Back in action: Eagles lay eggs in St. Pat's nest after an off year

SOUTH BEND — They went last year without hatching any young American bald eagles. But in the past week the eagles in the nest at St. Patrick’s County Park have laid at least two eggs.

Eagles can typically lay up to three eggs, as they did in 2022, all of which hatched. So, there’s still a chance for a third egg to appear, if it hasn’t already by the time you read this story.

The egg count remained at two as of Friday morning. The season’s first egg was laid on Jan. 24, as shown in the University of Notre Dame’s live Eagle Cam, which views the nest from directly overhead. The second egg emerged on Feb. 27.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uclSpDuKo8E

Last year was the first time the nest lacked an egg since eaglets started hatching there in 2015. A new female paired up with the resident male eagle last year. And the female who’d tended the nest for a few years didn’t return, apparently missing.

Last year's folly: Female missing in eagle nest. New one appears. And it's time to lay eggs.

Egg laying and incubating marks a particularly sensitive time in and around the nest — a critical time for park visitors to keep their distance. Federal laws set protective measures during this time.

Visitors must stay at least 300 feet from the nest through the spring. They can visit Notre Dame's viewing platform to look at the nest through binoculars but can't go any further beyond the ropes there, park officials have said. The pavilion can be reached via the grassy trail that extends east of the park gate along Laurel Road. But visitors shouldn't venture east from Laurel Road anywhere south of there.

Feb. 8, 2024: Lead shot confirmed in gut of poisoned eagle from Potato Creek that died

Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Bald eagles lay eggs in nest at St. Patrick's County Park in South Bend