HANCOCK COUNTY – They’ve weathered unusually cold weather in early March and then a harsh Patriot’s Day storm that killed their two chicks, but two eagles whose nest can be seen on the Internet via a Web camera apparently haven’t given up on being parents this year.

According to an official with Gorham-based BioDiversity Research Institute, the pair have been seen this week adding material to the nest, copulating in it, and even defending it from another male eagle. The Web site of the organization, which set up the camera and manages the project, is www.briloon.org.

“It’s been an interesting 48 hours,” said Wing Goodale, a research biologist and director of the eagle cam project. “The next week will be telling.”

Goodale said the latest in the year that any eagles have been known to lay eggs is May 6. It is rare that a pair hatches eggs soon after prior attempts have failed, he said, but it is not unheard of. Besides being in the nest for a few hours on Friday, he said, they defended the nest from a younger male on Thursday.

Though the conflict could be seen as more adversity for the eagles, it is a good sign biologically, Goodale said. It means the resident eagles are still interested in producing offspring, and it shows that there is a younger population of eagles eager to do the same.

Though the nesting pair are not banded, researchers believe the resident male successfully defended the nest and his mate from the younger intruder. Goodale said neither bird is likely to have been injured in the skirmish.

The pair has been nesting in the same site in coastal Hancock County for more than a decade. Officials won’t say exactly where the nest is in order to prevent human interference with the animals.

If one of the birds is seen on the webcam staying in the nest all night, then it can be assumed the pair has laid another egg, Goodale said. He said it would not be the first time they have defied the odds.

“Maybe they can do it again,” he said.