GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — The eagle (egg) has landed.
The Minnesota Nongame Wildlife Program, which is run by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, announced Wednesday that the first egg of the season was spotted on the DNR EagleCam.
The egg arrived around 12:30 p.m. and is visible on the live camera when the stream is timestamped just before 1:18 p.m. The female eagle spent the rest of the afternoon lying on the egg and at one point flew from the nest before returning several minutes later.
Eagles lay about one-to-three eggs per season beginning as early as January. The DNR says additional eggs will arrive over the next week, usually two or three days apart. Now that the pair has an egg, they'll take turns incubating it before it hatches in about 35 days. Eaglets begin to fly when they're about three months old, and approximately four weeks after they learn to fly, they'll leave the nest for good.
According to the DNR, last year the male eagle disappeared from the nest and is suspected to have died from the highly pathogenic avian flu. Over the summer, another male began visiting the area and was accepted by the female eagle.
The EagleCam has been streaming the trials and tribulations of Minnesota Bald Eagles since its first season in 2013. Updates on this season's egg progress will be shared on the Minnesota Nongame Wildlife Program Facebook page and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources social media channels.
Last year, the EagleCam eagles laid two eggs. Both hatched by late March, though one eaglet died after it was pushed from the nest by its sibling.
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