Mama lays her first egg! (At 6:06 p.m.)

Welcome to the 2023/2024 Bald Eagle Season!
It is December 2023 and the eagles are back for their eighth season in this nest. The pair has begun repairing and rebuilding the nest. You will see them come and go with branches, twigs, grass, moss, and other nest material as they complete their “nestorations”! Mating has also begun and will continue until eggs are laid, usually mid-February. Once the female has laid her eggs, one of the adults will be on the nest incubating at all times. The female does most of the brooding, but the male can take a turn, too (if she lets him!).
FOLFAN’s GoFundMe campaign, which we launched in October, successfully raised enough money for us to purchase a new camera with a parabolic microphone. A big thank you to our generous donors!! The footage you see here is from the new camera which was installed on December 16th. Next up, we will do a little trimming of the pesky palm frond you see. After that we will have an exceptional view of the nest! You likely won’t hear much from the mic, which is carefully trained on the nest, until we have hatchlings. The adults may verbalize to each other if one of them senses a threat while incubating the eggs.
The money raised also allowed us to initiate our partnership with the American Eagle Foundation (AEF) for the operation of the camera and the facilitation of live chats. In January, AEF will build a website specifically for this nest camera, from which you will be able to access chat sessions and have links to other nest cameras. Once the web site is complete, we will post the URL here so that you can continue to access live footage.
For now, we are keeping the GoFundMe Campaign open as we still have a couple high resolution tablets on our wish list! gofund.me/a312...
Please share this link with family, friends, and co-workers!
As with all wildlife viewing, one of the greatest challenges is how to get close enough to view it without disturbing it. We hope this live video feed provides our viewers with an opportunity to observe and learn about these majestic birds while protecting them from disturbance.
To protect these eagles, we are not disclosing the exact location of the nest. However, many visitors know of the location and will visit in person. FOLFAN asks that if you do visit, please minimize noise, stay a safe distance away, and use binoculars, a spotting scope, or a camera with a telephoto lens to safely view the eagles without disturbance.
When telling family and friends about the eagles, please consider sharing this camera feed with them rather than sharing the location of the nest.
As awesome as it is to see the eagles up close with the nest camera, nature can sometimes be difficult to watch and the eagles’ role in nature can take a course that may seem strange or alarming to humans. This camera feed will not be edited for content.
Please also be aware that if something happens to the eagles, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will not allow interference with the natural course of events at the eagle nest.
For more information about Bald Eagles, use this link:
www.folfan.org/....
Bald Eagles are protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. These laws prohibit anyone from harming or disturbing the eagles or their nests. To report criminal behavior toward wildlife to the appropriate authorities, call:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 844-397-8477
California Department of Fish and Wildlife at 888-334-2258
Let’s all do everything we can to ensure these eagles keep returning to this nest for many years to come!