eagle Nest Diaries

NOTICE: The nest featured in these Diaries has become virtually impossible to photograph since 2008 due to the leafy canopy. However, another eagle nest located just miles away is being broadcast live on UStream by the Raptor Resource Center. Viewers worldwide watched their three eaglets grow from eggs to fledged young eagles in early 2011, but activity is limited during the rest of the year.

All photos in the Eagle Nest Diaries were taken with a high-powered lens by Mary Ellen Leicht, and the commentary provided by a friend of INHF.

Protecting natural land provides numerous benefits. In the case of one site along the Upper Iowa River, INHF helped protect not only the land and water quality, but also a nesting site for a pair of bald eagles.

Since 2002, friends of INHF and this site have documented the eagles (and their eaglets) through photography and commentary. Compiled as the Eagle Nest Diaries, they follow the annual struggle of the eagle parents to raise that year's young.

Eagle Nest Diaries over the years:

• 2002: Eagle family discovery
• 2003: Every family has its ups and downs
• 2004: Looking up!
• 2005: A good year for the eagles
• 2006: A new year, a new nest; the eagles return
• 2007: Baby on board!
• 2008: We have a baby!
• 2009: We have twins!

For more eagle information, see our Eagle FAQ.

NOTE: If you should find an eagle's nest, do not approach or bother the birds. Stay at least 400 yards (four football fields) away from the nest. Otherwise, the adult eagles may abandon their nest and their eggs. If the adults are even flushed from the nest during spring's cold, wet weather, the nestlings can become quickly chilled and die. Consequently, we are not revealing the exact location of this nest.

Acknowledgements:

Thanks to the many people who helped make this website possible!

• Mary Ellen Leicht, photographer, who donated use of all these eagle photos
• Two INHF members (choose to remain anonymous) who live by the eagle nest, make regular observations and provide many of our observational notes.
• Bruce Ehresman, wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, who helped us fact-check additional background information
• Hannah Fletcher, INHF Buckmaster Intern, who completely redesigned and expanded this portion of our website in May 2004. Our subsequent interns have continued to update and maintain this site.
• Several eagle-related websites (listed below), which provided additional background information. If you want to learn even more about eagles, we strongly encourage you to visit these sites.
   

We have also gathered information from other eagle websites. You can find links to these and related websites, including live Eaglecams, on our eagle links page.

• Live video of eagle nest near Decorah, Iowa (not far from this nest), being broadcast live on UStream by the Raptor Resource Center. Viewers worldwide watched their three eaglets grow from eggs to fledged young eagles in early 2011.
• http://www.grandcanyontourist.com/articles/Bald-Eagle-Symbol-of-the-USA.html — Includes detailed information about the Bald Eagle and why it is a threatened species.
• http://www.eagles.org/moreabout.html — This site features a web cam, sound bites and more in-depth general information on our national bird.
• http://www.npca.org/wildlife_protection/wildlife_facts/baldeagle.asp — This is the National Parks Conservation Association's site on Bald Eagles and has a list of national parks where you can see these eagles.
• http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/ — Go here for current information regarding the Bald Eagle's classification as a Threatened species.)