Eaglet E26 ‘branches,’ one step closer to fledge
Southwest Florida Eagle Cam star E26 reached a major milestone Thursday — the 10-week-old eagle “branched,” a prelude to flying.
The bird made its first trip out of the nest, albeit a very short one.
Ginnie Pritchett-McSpadden, co-founder of the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam, said watching it was an amazing experience.
“It looked up from the nest at the branch a couple times circled around and just did it,” Pritchett McSpadden said. “It was pretty fun to watch and something we were expecting the last couple days.
E26, the sole memebr of the latest brood of mated pair M15 & F23, is expected to fledge from its nest on the Pritchett property on Bayshore Road before too long. It takes 12 to 13 weeks for the eaglet to fledge on average, meaning it should be about two or three weeks before E26 takes its first flight.
Pritchett-McSpadden said the eaglet is right on track for development, adding the fact it is an only chick as a reason for its tremendous health at this point.
“Just from the size you can see how healthy E26 is. It’s showing great signs of strength and coordination and winging correctly,” Pritchett-McSpadden said. “Having the undivided attention of both adults has helped it.”
Due to the location of the nest (on a pine tree with few branches on top) there aren’t a lot of places for E26 to branch further, Pritchett McSpadden said. The hope is that E26 takes more agile jumps from branch to branch.
“We hope the eaglet will fledge when the time is right,” Pritchett-McSpadden said.
Once the eaglet fledges, it will stay around the nest for a while, continue to be fed by mom and dad as it improves its flight and landing skills.
“They’ll stick around as long as they’re comfortable. One day when they’re independent enough, they’ll take the leap into leading a life of its own,” Pritchett McSpadden said.
The fact it has been an uneventful nesting season is a good thing, Pritchett-McSpadden said, considering last year when both eaglets died six weeks into life.
“After everything that happened last year, just being able to watch a healthy eaglet reach this point is something we’re grateful about,” Pritchett-McSpadden said. “It’s just great to see this year after year.”