With Harriet missing, mate and eaglets making do
It’s been more than a week since Southwest Florida’s most popular eagle matriarch, Harriet, went missing.
Ground searches have thus far been unsuccessful and the longer she is missing, the more likely the outcome won’t be a good one for those who follow the happenings in and around the nest off Bayshore Road in North Fort Myers on the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam.
Meanwhile, M15 is alone to care for the eaglets, who are now about five weeks old and close to halfway before they fledge.
The situation has brought all sorts of other eagles to the area to scope out territory of their own, sometimes even showing up at the nest tree.
This is interaction new to the eagle cam.
Ginnie McSpadden, one of the founders of the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam, said she doesn’t know how to answer the big question: Is it possible Harriet will come back?
That said, the length of time she has been gone is not good.
“All signs point to that she is not going to return and our new normal is going to have to be seeing how M15 does with keeping these eaglets alive,” McSpadden said.
So far, that, at least, is going well. M15 has gone above and beyond to keep the babies alive, having learned an awful lot from Harriet as he is a lot younger than his mate.
“His natural instinct is so strong. I’m so impressed and wowed by nature because under the circumstances it’s amazing to see what a great job he’s doing,” McSpadden said.
The eaglets have had quite the rivalry, with E21 at times brutally bullying E22 into submission. There is always some sibling rivalry, especially in the first week or so.
“Sibling rivalry will increase if there is additional hunger. M15 has been Dad of the Year because he’s bringing in so much food and putting himself in between the two to give them equal chances to eat,” McSpadden said. “I am in awe. He has to be dealing with so much.”
What happens from here is anyone’s guess. The odds don’t appear to be in favor of two successful fledges with a single mate, but that is an unknown. Since M15 has to hunt for food, the eaglets are often left alone.
Intruders have begun to arrive at the nest, as they sense the vulnerability since Harriet is gone, and are already trying to overtake the nest and, it appears, bond with M15.
“I don’t know what will happen but it will be a definite learning experience for not only us and our viewers, but for eagle experts and wildlife officials,” McSpadden said.
Eagles have been known to kill the young or throw them out of the nest when they take over a nest. If that happens CROW will be on call in the event the eaglets are injured in the fall and intervene.
Whatever happens in the nest at that time, McSpadden said that viewer discretion is advised, because the Eagle Cam brings nature at its best and sometimes the worst. Eaglets have died and even been eaten for food.
“If they can’t handle it or it gets too upsetting, turn it off and walk away. We said that a while ago when eaglets passed away,” McSpadden said.
Harriet began appearing in the area around 2003 with her then-mate Ozzie. They came to the Pritchett farm in 2006, where she has remained ever since. M15 arrived in 2015, when Ozzie died. McSpadden believes that Harriet is around 30 years old, which is the typical lifespan of an eagle.
“I never imagined this day would come because she’s been a staple with this project and in our lives for so long that she wouldn’t be around,” McSpadden said.
For more information, or to view the nest live 24/7, visit dichpritchettrealestate.com.
To reach CHUCK BALLARO, please email news@breezenewspapers.com