Posted on 05/22/2003 7:28:28 AM PDT by 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:
Westy... 'Miracle' emerges in the treetops 05/25/2003 By ARTURO SANTIAGO / KING 5 news KENT, Wash. - High above Loraine and Garry Robbins' back yard, "Star," the mother eagle, flies back home to the nest. At her feet are two of her eggs. And if you look closely, one of them is twitching, actually, hatching. A day or two later, a tiny, fluffy gray eaglet joins the family. It’s called “Miracle” because the eggs in this nest are usually incubated for 37-38 days. The first egg was laid on April 11 and 42 days had passed with no hatching. Experts were telling the Robbins’ the eggs had no chance of survival after so many days and sometimes the eggs were left unattended for hours in the cold and rain. But the eaglet defied the odds and the skeptics to breathe new life in to the nest, and bring a sigh of relief to their hosts that were faithfully monitoring the Web cameras. Resource Links EagleCam There are now new life and death struggles the little eaglet is facing. For now, it gets stronger every day and is off to a pretty good start. The Robbins’ will observe the eaglet for awhile to see what kind of characteristics and personality traits emerge, and then rename it appropriately. As for the second egg, it still has not yet begun to hatch.
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