Reminder to Viewers:

This is a wild Bald Eagle nest, and anything can happen. While we hope that all eggs hatch and grow to be healthy and successful fledges each season, things like sibling rivalry, predators, natural disasters as well as territorial disputes can affect the wildlife. Nature may be difficult to watch. 

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About seeing the nest at night: We have an IR camera using infrared lighting that is imperceptible to the eagles. If you were to visit the nest site in person at night, it would look completely dark.

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Milestones:

• First egg laid, November 19th, 2021

• Second egg laid, November 22nd, 2021

• First Pip on 12/25/2021

• First Eaglet HH3 hatched on 12/26/2021 and Second Eaglet HH4 hatched on 12/27/2021

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About the Names:

The executive committee pored over every entry and is excited to announce that the eagle's names are Harriet and Mitch after Underground Railroad crusader Harriet Tubman and General Ormsby M. Mitchel, who founded the Town of Mitchelville on Hilton Head Island. 

Both eagle namesakes have a story unique to Hilton Head Island and important to our history; Harriet Tubman spent time in the Beaufort County area as a nurse and a spy for the Union Army. After she co-led the Combahee River Raid, which freed 756 people, 100 of which she led to freedom on Hilton Head to settle in the newly founded Mitchelville.

General Mitchel was the catalyst for the creation of Mitchelville, which gave the formerly enslaved population of the area true agency, before the Emancipation Proclamation, right here on Hilton Head Island. Fort Howell, a Hilton Head Island Land Trust property, was built to protect Mitchelville, and it is probable that both Harriet Tubman and General Mitchel walked the grounds of this historic land prior to the Fort being built!

"It was important for us to honor the history of Hilton Head Island and two icons in American Freedom, with Freedom being synonymous with the eagles," said Robin Storey with the Hilton Head Island Land Trust. 

"Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park is excited about this important event that connects the nature of our area to the rich history of our Island.  We look forward to following the exploits and hatchlings of Harriet and Mitch!" said Ahmad Ward, the Executive Director of the Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park.

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