Eaglet has landed: M15, Harriet welcome E-19 to world at Florida nest
NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. – A bald eagle dad carefully uncovered a nest on Monday, revealing the latest eaglet to hatch at a southwest Florida nest.
E-19, a tiny fluff of a bird, hatched at 12:34 p.m. from its nest in North Fort Myers and saw the light of day about an hour later, the News-Press of Fort Myers reported. The eaglet hatched in front of more than 6,200 viewers on the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam. M15 kept the nest warm after trading places with his mate, Harriet, until the chick fully hatched, the newspaper reported.
According to the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam, the countdown to the hatch began Sunday at 9:55 a.m. EST, when one of the moderators confirmed the egg had a pip.
E-19 is the 19th eaglet to hatch at the Florida nest, WINK-TV reported.
According to the American Eagle Foundation, a pip is the opening in the shell of an egg that means a chick is about to emerge.
Harriet laid two eggs in late November with her partner M15. E-19′s egg was laid on Nov. 20 at 3:48 p.m, according to the eagle cam. A second egg was laid three days later.
The Southwest Florida Eagle Cam moderator confirmed that the second egg had a pip, meaning a second eaglet will be hatching soon.
Diane Melesio of Winter Garden drove nearly three hours to see the eagles and calls it “majestic.”
“You can’t help but be impressed every time,” Melesio told WINK.
The first year a camera was set up to watch the eagles around the clock was 2012, WTSP-TV reported.
