Blackwater Eagles, First Red-winged Blackbird, and Rain, Lots of Rain with Turkeys in It.

www.friendsofblackwater.org/camhtm2.html/
Screen Capture by Pamela Greenwood
R. of Illinois comments, "They seem just a tad less tiny today. Are those little black masks they are wearing?"
R.

Plus a nest cam tour of the Tulsa tower and nest on youtube--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6AnfgWTX2g&feature=channel_page
Closeups of the nest materials and branches, woven, and vertiginous looks down (and up) around the tower structure. It is so far up!
R.
The reason no doubt, it took Thunder a good bit longer than is usual to decide to make that first flight leap. She’s no dummy.
D.B.


Courtesy of Friends of Blackwater Eagle Cam
Screen Captures--Eileen Karle

Courtesy of Blackwater Eagle Cam and Eileen Karle
(Check out the leftovers on the edge of the nest.)

With an update on the approach of Spring from Eileen Karle on the East Coast--
Good almost spring morning Donna!

Yes, the geese are starting to head north. This little piece of not-too-far-upstate New York is reportedly named for an Indian word for "land that the geese fly over" (though I've never been able to confirm the naming rumor). At any rate, it is a known goose flyway and I first noticed several large "V"s heading north on my way to work at dawn Tuesday morning. The same morning some co-workers were a bit perturbed by the noise of the roosting starlings just waking up-someone commented on a scene from "The Birds". I told them it was a sure sign spring is rapidly approaching.

As for your headless rabbit, I'm sure you're right about a GHO being the culprit...and it brought to mind the Blackwater Eagles. There's been a GHO spotted on the Osprey cam and yesterday's Bald eaglet lunch was rabbit. I was wondering yesterday at a Bald Eagle capturing a rabbit, but perhaps it was the GHO that did the dirty work and the Eagles picked up the remains. Dad Eagle has been doing a very good job providing this year-a huge improvement over last year. This morning's smorgasbord includes leftover rabbit, a nice sized fish, and I'm not sure what at the top-looks suspiciously like bird wings.

All the best...Eileen

Eileen,

I have to admit I'm certainly yearning for Spring, though the weatherman are still predicting snow in Wisconsin for Sunday.

Today I began to hear the first of the male Red-wings singing out in the thickets.

I like the Great Horned Owl leftover theory, as Eagles don't seem to feel that things they didn't kill are beneath them, it could happen but if you look at the first screen capture it looks to me as if that bunny still has his head.

Last night at dusk I staked out the bunny torso hoping to see if the GHO came back for it. A friend dropped by and by the time I got back out bunny body was gone.

Though upon thought, it seems if GHO wanted the remains she would have stashed them. Do they just go for the head because they can swallow it whole? Or are heads just the tastiest?

D.B.

For two years now, I've been attempting to get some decent shots of Wild Turkeys. It hasn't happened and therefore people call me and let me know when they spot a flock of the big guys. Of course today when I was called, the turkeys were out in a torrential rain storm.

Look at the field of standing corn. Slightly up and right of center there are two darkish dots. Those darkish dots are two turkeys and if you look really hard there are two more even less defined darkish dots up near the treeline. The perfect turkey shot is not to be had in a torrential rain storm.

Four hours later, I went back. The air was still saturated but at least it wasn't liquid.

More turkeys a little closer but still certainly not the definitive Wild Turkey shot.


But that is perfectly fine because suddenly two turkeys do a little face off.
I've never seen them do that before. And I don't know its meaning, is it friendly, hostile, something else all together? The behavior I'm usually presented with is that of their tails heading for cover. A surge of Spring hormones of some kind perhaps in this instance?

One certainly appears bigger than the other. But I don't think that it's a male and female. See the protruding something from the smaller of the twos neck. Might be a beard, and therefore perhaps a younger male.


And there are those tails again, heading for cover. They aren't turkey trotting but are doing more of a mosey for cover.


Another is further left heading for the metaphorical hills.


And the last two hit the tall corn. The definitive turkey shot must wait.
for another day.

But Spring is coming and along with it will be the distractions of mating, perhaps then...


Donegal Browne