M-15 truly stepped up to the plate as a dad. He has brought plenty of food, fed the chicks and defended them from dangers such as Great Horned Owls and other eagles, despite the fact that as a male, he is significantly smaller than a female eagle.
If he gets both these chicks fledged, he definitely deserves Father of the Year.
And it looks like his devotion to duty has attracted some attention. A young female designated R23-3 has been following him and displaying courtship behavior.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better “feel good” post after reading about the lousy situation in the other thread. Thank you for such impeccable timing.
E21 fledged at 7:28 am, with an impressively lengthy fledge flight.
He/she returned to the nest at 7:58 am.
Ironically, E21 was knocked from the nest to a lower branch at 5:00 am by the same Great Horned Owl who has been tormenting the eagles since forever. That may have helped prompt this flight.
Congratulations to E21 and congratulations for daddy on getting 1 of 2 to this point. Hopefully E22 will take the plunge in 2 or 3 days.
As with E21, it was in the aftermath of a double attack by that ole nasty Great Horned Owl. Hit him once, knocking him out of the nest and then a second time, knocking him to the lower branches. He spent the morning and afternoon away from the nest before returning a little while ago.
It is official. M15 is Father of the Year and perhaps Father of All Time.
And glad to see that both of Harriet’s final brood made it to fledging. Harriet may be gone, but her legacy lives on in the many broods she raised.
And I think this nest will be busy next year as M15 has plenty of suitors.
I remember watching the Decorah, Iowa eagles years ago when I would stop over at my folks. My mom would keep the feed up basically all day… incredible to watch.
My dad had a bald eagle nest on his hunting land several years ago as well. The game commission set up a camera and we got some pretty awesome shots.
