Bling!

One of the eagles was on the old N1 nest squeeing their little hear out and what do we spy, bling.  They put a transmitter on one of the eagles this morning.  I thought it was awful quiet on the nest today and now we will find out who it is and whether is male or female.  How exciting to be able to track the eagle.

My First Tomato

This year I planted a yellow and red cherry tomato plant. Now that it is hot and dry they are bearing and blooming like crazy.  Today I had my first tomato.  It was so good.

American Eagle Day

~ American Eagle Day, June 20th ~
The Raptor Resource Project proudly participates in the celebration of American Eagle Day.
The bald eagle is admired as one of nature's most spectacular creatures, and to catch a glimpse of this majestic raptor is to understand why the Founding Fathers chose it to represent the strength and courage of our great Nation. Its grace and power in flight, its vigilance and loyalty in defending its family group, and, most of all, its courage make the eagle a proud and appropriate symbol for the United States.

On June 20, 1782, the bald eagle became our Nation's symbol and national bird. On June 20, 1982 President Ronald Reagan, in accordance with a joint resolution of Congress in celebrating America’s 200th Bicentennial, proclaimed the day as “National Bald Eagle Day”. The first “American Eagle Day” was proclaimed by President Bill Clinton in 1995. Since then 41 American states have made the day an official observance. From 2007 on-wards, the US Senate has also passed resolutions to mark June 20 of the year as American Eagle Day.
Bald eagles were brought back from the brink of extinction in the mid-1990s after a nationwide conservation and protection effort. Due to the widespread use of pesticides such as DDT, illegal hunting practices and the destruction of their natural habitats by human activity, the numbers of these majestic birds of prey fell down to a mere 400 in the 1960s. After DDT was banned in the US and Canada, eventually the numbers of the birds started to grow. By 1995, the birds were removed from the endangered species list, and in June 2007, the bald eagle was withdrawn from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. Currently, there are close to 10,000 nesting pairs of birds in the contiguous United States.
Raptor Resource Project is proud of the role we have played in the protection and preservation of raptor species, and specifically with our Decorah Bald Eagle live camera, have introduced over 350 million viewers globally to the Decorah Bald Eagles while studying and observing their nest in Northeastern Iowa and the now 25 offspring successfully raised and fledged by the pair known as Mom and Dad Decorah.
Raptor Resource Project continues with their educational outreach and mission statement, “to preserve and strengthen raptor populations, expand participation in raptor preservation, and help foster the next generation of preservationists”, while working on the vital issues of lead poisoning, wind farms, electrocution, and agricultural pesticides, that put this magnificent raptors and other wildlife at risk. We thank you all for your support in our endeavors to preserve and protect while increasing advocacy and awareness.

See More

Simple Innocence

Isn't that the cutest? <3 span="">

D25 Fledges

And so the time is to say goodbye to the 2 eaglets this season.  They have both fledged now and are learning life skills such as flying, soaring, riding the thermals, catching their own food, etc. Be safe and soar high.

 This is from Raptor Resource Project:

6/17/16 : Big News for Decorah Eagles!
We Now Have 2 Fledglings!
D25 Fledged at 4:26pm CT today (at 79 days old) after spending the majority of the day on a new branch perch about 20-25 ft. above the N2B nest. We've had volunteers on the ground all day giving us reports and it's quite exciting that D25 took the leap of faith for his/her first flight. D25 landed in one tree, took flight to another, and is presently perched about 70ft from N2B.
...

D24 also had a great day, and was spotted first thing this morning at the old N1 nest, and then hopped to the *Y* branch. Later Dad Decorah was seen bringing a fish to the N1 nest for D24. Thoughout the day, D24 perched on the Y limbs, and we were treated to some panning and close up shots in the new favorite spot, thanks to our Executive Director, John Howe, who was operating the camera.
Our volunteers have been taking photos all day, and some videos. We hope to be able to post those as soon as they are uploaded to share.
We have no other information for you at this time, but will continue to update as new information is reported. Congrats to Mom & Dad Decorah for another wonderful season, and to our newest fledglings D25, and D24 who is already racking up a lot of frequent flyer miles.
Our immense gratitude to our volunteer spotters today for relaying all the nest news to us. It's been a great day in the Cottonwood!
D25 is 79 days old today.
D24 is 81 days old today, and fledged on 6/11/16 at 74 days old.

D20 Update

D20 (Decorah) continues his training to become an education eagle.  Article from SOAR:

http://soarraptors.org/2016/06/continued-training/

Flowers

The butterfly bush is blooming.

The safflower seeds fall out of the feeder and grow these yellow and orange flowers.  The gold finch love to eat the seed from the blooms.

The day lilies are beginning to bloom

My pink climbing rose

Easter lilies are a bit behind in blooming but lots of blooms this year

One of the smaller hostas is in full bloom

I have zinnias again, one of my fav flowers, however these blooms are so small

My hisbiscus is blooming after some deer ate all the leaves.

If you want to keep the deer and squirrel off your plants, mix cinnamon, chili or cayenne pepper and a bit of clove and sprinkle on flowers as needed in between rain and watering.  It does work.  My hisbiscus is living proof of this.

Camp Loopy July

So for July we are digging into the treasure chest of projects we would like to do but they have been waiting for us to start on them.  For the yarn part I am doing this shawl which has been in my library for awhile, i love the color of the yarn that was used in the picture and am using the coral yarn below.  For my fabric i am making a Fourth of July table runner which i have been wanting to do for awhile. I did not want traditional july fabric and when i saw the red i knew it had to be the focus with the others as accent colors.  My goodies are an infuser which i will definitely use and yarn in one of my fav colors:  turquoise.

D24 Fledges

It seems early this year that they are fledging already.  It seems like she was just hatching yesterday.  Soar high D24, I wish you a healthy long life.  Come back the nest and check on D25 until she can soar with you.  Be safe little one.

So we have a fledge of D24 some time this am

Raptor Resource Project

3 hrs ·

We have our first fledgling from N2B! D24 fledged some time this morning. Boots on the ground Robin Brumm spotted her perched 5-6 trees over from N2B, near the ...bike trail. She looks fine, is safe in a tree, and has been wing flapping as she begins her new life beyond the nest.

Do Knitting Patterns Harbor Secret Codes

I know at times I start a pattern and I have to go look up the codes to see what stitch to make, but were there secret codes written in the patterns during WWII?  Check out this article.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/qi/10638792/QI-how-knitting-was-used-as-code-in-WW2.html

Election

I don't want to vote for the POTUS this year but I have to because it is still a privilege to vote in this country.  We have two candidates on the same side running on each side this year. One is very far left and belongs in super max and the other is a liberal only running on the right because of who is running on the left.  While I would never vote for the left I do admire Bernie for sticking in the race and not letting her bully him.  I do thing this sums up this year very well.

D24 Branches

It's official confirmation of D24's branching!

Raptor Resource Project

13 hrs ·

6-1-16 ~ Decorah Eagles: We Have A Brancher!
At approximately 7:42PM CT, D24 is the first Decorah Eaglet to Branch! We figured that given the configuration of... N2B that the Sky Walk might be the perfect place to land, and with ease, D24 executed a nice hop flap up, a chance to pose and show us just how big s/he is, and a lovely flight down, and then proceeded to practice a few times more.

The slope and slant of the Sky Walk will give our eaglets more time to build up muscles and wing power to make other aerial assaults, but it is considered a wing-assisted branching, and not just a walk. Interesting to note that D24 is 63 days old today, but also shares a hatch date with D22 (2015) who branched on 6/14 at 77 days, and D13 (2012)who hatched on 3/28 branched on 6/13 at 76 days. We aren't ready for fledge just yet, but the time is ticking down!
Way to go, D24! Special thanks to RRP Executive Director John Howe who was manning the camera at exactly the right time. And thanks also to our video makers!