ROCKabye Baby

Recently, a 31-year old male bald eagle at the World Bird Sanctuary in Missouri found out that even the most improbable of dreams can come true.  Murphy the eagle became famous for his dedication to sitting on his nest, which contained... a rock.  Keepers waited to see if he would eventually lose interest in the rock, but the bird never showed any inclination to do so, and continued to sit firmly.  Both staff and visitors tended to find the display of affection and devotion to be somewhat sad.

Photo Credit: World Bird Sanctuary 

That changed when the Sanctuary was presented with a young eaglet which had survived a fall from its nest, one that killed its sibling.  The young bird was given to Murphy to raise who, if perhaps a little surprised that the "egg" finally hatched, was quick to step up to a parental role, and is doing an excellent job raising the young bird.  Unlike Murphy, there is a chance that the unnamed-eaglet could be released into the wild.  If so, it would be quite a triumph for Murphy - though I suppose we'd then have to see how he adjusts to empty nest syndrome.