plans for next year.

So on to the vid and pics of the day!

After teasing us all day with squees from different directions Harmony and Peace return to the nest for an evening guest appearance(that just happened to interrupt a mod meeting! Thanks, Harmony and Peace!)

MNBound Eagles Peace & Harmony Fly Home

And todays pic selection!

A bug does a crawl-by and excites the chatters!

Wow! Look at that Social Stream move now!!

I thought Mom said be home for dinner before dark???

I hope you enjoyed your day of listening for the kids and their cameo at the end of the day!

We’ll see you on the nest tomorrow!

TalonStrike

P.S. Please, Don't forget the Like button! ➷

Nest Update July 8, 2013 - A Morning After Monday

July 9, 2013

Good Evening, Fellow EmptyNestWatchers!!

Yep, it was the morning after the Big Weekend. And I’m not talking about the 4th of July, either! The kids, in case you didn’t read yesterdays blog (you should it’s right down there ☟), have taken to cavorting all over the tree since they found out those those big appendages were for more than just flapping and cooling off. They both headed to the high spots and then pulled a disappearing act. This morning when the sun arose the nest was still empty and the cam was back in auto-pan mode although looking in different places than it had before. BBC has speculated that sometime in the night the eagles may have landed on the mount itself (not just the rails) and shifted the cam position. They have said they will try a couple of tricks to attempt to get good panning back. With this type of cam if they are not perfectly level the motors that drive the pan and tilt cannot work reliably and being off level will cause a change of view. Hopefully, BBC’s “tricks” will help the situation. If not, I sure am glad the eagles waited until now to knock it off kilter. Breakfish today was delivered by both parents albeit at slightly different times. One brought a fish that was left in the nest as bait for juvie eagles and the other brought an avian of some kind that went away with the parents. After a bit Harmony found the nest again and consumed the fish or what was left of it. She stuck around the nest most of the morning and was seen during different auto-pans at different spots like the low branch and the tree trunk. Peace, however, is a different story. She was not seen on cam all day today. She was heard squeeing at Harmony as H ate the fish and was possibly heard at different times and different volumes during the day. Peace was not seen on the cam at all today as far as we can determine. So she has possibly found a favorite spot in the tree and is tired of us watching her. Or she fledged and is in another tree. I am sure Mom and Dad know where she is and are feeding her and watching over her.

This is the time in every nest’s season when things become indeterminate for all of us. We cannot see them and thus we worry. Some want to have someone rush out there and make sure she’s alright. Some are content to wait and see. Some are proud of her for making the big leap to juviehood and some are sad that we may never see her again. The emotions run the full gamut and we all sympathize with each others feelings. All we can do now is let nature take its course. We have watched them from egg to four ounce hatchlings to clumsy midgraders to full grown juvies. It has been a fascinating journey these four and a half months! These are wild eagles and the best thing we can do for them is cheer them on and hope for the best. And we do wish them all the best! Please stay with us as we watch them (or try to) move out into the big wide world that is their heritage and destiny!

Chatters were wondering today when the cam was going to be shut down. That has not been set yet and will probably be determined this week. I will post it on the blog the moment I find out!

On to the vid and pics of the day!

Harmony and Peace played Scare The Chatters:Ultimate Edition today

MNBound Eagles First Day Away

And a selection of pics from the day!

Guess we banged up the cam when we landed on it last night!

Hey PEACE!! I ate your breakfish!! Again!!!

Here’s hoping BBC can get us back to the views we have enjoyed this season. And all praise and thanks to Razzle for another great day of vids and pics under very difficult conditions! Thanks!

Hope you had a great day on the nest and we’ll see you (or not LOL) tomorrow!

TalonStrike

Nest Update July 7, 2013 - Advanced Branching Day

July 7, 2013

Good Evening, Fellow FledgeWatchers!!

First , an apology.

This morning when I arrived on the nest things were hopping. Between getting caught up and trying to keep track of who was where I helped misidentify Harmony as being Peace who made the first leap to the big branch to the right of the nest. And I was adamant about it in SS. After consultation with the other mods we realized my mistake and corrected it on the vid and in the SS. I hereby apologize again for any grief I may have caused to any chatter. Thank you.

As I said above things were hopping on the nest today. Peace returned from her camping trip for the usual breakfish scuffle early in the day. Harmony and Peace were both full of energy this morning and played tag and cavorted around the nest for most of the morning. Around 1100 Harmony decided she wanted to do the advanced branching class and flew up to the big branch to the right of the nest. Not to be outdone, Peace flew across to the same branch except lower down and into a bunch of leaves. They hung out there for quite a while until Peace moved up to where Harmony was. They started some back and forth across the nest to different branches and perches eventually working their way up to the highest branches that can be seen by the cam. All praise to the cam gnome who chased them around the tree and finally got them both in the same shot at last. They were up above the highest branches we had ever seen them on. Early evening Harmony decided that she wanted to go higher and went out of cam range. Peace came across to where Harmony had been perched and after a short while she too went out of the cam view. Panning ensued to locate them but no sign of them was seen. The cam caught one of the parents on a fly-in to the tree whilst being chased by a crow. The strange thing was we heard no squees from either Peace or Harmony when the parent flew in.

Did they move to another tree?

Were they being quiet to let us think they did??

DID THEY FLEDGE???

We CANNOT say for certain that they did and until we see them fly in to the nest from somewhere else we will not know for sure. So be with us tomorrow for the continuing saga of the MN Bound Eagles! It’s sure to be a fun day on the nest!

On to the pics and vids of the day!

Harmony takes a trip to Peace’s camping spot

MNBound Eagles Harmony Flies to Lower Branch & Back Again

Harmony starts the advanced branching class

MNBound Eagles Harmony Flies Across to Far Branch

Peace enters the class, too

MNBound Eagles Peace Flies Up to Outer Branch

A compilation of Harmony and Peace’s antics of the day

MNBound Eagles Peace & Harmony Go Bananas

And a selection of the pics of the day!

Now, remember, we work our way up high and then we just disappear!!

Well, if Harmony can get her big carcass over there......

This don't look as easy as the other one....

Well, if the eagles are gone we can always watch the geese!

Jeepers, guys, could ya get any higher??

A zoom of the lens to Razzle and BBC for the excellent work on the pics and vids today! YOU GUYS ROCK!

With all the antics of the kids today we are nearing the end of our journey with them this season. We will be here for a while longer still bringing you the events of the day so stay with us until the end, won’t you??

See you on the nest tomorrow!

TalonStrike

PS: Please click the Like Button? Pretty please??➷

Nest Update July 6, 2013 - Peace Goes Camping! FledgeWatch Day 9

July 7, 2013

Good Evening, Fellow EagleScoutMasters!!

The Saturday of our 4 day weekend turned out to be interesting indeed. The cam was down until late morning and came up just in time to see Dad deliver an aquatic avian (it had orange webbed feet) for the midday meal. The usual scuffle ensued, Peace, Harmony, Peace, Harmony and there was even a few nestovers left for snacking later.The kids then retreated up the tree to the cam mount to digest the huge meal they had just eaten. The usual ups and downs were seen and wingering and long looks off the nest were the order of the day. Harmony and Peace cleaned up the nestovers in the process and kept the nest fairly clean today.

About a half hour before sunset Peace decided she wanted to earn the Camping Merit Badge today. It is an Eagle required merit badge so I guess today was as good as any to try for it. Peace made her usual graceful leap down to the nest and it looked like she was just going to stretch her wings and return to the mount. She faked out everybody by leap-flying to the low branch where Dad had parked the other day. She worked her way out to Dad’s spot and decided to go just a bit further. She took a right at the fork of the branch and worked her way out to behind the cam mount where we couldn’t see her. We think she took a left onto another branch out of sight behind the mount. The cam gnome manning the cam was hard pressed to keep up with her and also the light was fading fast. Harmony was still on the mount for all these shenanigans and began calling loudly to Peace as it got really dark. Peace answered and we could hear her fairly loud so we knew she hadn’t fledged or fallen off the branch. But it looks like Peace will earn that merit badge as she is sleeping alone for the first time on a strange branch. When Harmony came down to the nest to sleep we could hear small squeeping noises as if she missed her sleeping partner.

So, Peace, have fun camping, don’t go on any snipe hunts, and don’t let anyone tell you they need a left handed smoke shifter. And watch out for those critters that like to crawl into sleeping bags!

On to the pics and vids of the day!

Harmony takes whats left of lunch for a ride

MNBound Eagles Harmony's Incredible Hover

Harmony tries to see if we really are inside the magic box

MNBound Eagles Hey, What Is This?

Peace makes a giant leap for eaglekind

MNBound Eagles Peace Branches Out

And Selection of great pics of the day!

Got any Thin Mints? Wadda ya mean they're outta season? I bet you have some in the freezer!

I can use this stuff to build a lean-to!

You know, I bet they're not really in there!

I wonder where this branch goes? There must be a camping spot around here somewhere!

Ya know, youse guys looks betta when I does dis!

A Big wave of the branch to Razzle and BBC for the great pics and vids and the fine cam work trying to follow and find Peace this evening! Thanks!

Well, it was a fun day on the nest and I hope you were there to see it. Be with us tomorrow as I think there will be more fun antics in the branches of the tree and beyond.

TalonStrike

P.S. Don't forget to click the Like button over dere!➷

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