White-tailed eagle pair expecting offspring

The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), also known as the sea eagle or white-tailed sea-eagle, can be found in the coastal areas of Finland and in Lapland.
      In late winter some white-tailed eagles chose the nest of ospreys (also known as the sea hawk) as their home in Nauvo in the province of Western Finland.
     
The events in the nest are being watched by a webcam, and the first egg is expected to be laid in a couple of days. If all goes well, this would be the first time in Finland when white-tailed eagles produce eggs in front of the camera.
      Another exciting development is to be expected in the near future, when the original owners of the nest, the ospreys, come back and discover that the white-tailed eagles have invaded their home during the winter.
      In previous years the ospreys have returned to their nest during the second week of April.
      As a rule, the white-tailed eagles can be seen in the nest every day.
      ”Sometimes it appears likely that they are mating, while sometimes they do not seem to do anything”, says project manager Päivi Simi from Saaristomeri.info, a webpage offering information about the Archipelago Sea. Saaristomeri.info is a project of the Turku University of Applied Sciences.
      ”Carrying in twigs, the sea eagles have been redecorating the nest in the course of the spring”, Simi notes.
     
Migrating ospreys have already been spotted in the Gulf of Finland, Simi reports further. However, there is also a risk that the original owners of the nest have been lost in transit.
      Already last year sea eagles were also seen moving around the nest in Nauvo in early spring.
      ”But when the ospreys arrived, they chased the sea eagles out of the nest and started their own nesting quite normally. As the original owners, the ospreys sure have a strong position here”, Simi notes.
      ”However, this is the second spring in a row and the white-tailed eagles have built the nest a lot more this time around. It could well turn into a real turf war. Hopefully either one of the couples will get their nesting started”, Simi hopes.
      Around 5,000 people have come to the online site to see the nesting of the white-tailed eagles since winter.
     
The nesting of the white-tailed sea-eagles can be observed on a webcam on the address given below.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Hopes that white-tailed eagle pair´s nesting can be caught on camera (11.2.2009)

Links:
  Osprey (Wikipedia)
  White-tailed Eagle (Wikipedia)
  Osprey webcam, Nauvo (click on the image)