Egg-citement is high as a loved-up eagle pair readies to welcome an egg
Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden's famous black eagles are bound to produce an egg at any moment.
Excitement is running high at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden as the world-famous pair of Verreaux’s Eagles, Makatsa and Mahlori, are expected to produce their first egg of the year any day now.
• Also read: The (baby) Eagle has landed!
According to Black Eagle Project Roodekrans (BEPR) committee member Dougie Crewe, love has been in the air for several weeks, with Makatsa and Mahlori being very affectionate indeed.
“The eagles have been breeding actively, which is a good sign. We are waiting with bated breath for any sign of an egg, but thus far, there has been nothing,” says Dougie.
Everyone is super excited, and all eyes are on the nest.”
The black eagles of Roodekrans are closely followed by people from across the globe, sporting in excess of 338 000 followers on Facebook.
They have been nesting on the cliffs adjacent to the Witpoortjie Falls for decades, with the earliest sightings of these beautiful birds dating back to the early 1940s, predating the establishment of the botanical garden in 1982.
The female, Makatsa, is suspected to be the third or fourth dominant female at this nesting site.
Makatsa has been the resident female since 2016, arriving at the nesting site shortly after the disappearance of the previous female, Emoyeni, in April 2016.
Mahlori arrived in mid-July 2019, more than a month after the disappearance of the previous male, Thulane.
Makatsa and Mahlori have been together ever since.
The eggs typically occur in mid-to-late June, with fledging occurring in September. The chicks usually leave the area to seek mates and start their own nests by December or January.
