Here is the first official baby picture of the season. This was taken on Saturday, April 29.
So far it looks like there are at least two chicks. You can see two little heads in this second photo. We’ve had as many as three surviving chicks some seasons.
In this photo taken the next day, Mom was feeding the babies. You can see one head below mom and another peeking out from behind the other side of the large branch. Dad will drop off lunch (usually a rabbit or squirrel), and then Mom goes about eating and feeding the babies.
They are born 48 hours apart and grow quickly. As they get larger, it’s not uncommon to see a “runt” kept away from the food. This usually results in the runt dying off. The Mom doesn’t do anything about it. The first year I witnessed this I was very upset but soon realized that this is how nature works.