Egg watch is on for the Harmar bald eagles

Egg-ticipation is in full swing at the Harmar bald eagle nest, although there is no webcam to confirm the details.

The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania is expected to confirm any day that the eagles have at least one egg based upon their behavior at the nest.

This is the pair’s sixth year nesting on the same bluff above Route 28 in Harmar.

The formerly endangered raptors, often soaring over the highway, the Hulton Bridge and the Allegheny River, built a new nest not far from their old nest on a hillside above the highway.

Their old nest fell, presumably during a storm, from a huge sycamore tree, where a webcam is mounted. Without a camera at the new nest site, though, the details of the birds’ nesting activity are observed from the ground.

Without the benefit of a webcam, researchers for years have relied on certain behaviors to confirm the laying of eggs, nesting and the feeding of young.

Bird watchers and photographers are monitoring the Harmar eagles, said Rachel Handel, Audubon Society spokeswoman. They’re waiting to see if the birds stay in the nest for at least 24 hours, with the male and female alternating nest duty, Handel said.

Eagles typically lay one to three eggs, which take 35 days to hatch. Both parents will incubate the eggs continuously.

Last year, the Harmar couple produced two young eagles, which delighted bird watchers as they learned to fly, often landing on the rock cliffs along Route 28.