Al Jan. 22

[Al]

Just maybe I witness the first egg to hatch. At 11:55 I had been on watch for almost an hour when the Eagle incubating stood and began to circle around inside the nest. It made this move several times the next few minutes. Afterwards it seem to continue it's incubating position, but higher in the nest. All-the-time looking down in the nest. Trisha arrived about 12:30 and we talked about what I saw .  For Kelly , I will be out of town until monday, at which time I will get a form to you.

[Trisha]

I arrived to find Al watching the nest with binoculars. He described what he had just seen and it sounded convincing to me that it may have been related to an egg beginning to hatch or actually hatching.  

For the short time that I was able to stay, the adult was somewhat higher on the nest and did definitely keep looking down and occasionally would not be in view at all. The conditions were terrible....the noon sun glaring and also very windy....blowing me and the binoculars all around. The trees were blowing all over and blocking the view of the nest as well. I tried to take a few photos but it was so dusty and windy the photos looked awful. If anything came out at all I will post them when I get them off the camera. I'm going to try to go back by later but may not be able to beat the setting sun.

Very exciting times!!

[NewMexiKen]

Al's observation describes much like what happened last year. The adult on the nest consistently began sitting higher and often looked down, as if tending the chick. A couple of times the other mate came to the nest and both peered in together, like "proud parents." The mate may bring food in for while the other is brooding. Brooding, or hovering close over the chicks, must continue for a week or two, until the eaglets are capable of regulating their own body temperature.

Within a day or so we saw the adult feeding tiny bits of food. It seems that some prey was also possibly being "butchered" at a site away from the nest. One of the city emergency or police employees who often has to drive down to the south on 208th Avenue told me there was a tree out there were he saw an eagle tearing at prey.Of course, they also may bring in whole prey items to the nest and the parent removes small portions when the chicks are very young.  

Since it is likely that there is a second or even a third egg yet to hatch, the parent must still sit rather close, but there should be a noticeable change. Let's keep careful watch.

[Kelly Smith]

I drove to the nest after school yesterday, to find Umberto already there and taking pictures.  It was warm, but extremely windy.  One eagle was on the nest with about half a head's height visible above the rim of the nest.  After a few minutes the mate flew in and a quick exchange took place.  Thanks to Humberto's camera, we were able to determine that the eagle who had left was the female, and the eagle that had arrived was the male.  There was not really any "looking down into the nest" and the exchange took only moments.  The female flew to the melaleucas but only remained there momentarily, before flying away. She returned to the nest about 12 minutes later carrying something long and thin.  Yes, we were pretty excited, remembering that the first prey item following the hatching last year was a snake, but alas, it turned out to be just a stick (it is very handy to have those cameras available!). Both eagles remained on the nest for about 4 minutes.  There was some looking down, but not what I would call a tell-tale sign.  The female settled down on the nest - quite low. As a matter of fact, both eagles had remained what I considered low on the nest, often only leaving a wing or tail feather visible as evidence that the nest was occupied.  Until reading the blog this morning, I was convinced that the egg had not hatched.  Now I am quite unsure....