Ozzie returns to nest, onlookers witness battle with younger eagle

NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla.- Southwest Florida’s famous eagle couple Ozzie and Harriet have begun showing signs of strain in their relationship.

While Ozzie was away recovering at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) on Sanibel, Harriet began enjoying the company of another young male eagle. Known by many as FV, Frequent Visitor, other onlookers have begun calling the younger male eagle Pretty Boy.

On Sunday, a crowd observed Ozzie and Pretty Boy battling it out in low lying clouds for Harriet’s affections.

Photographer David Mintz says he saw Ozzie was bleeding and appears to have ripped some of the flesh of one of his torn talons. Mintz also observed aloud that “Harriet seems to prefer Pretty Boy right now.”

Mintz says Ozzie and Harriet are both in their 20s while Pretty Boy is approximately 5 years old.