What was first described as a great horned owl attacking a bald eagle in its nest was actually a brief surprise encounter for both birds, according to scientists.

Image courtesy Norfolk Botanical Garden

A great horned owl visited the empty eagle nest on three consecutive nights before encountering the female eagle.

The episode at Norfolk Botanical Garden, which was captured by a Web cam and distributed widely on the Internet, turned out to be somewhat less dramatic than a fierce fight between predators. Scientists who monitor the bald eagle nest say the owl probably didn’t know the eagle was in the nest when it landed there.

"There has been a pair of great horned owls nesting at Norfolk Botanical Garden for a few years," said Reese Lukei, a wildlife biologist with the Center for Conservation Biology. “As a result of placing an infrared light at the new bald eagle nest, we have been able to observe one of the pair making a visit to the eagle nest.”

Lukei said the owls had visited the eagle nest on the previous three nights, when the nest was empty. Prior to laying their eggs, the eagles were roosting in another tree about 200 feet away.

“On the evening of Feb. 1, the female eagle laid her first egg between 6:25 and 6:28 p.m. in their new nest. The eagle leaned over to examine her new egg and at 6:31, the owl landed on the edge of the nest. Both the eagle and the owl were startled, neither expecting the other to be there. The eagle flexed its wings and the owl immediately flew off,” said Lukei.

Lukei said the owl was probably using the eagle nest as a perch to hunt and was not attacking the eagles. He added that the owls have already established their nest and it is not likely they are looking to take over the eagles’ nest.

Stephen Living, wildlife biologist with Virginia’s Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries, said talk of an “attack” was a bit exaggerated. “I don’t think the owl expected the eagle to be there. The owl beat it as soon as it realized the eagle was in residence,” said Living.

The bald eagle pair at Norfolk Botanical Garden are some of the most closely watched birds in Virginia. Their nest at Norfolk Botanical Garden is viewed by thousands of online bird watchers daily in the U.S. and abroad. The Web cam has also become an educational opportunity as teachers use the video from the nest in the classroom. The Eagle Cam is available 24/7 on WVEC.com.

Last fall, the eagles built a new nest in another tree at the garden, after most of their old nest fell to the ground in the summer.

As of Feb. 7, the eagle has laid two eggs, which are expected to hatch in March.

In the 2007 season, the same bald eagle pair produced three chicks, all of which survived to fledge in July. The chicks were tagged and biologists observed all three of the juvenile eagles hunting on their own, but scientists do not know their whereabouts since fledging.