Southwest Florida Eagle Cam

It's nearly a certainty that E26 will be an only eaglet. The second egg is days past the 40-day benchmark for a successful hatch and the hope for a "Christmas Miracle" has come and gone like so much holiday gift wrapping. Breeding pair F23 and M15 can be seen on the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam as they continue to dutifully roll the egg. But it's probable that their ministrations will be for naught. They are also dutiful in their care and feeding of E26 with the fuzzy little chick continuing to thrive and grow.

If you've watched the goings on at the American bald eagle nest along Bayshore Road in North Fort Myers then you are one of more than 231 MILLION viewers of the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam over the years. And you are well aware that tragic and positive outcomes go hand-in-hand there.

Shortly before 7:30 p.m. Thursday night E26 popped into the world, freshly hatched and fully out of its shell.

The tiniest crack in one of the eggs laid in the North Fort Myers nest along Bayshore was reported early Wednesday by the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam web site

The eagle, cam, has landed!The Southwest Florida Eagle Cam's live streaming of the North Fort Myers nest area begins today -- the first official day of Florida’s bald eagle nesting season.

The death of both eaglets at the North Fort Myers nest along Bayshore Drive is being linked to H5N1 avian flu, an investigation by the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife has found.The eaglets, designated E24 and E25, started having seizures over the past few days. E24 died in the nest and E25 fell from the nest. Both remains were recovered by CROW.The avian flu diagnosis was announced at a press conference called by CROW officials Thursday morning to discuss the deaths.

A second egg has hatched successfully at the eagle nest along Bayshore Road in North Fort Myers.Designed as eaglet E25, the newborn chick joined its sibling E24 shortly before 6 a.m. Tuesday.The eaglets are the second chicks to hatch from mated pair F23 (short for Female 2023) and M15 (short for Male 2015).

An eaglet hatched at the active bald eagle nest along Bayshore Drive in North Fort Myers on Saturday afternoon with a second egg being watched.The official hatch time for the eaglet named E24 was 4:01 p.m.The new eaglet is the offspring of mated pair F23 (short for Female 2023) and M15 (short for Male 2015).A pip, or initial crack, was confirmed Sunday in the nest's second egg.

The popular North Fort Myers-sited live web cam, which has been keeping an eye on this specific nest for the past 13 seasons, has been watching the mated eagle pair preparing earlier than normal for their offspring.

This time last year the area was embroiled in a mystery of sorts — the vanishing of Harriet the eagle from the nest she shared with partner M15."WHERE'S HARRIET?" was the comment of the day at the start of February 2023. The question — never answered — left eagle nest watchers flummoxed, worried, and upset.