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[STLbf]

Unusual view of Moon this morning while still dark.  Eclipse?? Odd cloud formation??  Then sunrise was its expected coloful self.

[STLbf]

On rewind, watch a red squirrel gathering leaves on the ground and placing them in a hollow in one of the eagle nest trees, not sure exactly which.  MrN dropped in for a short nest visit, maybe to keep an eye on the squirrel.

[STLbf]

Views of non-Norths today.  Thanks to the cam ops for helping us watchers re-discover the territory and its creatures.

Squirrel foraging at daylight under the nest, with camera conduit in good views.  Is the tree with largest diameter the nest tree?
Lots of great panning views around 10:00, specially one with cattle heading back to the barn. One looks REALLY pregnant, but this isn't a good time of year for calving.
Bluebird perched for a while about noon, on the Yonder snag

[STLbf]

A sub-adult BE visited the creek trees around noon, DN12's Tree in pic, and the Spit Tree a bit later.
Gorgeous red tailed hawk perched on the Yonder snag for a while about 1:00.  Looks to be molting a bit, juvenile maybe with lots of white.
The Norths must be elsewhere.

[STLbf]

Visiting eagles enjoying the creek and perching south of the nest this morning.  One percher could be MrN instead.

Not pics, but a large buck in pasture before daylight, and a younger buck closer to dawn.  Also rabbit foraging.

[STLbf]

It's a good day to forage in the leaves and on the fallen logs under the nest area.  The blue jay sorted through the leaves and finally chose several to fly away with.  Do they do nestorations in the fall like the eagles?

[STLbf]

Visiting eagles again about 11:00 AM, perching near the nest!  The Norths are not present it seems.
And what bird is in the pics at 11:45, perching in a creek tree?  Could it be a golden eagle??? 

[Linda M]

It's a good day to forage in the leaves and on the fallen logs under the nest area.  The blue jay sorted through the leaves and finally chose several to fly away with.  Do they do nestorations in the fall like the eagles?

STLbf  Thank you for the great screen shots. Blue jays are a favorite of mine; from what I looked up at Cornell "All About Birds":

"Blue Jays build their nests in the crotch or thick outer branches of a deciduous or coniferous tree, usually 10-25 feet above the ground. Male and female both gather materials and build the nest, but on average male does more gathering and female more building. Twigs used in outer part of nest are usually taken from live trees, and birds often struggle to break them off. Birds may fly great distances to obtain rootlets from recently dug ditches, fresh graves in cemeteries, and newly fallen trees. Jays may abandon their nest after detecting a nearby predator.

Nest Description:  Open cup of twigs, grass, and sometimes mud, lined with rootlets."

Also, that does look like a golden eagle to me! Nice catch.

[shep]

PHEASANTS!
November 1, 2024
I've been hearing sounds at night -
I knew not turkey or chicken.
Today the cam caught a pair of BEAUTIFUL pheasants running around!

Guess there's a dead deer carcas too.
Hunter or coyote?

[STLbf]

Yesterday I was away, so I have some catching up to do!  Other watchers can post pics, please.

The unknown bird from Halloween was indeed a golden eagle, according to a video posted at the North Nest chat room.  Awesome!  RRP has a banding program for golden eagles, might be able to track from the Explore! tab.

Missed the pheasants, Shep, but they are common in this area, and the Norths include them as food for eaglets.

About 11:30, cam ops found several crows picking at a large carcass, which I also guess is a deer.  Is it deer season in Iowa this week? Yes, archery  season is open now, see pic. 

[shep]

November 3, 2024
Pouring rain pre-dawn
Past 2 nights I have not heard anything. Odd.
The male owl did sit in the rain on a branch above nest, looking down into it for awhile, then flew off.

[STLbf]

BE visitors are around again today, in the cold rain. About 10:30 three eagles in the Brush Pile Tree, I think the Norths and one almost-adult.  Two flew away, then one (visitor?) was on the Brush Pile, then one on the Pile and one in the Tree.  Confusing!  At this time of year, the eagles are not very competitive so visitors are tolerated.

A windshield wiper has been added for clearer viewing.

[Ginger52]

The Brush Pile Tree (BPT) fell without warning today at 12:30 p.m.  There were 2 eagles perched and both safely flew off.  Awhile later a visitor eagle was perched on the fallen BPT.



Here's a short video of the fall recorded by GailM.

https://youtu.be/c9aaY9vPZVs

[STLbf]

Zowie!!  Ginger, Thanks for the video of the Brush Tree falling. Good no injured birds.

MrN and DNF are gonna be surprised when they return from shopping at Walmart!      

The visiting eagles seem to be taking things in good order.

[STLbf]

Good to see MrN on the nest today at about noon.  The area is full of visiting eagles, from quite young and dark to nearly full-grown adults.  None seem disturbed by the Brush Pile Tree fallen over the Brush Pile into the creek. Haven't seen DNF, but hoping to real soon.