Two lonesome little eggs still lie in a nest directly above the D.C. police academy in Southwest, the only remaining proof of the nearly 15 years of domestic bliss shared here by Liberty and Justice, the area’s longest-lasting and most well-loved bald eagle couple.

The two have had a tumultuous year. In fact, that’s understating things.

About two weeks ago, Justice, patriarch of this bald eagle family, disappeared from the nest he has shared with Liberty for at least 14 mating seasons (the two have successfully reared many baby eaglets here together over the years). Since then, Liberty has been struggling to incubate two eggs all by herself in freezing weather, with no dependable partner to bring her fish to eat or give her the occasional break from warming her eggs. On top of all of that, the newly-eligible bachelorette has been fending off rather aggressive advances from male eagles trying to win her affections. Spectators have been able to watch the birds warring for her approval via live camera feed from the Earth Conservation Corps, and its accompanying detailed activity log.

First, it seemed that an eagle named Aaron Burrd, who showed up shortly after Justice’s disappearance, might have a chance. But he proved to lack conviction, fleeing the nest once competition increased. Another male, M2, eventually made some significant inroads with Liberty, incubating her eggs for her a couple of times, bringing her fish, and getting her to mate.

Justice has not reappeared, so this new romantic prospect can only be good for Liberty.

Still, it has ushered forth the end of an era. The night that she first mated with M2, Liberty flew off from the nest after him and wasn’t seen for several hours, spelling all-but-certain doom for the two eggs she had been trying to incubate under nearly impossible conditions. After so many years of dependable results from two very experienced eagle parents, there will not be any baby eaglets in the nest above the police academy this year.

What’s more, Liberty’s claim to the nest is faltering now that she’s given up on her eggs and possibly taken up with a new mate. The last time the ECC cameras captured her at the nest was on February 22, when she appeared to be standing vigil on a nearby branch for several hours as another bird stood nearby. She didn’t try to sit on her eggs.

Now, several other birds are dropping in and out of the nest, eating fish there or messing with the eggs. On Monday afternoon, eagle-watchers saw M2 on the nest cameras apparently trying to incubate the eggs himself, but as of late afternoon, there was still no sign of Liberty.

She may yet come back, but more than likely, an eagle couple will take over the nest to rear its young here at some point.

As one very committed D.C.-area eagle lover, Tina Hamilton, told DCist last week: “The hardest part of this, next to the fact that we don’t know where Justice is, is watching Liberty. She’s in the midst of chaos and harm’s way, sitting there trying to incubate these eggs, feed herself, and defend the nest and her territory.”

Now, the nest’s committed community might learn that the only thing more difficult than watching Liberty undergo hardship is not being able to watch her at all.