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[STLbf]

Sticks and grasses and corn husks, oh my!  This will be a great "new" nest for eggs in a few months.
Several does strolling around in broad daylight.  Gun season must be over in Iowa for the time being.

[STLbf]

Cam ops provided some great views and closeups of the nest itself this afternoon between 2:00 and 2:30.
In one view, when the main beam is sticking out to our left, are we looking towards the northeast?

Maybe in one of the weekly posts, Amy can include comparison photos of the newly built nest and how big it is now.

[nanimal]

It's never too much from you, STL; it's how I catch up! The nest is looking great! I love seeing the deer, rabbits, etc, too. Also, thanks to the cam-ops!

[STLbf]

The Norths brought a couple skinny and wonky sticks early  this morning, then flew away from the nest. 
A red squirrel visited, drowsing a bit in the sunshine at the end of the old broken nest branch. Might be the one that built its own nest in a hole below the eagle nest a while back.

RRP keeps track of the number of sticks, types of soft materials, which creatures visit and which are meals.  The numbers and varieties are astonishing over the course of a season.  I think it's all in the year end report, which we can read, probably in a blog or post on the Home Page.

[STLbf]

Tune in to the rewind about 10:00 this morning for a ballet of sticks and eagles!  They must have found a new "dead tree fall" because they are carrying in sizeable and wonky sticks as fast as they can go back and forth with a little time for tandem placements and solo wrangling.

About the twangy stick at 10:10, there's a twig attached to a branch, and the twig rubs on the tree trunk.  DNF seems determined to break it off to place where she wants it.  Do you think she will be successful today or tomorrow?

[STLbf]

They're still at it from around noon to 1:00.  MrN on the nest when DNF brought a really long bouncy stick to a perching branch (circled) below the nest .  She tried to adjust it for flying but dropped it -- thud.  She flew back to the nest and tackled a long arching stick that was already along the rails. I don't know when that stick was brought on board, but it makes a really nice handrail, as outlined in neon green.

[STLbf]

About 9:00 this morning, MrN tested the softness of the nest materials while DNF looked on.  Much quieter today stick-wise!

DNF perched on a lower Love branch for an hour before noon, just looking around. She might have been scanning for lunch because she brought a rabbit to the nest at noon, and not as a guest!  No grisley pics here, but you can watch the meal on the rewind.  The Norths have not brought much edible to the nest so far. I remember one fish before.

[STLbf]

Little snow on the ground and in the nest this morning.  About 11:00 MrN brought something edible, looks like a partial carcass. Crows followed so there's probably more somewhere on the ground.

[STLbf]

The Norths came to putter at the nest around 8:00 this morning.  The leftover edible looks like a bird carcass to me today, pheasant possibly.

[Puff]

Is that a new/additional camera just added?  Or part of the reconstruction?  You got extra permission?

Mornin' all - still here and trying.

P

[STLbf]

Puff, camera improvements were done when RRP rebuilt the nest in August.  The view has opened up considerably since the large limbs fell at the time the nest crashed.  There's video that might identify which cameras are which.

Nice view of a wild turkey about 8:00 this morning. Not displaying,  but put-put-putting calls as it walked in the pasture.
A red-bellied woodpecker, male perhaps juvenile, spent lots of time eating corn on the cob at the nest, from about 8:00 to 10:00. The Norths flew in for short visits and chased it away, but it returned as soon as they left.  Cheeky woodpecker! 

[STLbf]

Whoo Hoo, it's time for the Norths to begin mating.  Did they at the same time last year?  I'll check the archive:  No pics of mating in December  2023 and no mention in the narratives either.  They might have been mating out of camera sight.

The corn on the cob is a hit with the song birds when the Norths are away from the nest.  Today, white breasted nuthatch and red bellied woodpecker several times.  Also a couple of starlings and a downy woodpecker, but they were not there for the corn [no pic but about 8:00 like the others].

[Ginger52]

STL -- Today was the 2nd time we've seen them mate this season.  The first time was 12/10.

Last year I kept track of the dates DNF and Mr. mated.  First time I've done that.  Date of first mating was 12/9/23.  Second mating was 12/22/23.  Once we hit Jan. the number increased and they mated 8 times in Jan.  I only kept track of the times we actually saw them mating on cam.  I didn't include times when we may have heard them.

[Ginger52]

Mating today at about 10:16 a.m.  Could just barely see it.  Third time this season.

[STLbf]

Ginger, thanks for the update on start of mating behavior in 2023.  Seems that the Norths are on schedule this year, too.
One snowy pic this morning.