Hatchimals step aside, thousands are getting a glimpse at the first signs of hatching from the nest of famous SWFL bald eagles Harriet and M-15.
An eagle cam over their nest in North Fort Myers revealed a small crack in one of the two eggs the winged-parents have been incubating since November.
"You're so afraid to take your eyes off of it; afraid you're going to miss something," said Nancy Burnett. She has been following the eagles online on the Dick Pritchett Real Estate's eagle cam, but had not seen the nest in-person until Thursday.
"I love eagles, I just love eagles," said Bob Burnett, Nancy's husband who was also seeing the nest in-person for the first time.
Like thousands of others, the couple has been anticipating the arrival of the bald eagles hatchlings for days. The crack spotted in one of the eggs Thursday was the first signs of movement from the young eaglets.
The crack, known as a pip, is an indication he or she will make its debut in the nest 3 to 4 days.
The eagle came was launched in October of 2012, and at that time, over 16 million viewers watched Eagles Harriet and Ozzie raise their two eaglets.
Ozzie and Harriet continued to expand their family in the fall each year and the video camera was there to capture it all. In March of 2015, Ozzie was found by the FWC and taken to a clinic for rehabilitation after he showed signs of disorientation and injury. He was treated for 97 days and released back into the wild near the nest.
Ozzie was seen near the nest on Saturday, September 19 of 2015 and on September 27 he got into a fight with another male eagle in the area. Ozzie was injured and passed away two days later.
That's when M15 came into the picture. Harriett and M15 (male 2015) bonded in October in 2015 and Harriett laid two eggs which successfully hatched.
Now the pair are looking over two new eggs laid on November 22nd and 25th. Bald eagles have a 35-day incubation period, so we could see hatchings any day now.
