Turtle Bay eaglecam premieres today
A new webcam will start broadcasting images – a picture that is closer and clearer than the past nesting season’s camera – from the famous Turtle Bay bald eagles’ nest starting today, said Sharon Dale, animal programs manager at Turtle Bay Exploration Park. “The public want it closer so they can see the eggs and eaglets better,” Dale said.
Eagle webcam
A premiere event is set for noon today at Turtle Bay to celebrate the eagles’ new exposure, said Denise Yergenson, spokeswoman for the California Department of Transportation. Most active in the morning and evening this time of year, the eagles likely won’t be in the nest when the camera goes live.
At the event, she said, a panel of eagle experts will field questions from the public about the eagles, their nest and the construction project that launched them to fame.
The eagles first built their nest in a cottonwood close to Highway 44 in 2004. After the pair raised an eaglet there in 2006, Caltrans attempted to move them away from pending bridge construction on the highway’s Sacramento River bridge in fall 2007 by wiring a huge plastic cone atop the nest.
The cone came down about a month later after protests by the public and the eagles alike (the eagles were seen swooping talons first at the cone). Since the cone’s removal, the pair – named by readers in a Redding.com poll – has raised two eaglets in 2008 and a rare trio of eaglets this year.
Workers installed a camera in fall 2008 to give scientists on contract with Caltrans an eagle’s-eye view into the nest for monitoring purposes, Yergenson said. The feed also was put online through the Turtle Bay Web site.
But images from the webcam faltered as thick foliage blocked the wireless connection signal as the young eaglets took wing. Yergenson said the new camera is hard-wired so there shouldn’t be broadcast problems. Images from the new camera have been on display at Turtle Bay since Nov. 23 as sneak peek for eagle aficionados.
Yergenson said Caltrans officials didn’t mind Turtle Bay offering the early look because it’s housing the hardware that makes the broadcast possible. “They are the host more or less,” Yergenson said. As nesting season approached earlier this fall, there was again drama in the nest when a younger pair of eagles appeared to have supplanted Patriot and Liberty. But the “squatters” have since been pushed out and Patriot and Liberty are back, Yergenson said. Although none of the many eagle fans who keep a regular watch on the nest spotted it, Dale said there likely was a tussle between the two pairs of eagles over the nest. “There always is when one tries to take over,” Dale said.
Check out the Turtle Bay Eaglecam – HERE
Enjoy viewing live Eagles Webcams – HERE
Watch Live Webcams from California – HERE
