Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: cattb on April 27, 2011, 06:54:42 PM
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I thought I would post this for anyone interested in live cam feed of wild eagles nest. There is a advertisement to get through at the beginning, then the feed will start.
The site is Ustream and title is decorah eagles.
There is a road down below that also can be seen.
http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles
I forget to mention, Bald Eagle.
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Great find!! :aok
Gonna bookmark this one, thanks.
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Thanks for sharing that. :aok :salute
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Adult just landed!!!
Feeding Now!
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LOL, just saw two of them poop. Just back up to the edge of the nest, raise the hind end and shoot.
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thats not a real eagle!
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On Easter watched some of it with my grandma..interesting stuff.
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thats not a real eagle!
Well since you're the resident Ornithologist please enlighten us as to what it is then?
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Farmville advertisement grrrrrr..I been waiting to see them get fed.
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LOL, just saw two of them poop. Just back up to the edge of the nest, raise the hind end and shoot.
LOOK OUT BELOW!!! :rofl :rofl :rofl
I thought that one was gonna paste the camera in poop.
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Lol Tec! Ironically, he's somewhat correct... Bald Eagles aren't considered "true" eagles.
They're in a sub-class known as "fish" or "sea" eagles. True eagles are "booted" which means they have feathers all the way down their tarsus.
I know the guy who's responsible for the Decorah camera (Bob Anderson). He's a real class act, very nice and knowledgable person. I was able to go up on the cliffs with him above the peregrine nests near Lansing Iowa, and he met up with us this fall while we were doing some filming for National Geographic (they were filming my redtail hunting squirrels for an upcoming TV episode). If any of you saw the show "Raptor Force", he's the one in the beginning that climbs the smokestack and talsk about the peregrines.
If anyone's interested, I also have links to a few other nest cameras. Peregrine falcons, golden eagles (which are "true" eagles), and other bald eagle nests.
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How prolific are Goldens in WI? I don't know that I've ever seen one before but I think I've seen 3 in the last month or so.
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How prolific are Goldens in WI? I don't know that I've ever seen one before but I think I've seen 3 in the last month or so.
They're not. We get a few (less than 20) that winter in WI along the Mississippi river in the SW corner of the state. I have a few friends that are actually part of the group that's been working to trap a few of those birds for the past few winters. They're attaching backpack-mounted GPS units to the birds and releasing them. They can then track the birds for a few years and monitor their movements.
To the best of my knowledge, their aren't any breeding pairs that stay in WI. While they're here in the winter they do actually do some "mock" nest-building; probably as part of pairing. But then they all leave in the spring to nest up in Canada and the western US.
Quite often though, immature bald eagles are mistakenly ID'ed as goldens. Bald eagles don't get their white head and tail feathers until they're 3-4 years old. Could that be what you've been seeing? They can be tough to tell apart, even for someone who knows what to look for. Actually, we have loads of TV's (turkey vultures) in WI, and they're often mistaken for eagles too.
When it comes to bald vs.golden eagle ID, things to watch for are "where", wing dihedral, tail shape, wing chord, and plumage color. Immature goldens are dead giveaways with the white markings on their wings and tails. Adult birds are basically all dark (like immature balds and TV's). TV's have a pronounced dihedral, and "rock" a lot in flight (and as they rock they may display silvery undersides to their wings). Goldens generally don't fly with dihedral, but whether they do or not, the don't "rock".
Immature bald's, depending on their age, show varying amounts of sparse white "speckling", and may even appear golden. Golden's are generally just plain dark, and the immature birds have white in specific patches on the wings and tail. Golden eagles have a much longer tail and shorter head, proportionately, than a bald. The tail of a golden is about 3x the length of the head. Balds have massive heads, and appear to have almost as long of a head as they do tail. Bald eagles have a uniform "plank-like" chord. Golden's have an obvious "indent" where the wings meet the body (like buteos). Golden's often look like overgrown, dark, hawks, while bald's never do...
Golden's aren't that fond of flat ground, and really prefer to use ridges for lift. That usually keeps them along the Mississippi. Bald's soar with no dihedral, or eve with slightly drooping wingtips. Golden's usually have dihedral (not as much as a TV though).
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Immature bald eagles-
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/bald-eagle-haliaeetus-leucocephalus/immature-eagle-was-born-april-2008-there-was-only-one-eagl
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2025/2116848338_b475e4eaab.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/photosbyblackwolf/2116848338/&usg=__KzJzjcbivhRmufkzlYyciJF7vgo=&h=333&w=500&sz=48&hl=en&start=0&sig2=_6ScUlIeZdhCBeuT7zJ6Mw&zoom=1&tbnid=X5c3JwhGWBQ54M:&tbnh=168&tbnw=225&ei=AM24Tea8MIfa0QGdo6AL&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dimmature%2Bbald%2Beagle%2Bin%2Bflight%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1B3GGGL_enUS345US345%26biw%3D1920%26bih%3D828%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=559&vpy=111&dur=963&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=32&ty=57&page=1&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0
Immature golden-
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fws.gov/northdakotafieldoffice/images/golden%2520eagle%2520in%2520flight%2520by%2520Donna%2520Dewhurst.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fws.gov/northdakotafieldoffice/bhotline/nd_birding_hotline_rep_feb09.htm&usg=__wi0ZRzf3DIs9ubN7eVW5pmBWAAc=&h=908&w=536&sz=260&hl=en&start=0&sig2=YIb58wSTnyvf0LcbVXUBqA&zoom=1&tbnid=gY5imCk5y_cA2M:&tbnh=168&tbnw=93&ei=usu4TfnfBqXt0gHxv7zZDw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Deagle%2Bin%2Bflight%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26rlz%3D1B3GGGL_enUS345US345%26biw%3D1920%26bih%3D828%26tbm%3Disch%26prmd%3Divns&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=392&page=1&ndsp=36&ved=1t:429,r:20,s:0&tx=12&ty=33
Adult golden-
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.markmillerphotos.com/img/s8/v9/p148178888-3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.markmillerphotos.com/p182174173/h8D507C8&usg=__wafn9LYAftFjN0wFPPXT5W5WZ04=&h=450&w=573&sz=101&hl=en&start=681&sig2=6_oQfNrhfrWC_4j2ONxStA&zoom=1&tbnid=GjibpGgt-vESQM:&tbnh=152&tbnw=203&ei=yMy4TZadCtORgQf5ydRY&prev=/search%3Fq%3Deagle%2Bin%2Bflight%26start%3D247%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26rlz%3D1B3GGGL_enUS345US345%26biw%3D1920%26bih%3D828%26output%3Dimages_json%26tbm%3Disch%26prmd%3Divns1%2C13430&chk=sbg&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=1624&vpy=460&dur=4979&hovh=199&hovw=253&tx=47&ty=136&page=20&ndsp=36&ved=1t:429,r:35,s:681&biw=1920&bih=828
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There is a rather large female golden in Westcliffe ,CO. Hangs around the local shooting range oddly enough. Guess she feeds well on the prairie dogs that get scared up. She also has a habit of flying low from the rear of the range to the front then pulls up and lands on the sunscreen. I would say her wingspan is bigger than 7 feet and she stands easily half my 6 foot height.
Excellent flier and fun to watch her hunt.
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We get a few (less than 20) that winter in WI along the Mississippi river in the SW corner of the state. I have a few friends that are actually part of
That's pretty close to my location. I live right where I-90 crosses the river. The first two that caught my eye were about a month ago, there was a mature Bald standing on the ice with another brown bird on each side of it. My first that was juvenile balds, but they were actually bigger than the one that was a mature Bald. Is it possible that it was a smaller male Bald, with two larger female juveniles?
Then last Sunday we were out fishing out of a canoe paddling back into a little out of the way honey hole and my buddy goes "Holy S#%@ look at that". When I looked up I almost filled my pants. I see a LOT of balds living here, have had a lot of them fly pretty close to me out on the water, and this thing was bigger than any mature Bald I've seen up close. It was big, it was brown, and it was gone from sight in a matter of seconds so I couldn't tell ya if it was booted or not, but it was the same color stem to stern, no red head like a Vulture. The best way I can describe it is as a Hawk on steroids.
I wish I could have seen it from an angle other than where it was just flying away from me. The tops of the wings were very similar to this picture with the light brown and the speckling. (http://pie.midco.net/dougback/miscphotos/Cave%20Hills/golden%20eagle.jpg). But without a trained eye such as yours I couldn't say for sure one way or the other.
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That's pretty close to my location. I live right where I-90 crosses the river. The first two that caught my eye were about a month ago, there was a mature Bald standing on the ice with another brown bird on each side of it. My first that was juvenile balds, but they were actually bigger than the one that was a mature Bald. Is it possible that it was a smaller male Bald, with two larger female juveniles?
Then last Sunday we were out fishing out of a canoe paddling back into a little out of the way honey hole and my buddy goes "Holy S#%@ look at that". When I looked up I almost filled my pants. I see a LOT of balds living here, have had a lot of them fly pretty close to me out on the water, and this thing was bigger than any mature Bald I've seen up close. It was big, it was brown, and it was gone from sight in a matter of seconds so I couldn't tell ya if it was booted or not, but it was the same color stem to stern, no red head like a Vulture. The best way I can describe it is as a Hawk on steroids.
I wish I could have seen it from an angle other than where it was just flying away from me. The tops of the wings were very similar to this picture with the light brown and the speckling. (http://pie.midco.net/dougback/miscphotos/Cave%20Hills/golden%20eagle.jpg). But without a trained eye such as yours I couldn't say for sure one way or the other.
Definitely a golden in your picture- was that taken near you?
You're location sounds good, so it would be possible to see either... It's further north than most of the golden's hang out, but they pass through there in migration. Migrating, though, they'll be up in the ridge-lift, not down near the water.
Size- can't really go by that. They're roughly the same size, but golden's are generally listed as slightly smaller than bald's. Males of both species are about 1/3 smaller than females (which you're obviously aware of). Immature birds are full-grown "body-wise" before they're full-grown "feather-wise". Interestingly, immature birds have longer tails and wingspans than adults. When they moult into their adult feathers their length and span decrease (not a huge amount though, just a few inches.) There's a much more noticeable size difference between males and females than there is between the species. Males are often running 5-6#, females are 8-14#. It's real obvious up close (like on someones fist, hunting jack rabbits :D). Up close, a glance at the feet is enough to tell you male or female.
Location- water draws bald's, which primarily eat fish and forage, but it doesn't draw golden's which primarily hunt land animals. That said, golden's don't avoid water; they just aren't drawn to it. Eating fish? Sounds like it could have been a male bald with some immature bald females. "Hawk on steroids" is a good description of a golden though, lol! This late in the season? I'd say the odds were high for a bald, and extremely low for a golden, but stranger things have happened... The golden's should have left long ago, and started breeding a month ago (or more). Bald's are capable of some pretty serious hunting, they just don't do it as regularly as golden's. Bald's hunt from perches; golden's from a soar (normally).
Low over the water? Sounds like a bald again. On the ice says "99.9% chance of bald" to me. They're eating fish over the winter. Ice near open water, especially if it's downstream of a damn, or lock, or something that would result in crippled fish. Golden's on the other hand, are eating lots of fox squirrels (which seems odd) and some turkeys when they're here for the winter. They've been flat-out ignoring carrion, etc, which draws bald's. On the ice near each other would be a good time to compare heads/beaks. If they looked similar, they were all bald's. Golden's have smaller heads, and proportionately smaller beaks. Balds have yellow beaks, golden's and immature bald's have black beaks.
Even with a trained eye, it can be tough to tell for sure. Often it comes down to more than just what it looks like. What was it doing? What was it near? Wing-beat can be huge clue, but practically impossible to describe adequately... Redtails can be tough to tell from ferruginous, until they flap. My wife and kids will see a high, distant, dark bird and ask "eagle, TV, or redtail?", but then as soon as it flaps (or rocks) they know the answer. You'll never see the "boots" in the wild, so it's not a good field ID tool. I've stood with guys who "should" know, all of us with binoculars looking at a bird that could be either a bald or a golden soaring 1/4 mile away, and all of us just ended up shrugging our shoulders and wondering... It can be tough to tell for sure sometimes.
Here's the link to the golden eagle nest camera-
http://www.goldeneaglecam.com/
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Definitely a golden in your picture- was that taken near you?
No, I got that from a quick google trying to find a different view. I was under the impression that Goldens were even bigger than Balds. Thanks for all the info though. Based on some of the things you said about the traits of juveniles I'm guessing what I saw last weekend was just a very large female, something I should be used to living in wisco lol. This right here pretty much seals it for me. Interestingly, immature birds have longer tails and wingspans than adults.
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That's been on our nightly news in Iowa for a bit now. They even showed one of the eaglets hatching live. KCCI in Des Moines has a cam set up specifically for it. They even have a facebook page. :D