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Best New Year's Gift: Rita & Ron's Baby Bald Eagles Have Fully Hatched

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Rita and Ron's two baby bald eagles have hatched!

R1, as the first hatchling is temporarily being called, came out of its shell just before 10 p.m. on Saturday, the first day of the new year.

Welcome to the world baby eagle R1!

Our first baby eagle hatched tonight! Just before 22:00, on the 1st of January, 2022, Our Baby Bald Eagle (R1) came out of its shell and into this world. While we are not certain of the exact time because Mom (Rita) was hiding it, the first note of it on the chat group watching round the clock came at 21:57. In the attached video the new baby eagle can be seen between Ritas feet as it makes its first moves. Over the next few days it's strength and coordination will improve and will grow quickly as it siblings R2 and R3 are expected to hatch any day now. R1 is the baby eagle (from a monitored nest) to be born in 2022. Happy Hatch Day R1! We at Wildlife Rescue of Dade County want to say a huge thank you to the Ron Magill Conservation Endowment for funding this entire project.

Posted by Wildlife Rescue of Dade County on Saturday, January 1, 2022

"WE HAVE A HATCHING!!!!  Best New Year's gift I could have ever hoped for!!!!!!" wrote an ecstatic Ron Magill on his Facebook page.

R1 is the first baby eagle from a monitored nest to be born in 2022.

But that's not all! On Sunday, the Eagle Cam also caught R1's first feeding as its sibling, R2, was hatching.

Here is the video of the newly hatched chick's first sunrise as well as it's first feeding!!! To make this even more...

Posted by Ron Magill on Sunday, January 2, 2022

Over the next few days, the eaglets' strength and coordination will improve as they grow quickly.

Rita laid her first egg in the new nest the day before Thanksgiving and it was caught on the live Eagle Cam.

Rita laid her second egg several days later.

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