Tuesday night at 6:48 p.m. CT, the second pip was spotted on the Decorah Eagles Camera. It follows the first pip that was spotted earlier Tuesday.
“3-27-12 ~ For those that missed earlier announcements, D12 (first egg to hatch) was welcomed officially at 1:16PM CT.” Raptor Resource Project posted on their Facebook page Tuesday. “3-27-12 – Confirmation of 2nd Pip, 6:48pm CT.”
The eagles are located at a giant nest located 80-feet atop a tree at a fish hatchery in Decorah, Iowa and have been a viral attraction for the past few years. In 2011, thousands tuned in to watch baby eaglets hatch too.
According to College News, the Decorah eagles returned to nest at the end of December, the first egg was laid on Feb. 17 and was expected to hatch on March 23 or 24 with the other two likely to hatch in the following two weeks.
Over 48,000 people are currently tuned in (5 million total viewed the eagle camera so far) watching as the three eaglets make their way into the world, of course most of the time it’s just a whole bunch of watching the momma bald eagle sitting atop her nest.
This week, the first pip started an Internet frenzy when an eaglet’s beak broke through the egg. The eaglet could now take between 24 and 48 hours to break completely free from its shell. One report noted that the first would have a head start on the siblings and be the biggest for months to come.
As we’ve previously reported, Raptorresource.blogspot.com explains, “The birds grow very rapidly and according to Gary R Bortolotti, bald eagles may gain more weight per day than any other bird in North America. ”
Later Tuesday, the second pip was spotted.
In the coming days, viewers will patiently watch the progress of D12, the second egg to hatch D13, and the third and final egg to hatch D14, and each eaglet make it completely egg-free.
Check out the live streaming video:
