Settled into the nest

Mama eagle peeks out from the top of a well-hidden aerie.

Last night we saw mama eagle in the nest for the first time, which means she's probably hatched her young. She chatted with papa eagle who was poised at the top of the tallest tree closest to the nest. I think we heard some young bird voices but there are lots of birds talking in the woods these days. In a couple of weeks, we'll probably be able to tell how many babies are up there. Last year, they raised one youngster. Bald eagles usually lay 1-3 eggs. I documented activity at this nest last year in this blog. Check back in the archive for March through July 2011.

The aerie - mama is in the upper right corner.

Papa serves as nest sentinel.

Nobody's going to mess with papa.