Observations 10:00AM-- difficult to interpret

[NewMexiKen]

I arrived at the nest site a little before 10 AM this morning and no eagles were in sight. On assumption that one may be incubating, I walked about trying to get views of the nest from different angles. I saw something white in the nest-- to the right were clearly remains of a white bird with dark markings, possibly an immature White Ibis. More towards the center were two more white spots that either represented more prey remains or the head and/or tail of an incubating adult. It was chilly (55 F) and there was a stiff NW breeze, so the nest was not visible except for short intervals.

 My photos were very bad. This shows the white areas:



I had positioned the car in a spot with pretty good visibility. and at about 10:15 I got back into the car to keep warm. Almost immediately, I heard the calls of eagles-- I am quite sure there were two calling at once. An adult with pure white tail feathers flew in with a medium sized fish, but I could not see the nest as it landed.



The next view I got was of an adult eating some prey to the right side. The other white areas were not visible.



Had there been a prey drop, and the incoming bird flew away immediately undetected? Had the nest been vacant until the arrival of the adult with prey? I'm just not sure, though I favor the first assumption because of hearing what I believe were two eagles calling at once.

After about a half hour, the adult settled down on the nest, rather high-- I do not know if it ever moved down low, as I had to leave, around 10:50.



Again I apologize for the bad photos, but they do document the behavior, to some extent.