ANCHORAGE, ALASKA -- Two bald eagles watching over a pair of eggs in their Alaska nest could be joined by an audience of online viewers who are also eager to see the chicks hatch.
The live camera feed called Kenai Eagle Cam is part of the City of Kenai's YouTube channel, which is available on the city's website, The Anchorage Daily News reported Saturday.
The eagle cam, a partnership between the city and the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center, went live in 2017 and was also running in 2018. The video feed's first summer online attracted millions of views.
The eggs produced by eagles named Aurora and Redoubt are expected to hatch between May 28 and June 2, city spokeswoman Christine Cunningham said.
Aurora laid her first egg on April 22 and a second on April 25. Incubation typically lasts about 35 days.
Aurora is the bigger of the two birds and is easy to spot when both eagles are in the nest, said Kenai IT Manager Dan Castimore.
The city decided to name the eagles this year after they returned to the nest following a hiatus in 2019.
Officials are not certain the pair is the same that hatched two eggs in 2017 and two more in 2018, Cunningham said.
There is no clear answer why there were no eagles at the site in 2019, although Castimore said another nest was spotted with an active pair about 100 metres (109 yards) away.
The nest's location has not been publicized because city officials do not want people to go looking for the birds, Cunningham said.
Aurora and Redoubt take turns protecting the eggs while the other gathers material to shore up the nest, which is about half the size it was in 2018, Cunningham said.
"We think it's exciting, because it's a pair of wild eagles, and we're glad they're back," Cunningham said.
