Eagle Cam's 'Mom' Killed by Airplane

By WYDaily Staff Tuesday, April 26, 2011

An adult bald eagle was struck and killed this morning by an incoming airplane at Norfolk International Airport. Biologists who monitor the Norfolk Botanical Garden eagle nest, which was made popular by an eagle camera trained on the nesting pair and their three-strong brood, say the eagle struck was the female of the Garden's nesting pair.

A moderated message board on the eagle camera website (click here for the live stream video of the nest) said the three eaglets in the next were last fed around 8 a.m. by the female. By 6:45 p.m. worried messages turned jubilant, as a moderator confirmed that what people thought they saw on the nest - the male eagle returning with a fish - was true.

The moderator also posted this statement, from Stephen Living, a Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologist, and Reese Lukei, a research associate with the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary: “We are fairly certain that this is the Norfolk Botanical Garden female eagle due to her physical characteristics, size and the fact that she has not been seen at the nest since the strike.”

The moderator said biologists with the VDGIF, CCB and the Botanical Garden staff "will continue to monitor the nest and are working to ensure the health of the eaglets." The nest is located near Norfolk International Airport and Lake Whitehurst, on the grounds of the Norfolk Botanical Garden.

Thanks to the WVEC eagle cam, the Norfolk Botanical Garden pair have developed a strong following of watchers keen to know the daily lives of an eagle family. The message board buzzed this afternoon with commentary from devoted eagle cam watchers, worrying that the male eagle will not return to the nest, praying for the eaglets' survival and finally celebrating the male's return.

The first egg hatched March 13, with the second hatching on March 15 and the third on the 17th. According to the Norfolk Botanical Garden website's frequently asked questions about the eaglets, the bald eagle mother is about 14 years old. The VDGIF had been tracking the pair for some time. The pair had produced 19 eaglets, including the three hatched this year.