Eagle Eggs Coming Soon

It’s time to start following the eagle camera again.

From the MN DNR-

We’ve continued to see the two adult eagles around the nest during this past week. Fresh sticks, grasses and sedges have appeared in the nest on several days, and the pair have been seen perfecting the layout of the nest. The adult eagles have been bringing food items to the nest and nest tree. We’ve seen muskrats, squirrels and rabbits — pretty typical fare.

 Defense continues to be a top priority for this pair too. A particularly dramatic late night defense against a very sorry raccoon was recently witnessed by some of our eagle fans with sharp eyes!

 This week a juvenile bald eagle has been seen in and around the nest, even “helping” the nest’s pair with some stick arranging. Juvenile bald eagles are about the same size as their parents, but their coloring is different. The juveniles are a mottled brown and white all over, with a brown beak and brown eyes. The characteristic dark body, yellow beak, white head and tail don’t develop until the birds reach maturity at about five years of age.

 We don’t know if this juvenile eagle hatched from this nest. Regardless of its origin, if it crosses paths with the adults, it’s likely to some firm encouragement to find a different hang-out. This tough love by the mature adults is necessary to ensure that the young quickly learn what they need to know in order to eventually give back to the population.

 Egg watch

The eagles’ behavior suggest that it won’t be long before they have some eggs to brood over. We can hardly wait! Here’s when the first egg appeared in the previous four years we’ve been watching this pair:

 2016: Jan. 25
 2015: Jan. 19
 2014: Feb. 14
 2013: First week in January