I usually wait until June to post some of the best views of wildlife you will ever see, because that is when the animal kingdom seems to really become active. But this year I thought we could show up a little sooner and see what happens on live wildlife cameras in early spring.
Especially amusing are a pair of bald eagle chicks hatched about three weeks ago in a poplar tree in the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. Their parents, who began nesting in this location two years ago, were named “Mr. President” and “The First Lady.”
Go to WASHINGTON, D.C., LIVE EAGLE NEST CAM for the live video, since embedded videos are not allowed. The video on this page shows the hatching of the first chick at about 5 minutes in, when the adult eagle stands up and moves to the side.
Officials involved in the project are entertaining names for the two eaglets. Suggestions can be offered on the Facebook page of either the American Eagle Foundation or the U.S. Department of Energy and Environment, as described in a news release on the project.
The nesting site contains a pair of cameras that operate 24 hours a day. You can easily switch from one camera to the other for better viewing at different times.
American Eagle Foundation, which operates the camera with permission from the U.S. government, makes this statement on its Eagle Nest Cam web page:
“This is a wild eagle nest and anything can happen. While we hope that two healthy juvenile eagles will end up fledging from the nest this summer, things like sibling rivalry, predators, and natural disaster can affect this eagle family and may be difficult to watch.”
Two ospreys, known as Tom and Audrey, are back at their nesting site on Maryland’s eastern shore, where Chesapeake Conservancy does a great job with its osprey cam. I’m no expert, but it looks like a lot of nest-building activity at the moment. Make sure your sound is on, as there seems to be considerable vocalization.
We need to wait a little longer for the ospreys to arrive at two locations where the University of Montana operates live osprey cameras as part of its Montana Osprey Project. They are at the Hellgate Canyon nest site in Missoua and Dunrovin Ranch in Lolo. According to the project’s Facebook page, the ospreys are on their way and should arrive soon (based on satellite tracking).
I was disappointed to hear that an osprey cam operated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in Gig Harbor is offline this year. WDFW posted this note on the website: “This camera is out of alignment and now offline for 2016. Ospreys have nested and we cannot disturb them to repair or re-angle the camera.”
Alberta Conservation Association and its sponsors last year set up cameras to observe three prime nesting boxes for peregrine falcons in Edmonton, Alberta. Chicks hatched in each of the nests, where we could watch the mothers taking care of their little bundles of fluff, all in real time. The message on the website says, “It’s not long now.”
One of my favorite live cams is still Pete’s Pond (video player at right), a watering hole on Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana, Africa. It began as a National Geographic project and is now operated by WildEarth, which features several other wildlife cams. Operators, working remotely, turn the camera to find the best action at any moment.
I’ve started watching a live camera in a cove at Anacapa Island in Channel Islands National Park in Southern California. Nearly 1,000 marine species live in the area, and often fish and tiny swimming creatures come into view of the camera.
The Vancouver Aquarium has live cams showing:
As spring moves into summer, other wildlife cams will be worth watching, including the brown bears in Katmai National Park in Alaska, where the action at Brooks River usually begins in July.
I’ve featured other wildlife cams in past years. Check out Water Ways for June 23, 2014 as well as June 17, 2013.
