Eagles vs. the elements

Posted 8/21/12

The vernal equinox has arrived in the region, along with some subtle hints that winter is on its way out; temperatures in the 50s have occurred, but are still getting into the teens at night. March …

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Eagles vs. the elements

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The vernal equinox has arrived in the region, along with some subtle hints that winter is on its way out; temperatures in the 50s have occurred, but are still getting into the teens at night. March can bring all kinds of weather, mild one day and a blizzard the next.

For breeding bald eagles in the region, the possible harsh weather of March is a necessary evil. It takes 12 to 14 weeks for the adult pair to raise a newly hatched eaglet the size of a fist to a 12-pound immature eagle that is ready to fledge. Eagles must start reproduction early in spring to afford their offspring enough time to learn how to take care of themselves after fledge and before they are on their own.

This spring is showing a trend in our area of bald eagle pairs starting incubation an average of two weeks later than normal for a sampling of Delaware River nests, possibly due to the many bitter cold days during late winter and increased ice coverage on rivers and lakes. To our south, eagles start incubating earlier, averaging around three weeks earlier for southern portions of Pennsylvania.

This year, the southern eagles experienced some hardship due to a snow storm on the fifth of March. While it just grazed our region, it dumped several inches on areas of southern Pennsulvania. The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) has sponsored a nest cam at a bald eagle nest at Hanover, and this nest cam showed an incubating adult almost buried by snow as it sat on a pair of eggs. Thankfully, the adults were successful, as there are now two newly hatched eaglets at the nest. You can watch these eagles and their young at the PGC portal at this tinyurl: tinyurl.com/merspua.

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