GSB Falcons and Blogs

Decorah North, Decorah, Flyway, and GSB calendars!

The cover for the 2023 Decorah North calendar. Look for it soon!

We have your 2023 Decorah North, Decorah, Flyway, and GSB calendars! John and our volunteers did a wonderful job! We hope you like the calendars as much as we do. Links: Decorah Eagles https://www.lulu.com/shop/raptor-resource-project/2023-decorah-eagles/paperback/product-ryjkmj.html?page=1&pageSize=4 Decorah North Eagles https://www.lulu.com/shop/raptor-resource-project/2023-decorah-north-eagles/paperback/product-kerv4e.html?page=1&pageSize=4 Great Spirit Bluff https://www.lulu.com/shop/raptor-resource-project/2023-great-spirit-bluff-falcons/paperback/product-m8n4wq.html?page=1&pageSize=4 Mississippi River Flyway https://www.lulu.com/shop/raptor-resource-project/2023-mississippi-river-flyway/paperback/product-n48wzr.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Birds and Nest-Building

A blackbird's cup nest

When I say ‘bird’s nest’, you know the type of nest I’m talking about, right? It could be a bald eagle’s stick platform high up in the branches of a tree. Or perhaps a peregrine falcon’s scrape in dirt, sand, or gravel on a shallow cliff ledge. Or maybe the burrows that bank swallows and belted kingfishers excavate in dirt, the cavity nests that woodpeckers excavate in dead wood, or the woven nests that orioles and weavers build. When I

News from the Nests: Videos from Decorah, Decorah North, and Great Spirit Bluff!

October 10, 2022: Gentle beaking, nibbling, and pecking in N1.

Thank you to everyone who joined us to watch our Decorah North and Decorah Eagle streams on Saturday! HD and HM were very busy with nestorations yesterday morning, while Mr. North and DNF put in a brief appearance on Sunday. We’ve seen interloping adults at both sites and eagles are starting to stack up on Eagle Island, so stay tuned – we’ll be seeing a lot more eagles in the weeks to come! As always, thanks to our camera operators

NestFlix and news from the North Nest, the Decorah Trout Hatchery, and Great Spirit Bluff!

July 29, 2022: HD and HM on the Y-Branch.

Today DN15 and DN16 turn 129 and 128 days old. Last year, none of our camera operators reported seeing DN13 or DN14 at the North nest last year after August 14th. That got me curious, since we know the eaglets are beginning to wander prior to dispersal. I took a look at each year’s August map in two sections: one from August 1 through August 15, and one from August 16 through August 31. While most of our eaglets didn’t

Great Spirit Bluff: What’s going on and why don’t we remove the nest box?

June 15, 2022: A falcon below the bluff at Great Spirit Bluff

After three young falcons jumped out of the box at GSB yesterday, some followers are asking us to remove the nest box entirely. But based on our history, removing the box would make the site even more likely to fail. Here’s an explanation of Great Spirit Bluff’s successes, failures, and why we installed the nest box to begin with. Ledges, Raccoons, and Nest Boxes Back in 2003, RRP founder Bob Anderson was trying to figure out why a large cliff

June 14, 2022: Fall at Great Spirit Bluff

June 14, 2022: Falcon falls from Great Spirit Bluff

The falcons at Great Spirit Bluff have jumped out of the box. We originally thought that we were seeing some exploratory behavior, but it looks like the blackflies drove the youngest falcon out before the older two. We’ve been asked if we plan to go down and rescue them. For now, we’re leaving them alone. It is our experience that falcon parents will take care of their young by flying into the understory to find, feed, and defend them. We

Hatch at Great Spirit Bluff!

May 12, 2022: Newman meets his hatchlings

And then there were two! We have two peregrine falcon hatchlings at Great Spirit Bluff this morning and a third egg appears to be starting! Hatch number one happened at around 11:00 PM CT and hatch number two happened this morning at 6:06 AM CT. Congratulations to Newman and Zooey on another year at Great Spirit Bluff! 🎉🐣 Videos May 12, 2022: Second egg hatched and Newman meets them: https://youtu.be/3y44fxG5Zqw May 11, 2022: Eyass #1 hatched: https://youtu.be/9vjsT7R7vW4 Live stream https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/gsb-falcons/

Hatch has started at our Peregrine Falcon nests!

May 9, 2022: Peregrine Falcon hatchlings at Xcel Energy's High Bridge plant in St. Paul, MN

Hatch has started at our peregrine falcon nests! We have three hatchlings at Xcel Energy’s High Bridge plant in St. Paul, MN; four hatchlings at Dairyland Power’s Alma facility in Alma, WI; and four hatchlings at Great River Energy’s Elk River plant in Elk River, MN. Watch for hatch this week at: Minnesota Power Hibbard (estimated hatch date: Monday, May 10) Great Spirit Bluff (estimated hatch date: Tuesday, May 10) You can watch Great Spirit Bluff here: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/gsb-falcons/ or here:

March 1, 2022: Eagles, Falcons, Owls, and Raccoon

February 28, 2022: Newman

Tonight’s mega-movie roll features eagles, falcons, owls, and a racoon! At the North nest, DNF and Mr. North are deep into incubation, which means we’re getting wonderful looks at their faces, feathers, and incubatory behavior. Zooey and Newman are both in residence at Great Spirit Bluff, along with nesting bald eagles, great horned owls, and a curious raccoon. I loved all these videos, but I especially enjoyed DNF’s nighttime wingslap, a beautiful look at Zooey, the rock-climbing raccoon (free soloing,

Eagles, eggs, and Season Two of The [Falcon] Bachelor!

February 18, 2022: Handsome Mr. North

Eagles, eggs, and Season Two of The [Falcon] Bachelor! The weather outside is frightful, but the Decorah North eagles and falcons at Great Spirit Bluff remind us that spring is just around the corner. I loved all of these videos, but I especially enjoyed seeing Mr. North’s sticky gift and incubatory insistence, Mom devouring breakfish on N1, and a beautiful visitor at Great Spirit Bluff. While we haven’t confirmed Newman’s arrival yet, female falcon Geisler was definitely interested in something!

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