Students in Loudoun County Public Schools will get the chance to name a mated pair of bald eagles that have made a home on the Dulles Greenway in Leesburg, Virginia.
The contest was announced Wednesday by TRIP II, owner and operator of the Dulles Greenway, where a pair of eagles have resided since 2005. In September 2021, road authorities installed two high-definition live-stream cameras on a tree overlooking the bald eagles’ nest.
The winning names will be announced on the Dulles Greenway Facebook page on Feb. 11.
“We are excited to offer Loudoun County students the opportunity to select the names for this pair of bald eagles,” said Terry Hoffman, public and customer relations manager for the Dulles Greenway. “We hope this will be the first of many eagle naming contests with Loudoun County Public Schools, as we await the arrival of eaglets in the spring.”
Last fall, the eagles started building their seasonal nest along the wetlands of the 14-mile toll road to Dulles Airport. Once the eagles have prepared their nest, they will move onto the next stage in the nesting process, which is to begin laying eggs and incubating them. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, this process typically occurs between January and April.
You can watch the pair in action online here. You can also watch clips from the eagle camera here.
