Dear tweetsters,

Just now (12:30-13:15) checked on the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
nest in Lower Woodland Park, adjacent to Green Lake (Seattle) and found the
male hunkered down in the nest. He once got up and rearranged "something"
down below in the nest and settled down again with the typical sideways
wiggling movements of a bird settling on top of an egg.

David Williams (privately) reported seeing similar behavior this past
Monday, but as I reported yesterday, I did not see anyone hunkered down
before. Since my visit yesterday was well over 20 minutes (the maximum time
we've found the Discovery Park eagles leaving eggs unattended), I assume
there was no egg yesterday early afternoon.

There still is the chance that we are witnessing "pseudo-incubation" where
the birds go through all the appropriate movements, without the presence of
eggs. Only time will tell. I'm marking my calendar April 22-27 (35-40 days
of incubation); that's when I expect to see the adults start bringing food
to the nest and ripping small pieces off, proffering them to "something"
down low in the nest. It's usually 2 weeks before the young poke their heads
over the rim.

The best place to observe from (I find) is 2/3 of the way up the steps of
the Aqua Theater, using a scope, looking just right of the evergreen in the
foreground (looking west). You also get a good view of the airspace and can
watch the birds fly in and out. With binoculars it will be harder to see the
incubating bird from here, but from inside Lower Woodland Park it is
completely impossible without a scope (due to the nest rim being higher on
the west side and your position closer and more below the nest).

Cheers,
Martin Muller, Seattle
MartinMuller at email.msn.com