Such a joyous, heart warming, eggciting, and a relief it was to see that first egg for me and I am sure for all of you too. Harriet what a pro you are at this.... M15 just like you have done this for a long time.
While sitting at the nest this morning waiting for the sunrise and for the first shift change, the eggcitement was building. We were talking about how M15 hadn't seen the egg yet and how would he react. Well our question was soon answered. Harriet did her soft little vocals for M15 and he answered her back and dropped down into the nest. Harriet moved and M15 got his first look at the egg. I must say , he didn't seem too mistified by it but got right down to his duties as a Dad .. Oh I can say that now..Dad LOL
M15 curled his talons and lowered himself on to the egg, did his shimmy like if he had done it a thousand times before not his very first time. Instincts are a wonderful thing.
M15 adjusted himself a few times while Harriet was on the porch branch then settled right into Dad duties. Harriet still on the porch branch, vocalized to the world of the arrival of their first egg. Harriet then went to the OC tree and continued to vocalize the good news. Soon the starlings came and joined her on the OC tree signing their congrats to Harriet and M15. All's right with the world today. Such a peaceful way to start the morning.
Harriet preening and vocal at times. We could see M15 was looking around then would watch Harriet on the old cam tree.
Harriet turned around facing the nest tree and vocalized. Maybe she was checking on M15 or giving him instructions . lol Just kidding. Then she turns back around facing the NW....She does this a couple of times. Harriet now facing NW does some more preening and looking around. Then we see M15 get up vocalize back to Harriet and go up to the attic branch. Oh she must want him to come see her . Sure enough there he goes to join Harriet on the OCT. Well now we know what Harriet wanted...Time to make another egg. We have mating.
Yes Harriet we all saw that and the little birds did too. lol
Harriet leaves the OCT and flies back to the nest and her eggie. M15 stays just for a few minutes on the OCT then flies to the ground to gather up some fluff or a stick for the nest. He comes up with a little moss and a small stick and back to the nest he goes. With that placed off he goes to to a pine close to us and gets some moss and back to the nest. Off again and this time M15 gets a branch with a pine cone still on it .
With his nest building duties done ,M15 lays back down on the egg and Harriet goes up to the attic branch. Harriet leaves heading NW . M15 still on incubation duties. How about that.. Harriet left him in charge. See there's more of a bond between these two than most think there is. TRUST ! Yep they have it. They always did.
About an hour later, Harriet comes home and lands on the attic branch. M15 still on the egg. Harriet isn't in a hurry to sit on the egg so M15 joins her on the attic branch. M15 then flies down to the ground by cam 2 tree. He's gathering up some grass. I guess maybe his little butt went numb . I have been saying more fluff...lol M15 walks around the tree picks up some fluff in his beak then puts it back down. Nope not enough. M15 hops a bit more gathering up some more fluff, picks it up with his beak, nope still not enough . Then he grabs some in his talons and flies to over to another spot and starts gathering up more grass. Satisfied with what he has ,M15 tries to take off with it. Well it's so much that he had to stop a couple of times to adjust the load. Finally he gave up and left it and went to another tree ,on the ground around this tree M15 spots what looks like a branch. He pulls on it and it's not going anywhere. he found a root and it wasn't budging..lol
He quickly gives up on that and walks to one side of the trunk looking for something to take back to the nest. Not seeing anything to his liking he turns around and goes back the other way to the dead tree close to all of us. He looks back then preens a little bit then off he goes right over us. He was right over me and I couldn't get all of him in the picture.
Harriet sat watching M15 heading ESE. Again it was Harriet's time to incubate the egg....
What a wonderful start to M15 and Harriet's New Beginnings . This is their story now. Together they will continue on with their lives and raise a few Eaglets ..I hope. I love and miss Ozzie with all my heart and think of him every day but this is no longer about Ozzie and Harriet . It's about M15 and Harriet. To continue to bring Ozzie into their story , to me is disrespectful of M15 and Harriet. I may reference something from time to time such as "Oh Ozzie did this or just like Ozzie" but to say Ozzie has anything to do with this new relationship is just not right. M15 is an Eagle all his own . This is HIS story too !!
