Adult Bald Eagle in flight over a Utah marsh –Â Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are powerful raptors, the white eyes of the adults look fierce, they have impressive wingspans and each stroke of the wings is strong. I’ve seen them have fights over prey where I was sure one of the birds might be injured or die from being ripped up by the dagger sharp talons or wounded by the hook-like beak. I have always been impressed by their large size and their exciting aerial maneuvers.
Yesterday a friend of mine sent me a link to an Eagle nest cam in Decorah, Iowa near a fish hatchery that I have been having fun watching so I thought I’d share it. I think it is wonderful that today’s video camera technology allows us to view the nests without disturbing the adults or the chicks while allowing us to observe the behavior on a daily basis.
While watching the Decorah eagle cam yesterday I could see three eggs in the nest. To me it is amazing how gentle the adults are when settling down on the eggs to incubate and how gingerly they adjust the fragile eggs. I’m looking forward to seeing the young eaglets hatch and grow. I did a web search on when the eggs were laid and the first one was laid on February 23rd,usually eagle eggs take about 35 days to hatch so the first egg should hatch around the 1st of April.
While watching the cam I was able to see both adults taking turns incubating, gentle rearranging the nesting material and keeping an eye out for intruders. Late in the evening the cam goes to black & white (after that I could hear a horrible hum) for a period of time and the video stops recording after that. This morning it started as black & white (with that hum) for awhile. Even before daylight the adult on the nest began to call.
I’ve been able to hear other birds with my volume on, this morning I was sure I heard an American Bittern and there always seems to be the sound of smaller birds too.
I’m sure I am going to find this fascinating to watch and the camera is close enough to the nest that I should be able to watch the adults feeding the chicks. Enjoy! (Sorry about the brief commercial before this starts)
The wind is blowing hard here and the light is going to be horrible because of the incoming storm, so I think I’ll watch the live feed today to get my bird watching fix 🙂
Mia
The Decorah Eagle cam will go off the air when the birds are no longer being seen around the nest.
https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-eagles/
 More of my posts on Bald Eagles
could you scan just a bit farther away from the nest so we can see all the activity ? Thanks, really enjoy the site !!!!!!
just wondering if anyone knows how keen the chick’s eyesight is at this stage
eagles!!!!!!!:):):)
i love the eagles they have names to small, mediemand ×large
i heard about this on the news lastnight, i’m from australia & i’m hooked!! i actually watched the third egg hatch this morning before i took my daughter dancing. it was beautiful, the male arrived just as the egg was hatching & almost looked as if they both, mother & father, just enjoyed the moment. i couldnt rip myself away from the screen!!
Is that a dead beaver in their nest today?
I thought it might be a muskrat, looks too small to be a beaver
Oh and by the way, Liz, that is a river under it that makes all the noise
I can hear children and a dog in the background and the eagle heard it too, and looked over the nest to see. Fun to watch!
OMG!!!!!!! This is the coolest thing ive ever seen! <3
My cats and I have really enjoyed watching the eagels. My husband and I have gone trout fishing at the stream that is below the The area is beautiul. Thank-you for allowing us to watch these eagles, it,s great!
I cant get my laptop to put the eagle on my screen and im mad
Ok, try another computer
It IS the wind. In Iowa, the wind is a constant except on rare occasions. Lived there a long time an dmiss it!
Now this is reality TV!!
Really a neat site….can’t wait for the eggs to hatch and feeding begins….Awesome….THANKS !
this is a great website for young kids to learn about how birth works and other stuff and i love this website because i love birds and animals so much!
Is the constant sound a waterfall below?
What is the sound that is constant in background? Cant be the wind all the time, so is it a waterfal or something down below?
HI,
It seems that at times during the day someone moves the camera around, you can see horse, barns, and they tip the camera down too and below the nest it looks like a very fast moving river. Sorry I can’t help more but I’m just a watcher too.
the bald eagle is amazinggg i wish i kept one of the babies