Eagle chick almost ready to leave nest.

Byline: LYNNE LANGLEY

Anticipation is high around the Kiawah Island entrance gate these days. The first eagle chick of the South Carolina nesting season will take wing any day now from a nest scarcely 200 yards from busy Kiawah Island Parkway.

"We're really excited," said Marilyn Blizard, a Kiawah Island Natural Habitat Conservancy trustee who has kept a close watch on the nest, parents and chick.

The female laid the egg the first week in November, as early as eagles ever produce eggs here, said biologist Tom Murphy, who has tracked bald eagle nesting for 27 years for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

On Tuesday, the brown chick was jumping up and down on the side of the …