WASHINGTON 鈥� One of D.C.鈥檚 three bald eagle couples is looking to expand its聽family.
Liberty and Justice 鈥� who have made their home in a tree near the D.C. police department鈥榮 training academy in Southeast 鈥� now have an egg to watch over.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about time,鈥� said Dan Rauch, biologist with the District Department of Energy and the Environment. 鈥淭he eagles are ramping up. It is egg-laying season.鈥�
Rauch said the first egg was laid on Sunday. He said there could be as many as two more in the next over the next couple of days.
The incubation period starts once the egg-laying ends. The eaglets are expected to hatch after 35 days.
Rauch said it has been great to watch the return of bald eagles to D.C. after a 50-year drought, ended in 2014.
鈥淲e have three thriving bald eagles nests, and we鈥檙e set up for hopefully even a fourth,鈥� Rauch said.
He said several other eagles have been spotted checking out the existing nests in D.C., but unfortunately for them, Rauch said, the resident eagles are not big on having visitors.
Rauch recalled watching one of those exchanges on webcams set up at the nest at the U.S. National Arboretum.
鈥淵ou could hear her coming and screaming for it to leave her territory, before she came through at 60 miles an hour and chased the other one off,鈥� Rauch said.
Another good sign for the city鈥檚 resident eagles is that their nests are getting bigger.
Rauch said the department has been keeping out an eye for the couple鈥檚 prior five eaglets. Several young eagles have been spotted in the area, Rauch said. Sometimes eagles will revisit the nest they hatched in.
Rauch said you鈥檒l be able to tell when they come home 鈥� the mother eagle probably won鈥檛 chase them away.
Rauch said he thinks laws protecting endangered species of animals and the banning of DDT has led to this resurgence of bald eagles in D.C.
You can watch D.C.鈥檚 eagles nest online, at websites set up for the nest at the and the .
