FLY HIGH, SWEET HARRIET!

On a personal level, I’ve never had a story touch me like the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam. I’ve been following Ozzie and Harriet since 2015. I heard of the cam before and tuned in a couple of times, but when all the news started of an intruder coming in for Ozzie’s love, my attention was all theirs.

The intruder was M-15, a young eagle and very persistent. Ozzie earlier in 2015 had already spent three months at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) for a broken clavicle (like our collar bone), but that would be short lived. It is suspected that M-15 was the actual eagle that dueled with our beloved Ozzie, sending him back to the hospital where he would succumb to his injuries in September 2015.

I was crushed and angry. I swear, I wanted to drive right over to Dick Pritchett Real Estate and give Harriet a piece of my mind and have M-15 arrested for murder.

Oh, the drama! How am I, a grown woman, crying and getting so upset over eagles. Well, I was not the only one—in fact, one of millions. I was so distraught and angry, especially at M-15—I quit watching!

Years would go by; I would listen to the news following their journey because I no longer was. I wasn’t mad anymore, but deep down inside, I was still loyal to Ozzie. I never felt the same about Harriet and M-15 as I did with Ozzie and her—that would soon change.

It was 2020 and the SWFL eagles would soon become part of my life again. I’m watching the news and here comes these eagles. This time, one of them has preyed upon a squirrel— not just any squirrel, but a stuffed squirrel, a toy, even with its tag still on it. I could not stop laughing as they attempted to de-fur the stuffed animal. Stuffing falling all over the place and perplexed with their meal, eventually giving up and the baby eaglets would snuggle up to it— I was hooked again.

How funny, reunited with this not-so-new eagle pair by a stuffed animal. I even felt different for them as a couple, but still not like the feeling I had for Ozzie and Harriet, but a start.

I would tune in and out, going months and even a year at a time, but soon this real-life soap opera in animal form would grab hold of me, yet again. This time, way worse than when Ozzie passed away. Now it was my dear Harriet—she was missing and feared dead.

I don’t think I’ve cried so much, feeling anxiety for Harriet at times, but most of all a new love for M-15. Harriet was indeed gone and not coming back.

The odds were against M-15 and the eaglets' survival was slim, they were so young. To this day, he has successfully raised these eaglets, E-21 and E-22. He has fought off predators and continued to nurture them from a very young age, until now. Any day they will fledge the nest and be on their own.

There have been so many tense moments in this story, and they have defied all odds until now. The once fated eaglets are now venturing out onto limbs in their tree, leaving us at times tuning in to an empty nest.

I’m so proud of M-15, and he has now become irreplaceable to me, my favorite, just like Ozzie. I hope he stays at the nest when the eaglets leave. I hope he will finally have time to mourn his loss and in time, start a new family. One thing for sure, I am now loyal to M-15, and I’ll be watching.

Harriet was one of a kind in my books, and I’d like to believe she and Ozzie have both looked over M-15 and the eaglets. Here’s to rose-colored glasses and fly high, my sweet Harriet! I hope you enjoy Bill LaPlante’s article on the eagles, page 32.

SCARLETT REDENIUS, Publisher