The Minnesota DNR eagle cam is back – and, according to the agency, better than ever.
The camera that, for the past five years had been streaming live video from a bald eagles’ nest somewhere in St. Paul, stopped working last spring. But thanks to donations and work by the agency, a new camera recently was installed on a different branch of the same tree overlooking the same nest as in previous years, the DNR said.
In an e-newsletter Friday, Dec. 15 announcing the new eagle cam, the DNR said the new camera is an upgrade over the previous model. It’s a high-definition camera and features infrared imaging for nighttime viewing. It also includes a microphone so that, for the first time, viewers will also be able to hear what’s going on in the nest, although the agency said it’s still working with the vendor to iron out some issues with the sound and other controls.
According to the e-newsletter, during the camera break-in period, the web feed cannot be viewed using Internet Explorer; users will need to view it using another browser, such as Chrome, Firefox or Safari, although the agency hopes to have this changed and any other glitches fixed by the time eggs arrive in January or February.
In the meantime, those associated with the eagle cam said in the e-newsletter that they’ve observed the eagle pair visiting the nest daily, adding that the eagles are not spending much time in the nest as of yet, but at least once a day can be observed bringing in sticks for “nestorations,” eating a meal, or defending their territory. On Tuesday, Dec. 19, they were seen hanging around the nest for a good part of the afternoon.
So far only the banded female has been positively identified, but the thought is that this is the same pair that has occupied the nest for the last five years.
