ROSE & RON WELCOME EGG #1!!! ❤ DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA 12.3.24

Oh my heart, sweet Momma Rose had a rough delivery this afternoon but finally welcomed their first egg of the season!!

In this clip, Rose goes into labor, taking breaks between the contractions and panting to cool down. It was a warm and humid 71° in Florida! And it doesn't help that she was wearing her featheredmoomoo gown of over 7000 feathers. I love when they puff their feathers out while incubating and thats what it looks like to me! I think I got a peek of her actually laying the egg when she lifted her tail feathers...?! I could be wrong but tell me what you think!

Once she recovered after several minutes, she turns around to see her precious egg. Just a ⚠ Warning, there was some residual red stuff on the freshly laid egg but not to worry, that can happen during a strenuous delivery. I've seen similar, although much less, with my ducks that lay eggs daily several months out of the year; whereas Bald Eagles basically only lay eggs once a year so it isn't uncommon. Side note: they are practically the same size as duck eggs too! I apologize if that grosses you out to see, but the egg appears to be intact and will "naturally" get cleaned up as they continue to roll it in the fluff and cover the egg with all those fluffy feathers as they incubate.

Some time later, (not in this video) Ron arrived with a fish but since Rose didn't jump up to claim it, he happily gobbled it up. He had his back to her so he missed his first chance to see his new egg when she popped up to rotate! He definitely owes her a double size breakfish tomorrow!

Camera and live feed provided courtesy of Wildlife Rescue of Dade County (Florida)

Video captured, edited and captioned by D. Persinger