Eagle pair ready to raise another family in North Fort Myers

Liz Grindstaff walked along a paved driveway near a horse field in North Fort Myers. 

Using her hand to shelter her eyes from the bright sun, Grindstaff paced along the fence line, occasionally stopping to snap a photo. 

A bald eagle perched in a nearby pine tree. 

"It's just the beauty and everything they do to survive each time," said Grindstaff, who lives in Cape Coral. "It's just great to watch. but it's part of my passion, shooting wildlife." 

Cars and fans flank both sides of the property on a hot November afternoon.

Welcome to season seven of the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam, a project the Dick Pritchett family started with one camera on their North Fort Myers property along Bayshore Drive in 2012. 

Now there are multiple cameras, a chat room, online moderators and a litany of viewers and posters. 

This fall, the adults rebuilt their nest, and Harriet, on schedule, has laid two eggs. 

"The earliest Harriet has laid an egg that we know of is November 17," said eagle cam volunteer Vicki Ohsann. "And I am watching the cam online a lot right now; it’s the only way to see the egg being laid."

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Ohsann said she visits the property a couple of times each week but that online viewing is the best bet if you want to see an egg or any chicks that may hatch later. 

Harriet laid her first egg last Friday. 

"The eagles are doing great," said Virginia "Ginnie" Pritchett-McSpadden. "The second egg just arrived. We now wait the 30 to 35 days until we hopefully have baby eaglets emerge. With Christmas, it will be close to a gift for everyone."

Harriet and M15 (short for Male 2015) have been a holiday hit for years. 

The website has drawn more than 125 million viewers from 223 countries, according to the Pritchett family. 

Two hatchlings fledged during the first season; one during the second season; one in the third season; two in the fourth season; one in the fifth season and two last year, according to the Pritchett family. 

That may sound like a lot of eaglets, and it is, but Harriet has raised dozens of fledglings and had a previous mate that fans nicknamed Ozzie, hence the Harriet name. 

Harriet has been raising eaglets since the 1990s and started at a nest on the south side of Bayshore. That nest was destroyed when someone used an ax or machete to kill the tree in which it sat. 

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Ozzie and Harriet then found the Pritchett property and have nested in the same tree since. 

M15 fought with Ozzie several times, with the older eagle eventually dying from wounds suffered during their battles. 

The younger male proved to be a capable father, helping Harriet raise two fledglings in a year that included a nighttime attack from a great horned owl. 

Connect with this reporter: Chad Gillis on Twitter. 

How to watch: 

Online viewers can simply visit dickpritchettrealestate.com. The nest is located on the north side of Bayshore Drive in North Fort Myers. Visitors park along the driveway to the Pritchett property or at the nearby North Fort Myers Church of the Nazarene.