Southwest Florida Ft. Myers: November 2019 ~ October 2020

SWINWK · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:41 am **Posts:** 12734

For now M15 is on the nest and Harriet is on the outer attic. I am sure this will change as the night wears on. Last night after M15's failed plea for Harriet to take over egg duty earlier in the evening, he got off the eggs at 2:35 in the morning and eventually made his way with vocals to the branch directly under her and forced her hand!! :teehee:

Harriet left the outer attic and went to the eggs at 2:40!

Edit to add: Nest exchange for tonight turned out to be at 1:36 am.

gigi · **Posted:** Wed Mar 25, 2020 4:06 am

SWINWK · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:41 am **Posts:** 12734

At 10:52 M15 got off the eggs and went to the veranda, while Harriet was on the outer attic. He was very vocal at 10:53 and went up to the attic in the next minute. Finally at 10:59 Harriet went down to the eggs. M15 has since moved to the branch under the outer attic.

SWINWK · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:41 am **Posts:** 12734

Harriet is not on cam. The mod said she flew west at nightfall. M15 is on the nest.

Harriet flew in to the outer attic at 00:16. M15 left the eggs and made his way to the branch under her at 00:36. Harriet flew down to the eggs a minute later.

SWINWK · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:41 am **Posts:** 12734

Harriet is on the nest and M15 is on the branch below the outer attic. Wonder if this has meaning for Harriet?

SWINWK · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:41 am **Posts:** 12734

Harriet is on the nest and M15 is on the right branch tonight. We are on pip watch here. Today was day 35 as of 14:05:36 pm since 1st egg laid of 2nd clutch. One of the admin reported on chat today, the average time for hatch after the 1st egg here is 36.9 days and 35.6 days for the 2nd egg.

loza · **Posted:** Sun Mar 29, 2020 1:25 am

SWFL Eagle

3.28.20 16.11 PIP WATCH BEGINS! Harriet Listening To Eggs!

M15 Bath & Ducklings Swimming w/ Mom

We are officially on pip watch today!! We now will be watching carefully to see the first little pip or crack in the eggshell signifying a hatch is underway. Harriet is standing over the eggs preening and looks down at them - probably hearing some soft chirps or seeing movement in the eggs.

At the pond, Mom Muscovery is seen with five ducklings at 5:00 as we see them swimming with her. But two hours later at 8:05, only three ducklings remain with her sadly :(

M is seen on the snag tree and he flies over to the pond and takes a bath! He really gets into it splashing around! He flaps to the pond bank and then takes off and flies to the pasture snag to dry his wings.

As the sun is setting, we see Mom Muscovy at the pond with three ducklings still at 16:55. M will fly to the nest and take over incubation of the eggs. He gets up and looks at them before rolling them. Perhaps tomorrow we will see a pip! Thank you for watching!

Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk

SWINWK · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:41 am **Posts:** 12734

From Mod: On the nest:M15

WE HAVE A PIP!!! First view at 7:15am 3-29-20 Clear view at 7:55am

:dancingegg:

gigi · **Posted:** Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:43 am

SWINWK · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:41 am **Posts:** 12734

Great zoom view at 9:33, pip has progressed and you can see beak now!! :7val:

SWINWK · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:41 am **Posts:** 12734

M15 has started providing food for his family. He brought in a large bone earlier with tiny bits of meat clinging to it! Close-up view at 10:49.

SWINWK · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:41 am **Posts:** 12734

Latest great zoom of beak and activity is 11:30-11:33!! And more at 12:24!!

SWINWK · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:41 am **Posts:** 12734

Oh, oh!! Just saw this posted from mod/admin at 12:34 nest time:

Essec09 (Admin): Update: There does appear to be blood in the area of the pip - inside the egg and nesting material close to the pip. The camera owners have been notified.

SWINWK · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:41 am **Posts:** 12734

Just found at 12:30-12:31 where they are seeing blood as reported above ...

loza · **Posted:** Sun Mar 29, 2020 12:08 pm

12.33 pm Hatching in progres

SWINWK · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:41 am **Posts:** 12734

Don't know how this will work out, but it is still active and appears strong!! Newest activity has been going on last few minutes.

SWINWK · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:41 am **Posts:** 12734

Just saw beak again, appears active and strong!

Jane · **Posted:** Sun Mar 29, 2020 4:17 pm

I am watching cautiously. It is really HOT in Ft. Myers.

SWINWK · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:41 am **Posts:** 12734

It is hot, Jane. And will be even hotter soon. Worried about the lack of shade here since the mod sometime back mentioned the nest tree does not have the canopy it used to. I guess from storm damage. But hoping for the best outcome here. Admin is saying the pip is progressing and no further blood seen. This is what they published to address possible reason for the blood seen earlier and to educate on the hatching process:

Essec09 (Admin): Afternoon all. We have all been able to observe the miracle of nature while watching the hatching on SWFEC. Throughout the night the eaglet has been going through the hard process of hatching. We were able to see the first view of a pip at 7:15:48 this morning. At around 12:20pm we observed some blood in the egg around the pip area.

While we are not sure what has caused this blood we can share some information regarding the hatch. During the hatch process the chick has to switch its respiration and blood circulation. After it breaks the shell it absorbs the rest of the yolk and the blood vessels.

Blood vessels that haven't dried up yet may still attach the shell to the chick, and prematurely pulling of the shell can cause excessive bleeding. We usually do see some sign of blood inside of the egg shell after the hatch.

But I think most of us have never seen this much blood during a hatch - so it is understandable we all have questions. We can only hope that all will go well for this eaglet during the hatching process. But we would be remiss if we didn’t remind everyone that not all eaglets survive the hatch.

This information on hatching comes from from Nick Fox (Understanding the Bird of Prey, 1995) on hatching:

"About 72 hours before hatching, the egg starts an ordered sequence of events which are critical. The chick must progress from allantoic respiration to lung breathing, retract its yolk sac and hatch.

[The allantois is part of the membrane surround the embryo -- it is the mechanism of the exchange of oxygen in and carbon dioxide out until the chick's lungs begin to function just before hatch, and it collects metabolic wastes that are discarded after hatch.]

"At the time when the air cell is beginning the 'draw down' the complexis hatching muscle at the nape of the chick's neck becomes swollen with lymph and twitches spasmodically. The twitching movement extends throughout the whole body of the chick causing it to straighten briefly.

These unbending movements press the chick tight against the eggshell and force the beak upwards. On the upper ridge of the beak is the small egg tooth which eventually penetrates the inner shell membrane into the air cell. Once the beak is into the air cell, the chick is able to start breathing air into its lungs although it is still dependent on allantoic gas exchange. With its lungs in operation it is able to cheep and this is a sure sign that breathing has started.

"With continuous rebreathing, the air in the air cell becomes high in carbon dioxide and this stimulates the hatching muscle to further activity. With more faint tapping and pressure from the chick, the shell wall gives way and a slight lifting of a fragment of shell becomes visible. This is called 'starring.'

This allows a small amount of fresh air into the air space and the chick usually becomes quiet for some hours. Working sporadically, the chick then begins to break up an area around the pip and also splits the air cell membrane much further so that, on candling, it can be seen to occupy most of the air cell and is much looser inside the shell. Gradually the chick enlarges an opening and the beak and egg tooth come into view.

"The chick may rest at this point for a further twenty-four hours. During this time the lungs and airsac system are becoming fully functional and gradually take over total responsibility for gas exchange. The blood circulation in the allantois slowly shuts down.

"Once the allantois has shut down, the chick starts to rotate inside the shell. Within about fifteen minutes the chick circles about half to two-thirds around the egg, industriously cutting out the shell as it goes. Soon it is able to push up the cap with its shoulders and kick itself free of the shell, leaving the membranes and excreted uric acid waste behind.

The allantoic blood vessels quickly fall away from the navel. By one or two days after hatching the hatching muscle has reduced in size and is no longer swollen with lymph. The total time from pip to hatch in birds of prey varies considerably from about 30-70 hours but is usually complete within 50 hours."

We hope you find this information useful as to the complex hatching process. A number of viewers have asked why the adults don't help the chick to hatch - this explains it well. Every part of the process has a time frame to complete. It is very necessary to a successful hatch. We all hope that the eaglet working to hatch today will be succesful.

gigi · **Posted:** Sun Mar 29, 2020 8:04 pm

Thank you!

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