SWFL Eagle Cam focused on egg watch
Southwest Florida Eagle Cam
And now, we wait.
The Southwest Florida Eagle Cam has had its main camera on the nest of international stars M15 and F23 in anticipation of the laying of the eggs expected anytime.
Eagle fans worldwide have been waiting with bated breath for the arrival of the eggs during the middle of one of the earliest cold snaps in recent memory.
“The hardest part is waiting,” an update on the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam Facebook page stated Monday. “Egg Watch is HERE!”
Virginia Pritchett-McSpadden, founder of the eagle cam, now in its 14th season, said the early egg laying of last season has changed the timing of the egg watch.
“We’ve used that as a timeline and we’re seeing now they’re on their own time schedule. Nov. 8 has come and gone and we continue to wait for some eggs,” Pritchett-McSpadden said.
The Eagle Cam has shown F23 resting in the nest bowl, fooling fans into believing the eggs have arrived. M15 then jumps in to take his turn in the nest.
After talking to some volunteers, Pritchett-McSpadden said the cold weather could be having an impact on the timing of the eggs.
“These eagles know a lot more than we do when it comes down to the environment. There are factors that go into this and they could be doing this because they know delaying it could be because of the weather we’re having now,´ Pritchett-McSpadden said.
Last year, the eagle pair was early in laying their eggs in the nest off Bayshore Road on Pritchett property across from the Eagle Landing Publix.
F23 laid what would become E24 and E25 on Nov. 8 and 11, respectively. Usually, the eggs have been laid just on or just before Thanksgiving.
E24 hatched Dec. 14 and E25 three days later. Six weeks later, both eaglets died from Avian flu less than 48 hours apart.
The adult raptors were also believed to have fallen ill and did not attempt another clutch.
With everyone waiting for the moment to come, Pritchett-McSpadden said she hopes nobody thinks they’re crying wolf.
“After surviving last year’s Avian flu and coming back to build a strong nest’ all signs point toward a clutch of eggs in the next few days,” Pritchett-McSpadden said. “We’ll continue to tell people to tune in and learn something they didn’t know yesterday.”
Celebrating 14 years of live streaming this season, the SWFL Eagle Cam has captured three different bald eagle pairs in the wild for all the triumphs and tribulations of raising their young. The sites has garnered more than 230,072,457 total views worlwide.
This is the third season as a mated pair for F23 and M15.
Viewers can watch and track the action at the nest on the Pritchett property off Bayshore Road in North Fort Myers on the official SWFL Eagle Cam website, https://dickpritchettrealestate.com/; the official Facebook page, Instagram account and YouTube channel.