Hays bald eagle nest at Glen Hazel, 24 April 2025 (photo by Dana Nesiti)

30 April 2025

When the Hays bald eagles did not nest in Hays Woods this spring, eagle watchers were puzzled. The Hays nest tree had fallen last year but surely the pair would build in another tree on the same hillside. The urge to nest is biologically imperative for bald eagles and it was hard to imagine the pair had completely left the area. So where were they?

About two weeks ago, hunches on their whereabouts began to pay off. By 19 April Dana Nesiti and Wendy (Eaglestreamer) had found the nest in Glen Hazel, across the river and upstream from the Hays site. Field marks on the adults proved they’re the same male and female as last year’s Hays pair and, even better, they’ve been bringing food to the nest and bowing in feeding-the-chicks mode.

How many chicks? On 20 April Dana made a video of the nest that answers that question. Look closely! Two fluffy gray chicks poke their heads above the nest rim.

Within 10 days Dana had collected a lot more footage and Bill Powers of PixCam began figuring out how and where to set up a streaming camera for the remainder of this nesting season. All the latest developments are covered in this video from CBS Pittsburgh posted on 29 April. (Note: The closeup nest footage is from prior years at Hays, not from this year in Glen Hazel.)

It sounds like a Glen Hazel nestcam could be online by late December. Meanwhile for the latest news and views, check out Dana’s posts at Eagles of Hays PA on Facebook and his videos at Canonusr on YouTube.

Speaking of sounds, the Hays eagles have moved to a new neighborhood, but the sound “Haze” (Glen Hazel) is still in their name.