Saturday, June 28
From R.R.P:
Good news from Bob! He writes:
[ "I set off early this am as there was no rain yet. I arrived at the hatchery at 6:40AM and found the adult male up in the maple tree overlooking the trout raceways. I lobbed a nice size trout out near the mulch pile and he was on the wing before it hit the ground. He took the trout to a tree near the bridge. I waited for a while to see if he would take off and search for one of the eaglets. No luck.
I made my way to the city compost site and found the one eagle proudly perched on the top with steam emanating from decomposing plant material all around the bird. I approached the mulch pile as close as I could and lobbed two small trout that landed on the ground near the bottom of the pile. I could see the eaglet looking at the trout and carefully backed off. I headed back towards N2, where two eagleholics were on the bridge. I asked them if they saw the adult male with the fish. They told me he had just set off to the east in the direction of the city mulch piles. I raced back and was pleased to see the young eagle eating a trout on the top of the pile. Was he eating one of the trout I set out or was it eating a trout brought by an adult eagle? I decided to return later to find out.
I hiked over to the hatchery with the telemetry receiver and antennae. I met an eagle person who just arrived from MI to meet with the weekend eagleholics group. She asked about each eagle, including the one with the transmitter. I told her I was just about ready to track the bird down and would let her know what I discovered. She begged to join me. However, once she saw the steep and slippery terrain she said she would wait on the road. I was getting a strong signal that kept leading me in circles. The signal was so strong, but no eagle was visible. I began to look for feathers and remains under logs and in washouts. Where was she? I took the Yaggi and pointed it up and viola...there she was high in a tree directly overhead! YEA!
I headed back to the city compost site and could see trucks lining up preparing to drop off yard waste. In a few minutes they would open the gate and the trucks and frontend loader would enter the site. I knew this would chase off the eagle so I decided to enter the site to see if Dad had dropped a trout. I was disappointed to see he hadn't. EWOT took flight, flew about 1/2 way to the nest tree, and landed in a bean field.
We now have two eaglets each about 2/3 mile from the nest tree, although in separate compass directions. Finding the one eagle with a transmitter up in a tree for the first time in about a week and not on the forest floor made my day.......no, made my week!" ]
Thanks for the report! It sounds like a busy morning. Does anyone down in Decorah want to buy Bob a little breakfish?
From S.O.A.R:
Kay snapped a couple photos of the juvenile Bald Eagle this morning before loading him up to go to the vet. Notice he only likes to show his good side. He has not been fed this morning or given fluids in preparation of his possible surgery.
(Note: photos will be posted pending permission)
In the first photo he is standing in his water dish. This poster gave the wrong impression earlier that he was going to get an actual bath but he is in the hospital so only sponge baths allowed. (Eagles get to bathe in swimming pools). Movement needs to be restricted and he won't get to actually bathe until the bandages come off. Usually the birds in our ICU are kept in a crate that is too small for the large water dishes. We try not to anthropomorpize but he does look as if he is saying "can a bird have a little privacy please?". In the second photo he is loaded in the travel crate ready to visit Dr. Dirks.
Again we will let you know today if Dr. Dirks does the surgery. Keep sending those positive thoughts!
Quick update from the SOAR crew: fledgling SOAR is out of surgery and doing well. Just wanted to let everyone know.
~Update on the Decorah Juvenile Eagle~
Message from Kay Neumann, Executive Director SOAR
"The juvenile eagle is out of surgery. It was not an easy surgery because there was not much bone to connect to on the shoulder end of the humerus. (Versus a break in the middle of the bone.) Dr. Dirks got the pin in and the wing is wrapped and he has woken up from the anesthesia. So far so good."
That is all the news right now. We thought we should post and at least let you know he did have the surgery and he is awake. We will post more details later. Kay is a little busy right now .
Evening update on the Decorah Juvenile Eagle from Kay:
He's back in his little ICU room and has had high calorie fluids and a crop of food and his antibiotics. In three weeks we will do another xray to see if there has been enough healing to remove the pin. We should have some pics loaded up for you tomorrow.
From R.R.P:
Good news from Bob! He writes:
[ "I set off early this am as there was no rain yet. I arrived at the hatchery at 6:40AM and found the adult male up in the maple tree overlooking the trout raceways. I lobbed a nice size trout out near the mulch pile and he was on the wing before it hit the ground. He took the trout to a tree near the bridge. I waited for a while to see if he would take off and search for one of the eaglets. No luck.
I made my way to the city compost site and found the one eagle proudly perched on the top with steam emanating from decomposing plant material all around the bird. I approached the mulch pile as close as I could and lobbed two small trout that landed on the ground near the bottom of the pile. I could see the eaglet looking at the trout and carefully backed off. I headed back towards N2, where two eagleholics were on the bridge. I asked them if they saw the adult male with the fish. They told me he had just set off to the east in the direction of the city mulch piles. I raced back and was pleased to see the young eagle eating a trout on the top of the pile. Was he eating one of the trout I set out or was it eating a trout brought by an adult eagle? I decided to return later to find out.
I hiked over to the hatchery with the telemetry receiver and antennae. I met an eagle person who just arrived from MI to meet with the weekend eagleholics group. She asked about each eagle, including the one with the transmitter. I told her I was just about ready to track the bird down and would let her know what I discovered. She begged to join me. However, once she saw the steep and slippery terrain she said she would wait on the road. I was getting a strong signal that kept leading me in circles. The signal was so strong, but no eagle was visible. I began to look for feathers and remains under logs and in washouts. Where was she? I took the Yaggi and pointed it up and viola...there she was high in a tree directly overhead! YEA!
I headed back to the city compost site and could see trucks lining up preparing to drop off yard waste. In a few minutes they would open the gate and the trucks and frontend loader would enter the site. I knew this would chase off the eagle so I decided to enter the site to see if Dad had dropped a trout. I was disappointed to see he hadn't. EWOT took flight, flew about 1/2 way to the nest tree, and landed in a bean field.
We now have two eaglets each about 2/3 mile from the nest tree, although in separate compass directions. Finding the one eagle with a transmitter up in a tree for the first time in about a week and not on the forest floor made my day.......no, made my week!" ]
Thanks for the report! It sounds like a busy morning. Does anyone down in Decorah want to buy Bob a little breakfish?
From S.O.A.R:
Kay snapped a couple photos of the juvenile Bald Eagle this morning before loading him up to go to the vet. Notice he only likes to show his good side. He has not been fed this morning or given fluids in preparation of his possible surgery.
(Note: photos will be posted pending permission)
In the first photo he is standing in his water dish. This poster gave the wrong impression earlier that he was going to get an actual bath but he is in the hospital so only sponge baths allowed. (Eagles get to bathe in swimming pools). Movement needs to be restricted and he won't get to actually bathe until the bandages come off. Usually the birds in our ICU are kept in a crate that is too small for the large water dishes. We try not to anthropomorpize but he does look as if he is saying "can a bird have a little privacy please?". In the second photo he is loaded in the travel crate ready to visit Dr. Dirks.
Again we will let you know today if Dr. Dirks does the surgery. Keep sending those positive thoughts!
Quick update from the SOAR crew: fledgling SOAR is out of surgery and doing well. Just wanted to let everyone know.
~Update on the Decorah Juvenile Eagle~
Message from Kay Neumann, Executive Director SOAR
"The juvenile eagle is out of surgery. It was not an easy surgery because there was not much bone to connect to on the shoulder end of the humerus. (Versus a break in the middle of the bone.) Dr. Dirks got the pin in and the wing is wrapped and he has woken up from the anesthesia. So far so good."
That is all the news right now. We thought we should post and at least let you know he did have the surgery and he is awake. We will post more details later. Kay is a little busy right now .
Evening update on the Decorah Juvenile Eagle from Kay:
He's back in his little ICU room and has had high calorie fluids and a crop of food and his antibiotics. In three weeks we will do another xray to see if there has been enough healing to remove the pin. We should have some pics loaded up for you tomorrow.