Saga continues: SWFL’s Harriet the Eagle lays first egg of 2016

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NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. – Harriet, the well-watched eagle, laid her first egg since 2015 on Tuesday at 5:03 p.m.

The last time she laid an egg was Dec. 22, 2015. That was the second of two eggs, which both hatched in January, giving birth to E7 and E8. E8 was the more famous of the eaglet siblings, gaining the adoration of thousands of viewers when he was hurt not once, but twice.

E8’s first injury in February was from a fishing line wrapped around his leg. Then in May, E8 went missing after an femur-fracturing altercation with an owl. He spent two months recovering under the supervision of the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife.

E8’s mother, Harriet, gained notoriety when she got caught in the middle of a love triangle. Southwest Florida watched as two eagles, Harriet’s former beau Ozzie, and a new suitor, M15, quarreled for her affection. The drama, which was aired for everyone to see on the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam set up by North Fort Myers real estate agent Dick Pritchett, earned her the nickname “Harriet the Hussy.”

Ozzie’s injuries in the fight ultimately were fatal. The father of the new egg is M15. If hatched, the baby eaglet will be Harriet and M15’s third child.

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