The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources believes that the nest fell to the ground due to the weight of snow during a blizzard on April 1.
During a Minnesota winter with numerous snowstorms, a bald eagle gained notoriety for protecting her eggs, but she has since lost her sole survivor offspring.
Following a season of intense vigilance on her nest. A brave act was recorded on the Eagle Cam of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The mother and her partner greeted a young eagle. The organization stated that the baby bird had hatched on March 26 and would be “one well cared for eaglet” in a report on March 27.
Sadly, according to a recent announcement on the DNR’s website, the bald eagle family’s nest at Eagle Cam, which was previously reported to have fallen, was home to the family. After several hours of looking, DNR personnel who had gone to the location to look for the chick discovered its demise.
The agency acknowledged that it did not know what caused the nest to fall, but it speculated that it might have been the blizzard on April 1 that dropped snow on the branch carrying the nest. The DNR added that other dead tree limbs were lying on the ground nearby the nest’s fall and that the branch holding the nest was already dead when it was discovered.
MINNESOTA NONGAME WILDLIFE PROGRAM / FACEBOOK
“This is an emotional time for all of us, but please refrain from visiting the nest,” the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wrote on Facebook. “This was already a major disturbance for the eagles, and many visitors will only cause more stress.”
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources posted a time-lapse video of a female bald eagle tending to her eggs as snow accumulated around her YouTube last month. This video was the first to bring attention to the bald eagle family. Only the mother bird’s head can be seen in one picture as she sits on her nest and is partially obscured by snow. Over 42,000 people have seen the video.
Throughout the winter, the female bird laid two eggs, one of which broke on February 21, and the other underwent incubation and hatched on March 26. The agency’s Eagle Cam captured the chick’s emergence.
MINNESOTA NONGAME WILDLIFE PROGRAM / FACEBOOK
Even with a backup nest, the DNR stated that the female bald eagle was “unlikely” to lay another egg this year because “Minnesota’s nesting season is simply too short for her to incubate another egg.” Another nest’s reconstruction, according to the agency, would take “weeks.”
The organization reported that following the fall of the nest, the bald eagle’s parents could be seen flying close to the nest’s location. The birds are “loyal to their territory,” according to the DNR. Thus it was expected that the pair would rebuild a nest close to the original location.
MINNESOTA NONGAME WILDLIFE PROGRAM / FACEBOOK
“We appreciate the amazing community and support of all the EagleCam viewers out there,” the agency said. “Rest assured, we feel this with you and are committed to the EagleCam. It will return with a new nest in a new location or the same area. For this year, however, the chick season has sadly ended.”
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