The Forum Has Moved!

I hope it does too.

I was unable to view the cam all day. There was a 404 message. Hopefully it will be streaming again tomorrow.

7:10pm update: The cam is fine but there is a problem on the web page that the Tech person will be working on soon. Good to know that the camera is ok.

Still no live feed.

February 27, 2017

A warmer day today. One of the eagles is perched on the side branch. When I look again it is in the nest. But by 9:14am it is out of the nest again.

Yea, the feed is back. I thought the eagles never left the egg once they start incubating it.

February 27, 2017

It is a nice sunny day today. This morning when I watched the eagles were perched near the nest but not incubating. Once in awhile one or the other would settle in to incubate but then were back to perch.

Egg #2 arrives at 3:20pm. Mom was pretty tired but stood for almost 20 minutes before she began to incubate the eggs. 3:35pm Dad arrived, checked things out and flew over to perch.

Mom stands after laying the egg.

Donna, Is it normal that these eagles don't incubate 24/7 like other nests I have watched? I thought the eggs had to kept at a body temp all the time.

Hi Janet! I think Donna will have a bit more information when she checks in, but it's fairly common for the female to not incubate for a little while after an egg is laid, I think to give the shell a chance to harden (my understanding is that it's a bit soft and bendable while being laid, and hardens quickly when exposed to air. It's also common for some eagles (but not all) to not incubate their eggs full-time until they've laid all of them - so if this pair is going to lay a third egg, they may not start incubating 24/7 until it arrives. This works well when there's plenty of food (and experienced adults) - the eggs will hatch closer together, and all the chicks will have a better chance at getting food on those days when food is a little more scarce. However, in a harsher environment, where food is likely to be scarce, incubating full time starting when the first egg is laid will mean the first chick will be 2-3 day older and bigger - and better able to dominate younger siblings and get enough food to thrive. This is not fun to watch (to put it mildly) - but does make sense in terms of survival of the species and passing on the genes of the parents - one strong chick is better from that perspective than two or three weak chicks.

If this is a good year, weather and food-wise, with a bit of luck we'll see two or three strong chicks here - which we've seen at Fort St Vrain in the good years. Keeping fingers crossed....