Bald Eagle - West Virginia / USFWS

[allikat]

Very very unfortunate....they just had so much bad luck with those two storms!  It was a record snowfall and the eagles just couldn't manage.

Thanks for that update Alison, I was on the site today but didn't see the update.

Let's all hope for a second clutch.....

[Alison]

An update on the eggs today; doesn't sound promising.  

Winter Update #3 - February 12, 2010

The winter weather has been a major hindrance for the successful nesting of our eagle pair this year. With snow amounts approaching or exceeding 40 inches in the last week, this has served to overwhelm our birds and quite likely result in the first three eggs being non-viable.

Here's a history of the eggs laid thus far:
  2/2 10:15pm--First egg laid  /  2/6 2:12pm--Second egg laid  /  2/9 6:00pm--Third egg laid.

Within hours of the second egg being laid, it became apparent that by their behavior that the eagles had lost their eggs in the deep snow that filled the nest.  A third egg was laid during the second storm on Feb. 9th, but the eagles have not been attentive to keeping the egg warm, and it seems likely that this clutch is no longer viable.  Time will tell if the eagles will lay more eggs. The odds are typically 50/50 for a second clutch. With this problem happening early this year, we are hoping that there will be additional eggs produced.

[Alison]

I'm not sure what the situation is with these eggs, but the eagles have been spending more time incubating today.

[allikat]

There has been some stories about this nest... Friends of Blackwater site posted,

As some of you may have heard, it looks like the NCTC Eagle Cam in West Virginia (at the National Conservation Training Center) is going to lose all their eggs. We hear the pair laid a second egg during the last snow storm and then laid a third egg during this storm, but they’ve been on and off the egg(s), so it doesn’t look good. As bad as our storms have been — and we have officially set a record in the Washington, DC area for the most snow recorded in a single season — the West Virginia folks have gotten it even worse, so we express our sympathy for the WV fans, as they’ve had rotten luck this year.

Some cam watchers have asked if more eggs could be laid — like after the snow melts a bit. It’s possible for a couple to lay a second clutch if their first clutch was lost early in the season, but we have to keep in mind that laying eggs is a drain on the female’s body, and she can only lay so many in a season. So after three eggs, there might not be more than one or two that the female could lay — at the most. But it is possible.

[Alison]

This webcam is actually the cam for the West Virginia eagles. It does seem that this pair may have lost their eggs. They laid three eggs, but apparently have been spending time off the eggs. Today they have been incubating off and on. They have had so much snow to deal with.

[allikat]

I have been watching some eagle cams...some of them are not doing well.  Mother Nature has decided to be nasty and dump "A LOT" of snow.  Think happy thoughts for these early egg laying raptors....  here are some links:

http://www.outdoorchannel.com/Conservation/EagleCam.aspx

The above site may have lots their eggs again.....there was a massive snow storm here a week ago that dumped over a foot of snow, they had laid one egg, then the storm came, the female laid another egg in the snow.... and now they have had to endure yet another massive snow storm.  There have been reports that the female laid another egg before this second storm hit.  I do not know if they had time to rebuild their egg cup.  Truly sad!


From TPC:  moved to a new thread - thanks Allikat!