Empty nest Feb. 4

[Al]

For more than thirty minutes this morning , the nest was unattended.  The male was in the melaleucas, then flew to the tree on the power line, then flew to the northwest out-of-sight. Then the female flew in from the west. The male returned a few minutes later, and the female flew to the tree on the power line. A minute later the male flew to the tree were the female was on the power line.  From there it was back and forth to the nest.

[Kelly Smith]

I drove my son to school today - West Broward High.  I noticed, on my way by, that one eagle was positioned above the nest, and another was perched on the pine east of the nest tree.  Last Saturday, when I was at the nest around 1:00, I watched the mother offer a bit of food to the "bottom of the nest" and it occurred to me that what ever was at the bottom did not seem interested in eating.  Eventually it looked as if the mother ate what she was offering.  I did not see her offer any more to the bottom of the nest.  The thought passed my mind, I wonder if the chick has died.  I'm not an alarmist, but I will be very relieved when we get our first view of the fuzzy gray head above the rim of the nest.  I'm now wondering if anyone out there has recently seen a clear view of a parent offering food that is taken by a chick? The weather is quite mild now, so it doesn't seem worrisome that the adults are not on the nest every moment, but I would love to hear some encouraging observations...