Maine’s celebrity bald eagles have done it again.

Last year, the birds surprised everyone when a rare third chick appeared in the nest, which is broadcast over the Internet by a Web cam in a nearby tree.

And this morning, just a couple of days after the nest was declared barren, scientists have confirmed that a chick has hatched. Its tiny fuzzy head showed up on the Web cam this morning. And the legions of fans watching the nest day and night are soaring with excitement about what some of them are calling a miracle baby.

The Web cam is the work of The BioDiversity Research Institute in Gorham, and it has turned into far more than fan favorite. Scientists who have studied eagles for decades are now watching it as closely as the distracted office workers and sleepless eagle addicts.

The eagle pair has successfully raised eaglets in the nest for 13 straight years and is considered Maine’s most prolific bald eagle parents. But the deep freezes and heavy snows this spring, puzzling behaviors that suggested their eggs failed and even a biologist’s flyover that revealed no signs of eggs in the nest, all led scientists to declare this week that the eagles had broken their fertility streak.

Observers were left hoping that the eagles would try again, and were encouraged when they saw them mating on the nest last weekend. Well, apparently, the eagles just really like each other. And, it seems, they had covered the egg or eggs to shelter them from wind when the biologist flew over. (Could they be getting tired of people watching and analyzing every move they make? Nah. You think?)

Whether there was more than one egg, or already more than one chick, is unknown. You’ll have to watch. The scientists sure are.

For the updated photos and a blog with the comments of scientists and observers, look here.

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