It doesn’t take much to bring out the cadre of wildlife photographers who faithfully follow the whereabouts and activities of the region’s bald eagles.
After more than a week of watchers and photographers trying to get a peek of the eaglet in the Harmar nest, Fox Chapel’s Gina Gilmore managed to capture a photo of one of the parents feeding the youngster Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Gilmore shot photos and a video of the eagles in the nest likely tending to one or more eaglets, but without a sign of a youngster.
Over the years, biologists studying bald eagles without the benefit of a webcam have relied on parental behavior such as feeding to confirm hatchlings and catch glimpses of them.
The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania confirmed the nesting after seeing Gilmore’s photograph Wednesday.
“We’re grateful to the spotters and photographers who have been sending updates and sharing their observations (and now images of an eaglet) from Harmar!” the nonprofit posted on its Facebook page, Bald Eagles in Western Pennsylvania.
A group of watchers also chronicles the eagles on its own Facebook group, Harmar Bald Eagles of Pittsburgh.
The chick is the Harmar pair’s eighth eaglet in six years of nesting on the same steep bluff above Route 28 and the Allegheny River.
It won’t be known if there are more eaglets at the nest until the birds grow older and larger.
A pair of bald eagles in Pittsburgh’s Hays neighborhood can be viewed live on a webcam sponsored by CSE Corp. of Murrysville and Audubon.
