Hays bald eagles found in new nest with 2 eaglets
After a storm blew down the beloved Hays bald eagles' nest, it didn't look like the pair would rebuild, disappointing Pittsburgh bird watchers. But it turns out that not only did they find a new nest, but the couple has hatched two eaglets.
Pittsburghers have flocked to the webcam streaming the eagles living in the Hays neighborhood since 2013. A strong storm collapsed the nest in 2024, and as spring approached, the tree in view of the camera remained empty. Experts weren't sure if or where the eagles would rebuild.
But as they say, nature finds a way.
PixCams, which runs the livestream of the Hays bald eagle nest, says trail photographers found what they believe are the Hays eagles nesting across the river and upstream from the current nest site in Glen Hazel. And not only are the Hays eagles there — but they have two babies.
Some amateur photographers, including Dana Nesiti, discovered the secret nest. He said they've been keeping a close eye on the eagles since 2013.
"When their nests collapsed last year and the eagles were lost, we were having a hard time, couldn't find them. We would see eagles flying up and down a river, but we could never find their nest," Nesiti said.
He said that all changed when he got a tip on his Eagles of Hays PA Facebook page.
"We went and looked, and we found their new nest up the river from the old one. It was really exciting. I was kind of in shock for a while. There was a relief, and it's really happy to see them stay in the area," said Nesiti.
"They have two eaglets in there. It looked like they're, I don't know, probably 25, maybe 30 days old. If these two successfully fledge, the Hays female eagle will contribute 22 eagles to the population," he added.
The photographers believe the male is likely the same one that swooped in and took over last year. Nesiti said they were able to verify it's the original female eagle.
"She has some striping on her tail that she's had since we've been photographing her back in 2013. We were able to compare the photos," he said.
The eagles' big move flew over the heads of photographers and Bill Powers, president of PixCams. He said he's been live-streaming the pair for about 10 years.
"I was shocked when we first got this news. So, the nest has been there for months on end, and we all missed it. So, I don't know how we missed this," Powers said. "The two eaglets that we saw look healthy, and everything looks great."
The organization visited the site to look at possibly installing a camera for next year. PixCams shared video of the Hays mom feeding two eaglets shot from the Costco parking lot across the river with a Nikon P1000 bridge camera zoomed out to 3200mm.
It's exciting news for fans after the Hays eagles had a disappointing season last year. Before their nest was knocked down, they laid one egg, and it cracked, failing to hatch.
Powers is hoping to get the cam installed in September or October. He said they must get approval from the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh because the new nest is located on their property.
"We're looking at possibly partnering with U.S. Steel to get this really in place, to get power on site with Duquesne Light again and get the streaming for next year," Powers said.
In the meantime, Powers said they want to get a camera up across the river as soon as possible so people can watch the now-Glen Hazel eagle pair and two eaglets from a distance.
"They just became part of the Pittsburgh symbol. And I think people expect to see this year after year after year. And this year, not having them, everybody was a little bit sad, depressed, and they've been here the whole time," Powers said.
Without the Hays bald eagles, Pittsburghers have turned to a livestream of the nest at U.S. Steel's Irvin Plant in West Mifflin. Irvin and newcomer Stella laid three eggs this year, with one hatching and growing up fast.
