SWFL Eagle cam star E26 shortly before fledging. The young eagle has flown from the nest on Bayshore Road to start its life as a free-flying juvenile. What’s next for the nest, shown 24\/7 world wide during nesting season will be up to M15, the surviving half of the nest’s mating pair.<\/p>\n
With family-raising season in the review, Southwest Florida\u2019s most famous eagle nest is empty once again.<\/p>\n
After nearly four months of nurturing from its parents, this year\u2019s Southwest Florida Eagle cam star, E26, has flown from the nest on Bayshore Road to start its life as a free-flying juvenile.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t easy. The eaglet had to make do without its mother, F23, who presumably died in late February, just before E26 was about to fledge.<\/p>\n
The death of the female leaves a lot of questions moving forward, especially for the cam that has an international following in the millions. For the last 14 seasons, the 24\/7 live cam focused on the nest on the Pritchett property in North Fort Myers has shown nature at its most real, from the hatching of new eaglets to deaths in the wild.<\/p>\n
But with M15, the male half of the parental pair, once again without a mate the question is, will he bring a female back to the nest near Eagle Landing or find a new place to raise his next brood?<\/p>\n
Virginia Pritchett-McSpadden, founder of the eagle cam, said the next few months are going to be quite interesting after watching E26, which was the lone eaglet after a second egg failed to hatch, successfully leave the nest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe last saw the eaglet on April 17 and he\/she was about 120 days old, which is about normal for the last flight in the area and take that big leap to venturing beyond,\u201d Pritchett-McSpadden said. \u201cWe hope the eaglet is learning beyond the nest area and flourishing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pritchett-McSpadden said they have seen M15 around the nest here and there, including briefly a couple of weeks ago where he landed in the nest.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a bit of unknown territory. Time will tell what happens with M15. We\u2019ve seen a visiting female eagle and we hope to see the bonding tendencies happen, but in the summer, we see them less frequently,\u201d Pritchett-McSpadden said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see in the next few months if he\u2019s bonded.\u201d<\/p>\n
The future of the eagle cam, which was founded in 2012, could depend on whether M15 returns with a mate who likes the nest. Pritchett-McSpadden said they also could build somewhere else.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in flux and in an unknown area right now. We\u2019d have to see what options there are. It would be a different era for the cam,\u201d Pritchett-McSpadden said. \u201cGreat-horned owls are in the area and they like established nests. We could see their activity if the eagles don\u2019t return. Time will tell.\u201d<\/p>\n
M15 has spent the last six or seven years here. Pritchett-McSpadden said she hopes he returns to the tree with a new mate so the eagle cam can continue.<\/p>\n
The egg that became M26 was laid on Nov. 12, 2025 and hatched on Dec. 18. The eaglet branched on Feb. 26, just one day before M23 went missing, and fledged on March 10, on its 82nd\u00a0day of life.<\/p>\n
For more information, go to\u00a0dickpritchettrealestate.com\u00a0<\/p>\n