Eagle eggs hatching today on live web cam

Vanity Post?? ^ | May 22, 2003 | Apple Pan Dowdy

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

Please excuse the "vanity post" but I thought many of you would be interested in seeing this awsome view of nature. A live web cam in Washington State is inches away from a Bald Eagle's nest high up in a tree where the 2 eggs are showing signs of cracking... thus about to hatch.

Once at the site, linked above, click on the "live cam" link and select "eagle cam #2 (its the best view).

The female's name is Star and she laid 2 eggs back on April 11th and 14th. Her longtime mate, Patriot, was with her then. A few weeks later, Patriot faught with a younger male and both fell to the ground, then flew off. Patriot has not been seen since, and the new male has now taken his place. The male usually sits on a nearby tree limb, which you can see in the upper right corner of camera #2.

It's facinating to watch a Star tends her eggs. Last night as they were cracking, she gets up often to turn them and look at them. She leaves the nest occaisionally and the male will come stand in the nest, nerviously watching, alternately the eggs and the sky, for her return.

Incubation facts say that the eggs will hatch 12-24 hours after showing signs of cracking.... so that should be TODAY! So call the kids, the whole family, and go watch one of God's greatest miracles. Isn't the net great?

Below are a couple of screen shots from last night:

[HairOfTheDog]

Cool.... thanks! - Haven't checked for a day or two.... So did we have one hatch and the other egg just didn't? or what?

[Calpernia]

THANK YOU Westmex!

[HairOfTheDog]

Eagle up now.... and I still see one egg and if there is an eaglet there it is unclear.... anyone know what's happened the last day or two?

[Calpernia]

I only see the mom and one egg. Anyone else see the chick?

[HairOfTheDog]

No.... watching the same thing.

[westmex]

I've seen somehing I think might be the baby on the site, but it has showed up real plain on video at King TV News.. It went 42 days before hatching which is over the 37-38 day norm....Just saw it again on the repeat of the news....

......Westy....

[HairOfTheDog]

So the remaining egg will likely not hatch.... How long before they would kick a dead egg out do you suppose?

[Calpernia]

What time does it look like to you on that cam? When I posted before, it seemed the sun was setting. Now it seems like afternoon.

[habs4ever]

Can you give us a fish guts alert?

[westmex]

The people down below still have hope for the second egg....Showed the setup in their house..They have quite the video lash up.....They are calling the little one Miracle....If you can get Channel 5 they might show it again at 11:00PM or they might have video on their web site I haven't looked there...

........Westy....

[westmex]

The time on the cam is Standard time, not DST...I think the sun hits the camera lens earlier in the day and screws up the pic...It is a better pic in the evening.....

......Westy....

[HairOfTheDog]

I am about 40 miles from the camera, and it is 7:10 now. We have just under 2 hours until sunset.

The light meter on the camera does best when it is bright overcast like it is now. The lens has a hard time when there is bright sun.

[HairOfTheDog]

I will let you know if there is a fish guts alert.

[Calpernia]

Oh thanks. I was actually wondering if it was still live there. I didn't see a chick and I thought the cam may have been on prerecord because of the light differences (I'm EST) that I'm not use to. I sent the link to my friend in Kentucky and she told me that 'idiot' hunters have been hunting eagles by her. I was VERY upset by that since the population here in the East is low for Eagles. Since I only pop in and out of the cam. I thought I saw twilight before. Maybe it was overcast? Don't know.

[HairOfTheDog]

The sun popping in and out of clouds confuses the light meter, takes it a couple minutes to adjust, if it doesn't change again.

[westmex]

The cam stays live all the time...After sundown all one can see is house and street lights in the distance. Don't know what it looks like mornings, I'm not up then....lol..

......Westy....

[Calpernia]

Now I see an empty nest....anyone else watching???

[HairOfTheDog]

I see that too but I was away and didn't see what happened.

Either the other one hatched and they kicked the eggshells out already in the last twenty minutes (I doubt it) or they booted that egg. One of those little blobs in the bottom may be an eaglet, but it sure doesn't seem like anything as obvious as the eglets last year.

[westmex]

I pop over and look every now and then...See empty nest now...Still don't see anything I can swear is an eaglet..But it showed up plain on the TV video....

.....Westy....

[HairOfTheDog]

Both parents came back and turned the egg. The egg is still in there, it was buried in the nest, covered with grassy twigs, perhaps the eaglet is too?