Incubating female on nest, December 22, day #11

[NewMexiKen]

On the assumption that the first egg was laid on December 11 (Day "0"), today is the 11th day of incubation.

Barry and I watched the eagle nest for over an hour beginning just before 3:00 PM today. The nest appeared empty and there were no eagles in sight. A Merlin (or, upon looking at these photos, was it a Peregrine Falcon?)  gave us a few distant shots, and a Great Egret foraged in the new ditch created by the sidewalk that now forms a dam between the road and the wetland woods containing the nest. The incubating female barely showed the top of her head at about 20 minutes into our watch, then finally stood up after a full hour had passed.She looked down and appeared to be rearranging the eggs.

Taken at 4:00 PM





Great Egret fishing in ditch in front of nest





Falcon-- possibly a Peregrine. The distance made it appear too small for a Peregrine, but the light throat and helmeted look strongly suggest Peregrine Falcon. It was perched on a tree beyond the eagle nest, probably about 300 feet from our vantage point in the median of Pines Boulevard.