Whatever floats your boat...

Live Feed of Bald Eagle nesting.

Amazing live feed of a Momma bald eagle laying on eggs soon to hatch!

Comment by photo2010 on March 31, 2011 at 7:41am: PS: Recommend fullscreen mode.

Comment by photo2010 on March 31, 2011 at 8:08am: OMG, just watched the mate land and take over hatching duty while his/her SO flew off, to eat presumably.

Excuse my excitement, but this is dramatic stuff for this city boy. :)

Comment by SydTheSkeptic on April 1, 2011 at 6:43pm: Kevin!! I just posted a blog over on VH about this. It's so exciting when something happens. My students and I have been glued to it all day!

Comment by photo2010 on April 1, 2011 at 10:35pm: Syd!! I was wondering if you were going to show it to your students! I can't take my eyes off it either! :-)

Comment by photo2010 on April 2, 2011 at 9:47pm: Decorah Eagles first egg pip and hatch:

http://youtu.be/8U_pme0dPhs

Comment by NatureJunkie on April 3, 2011 at 5:20pm: She's got at least three chicks now that I can see! That's one hard-working mother. The poor girl hardly has a chance to get settled and comfortable before it's time to reposition again. It's a good thing I'm looking at this on a Sunday, or this would surely steal a couple of my hours from my employer today.

Cool stuff! Thanks, Kevin.

Comment by photo2010 on April 4, 2011 at 1:51am: NJ, you're welcome! Today there was a scare, the male accidentally knocked one of the hatchlings over the raised part of the nest! When the female returned, it took her awhile, but she gently nudged the chick back to the middle of the nest. I have become emotionally invested with the Eagle family. Talk about a reality show! ;-)

Comment by SydTheSkeptic on April 4, 2011 at 3:15am: Kevin, I saw that!! It looked for a little while like momma was rejecting her and then, what a relief...she tucked that kiddo back under her.

Comment by photo2010 on April 4, 2011 at 4:50am: Syd, I literally applauded and cheered when the momma rescued the baby. The whole experience is a rollercoaster of emotions for me. i never thought I'd get caught up like this!

Comment by SydTheSkeptic on April 4, 2011 at 5:02am: Same here. I see the older eaglet pounding on the younger one and I just have to turn it off, or I fear some fresh kill will be dropped in there and it won't be fully dead, ya know...?

Have you ever seen the Darwin biopic called "Creation"? It's got a scene in there that's just amazing, where Darwin is picnicking with his family and his little girls are running about innocently enough. One points to a rabbit going under a log and someone comments about how God made such a beautiful world. Darwin thinks for a moment. He watches the rabbit go into a hole, and then you see what he's imagining- everything time-lapsed into a brutal evolutionary battle for survival. The rabbit falls prey to a bird who accidentally knocks it's baby out of a nest. The baby quickly dies and decomposes and is broken down by the insects and the dust pretty much takes him away.

Back to Darwin, with a strained look on his face. I didn't know what a person of faith he was and how he struggled with the knowledge of how his soon-to-be-published theories would undermine the church. Very interesting stuff.

Anyway, watching the eagles nest is a meditative endeavor, for sure.