There’s nothing like spending some relaxing time in a natural
environment. It does a body good — mentally and physically — to go
into new or familiar surroundings while basking in the full-bodied
sights and sounds of a forest, a stream or a marine shoreline.
We are fortunate in the Puget Sound region to have easy and free
(or low-cost) access to all sorts of natural places. If we are
lucky, we may catch a glimpse of wildlife and incorporate the
sighting into our memory of that place.
What we don’t normally see, however, are the natural behaviors
of wildlife away from people, because the presence of humans often
changes what they are doing — nor would we want to impose on their
lives any more than we already do.
In plain view of one live camera, a bear waits patiently as
leaping salmon fly all around. The bear is content to wait for for
a big fish to leap into his paws or his mouth.
In front of another live camera, a group of bears forage
downstream in the river, going underwater to get their salmon meal.
One chews vigorously while standing upright in chest-deep
water.
These are a couple of the scenes I’ve been watching this morning
at the Brooks Falls overlook in Katmai National Park. I have never
been to the national park, but I have enjoyed these live video
feeds for years. It seems incredible that we can observe brown
bears doing what they do naturally while remaining out of sight and
hearing of the bears.
All four bear cams can be viewed at once from the
Explore website. Scroll down the page to read comments from the
camera operators and other folks watching remotely.
Park officials estimate that more than 100 bears use this
mile-long stretch of Brooks River to feast on what they say is the
largest sockeye salmon run in the world. These bears are part of a
population of 2,200 that live in the park. It is said that bears
outnumber people on the Alaska Peninsula.
Another
group of live webcams are poised to capture the movements of
Northern Resident killer whales in Blackney Pass, one of the
primary travel routes for the whales during the summer months.
Again, scroll down to view comments. The cameras are coordinated by
OrcaLab, Paul Spong’s research
station on Hanson Island in British Columbia’s Johnstone
Strait.
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.
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.
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.
The beautiful and powerful brown bears have arrived at Brooks
Falls in Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, and everyone
in the world can enjoy the convenience of watching these giant
bears and other amazing wildlife live from the comfort and safety
of their home.
Lots of people have been going out to falls this year to watch
the bears from nearby viewing platforms, but I get the feeling that
far more people have been watching them from home via the
live webcams. I say that because of the number of
comments generated on the website. More than a few commenters
seem to know the area well and even call the bears by their
nicknames. (Park biologists use a numbering system, identifying
each bear by coat and claw colors, scars, body size and shape, ear
size and shape, sex, facial features and disposition.)
Brooks Falls is one of the first streams in the region where the
bears have easy access to bright salmon soon after they leave the
saltwater and before spawning. The falls provide a partial barrier
to their travels, making fishing easier for the bears. By sometime
in August, the fish runs will dwindle and the bears will be
gone.
Operators of the multiple live webcams do a good job of zooming
in when something interesting happens. Occasionally, so much is
going on that they don’t know what to show. Other times, we wait
and watch the beautiful scenery, which is especially dramatic at
sunrise and sunset.
When the bears are actively fishing for salmon, I find it hard
to break away and get back to daily life. One video trick I’ve
learned: If you don’t see anything interesting in the live view,
you can use your cursor to scan across the timeline to see what has
happened for the past few hours and watch that instead.
Park officials have identified the various fishing methods used
by the bears in an interesting
Q&A section on the national park’s website.
Birds and marine mammal cams
Besides watching bears, it’s a good time of year to watch other
wildlife as well via live webcam. Birds are typically active on
their nests, raising their young.
Chesapeake Conservancy is featuring the osprey couple,
Tom and Audrey, who perennially nest on Kent Island in
Maryland. Audrey has taken up with a new “Tom” this year and
produced three babies. They also received two foster chicks from
nearby Poplar Island, according to information on the website.
Another good osprey cam was installed this year in Belwood Lake
Conservation Area near the Great Lakes in Ontario, Canada. Three
eggs reportedly hatched, but I see only two chicks in the nest.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife also has an osprey
cam that updates still photos every 12 seconds.
A puffin
cam at Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge in Maine shows a
fuzzy chick tucked into a burrow where its mother comes and goes to
feed her baby. Other views shows puffins on a ledge where they
often hang out. Wildlife biologists are trying to establish a new
colony at this location after hunters wiped out the puffins in the
1800s.
If you would like to see a colony
of walruses, (also in video player below) check out the live
camera installed on Round Island, Alaska. Sometimes only a few of
the large mammals can be seen. Other times, like this morning,
large numbers were pushing and shoving each other for space. The
comments are often entertaining.
It seems kind of strange that we can spy on wildlife in a very
personal way, thanks to modern technology.
The animals never notice the hundreds of humans peering over
their shoulders via webcam. If they could know what is going on, I
actually think they’d prefer the camera to the disturbance that
even one person would create by crowding in that close.
It’s the time of year when many birds are active on their nests,
so I thought I’d bring you some of the best videos on the web,
weeding out those that are inactive or don’t have much going on
right now.
The University of Montana operates two live osprey cams at part
of its Montana Osprey Project. I believe the nest at Riverside
Health Care Center in Missoula (shown in first video player)
contains two chicks, while the nest at Dunrovin
Ranch in Lolo contains three chicks.The high-quality video and
sound make you feel you are right there with the birds.
Alberta Conservation Association and its sponsors have set up
cameras to observe three prime nesting boxes for peregrine falcons
in Edmonton, Alberta. Chicks have hatched in each nest, and we can
watch (in real time) the mothers taking care of their little
bundles of fluff. Each bird has a story listed with the video.
Chesapeake
Conservancy is in charge of an osprey cam on Maryland’s eastern
shore. The live video features Tom and Audrey, who have returned to
the nest after spending the winter in South America. I have seen
two chicks in that nest.
For a bird of a different character, check out the Puffin Cam
at Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge in Maine, where
Audubon’s Project Puffin operates a field station. The puffins on
the island were wiped out by hunting in 1887, but they were
reintroduced by bringing puffins from Newfoundland. More than 50
pairs nest there. (Three live videos are set up to show the
puffins.)
If you are interested in watching brown bears feeding on salmon,
stay tuned for live videos from
Alaska’s Brooks River in Katmai National Park. The action
should begin in July, according to information on the website.
Meanwhile, you can watch recorded videos from previous times.
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.
At times, it seems a little voyeuristic to watch wild creatures
behaving naturally, unaware that eyes from all over the world may
be watching them via the Internet.
One of the most engaging critter cams is set up at a place
called Pete’s Pond, located in the Mashatu Game Reserve in eastern
Botswana. The pond lies at confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe
rivers in a region that combines dry savannah, riverine forests and
soggy marshes.
As I write this on Monday morning, several giraffes have come to
the waterhole, where it is late Monday afternoon. Last night
(Monday morning at the pond), I spotted a lone jackal wandering
near the water.
The viewing is enhanced significantly by volunteers from around
the world who take turns aiming the cameras and zooming in on
interesting activities taking place. I love the sounds of the pond
almost as much as the sights, but an ongoing clicking sound on the
audio this morning detracted from the natural sounds.
Late afternoon in Botswana (morning here) seems to be an active
time, but apparently different animals show up at the pond at all
times of the day and night, and I find it interesting to watch and
listen even when things seem completely serene.
I’ve mentioned other wildlife cams on this blog (See
Water Ways, March 3, 2011). Technical difficulties always seem
to be a factor in keeping these remote cameras in operation.
For the WildWatch
Cams managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife,
it does not help that the department has been through some massive
budget cuts. Staff efforts on these live videos has been reduced,
and some are not in operation. But a few seem to be working fine.
Try Batcam,Heroncam,Sealcam
and Swiftcam.
If you are aware of other good critter cams working at the
moment, feel free to pass them along.
