A Mother's Love

Ever since I first heard about this a week ago, I am strangely addicted. Maybe fascinated would be a better word?!

There are three baby eagles about to hatch any day now & they are capturing this live on the web. The Raptor Resource Project in Iowa has set up two cameras perched 80 feet high in a cottonwood tree where the mother eagle has her nest. They will provide live streaming of the nest through all three eggs hatching. The group says at such high resolution, viewers should be able to see cracks forming in the eggs before they hatch. They say the eggs are expected to hatch between March 30 and April 1 but as of this morning, the eggs are still intact.

If you watch the mama eagle for even a short bit of time, you will quickly see how strong a mother's love is for her babies. She is VERY protective. Any little sound she hears & she is looking all around to check out what it is & where it is coming from. She doesn't get up much, but when she does the cameras zoom in on the eggs so we can see if any progress is being made with the hatching. She is often seen using her beak to turn the eggs & to fluff up the nest & watching her settle in on top of the eggs is kind of comical. Takes her forever to get settled in!

If you are really lucky, you will see papa eagle come by & visit! He will relieve mama (which I got to see this morning) so she can find something to eat & he will perch on top of the eggs until she gets back. It's like watching the changing of the guards. It is a pretty awesome sight to see & they are such beautiful birds!

With the sound of nature all around, watching this live streaming is relaxing & somewhat hypnotizing. I am somewhat embarrassed to say it, but I probably check in on the mama eagle like 20 x's a day. It is pretty neat so if you got some time, check it out. I bet you keep coming back :)

http://www.kwch.com/kwch-watch-iowa-eagles-about-to-hatch-20110331,0,439272.htmlstory

*If you go to the page & find the live-streaming off air, please be sure to check back later!

UPDATE: as of 10am this morning there is one adorable little eagle baby that has hatched & I'm not ashamed to say I shed tears when I saw it! So stinkin' cute...