March 14: Female tenting and possibly feeding eaglet

[NewMexiKen]

I arrived at the Bald Eagle nest at about 10:30 AM. Luis was already there and had been watching for over an hour. He said one eagle was roosting at the corner of Pines & 208th but before he got out of his car it flew to the ground and appeared to pick up a medium sized item, maybe prey such as a small rabbit and then flew off. When he got to the nest an adult was deep down and he only saw the top of its head until a few minutes before I arrived.



It was the female (Jewel) as evidence by her larger round head, more massive beak and the deep gape of her bill which extended well under her eye (more than halfway). She then moved up higher in the nest, quite close to the tree trunk and the near rim. This was unusual as the occupant of the nest was usually out of sight, incubating.



For about 20 minutes until I had to leave she remained high up with her wings partially opened. We thought this may be a possible sign that one or more eggs had hatched and she was "tenting" to cover both eggs and young. However we saw no sign of tending or feeding which might indicate the presence of eaglets.



About a half hour after I departed, Luis called me from the nest area to say that he saw quite definite signs that the female was feeding an eaglet. Head repeatedly up and down to a single  point in the nest. He did not see any food in the adult's mouth but said he would check his photos to be sure.