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.
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 sand was smooth and still. Waves lapped at the distant
shoreline. A sign, stuck in the sand, stated, “Do not disturb. Sea
turtle nest.”
That was the scene on a beach in the Florida Keys for the past
few weeks, as it was in June, when I posted a blog entry listing
cameras that were capturing live action in bird nests as well as
other wildlife locations. A quiet patch of sand was not much to
look at, so I didn’t mention it.
On Friday, that patch of sand came to life, as you can see in
the first video on this page. I thought it was time to share the
brief action, as about 100 loggerhead turtles emerged from the sand
and headed out to sea about 9 p.m. Check out the action in
full-screen.
The camera on the beach uses infrared lights to capture the
images, thus avoiding visible light that could confuse the young
turtles. The project is supported by Save-A-Turtle, a
volunteer non-profit group dedicated to the protection of rare and
endangered sea turtles and their habitats in the Florida Keys.
Meanwhile, some of the young ospreys shown in their nests back
in June have fledged, but there is still plenty of action in the
nest at Missoula’s
Riverside Health Care Center, where the camera is
operated by the University of Montana. Check out the images in
full-screen, high-definition while you can, because these growing
chicks will soon be gone.
Another still-active osprey nest is operated by Chesapeake
Conservancy on Maryland’s eastern shoreline.
The Puffin
Cam at Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge in Maine
is picking up some excited feeding activity at the nesting area,
where experts are establishing a new colony of puffins after
hunters wiped them out in the 1800s.
Brown bears are now feeding on salmon along Alaska’s Brooks
River in Katmai National Park, according to bloggers on the site. Check out the live video
below to see if you can spot a bear, including a subadult mentioned
by observers.
You may wish to go back to the June 23 “Amusing Monday: A visit with wildlife via
webcam” to see what other cameras are picking up
activity. You can generally count on Pete’s Pond on Mashatu Game
Reserve in Botswana, Africa, for some exotic animals coming to the
watering hole.
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.
