FEB 10: Pair exchanges broodinig duties

[NewMexiKen]

We arrived at the nest around 9:10 AM to find the female (Jewel) roosting in the pine tree to the east and the male (Pride) sitting high. Before I even turned on my camera, Pride launched off the nest and Jewel immediately covered it.

Jewel obviously was high in the nest. Some of the ground observers (including me) thought we might be seeing an eaglet popping up right in front of Jewel. Binoculars did not help, and only a close look at the photos revealed that the illusion was caused by the way her shaggy white head feathers parted a bit over her upper neck and breast. We were seeing the dark outline of her chest!

No feeding was documented, though Jewel did put her head down into the nest  several times. We presume that the first eaglet hatched 5-6 days ago, so the next one might also have hatched by now.