FORT MYERS, Fla. — With the Southwest Florida eagle community patiently waiting and hoping for the return of Harriet who went missing back in February, M15 seems to be warming up to other eagles.
Diligent eagle cam watchers might remember the papa bird getting cozy with a female bird named R23-3, but this visitor is apparently a different woman.
In a tweet, leaders behind the eagle cam said M15 stayed at a nearby tree instead of his usual spot at the next on Thursday. He allegedly followed a female bird to the new location.
"Could it be a new interest?!" the tweet read in part.
This was reportedly the first time the eaglets were left alone and unguarded at night, with the exception of an owl strike.
E21 was perched on the rails sleeping while E22 was lying down in the nest. Without M15 sitting on the attic throughout the night, the baby eagles are more vulnerable to attacks that have been seen throughout this season.
"Hopefully the E's will be safe and M15 will be back to guarding them tomorrow night," Lady Hawk said in the caption of a video posted to YouTube.
The Southwest Florida Eagle Cam has been livestreaming this nest since 2012. Following some downtime after Hurricane Ian, the live look returned — and the eagles rebuilt their nest. Today, it uses four discreet cameras that monitor the birds around the clock.
For anyone wanting to watch highlights from the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam, you can find them here.
You can also check out the 24-hour live stream down below to keep an eye out for Harriet and see how the eaglets are doing:
