Nest Update July 20, 2013 - A Convocation Of Mods

July 20, 2013

As promised, the Blog, on this penultimate day of blogging for the season is given over to the generous, educated, stupendous, talented, marvelous, erudite, spectacular, friendly, amazing, brilliant...... I could use every superlative in the dictionary and thesaurus to describe this group of lovely volunteers who made it through some rough times to help make this the Best EagleCam On The NET™. I thank them all for allowing me to be part of this experience and sharing this great season with me and all of us. So, without further adieu......

MIBIRDER:

What a wonderful season we have had, with Mom and Dad and Peace and Harmony. I have enjoyed every minute watching them grow into the young eagles they have become. What a pleasure to be part of the mod team here at MNB and among the fine family of chatters we have acquired at the nest this season. Can't wait to do it all over again next year. It seems now we move into the next phase as Eagle watchers, as the Juvies move into their next phase after fledging. Only a few days left to enjoy their presence on our monitors, as they visit back and forth to the nest together. I know I will be watching as much as possible before they go off air and we start all over again, anew, next season. They knew when they were ready to fly away home to the wild and surprised us by taking the leap and now there is no turning back for them. Never again to be our little cuddlers on the nest and keeping our eyes entertained by their every move day and night, as now they independently move away from us. It's their story and our history with them. Their destiny from egg to hatch is being fulfilled. For us, the last chapter is being written in our Eagle Addicts memory books. What a story we have witnessed. Written on all our hearts from the first star pip in an egg to the glorious magnificent personalities they have become. Our super Eagles! Raised by two super parents! They have tasted the fruit of their inheritance, and are ready to go. Hope to see you all next year!

As they soar the thermals, we will put into practice the lessons we learned, in an Eagles nest, with our own families and lives. We were schooled by two white headed and wise teachers. And we will do them proud, until, if by privilege, we meet again, and write a new story. Thank you MNBound Eagles. Thank you BBC and MNBound for the invite into the world of Bald Eagles and the inspiration and new perspective it has given to many of our lives.

Now, fledge allegiance to the skies, little Eagles!! And live happily ever raptor!

~mibirder~

Bekka1017:

What a great nesting season this has been. We got to observe many new behaviors and happenings on the nest. The new cam made it clearer, closer and had finer detail to the images it broadcast. I feel so privileged to be part of it all. This is my first time to help out as a moderator and have worked with some really great people. To help give out information, make observations and extend a warm welcome to viewers and chatters is what being a moderator is to me. This is not a research site but one that based on the eagles and not the egos. The love and warm for this eagle family is shared by both the chatters and the moderators making it a friendly site to visit. There was an unexpected rough period of time that all of us had to transition through, but those of us that truly cared about the eagles came back to make the rest of the season great. Many thanks to BBC for the great cam, MNBound for the bald eagle section on their site, Razzle for the videos, Talon for the blog and fellow moderators.

Here’s to next year being even better!

~Bekka1017~

Firetruck1988:

Well my fellow eagleaholics the time has come to say goodbye until February 2014. I had a great time as a mod and I enjoyed all of the questions. I am looking forward to doing it all over again next season. This was a great season because all of you fellow eagleaholics made it so. I hope to see a lot of you at Southwest Florida eagle cam this winter.

~firetruck1988~

RiverRoadRaptor:

Bittersweet is this goodbye. Once again, two Raptors have come together to complete their life's’ goal to procreate and raise at least one eaglet. Together the Eagles brought a bunch of new peeps into my life, and I have enjoyed ‘meeting’ with each and every one of you. This truly was an amazing experience for me, and such positive channeling by you and all involved has made it this much better. How could I ever leave without thanking the most wonderful cam operators, BBC. This is without a doubt the very best cam on the net. MNBound has done a wonderful job of bringing everything together, airing the nest, with a fabulous website, full of information. On that same site, a blog was written every day, keeping us all caught up, and btw, the best blog I have ever followed. The humor and the captions, provided all of us with daily laughter. Thank you, TalonStrike. I have worked with some of the most knowledgeable moderators I have ever known and enjoyed learning from them all. Last but not least, who among us could ever have worked as hard and diligently as Mich, with her artistic and telling videos. With the blog and the videos we can watch, read and experience this humbling “story” all over again. I will miss everyone and hope to see all again soon next year. If you are looking for me, I’ll be over in my corner rocking back and forth on floor until I can see another eagle. Each year I find the addiction just gets worse.

~riverroadraptor~

Eaglessoarfree:

I can’t believe that the nesting season of our amazing family is coming to an end! It seems like yesterday we were on pip watch, then we ooohed and aahhhed over them as bobbleheads, and now we’ve cheered them on as they’ve fledged. What an incredible journey we have shared together and it is one I won’t forget. When I began watching this cam this year, I had never posted on social stream before. But there was something about this site…it had a warm, welcoming feel to it so I took a chance. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be asked to be a mod. I want to thank MNBound and BBC for the opportunity to mod and for giving all of us a wonderful view into the lives of these magnificent birds. I also want to thank all the mods who helped me this season! Each of you were welcoming and friendly to me and you were always willing to share your eagle knowledge with me and answer my questions. Your “eagle patience” with me was very much appreciated!!! I also want to say thank you to the chatters! You were friendly, funny, and made me feel at home when I became a mod. I enjoyed chatting with you about a variety of topics such as the weather, sports, and most importantly, the eagles! It was so much fun to learn with all of you! This has truly been a phenomenal few months and I am really looking forward to coming back next year and watch Mom and Dad raise another adorable, funny, hissy fit throwing clutch!!!

~Eaglessoarfree~

ArkyAngel:

Hello friends!

I am still alive and kickin'. As you probably know I have been plagued with some ongoing health issues this summer, and have required some hospitalizations. My meds are being adjusted and I am home and feeling better. I want to thank you for your prayers, love and support. I am so proud to be part of this great eagle family we have formed. I plan to be back stronger next season and have the pleasure of spending more time with you and my fellow Mods. Everyone have a great rest of the summer! Stay safe and keep looking upward as the eagles fly!

~ArkyAngel~

MNKarenAnn:

Soon we will be saying goodbye,

This has been an interesting year, more drama for humans than our eagles unless you want to count an adventurous raccoon wasting its efforts at the nest as it was quickly chased away by protective mom eagle; and we wont forget all the crazy weather our eagle family had endured; and then of course, we have dad's OSD memories to keep us smiling.

All mods and chatters brought their own special moments to the nest be it in laughter or concern for one another. We are a very caring group :)

So is this goodbye? I hope not; I would like to think, as time goes by, when we look up in the sky we will see Peace & Harmony soaring freely by. As for us human types, we will all come together again as we go full circle to watch mom and dad bring another delightful brood to educate & entertain us, along with Dad's humorous stick antics!

Peace & harmony to you all until nest year!

~MNKarenAnn~

Nest Update July 19, 2013 - Harmony’s Getting Old.......

July 19, 2013

Good Evening, Fellow EmptyNestizens!!

Dad started the day early with a fish delivery that Peace snatched and mantled. Harmony stormed onto the nest and Peace pulled her trick of flying away with the prize. Harmony moped around the nest for a bit and Dad took off for Nest Depot to size up sticks for next years nest. Harmony found the fishtail she had stashed yesterday and made breakfish with that. After digesting for a bit Harmony flew off too and no one was seen on the nest for most of the day. We did hear them flying pass-by’s and occasionally one could be heard close in the tree but they stayed of cam range. Harmony returned to the nest late afternoon to blast our ears with a squeefest in the nest and then right under the cam. A little later she graced us with a jaunt down the branch for her close-up of the day. She flew off from there and moved up to the cam mount where she started to help BBC dismantle the cam mount. Peace returned to the nest tree unseen and as darkness fell a Parent was spotted flying to the tree. A loud squeefest ensued out of cam range and it sounded like the parent was having a meal in the tree and the kids were yelling for some of it. Thankfully, as the picture went black, all was quiet again on the nest.

The mods are discussing having the chat, not SS, open one day a week, maybe Fridays or Saturdays, for a limited time, let’s say 4 hours, just to keep our hand in and give you all a place to visit with us and get updated on any news we have. And, maybe if we ask REAL nice BBC will switch the cam on for us. What say you, chatters and fans?? Let me know in the comments below.

On to the vids and pics of the day.

In a blog exclusive, Peace grabs breakfish and runs and Harmony gets the nestovers.

MNBound Eagles Leftover Fish Tail Again??

Harmony is 95 days old today and Razzle put together a vid to celebrate!

MNBound Eagles Harmony at 95 Days Old

And a selection of pics of the day!

OK! Can I get out of here with my talons intact??

Well, that wasn't so bad! Uh-oh, here comes the other one!!!

Let's see, is that a 1/4-20 or a 3/8-16???

Hope you guys out there had fun this season!!!

Friday was a fairly dull day on the nest (and I expect at work, too) but the kids still managed a good highlight for us.

Hope you have a great weekend planned and we’ll see you here 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 18, 2013 - A Very Fishy Day

July 18, 2013

Good Evening, Fellow FinGrippers!!

The day started with Harmony and Peace making quick stops at the nest like they were checking their lockers between classes. In the late morning Harmony came home to stay for a while and Peace dropped in and landed below the rails on the left side of the nest. She picked around over there like there were some really old nestovers to eat while Harmony watched with very little interest. Peace changed position a couple of times and when she tried the last one she must have found an unstable branch. She dropped from sight and then could be heard squeeing from a distance. Harmony even got up and looked over the edge to see what happened. H went back to lazing in the sun and Peace went for a jaunt around the neighborhood. When Peace returned, from the right side this time, Harmony gave her the bum’s rush and knocked her off the nest. I guess Harmony wanted the tanning table all to herself. She returned and took up where she left off sunning herself and napping. Dad delivered a fish about 2:40 pm and the days fun began. Harmony scored the fish and mantled it as Peace made her presence known. Dad saw Peace coming and split like a pea. Harmony mantled until Peace retreated to another branch and then started to eat. Peace made one halfhearted try to steal the fish but Harmony rebuffed her easily. Peace parked on the low branch to the left of the trunk and pretended not to watch Harmony eat. Harmony seemed to be full after a good long feed but still guarded the fish tail from Peace. Dad showed up about this time and Harmony grabbed that fish too leaving the other one in the open. Peace made her move and we had a beautiful double mantle going on the nest. Dad looked at the cam, sorta shrugged his wings, and went back to the pub, his job done for the day. The kids ate for a good long while and full crops were attained by both. Harmony’s was so big I was tempted to send her a supporter to hold it up. The Ustream feeds to all the cams and the chats crashed about 5:40pm and were offline for about 45 mins. When the cam came back up the nest was empty and we heard them in the distance.Late evening they returned to the tree and BBC gave us some great close-ups of Harmony on the back branch.Sure wish the kids hadn’t FUBARed the cam. As darkness fell so finally did silence and we could hear the river running once again.

On to the pics and vids of the day!

Harmony plays King of the Nest and gets first crack at lunch

MNBound Eagles Harmony Repels Peace & Wins 1st Prey Drop

Harmony gets greedy and Peace steals her other fish

MNBound Eagles Harmony Takes 2nd & Peace Steals to Score

And a selection of pics of the day!

Oh Carp! Here comes Peace! I'm outta here!

Hey, Dad! Goodbye and thanks for all the fish!! (with apologies to Douglas Adams)

Harmony has a head start on her adult plumage.

Oh Harmony! All the young eagles will want one now!

A double bite of tasty fishy to Razzle and BBC for the great work with the pics and vids today! Thanks!!

I really like the way the kids have fallen into a routine of giving us one good highlight every day. Hope they keep it up until the cam goes off. I had a great day on the nest and I hope you did too!

We’ll see you here tomorrow!

TalonStrike

P.S. The Like button is right over there. ➷

Nest Update July 17, 2013 - Is That An Empty Nest We See?

July 17, 2013

Good Evening, Fellow GnatObservers!!

Twas a very quiet day at the nest. Well, in terms of action that is. The kids have taken to perching out of camera range and squeeing their little lungs out. Or moving far away and squeeing just enough to be heard. Oh Well! Peace was on the nest early today bouncing around and letting it be known she was hungry (what else is new). Harmony must have had flying lessons this morning as she wasn’t seen until mid-afternoon. About 2:30PM both landed on the nest and a Parent could be heard in the tree. They both took off again and Harmony returned fairly quickly. Peace landed shortly after and Harmony gave her the bums rush and both went over the right side of the nest. Peace was the one to return fairly quickly this time. A short time later a Parent (Mom?) landed with a tasty fishy and the race was on. Peace mantled and scored the fish. Harmony landed seconds later and Peace saw her and decided to get the heck out of Dodge. Peace dove off the left side of the nest with the fish and Harmony was in loud and hot pursuit. Harmony came back to the nest a few minutes later, hung out for a while, jumped to the squirrel branch and then left. Throughout this hullabaloo the parent/deliveryman stood at the side of the nest watching. When s/he saw Harmony returning they took one look at her and got the heck out of Dodge, too! The rest of the day was listening for them and hoping for a glimpse. Harmony landed on the nest a couple of more times late in the day just to tease us. At dusk we heard them both arrive near the nest but neither showed themselves. Into darkness they were squeeing up a storm at one of the P’s we think we heard up the tree.

On to the vid and pics of the day.

Peace makes like a tree and leaves for parts unknown to nosh her prize.

MNBound Eagles Free-for-All Peace Flies Off with Fish

And a selection of pics of the day!

Hey Harmony! Can you run to Eaglebucks and get me a coffee cake and a Cafe' Mocha??

Oh Carp! They're coming from both directions!!

I promised Mom I would hang out here but I had my wingtips crossed! TeeHee!

Boy, I love getting Harmony with a fake mantle!!

A squee in the tree to Razzle and BBC for the wonderful pics and vid from today! Thanks!

Hope you had a great Wednesday and we’ll see you on the nest tomorrow!

TalonStrike

Nest Update July 16, 2013 - Peace Smartens Up, Take Two

July 17, 2013

Good Evening, Fellow RiparianVoidWatchers!!

The day for Harmony and Peace started early with the two of them gamboling about the nest and looking for trouble. They had some stick play and did some branch bouncing. Eventually Peace found something she thought was semi-edible at the left corner of the nest and she perched over the side of the nest to nosh on it. Harmony just watched her for a bit and then resumed her play session. As Peace finished up it looked like she lost her grip and went for an impromptu flight. Later in the morning Mom showed up with a small snack (and I do mean small, it looked like a de-feathered bird, feet and all) and Peace was the first to reach the nest. She grabbed it and swallowed it whole! It took her a bit to get it down but she managed it. She did have a look on her face like “Gee, I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!” and frankly we couldn’t believe it either. But, she did learn another trick to keep food away from Harmony which is a good thing. The rest of the day they spent flying about and serenading us with squees from near and far. At dusk they returned to the nest and watched someone flying around out over the pond and the field behind the tree all the while squeeing up a storm. One of the adults landed up in the tree and they exchanged calls with the kids, probably telling them to git to bed. As darkness fell they were settled in for the night.

Sunday will mark the last of the daily blogs for this season. I will probably blog once a week for the next couple of months and do a retrospective of the season and also keep you up to date on plans for next season and any news about our wonderful family. It has been a pleasure doing the blogs for you and I look forward to next season when we can do it all again!

Saturday’s blog will be a goodbye blog from all of our current mods. Please don’t miss it!

On to the vid and pics of the day!

Peace learns a new trick again today and tries out for the circus

MNBound Eagles Peace Swallows Prey Whole