NOV 26: Eagles copulating, no eggs yet

[NewMexiKen]

I checked on the welfare of the eagles and their status as to whether eggs have been laid. Utility construction is anticipated to take place just in front of the nest this morning. Crews did not show up while I was there. When I arrived at the nest at about 8:30 AM the female (Jewel) was roosting on the nest support branch just in front of the nest.  I checked usual roosts but found no other eagle present. The nest appeared to be empty.



 At 8:57 AM the male (Pride) flew in from behind the nest with an unidentified prey item. He left the prey in the nest and the female joined him and started eating.



Pride then flew up to the same branch which had been occupied by Jewel. The female continued eating.



Jewel then joined pride to roost on the right side of the nest



They both then flew up to a perch above and just left (east) of the nest.







They began calling and then copulated at 9:19 AM.











Following this they roosted side by side.



They remained in this position when I departed at around 10:00 AM. Definitely no eggs have been deposited as of this morning, and Jewel did not exhibit any "broody" behavior such as spending time deep in the nest. Street lights have been disabled over almost a mile long stretch of Pines Boulevard east of US-27. This presented a serious public safety hazard for pedestrians and bicyclists. The FPL workers replaced the defective switch early in the afternoon. Their biologist saw only one adult, roosting at the nest the entire time they worked. The job only took about one hour.

Shawnlei Breeding, Audubon EagleWatch Program Manager wrote (NOV 26)

Hello!

I received the following update from FPL:

“I am pleased to report that all work on the fuse box in close proximity to eagle nest BO002 has been completed without incident.  As per our monitor, crews arrived around 11:10 this morning and all work was complete within one hour.  Only one eagle was observed today, and it may have been that the second eagle was down in the nest.  The eagle which was observed was seen perched on a branch above the nest and did not move the entire time that crews were on site.  Thank you for your cooperation in facilitating this repair.  It is greatly appreciated. “

Sounds like everything went off without a hitch!

Thanks and have a great Thanksgiving!
—
Shawnlei Breeding
Audubon EagleWatch Program Manager
407.644.0190