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wskrsnwings · **Joined:** Thu Jan 26, 2012 1:03 pm **Posts:** 88

Hey, kittenface! :dancegirl:

Saw your pigeons. Nice!
Pigeons at Upper Mississippi River Refuge too! Bet they don't know it's been rented!

wskrsnwings · **Joined:** Thu Jan 26, 2012 1:03 pm **Posts:** 88

Upper Mississippi River Refuge Pelican Island cam (aka Cormorant Island) will be up soon!
Photos courtesy of SUMR
Last year 2011

White Pelicans returning 2012

wskrsnwings · **Joined:** Thu Jan 26, 2012 1:03 pm **Posts:** 88

Upper Mississippi River Refuge Pelican Island cam is online!

http://www.sumriver.org/webcam.html
Choose Colonial Nesting Camera on Cormorant Island

Catbird · **Posted:** Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:32 am

New Great Blue Heron Nest

Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a new live-streaming cam of a Great Blue Heron nest. I just checked it out: There's an egg in the nest and there are two views to choose from. (It's raining and windy there now, so the pictures aren't the best at the moment.)

View 1

Here's the link to the Web site:

LeeLee · **Joined:** Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:54 pm **Posts:** 471

Hey catbird - I heard about this site and cant believe the clarity! What a view! Its like you are actually there on the lake/pond I love it! Heres a couple pics from today.

Female with her beautiful egg

Male on the nearby stump or whatever

link to page:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2433

:girlluv:

LeeLee · **Joined:** Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:54 pm **Posts:** 471

I had just returned and started watching, and took note of the position on the nest of the female - looked like she was squatting the way eagles do when they lay an egg? WOW!

She laid the egg right in front of our eyes, at 06:39 est!!
Notice the egg on the right is lighter in color than the other one
She had just stood up to take a look herself lol

p.s. The male was just MATING with the female about 40 minutes earlier! Couldn't get a good pic since I was on the top camera view. Now I know be on the bottom view next time LOL

link to site:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2433

:girlluv:

gigi · **Posted:** Fri Mar 30, 2012 7:07 pm

What a beautiful site and sight! :dancingegg:

Lucky you to see the egg being laid LeeLee!

LeeLee · **Joined:** Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:54 pm **Posts:** 471

A little info on this heron nest - the nest is 50 feet up in the tree, and this pair has been nesting there since 2009, raising chicks. As fish are heavy, the male does not bring a fish for the female, they each catch their own. Egg sitting duties are shared. Here are a few pics from this am:

Dad giving mom a break, sitting on the eggs.

Dad stands up, fluffing the nest material.

Just in time, mom returns to brood, dad preens and then leaves

link to site:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2433

:girlluv:

gigi · **Posted:** Sat Mar 31, 2012 3:24 pm

Thanks for the info on herons. We have one that visits my neighbor's pond and sits right next to the plastic owl while eying the fish for dinner!

Catbird · **Posted:** Sat Mar 31, 2012 9:33 pm

Wow, LeeLee - You sure did capture some great pictures of the herons. And that must have been something to actually see the second egg being laid! This site is wonderful for the clarity of the pictures, the beautiful setting and background sounds, and the cam operator who moves in for some amazing close-ups.

I'm looking forward to following this heron nest as I've only seen herons at a distance before.

LeeLee · **Joined:** Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:54 pm **Posts:** 471

Finally got to check on the herons late! As the sun sets, Dad is on the branch, waiting for mom to relieve his duty LOL

3rd egg has been laid today! Expect last egg sometime Tuesday!

link to site:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2433

:girlluv:

Catbird · **Posted:** Sun Apr 01, 2012 10:27 pm

Nice sunset picture, LeeLee. And thanks for the good news about the third egg!

I was watching a bit this morning and saw the male (at least I'm assuming it was him) flying across the pond to a tree, where he'd select a branch to bring back to female in the nest. While she arranged the branch and got it just right, he was off again to gather up another branch. The cam work was just great: It would follow the male on his travels and then close in on the female doing her nest work.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good picture of both herons in the nest together. But I did get his picture of the male resting up before he made another foray across the pond.

Glenham · **Joined:** Mon Jul 27, 2009 9:52 am **Posts:** 2

Unfortunatly Cornell had a hostile take over for the nestcam project.. Jason Martin and myself work thru the winter to set up the Blue Heron and hawk cam... only to get kicked to the side.. here is a link for the Black Vulture cam from Cornells site last year http://chimneyswifts.net/tristate/ some of us cam hosts are no longer working with cornell.. 2 fuzzballs have hatched today.

Beth · **Posted:** Mon Apr 02, 2012 2:29 pm

Thank you Glenham! :egg 19:

Gosh-sorry about Cornell situation...

gigi · **Posted:** Mon Apr 02, 2012 7:53 pm

Sorry to hear about your experience with Cornell Glenham. Sometimes egos and politics get in the way of life. At least you have the consolation that you and Jason did something really special, appreciated by many many. Good luck to you with your future endeavors.

gigi · **Posted:** Mon Apr 02, 2012 8:02 pm

Really interesting article and video about the amazing crows and ravens. They are so smart.

A common raven may be uncommon way to find lost hikers

LeeLee · **Joined:** Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:54 pm **Posts:** 471

Well, right on schedule, here is Mrs Heron with her 4th egg!!! Not the best pic, as she was trying to set back down on them quickly, but you can see the eggs at least, its getting dark and I couldnt wait any longer for a better shot at it LOL

That should be it for the clutch, 5 eggs is rare, but some viewers are hoping!

link to site:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2433 :

:girlluv:

Catbird · **Posted:** Tue Apr 03, 2012 10:21 pm

Thanks, LeeLee, for the news about the 4th heron egg. Heron nesting habits are all new to me, so this nest will be interesting to compare to what I know about falcons, kestrels, and hummingbirds.

And thanks, gigi, for posting the link to that interesting article about the raven named Shade. I had no idea how smart a raven could be, or how a raven could get so attached to Chapstick!

Catbird · **Posted:** Wed Apr 04, 2012 8:52 am

I managed to catch both herons at the nest this morning as one was getting ready to leave and the other was getting ready to incubate. Those heron eggs are such a beautiful color!

ljames · **Posted:** Sat Apr 07, 2012 10:30 am

I wasn't sure where to post the vultures

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