Norfolk Botanical Garden, Virginia - Bald Eagle Cam

http://www.wvec.com/cams/eagle1.html

This is a streaming camera, and will have increased bandwidth and night vision for 2008.

The nest is in a botanical garden in Norfolk, Virginia. Last year's nest fell apart after the last chick fledged, and the eagles now are building a new nest. The camera has been moved to focus on the new nest.

They have successfully raised 3 chicks the last 2 seasons. Based on past experience, look for eggs in the first half of February, chicks in mid-March, and fledging in early June.

2007-2008 Season:

• eggs laid: first egg likely laid February 1 around 6:30 pm; second egg possibly laid February 3 or 4 (NBG thinks around 5:30 pm on the 4th); third egg possibly laid February 8 at 11:41 pm
• eggs lost: starting around February 12, a four-year-old female intruder started harassing the parents, forcing them from the nest for prolonged periods, resulting in the eggs being left uncovered for hours at a time; eventually the parents appeared to abandon the nest; two no-longer-viable eggs were retrieved from the vacated nest for testing February 19; there was no sign of a third egg in or near the nest
• new start?: the original female returned to the nest area February 20, and the original pair was seen mating February 24
• eggs laid: first egg of second clutch likely laid March 16 at 2:21 pm; second egg possibly laid March 19 around 10:40 am
• eggs lost: both eggs lost early March 21, possibly when brooding parent jumped up to respond large bird - possibly great horned owl - flying near or into the nest area; female observed consuming one egg around 7 am and another around 4:30 pm. Stephen Living, a wildlife biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, explained the behavior is not uncommon - “The egg eating behavior serves to recapture the valuable calories and calcium that went into creation of the egg,” he said. [from VDGIF Eagle Blog]
• egg laid: third egg of second clutch laid March 22 at 12:20 pm
• newly hatched eaglet April 27; first seen at 3:38 pm
• a life-threatening growth was observed on the eaglet's beak, and the eaglet had to be removed from the nest for veterinary treatment on May 22; after an initial assessment, the eaglet was transferred to the Wildlife Center of Virginia for treatment
• following x-rays and a MRI, biopsy results released on May 28 confirm the aggressive growth is avian pox, and treatment is started
• surgery is performed on July 12 by Dr. Avery Bennett, to remove the remaining viral growth (no longer active) and to straighten the deformed upper beak
• tests October 22 showed that the area of beak damaged by the pox is continuing to grow, so the eaglet's beak may grow out and straighten naturally in time
• the Wildlife Center of Virginia has declared the eaglet to be non-releasable, due to the continuing curvature of his beak and need for regular management, as well as his habituation to humans. He will remain at the WCV for the foreseeable future, where he will serve as a teacher, and ambassador for his species

(Information and 2007 photo from Norfolk Botanical Garden)

Link to last year's thread for the Norfolk bald eagle cam

Posted on the website:



Eagle bringing material to nest

October 2007

Awesome and beautiful! How much bigger will the nest be next season . . .

Thanks DEF for bringing that pic over. It's a gorgeous picture and a huge amount of soft grasses. Can't wait to see what they do this season.

beth

Guess the Saanich parents aren't the only ones building a new nest

From WVEC.com

Bald eagle family moving into new digs at botanical garden

03:24 PM EST on Monday, December 3, 2007

Link to slideshow of building new nest:

One of Norfolk’s most famous couples is building a new home. Two American bald eagles whose nest at Norfolk Botanical Garden was featured on a live Web cam last spring are building a new nest just a few dozen yards away.

Their old nest fell apart and most of it dropped to the ground last summer after the resident eagle chicks had fledged.

Scientists have observed the pair building a new nest for a few hours each day. After constructing a framework of branches and sticks near the top of a tall pine tree, the eagles are busy stuffing grass and leaves between the branches. Biologists say the new nest weighs approximately 500 lbs. but as the eagles add to the nest each season, it can grow to 900 lbs.

The eagle family’s move means that camera and wireless Internet gear must also be moved. Joe Foreman of Norfolk Botanical Garden said that workers will soon be relocating equipment to another tree near the new nest.

Foreman says a tree service will climb the tall pines to relocate the camera and its associated electronics. He adds that NBG has beefed up the computer network which sends the video signal to the Internet.

Thousands of school children and bird lovers around the world watched the eagles’ progress online earlier this year. The Web cam on WVEC.com showed activity in the nest from early February when three eggs were being incubated until the eaglets fledged in July.

The bald eagles at Norfolk Botanical Garden have been prolific breeders. The pair produced three chicks in 2006 and 2007, well above the average of 1.8 chicks for eagle nests in Virginia, according to Reese Lukei, a biologist with the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary. Lukei says there is no known instance of a bald eagle nest producing more than three chicks in a season.

Stephen Living of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries also helps watch over the celebrity eagles. When the chicks are 8-10 weeks old, Living and other scientists climb the tree to band the chicks in the nest and give them a checkup. Scientists observe the eagles with binoculars and photograph their activity throughout the season. And like everyone else, the scientists spend a lot of time watching the eagles at Norfolk Botanical Garden on the Web.

Observing the eagles online became a class project in several area schools. Some visitors to the Web cam page said that watching the birds in the nest was “addictive,” and the camera attracted online bird watchers from all continents. In May, the Eagle Cam was named one of the top 10 Web cams in the world by EarthCam.

“The popularity of this camera in 2007 took us by surprise,” said Pete McElveen of WVEC.com. “We had the Eagle Cam online in 2006 and the images got a decent amount of site traffic, but nothing like this year. The link to the camera was posted in some bird-watching discussion groups, and you could say it ‘went viral.’ It was also a big hit in the classroom.”

McElveen said the Eagle Cam will be back online as soon as the camera can be relocated to see the new nest. He added that several enhancements to the online display are planned for the 2008 nesting season, including increased bandwidth on the video stream to give a sharper more fluid image.

In addition, infrared night vision cameras will be capable of showing activity in the nest at night without disturbing the birds, giving eagle-watchers a 24/7 view of life in the nest.

Reference Link:
http://www.wvec.com/news/topstories/sto ... ea21c.html

Oh, that is interesting! The Virginia eagles can apparently tolerate more disturbance around their nest, so the cam can be moved ...

and more bandwidth, and 24/7, and early February

If the new nest weighs about 500 lbs., those eagles have been busy!

Interestingly the cam isn't in the nest tree but in one nearby. If I read it right. That would mean less disturbance to the eagles also. But they are in a park setting and people nearby often

Thanks Skipper for posting those wonderful pictures of the new nest. I'm sooooo looking forward to watching these incredible eagles again. Couldn't stop watching last season and I'm sure it will be as rewarding again. Is there any chance there will be sound this year?

WICKED news!!!!!!!!!!! Now will they have audio? LOL

Great news, thanks for posting the update Skipper

I didn't see a mention of audio in that report. I sure hope so tho.

Thank you for those great photos It sure gives a idea of what they are doing and the size of the nest. Can hardly wait for the live to start.



Carole

That nest is really coming along. I wonder if they had it started like the Sidney eagles have a separate platform nest started. And if so, maybe that's a backup plan eagles do to be prepared for the eventuality of their nest needing to be replaced.?

they have posted a really cool slide show of the building of the new nest on the web site and it also shows a few night vision cam shots.

By the sounds of it, the nest is just about finished by now. Here is another slideshow with a few more pictures (34) in it of the new nest.

Slideshow

If they had sound wouldn't that be awesome? Maybe we should start a writing campaign for sound?

This new nest is a nice site to see. What great builders they are!
They are adjusting the cam right now.

Live cam at night is on...is that white mark in the nest an eagle? Night vision is OK...better than nothing!

UPDATE: I think that is a light post shining through the nest...not an eagle

Little video on the nest!

http://www.wvec.com/video/daybreak-inde ... vid=204754

LIVE cam...Nice cam angle of the new nest!

I wrote and asked if they have considered sound and this was their anwser. Looks like it won't be this year.

thanks Sierra for that info!



It's ALMOST time again!!!!!!!!!!!!

Norfolk has updated the message shown on their website. They have several slideshows added with beautiful photos of the eagles and updated comments on many of the photos.

Beautiful pics on the website slide shows....her is one of this beautiful successful pair.

They have been working hard on the cam today. Here is one of my captures. Do be sure to check on their cam often.

The official site still says the cam is undergoing fine tuning, but check this link

<deleted by Bo to respect Norfolk cam wishes. Please use the main web page>

... eagle there right now

bo how did you find that link?