Then, on Monday, wildlife manager and arborist Sue Greeley spent her lunch break in a parking lot at the property, and with a camera and a good zoom lens she got a closer look — and spotted two eaglets.

“I was looking, and then two heads popped up from the nest,” Greeley said.

America’s favorite bald eagle couple moves off-camera and lays an egg

The eaglets, known for now as DC10 and DC11, hatched in March and are about three weeks old. Greeley said they appear to be doing well.

“They’ve got big beaks and big feet right now, so they look like an awkward teenager growing into themselves,” she said. Their beaks and feet will grow to nearly full size quickly so they can learn to grab food, hold it with their feet, tear it apart and eat. Greeley likened the process to how a small child learns to pick up a block or a spoon.

The eaglets’ parents are bringing them plenty of food — usually shad, koi or catfish; and sometimes the occasional squirrel or groundhog — Greeley said. The eagles’ nest, which she said looks sturdy, measures about 5 to 6 feet wide and about 6 feet deep, with a more shallow area for the eaglets.

Greeley said she heard Lotus, short for “Lady of the United States,” give a “call-out” on Monday while sitting in the nest with the eaglets after an early-morning feed. Within a minute or two, Mr. President came from a nearby tree where he was perched and “escorted another eagle out of the area,” away from the nest, Greeley said.

“They’re always right there and ready for any perceived threat,” she said.

Soon the eaglets will start to get what is called their “pin feathers,” and by six weeks they should be able to stand and start feeding themselves, Greeley said. When they’re seven to eight weeks old, the eagles will start to stretch their wings and practice flapping and hovering in wind gusts.

They will then practice what’s called “branching,” where they stand off the nest and go to a nearby branch. It’s a step that lets them learn to perch like an adult eagle and is considered the “last milestone before they go, ‘Whee!’ and off the nest they go,” Greeley said. Sometime between 10 and 14 weeks, they’ll fledge the nest.

Bald eagles have made a comeback across the country and in the D.C. region. Experts estimate there are now about 20 nests between Great Falls and Mount Vernon.

Three eaglets hatch in nest along Dulles Greenway in Leesburg

In the 1960s, there were only 400 breeding pairs in the Lower 48, but bans on pesticides and the passage of the Endangered Species Act in the 1970s helped slow their decline, along with improvements to their habitats and clean air and water initiatives. The birds also have learned to adapt to their surroundings, and in 2007 they were removed from the endangered species list. As the country’s national bird, they’re protected under several federal laws.

In D.C., Mr. President and Lotus — and his previous partner, the First Lady — have long been celebrities on social media. Last year, Mr. P, as he is nicknamed, and Lotus hatched two eggs, though one of the eaglets died.

A new, younger ‘First Lady’ bald eagle moves in at the National Arboretum

There had been a camera on the eagle nest since 2015, but in December, when the pair set up a new nest, officials decided not to install another camera. Their new nest is in a more secluded, wooded area of the arboretum, experts said, that is not near any trails and is harder for humans to get to and see.

It’s not uncommon for eagles to use a nest for several years, then move and build a new one. Sometimes predators run them out, or they feel as if a tree they have been nesting in has become less sturdy. Some experts said that Lotus seems to be less of an “urban bird” than Mr. P, so they suspect she grew weary of having to fly over the arboretum, the golf course and a neighborhood to get to their hunting grounds on Kingman Island.

Greeley said she’s glad there’s not a live-streaming camera on this new nest.

After years in the spotlight, she said, Mr. P and Lotus now get a chance to “do what they do best, which is being eagles.”