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Administrator
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I stopped by the nest this morning around 10:00 AM and a gentleman was just leaving after watching for about two hours. He said an adult was deep in the nest presumably incubating until only a few minutes before I arrived, when he heard the eagles calling as the other adult arrived with a prey item. He was fairly sure they exchanged places at the nest. All I saw was the top of the adult's head.
A little later I heard from Phil, who has been making frequent checks on the nest. He said "I feel certain that an egg hatched on Mon-Tues of this week [DEC 31/JAN 1]. Behaviors during those days, including Wed confirm that for me..."
The fact that prey is being brought in does not confirm this, as sometimes a mate will feed the one incubating, but we should be looking for signs that feeding activity is occurring. Once there is a chick in the nest the adult will sit up a bit higher, "tenting" the hatchling as well as continuing to incubate any additional eggs if they are present.
Of course, seeing an eaglet will be great, so please make frequent visits and do not congregate near the nest as this is a sensitive time for the eagles. The best (more elevated) view of the nest and its contents is actually on the median or even the other (north) side of Pines Boulevard.
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