Tree Holding Bald Eagles Nest At Barr Lake State Park Falls, Unhatched Eaglets Perish

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BARR LAKE STATE PARK, Colo. (CBS4) - A dead tree supporting a nest for a pair of bald eagles at Barr Lake State Park was discovered fallen recently. Park staff found the nest destroyed and the two unborn eaglets in the water, still curled in the shape of their egg shells, but lifeless.

(credit: Colorado Parks & Wildlife/Twitter)

"Bald eagles often choose dead limbs in tall trees," Colorado Parks and Wildlife wrote in a series of Twitter messages about the incident, "possibly because their view is not obstructed by foliage."

This particular tree had been fitted by Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists with a basket structure in 1986. The basket looked like a foundation for a new home to pair of mating bald eagles.

(credit: Colorado Parks & Wildlife/Twitter)

Bald eagles return to and defend the same territory annually.

(credit: Colorado Parks & Wildlife/Twitter)

Park officials plan to reuse the same basket and mount it in a viable tree later this summer.

The incubation period for bald eagle chicks is about 35 days, CPW said.

The bald eagle nest that fell recently shown in a photo taken in January. (credit: Colorado Parks & Wildlife/Twitter)

Half of Barr Lake State Park was set aside as a wildlife refuge in 1977.