Bird Cam News
Eagle Cam | Falcon Cam | Kestrel Cam | Osprey Cam | Owl Cam
The young eagles have developed nicely and are exercising their wings in preparation for fledging, which should occur in the next two weeks. They are spending more and more time in the surrounding tree branches developing their footing. This is very important when it comes to landing. Typically they will frequent the nesting area for up to a month after fledging.
It was a big week for the eaglets at Fort St. Vrain. At about 40 days old, the Colorado Division of Wildlife banded the young birds. Weighing in at 7.27 and 7.94 pounds, the birds looked very healthy to the wildlife officers who weighed, measured and provided the new bracelets.
The young eaglets are doing well and continue to develop rapidly. The adults provide a continuous supply of diverse food for the young. A red-winged blackbird was recently observed as a quick morning meal.
The first eagle egg hatched early Monday, April 9, and the second hatched the morning of April 11.
It won't be long now. We expect an egg to hatch this weekend.
Mother eagle continues to care for and sit patiently on her eggs. We expect them to hatch around April 7 and 8.
The female Bald Eagle laid her first egg on Saturday afternoon, March 3, and her second on Tuesday evening, March 6. This is about 12 days later than in years past, and we believe the unusually cold, snowy weather in Colorado this winter played a role in the delay. Based on an approximate incubation period of 35 days, we expect to see a baby eagle around April 7 or 8.
The eagles visit the nest on a daily basis, but only for a brief time. They are starting to bring in nesting material, mostly clumps of grass. We expect their nesting activities to increase as the days get longer. The cold weather and snow in Colorado this winter may delay things a few days.
The eagles are in the vicinity. We expect them to visit the nest more frequently as the days get longer.
Active: March - May
Allen S. King Plant, Oak Park Heights, MN
Black Dog Plant, Burnsville, MN
High Bridge Plant, St. Paul, MN
Riverside Plant, Minneapolis, MN
The four young falcons at the King Plant were banded on June 1. Students from nearby Andersen Elementary participated in the banding and named the birds. The three females are now May, Frightful and Lightening and the male is Croix. They should make their maiden flights any day. The three young falcons at Black Dog also are preparing to fly. The two females and one male were banded on June 8, 2007. The four falcons at High Bridge are a bit younger than at the other nests and won't be banded until June 26.
Belinda at the King Plant laid five eggs this season. The first egg hatched on May 7 and the fourth on May 11. The fifth egg has not yet hatched, and it's unlikely it will, after this long time. The young falcons are scheduled to be banded on June 1. We lost the camera at the Blackdog nest just prior to egg laying, so we cant confirm when the eggs were laid, but they have begun to hatch. The camera was repaired on May 2 and at that time we were able to confirm that the adult female is the very aggressive Nora once again. We did not get a look at the bands of the adult male but, judging from his behavior, we are convinced we have a new male this year. Athena is living at the Highbridge Plant. She laid her first egg on April 15, so we anticipate hatching at any time. Unfortunately, the Riverside camera has been failing off and on for the last few weeks, but there's not much to see at this site. There are two adult falcons present but, no eggs once again this year.
Belinda at the King Plant is incubating five eggs -- a normal clutch is four. Sometimes the extra egg can delay hatching a day or two, so we expect to see the first baby falcon at this nest around May 3. Athena at the High Bridge Plant laid her first egg on April 15 and a second egg on April 21, an unusually long time between egg laying. She is now sitting on four eggs. The unbanded, sterile female continues to claim the Riverside Plant nest box, so no nesting activities in this box. We have technical problems with the Black Dog camera, which we hope to repair this week.
Belinda at the Allen S. King Plant is incubating four eggs, which are expected to begin hatching around May 4. Athena at the High Bridge Plant should lay an egg anytime. The unbanded female remains at the Riverside Plant nest box, so production does not look promising again this year. We are experiencing technical problems with the camera at the Black Dog Plant and are waiting for warmer weather to make repairs.
We expect to see increased visits to the falcon nest boxes over the next few weeks as courtship gets underway. There should be eggs in about three weeks. To date, Belinda and Doug have returned to the Allen S. King Plant. Doug recently had to displace another male to maintain his spot in the box. Athena has returned to the High Bridge Plant and Nora is at Black Dog -- she never left for the winter. We also have males at both these boxes and are still trying to identify them. At the Riverside Plant, we believe the sterile, unbanded female falcon, who has owned this box for the last four seasons, has returned. The male is Feathers, who fledged from a Minneapolis city building in 2005.
The Peregrine Falcons are back, or maybe they never left, with the warmer than normal winter in Minnesota. We are trying to identify the birds, and so far, we know that Belinda and Doug have returned to the nest box at the Allen S. King Plant.
With the warmer winter in Minnesota, we believe the falcons stayed home and never migrated south for the season. We currently have two falcons at our High Bridge and Black Dog Plants, and one falcon at our Riverside and King Plants.
All five kestrels babies at Pawnee Station successfully fledged from the nest box a couple weeks ago and the camera has been turned off for the season.
The young kestrels at Pawnee Station continue to grow and thrive. They're now a little over two weeks old and have doubled in size. The parents provide plenty of skinks -- small lizards -- to eat.
Both parents are spending about equal time incubating the eggs. They are very attentive, with the eggs left uncovered for no more than a few minutes at a time.
The Kestrels have been busy this week. The first egg was laid the morning of March 29, and there are now four eggs in the box. Both the male and female birds have been caring for the clutch, which we expect to begin hatching around May 1.
We are beginning to see both male and female kestrels visiting the box.
On Saturday, March 10, the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program released a recovered kestrel at Pawnee Station. Plant employees found the injured bird last spring and took him to RMRP for rehabilitation. We wish him well.
The osprey nest at the King Plant was erected in 1993 and has attracted nesting ospreys each year. A total of 37 young ospreys have been produced at this nest. The young ospreys currently in the nest will be banded the morning of July 6, 2007.
The Osprey at the King Plant continue to incubate their eggs.
A pair of Osprey have settled into the nest and are now incubating eggs, but it's difficult to tell how many eggs.
We have a pair of Osprey visiting the nest at the King Plant.
No activity at the nest.
The Great Horned Owls were eight weeks old June 8 and 10. They usually fledge around this age, so they could leave the box any night. They are spending a lot of time on top of the box out of the camera's range, testing out their legs and wings.
The babies are now about four weeks old and continue to grow. We expect them to fledge sometime between June 15 and 22.
The first baby Great Horned Owl hatched on Friday, April 27, and was followed by the second egg on Sunday, April 29. Things are running smoothly in the nest.
She did it -- the female owl has started a second clutch of eggs, and she seems to be committed this time. The first egg was laid the afternoon of Saturday, March 24. There are now two eggs. We should begin to see baby owls around April 27.
The Great Horned Owl eggs from late February are officially gone. We continue to see activity between the male and female owl around the plant, and the female is still visiting the box. Experts tell us it's possible the owl may start over and lay more eggs. Time will tell. In the meantime, Barn Owls are returning to their box. Occasionally we switch the camera from the Great Horned Owl to the Barn Owl box to monitor nesting activity.
The Great Horned Owl laid two eggs, one on Sunday evening, February 24, and the other Wednesday evening, February 28. We are sorry to report that it is unlikely these eggs will mature and hatch. As of Monday, March 5, the female had been away from the nest for long periods of time, leaving the eggs unattended. Per our bird experts, the female owl inhabiting the box this year may be immature and unsure of her nesting responsibilities. We continue to see the male owl roosting in nearby trees. At this point, anything could happen. Maybe the female owl will lay a third egg and be successful? Stay tuned.
For several weeks we have seen positive signs the great horned owls are returning. There was a vole mysteriously left in the nest box to help lure a female to the site, and we have since had regular owl visits in the early morning hours.
The impression in the snow drift pattern indicates that the owl may have been sitting on the nest recently.