For the past few days there has been conjecture and commentary at the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam web sitethat the new eagle couple of M15 and F23 may have successfully mated.
That concern washed away Friday evening when F23 rose off the nest and the more than 1,400 observers watching got a glimpse of a bright, white egg.
Southwest Florida Eagle Cam co-founder Ginnie Pritchett McSpadden told WGCU that the new couple continues to be surprising and successfully laid their first egg as a mated pair.
"And around the same time that Harriet & M have in previous seasons," McSpadden said. "Amazing news that we all hoped for after the shocking loss of Harriet and uncertain future of the nest. Now we watch and wait to see if another egg is laid and hope those pesky (great horned owls) can find a new place to play at night."
McSpadden's owl comment referenced the owls that have, at times, knocked one eagle or the other off branches at the nest tree or just buzzed the couple.
The web site said the egg was laid at 17:54:37 p.m. Friday night.
M15's new mate had been sitting on the nest bole since earlier in the evening, with the egg first confirmed around 8 p.m. when F23 got up. The hatch count now begins and a watch for a possible second egg.
Last year was a tumultuous one at the nest of Harriet and M15 in North Fort Myers. It included rebuilding a destroyed nest, two more eaglets to raise, the heartbreaking disappearance of Harriet, and the stalwart dedication of M15 to shepherd E21 and E22 to fledge.
The cameras, calledthe SWFL Eagle Cam and installed by Dick Pritchett Real Estate at the Bayshore Road nest, documented the lives of the breeding eagle pair and were taken off-line after the 2022-2023 season for maintenance and repair.
McSpadden told WGCU that this year the website is live streaming in 4K mode, likely among the first such eagle cams to do so.
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