Hays bald eaglet takes first long flights

The babies have grown up. The youngest of two eaglets was taking long flights from the Pittsburgh Hays bald eagle nest Tuesday while its sibling is likely not too far behind.

On Saturday, the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania reported that an eaglet had a rather awkward first flight as its parents called to coax the bird to return to the nest, which it did on Monday.

CSE Corp., which operates a live webcam with Audubon, has been reporting on and focusing its camera on the two young birds which have recently seen branching — walking and taking short flappy flights along one of the main branches supporting the nest.

“We’ve had another successful year with two healthy eaglets,” Bill Powers, director of engineering for CSE Corp. said. “Again we know we have a healthy ecosystem in the Monongahela River valley to feed this eagle family.”

This is the eagle couples’ seventh year of nesting, successfully raising their 11th and 12th eaglets.

Since the weekend, photographers have been gathering along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail near Sandcastle water park in West Homestead for this hallowed event among local wildlife watchers. They vie to glimpse and capture the first flights of these young eagles, a sign of success of the parents riddled with suspense as the young birds can be clumsy honing their flight skills.

Viewers can continue to see the action live on the webcam or stop by the trail.

No matter where the young eaglets are perched, their parents will continue to feed them, according to Audubon. The family will likely continue to stay in the nest area for the next month or two until the young birds eventually leave to strike out on their own.