The Eagle Has Landed
This 1992 image is one in a series of remarkable photos documenting the daily lives of two of Kennedy Space Center's most famous residents: The southern bald eagles that inhabit an enormous nest on the Kennedy Parkway North.
Each fall, the eagles take up winter residence in the nest to breed and raise a new generation. Thanks to a remote-controlled Nikon camera installed yearly in the same pine tree as the nest, the activities of these magnificent birds are recorded on film.
In 1992, a rare and unique event was captured by the camera when a second clutch of eggs was laid, even though a healthy eaglet was born a month earlier. Although it is impossible to determine if it is the same eagles returning each year, the continued tolerance shown by this pair to the human presence seems to indicate that they are the same couple.
According to wildlife experts at the time the photo was taken, eight or nine pairs of bald eagles inhabit nests at the space center. The nest is particularly well-known because of its huge size and close proximity to a busy road.
Image credit: NASA