SWFL Eagles 9-20-26. M15 Visits the Nest Tree Twice; Gets Sips & Wades at the Pond!

Video opens with M15 arriving at the pond for an early evening visit. He gets sips, and wades into the water. We can see M15 has a nice full crop. He watches the area for several minutes as he stands in the pond. Closer view (02:40). M15 cleans his beak in the water (03:40), then flies to the nest tree (04:15). He perches for fifty minutes, then leaves for the evening. Next up is a commercial break (05:36)! Missy makes a big splash jumping into the pond for a quick dip. The last segment of the video (05:58) is M15's visit from just before noon today. He flies from the pond to the nest tree, and CamOps provides closer views (06:15) of M15 in the nest tree. M15 heads NW after perching for about seventy minutes in his nest tree. The female that has been spotted with M15 has not yet received a number/name. That will be determined by the Pritchett family and the SWFL Eagle Cam Team. The female was not in the pasture with him today. ➡️ About the nest tree: Each season, there are concerns from viewers about shade in this tree. Here is some helpful information: The nest tree is a slash pine that has weathered many storms and hurricanes, losing some branches along the way, as happens to many trees here during storms/hurricanes. The eagles choose their nest location. What about canopy? Canopy is apparently more of a concern to us than it is to eagles. While we would like them all to have beautiful trees with shade available, that is not always what the eagles choose. The adults can and do provide some shade for eaglets. Some eagles nest in trees without shade, on manmade structures without shade, snags without shade, and on cliffs/tors/etc. without shade (Channel Islands has nests without canopy or branches, as an example). I am local here in SWFL, and visit a number of local nests, some without canopy/shade. The nests I visit without canopy are as successful as the nests with more cover/shade. Hope that helps. At this time, the pond camera is the only cam streaming, no audio. Link: https://www.youtube.com/live/Wnma2wKs... SWFL Eagle Cam official Facebook page:   / southwestfloridaeaglecam   The FB page is public; you do not need a FB account to view the page. The official website is currently offline. Video courtesy of SWFL Eagle Cam and Dick Pritchett Real Estate, Inc.