Minnesota Department of Natural Resources News - WebCam - Eagle Cam Update

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Hi Eagle Lovers!

 

Happy Friday!  Lots has happened in the last two weeks.  Exactly two weeks ago today, The first egg was laid.  Within the next three days, two more eggs were laid, for a total of three.  This pair laid three eggs last year as well, except that they were all laid in the first week of January.  Last January was just about as cold as it has been this year.  We are cautiously optimistic that the birds have a better chance of hatching this year for two important reasons:  1.  The nest is built better this year.  It has more grass and is MUCH deeper than last year's nest and 2).  The parents are much more diligent than they had been last year.

Of course we cannot see the nest at night, but to our knowledge, the birds have not left the nest for more than one minute.  The only lift off of the eggs to rotate them and to switch incubators.  Both of them seem to be very dedicated to making this nest successful this year!  We certainly hope that this means they learned something from last year.  Assuming, of course, that this is the same pair of birds.  While we are relatively confident that these are the same birds, we really don't know for sure.  Especially with the unbanded bird.  We have some numbers that we read on the banded bird last year, but we have not gotten a good view of the band this year to compare numbers.  If we do, we will for sure let you know! 

I will continue to send out these updates on Fridays and will send this message to our Update page on the MNDNR website.  The BIG difference between last year and this year with us is that we have a FACEBOOK page!  Our fans and staff are constantly talking about our celebrity eagles, so please, go to the page and "like" it to receive even more news and photos about the eagles!  Check it out here:  Nongame Facebook page.

The big question this week:  Will the eggs survive the cold? A: We really don't have anyway of knowing how warm those eggs are.  The camera is so new and this experience is only two years old.  We do know that they can freeze if not properly incubated, because that is likely what happened last year.  But, will a differently shaped nest keep them warmer and therefore more likely to hatch?  We hope so!!  Only time will tell.

Meanwhile if you have questions, post them on facebook!  We will answer them there, or here.  We hope you are enjoying the eagle cam as much as we are and have an excellent weekend!  Send the birds your warm thoughts!