Getting close to bald eagle hatching!

Volunteers at the Raptor Resource Project say they anticipate that the first of this year's three eagle eggs could hatch by Thursday.

Eagle eggs take from 35 to 39 days to hatch.  This year's first egg was laid at 4:55 p.m. on February 23rd, with the second one laid at 5:33 p.m. February 26th and the third one laid March 2nd at 6:43 p.m.

Once a hole has been created by the hatching eaglet it can take from 12 to 24 hours before the eaglet comes out of the shell.

The big question with this year's hatch will be whether February's bitterly cold weather had any impact on the eggs.  Raptor Resource Project volunteers say the cold temperatures could delay the egg hatches.  They're hoping that the embryos were not killed by the cold and all three eggs will hatch.

On Tuesday afternoon, both the male and female adult eagles were at the nest.  You can get a live look at the bald eagle's nest at http://www.farmyou.com/falcon_cams/index.html

(Have you just seen the first egg hatch?  e-mail decorahnews.com at news@decorahnews.com)