From Minnesota Bound:

This is a LIVE streaming video of a nesting pair of Bald Eagles located in central Minnesota, USA. Positioned 75 feet in the air. This camera is powered 100% by solar energy. It is equipped with audio and pan tilt zoom features. Thanks to Broadband Corp's wireless network, they are able to bring you this rare look into nature. Special thanks to Broadband MN and Hutchinson Co-op Agronomy for making this possible!


This link will take you to the eagle cam:

http://www.mnbound.com/live-eagle-cam/


At this time, 4/17/2012, this pair has two fairly new chicks shown here with Mom. You can't see it here but Mom has sort of a notch in her neckline and some gray around her eyes.



This first year Dad has a black head feather.

courtesy of golden1/Donna

Dad is also a banded eagle which is something fairly rare to see in a wild nest on a live cam. EDIT It appears that Dad's band has fallen off--thank goodness for the black feather!!
courtesy of Doralyn (Windows on Wildlife)

This link will take you to a news story and a video about the nest by KARE-the local TV station.

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article ... yid=969012

The nest tree (courtesy of KARE)

Information posted March 2, 2012 on the Minnesota Bound site:

Eagle Chat Room > 2012 Eagle cam nest history
Three years ago MN Bound attempted to do an Eagle cam for the first time. This was in a nest on the West side of Hutchinson MN. This nest was chosen because it was new, it had been created just the year prior but no eagles had raised any young in it.
We installed the camera and had the usual challenges and just as soon as we thought we had everything resolved.....a Great Horned Owl moved in. We watched in anticipation of the Eagles returning home and chasing the owl out. We then learned that Great Horned Owls do not make their own nests, and they often take eagle nests! Who would have thought?! That's when the Eagle cam became the Owl Cam.

Then we took another stab at it and decided to go to a nest that was more mature and maybe more of a sure bet. We found this nest about 2 miles away from the other nest. This nest is located on the south side of Hutchinson on the Crow River. It is 75 feet in the air and it is estimated to be about 7 years old. It sits a good distance from anything, there is a lucky house on the river bluff that gets prime viewing.

close -up picture of the nest (courtesy of KARE)

I was told by the property owner that when the nest was first built he mowed a trail through the tall grass so people could walk down to the nest, but he felt like all the people traffic was effecting the birds so he stopped mowing the trail. The eagle nest over looks a pond and big grassy field. There are many deer and water foul in the area as well as river critters!

It was also communicated that several years ago one of the folks walking around the base of the tree found the remains of an adult eagle at the base of the tree. The eagle was brought in and it was determined that it had died from lead poisoning. Mind you this is all hear say and I can not back any of it up as factual, but I can't say I have any reason to doubt it.

Last year when we placed the camera, we thought we were being clever in its placement but in fact we had terrible placement for seeing inside the nest. Live and learn! We were still excited and were able to see some great footage but gain little knowledge of their habits.

This year we revamped almost our entire system from camera to sound to power to internet connection. Remember, this is a completely stand alone system meaning solar powered and wireless internet signal from the nest site to the top of the Hutchinson Coop Agronomy elevator and then to a tower near Silver Lake where it talks to another radio mounted about 150 feet in the air that connects to Broadband's Internet Network.

cam is solar powered (courtesy of KARE)

This nest is over 6 feet in diameter and as well about 6 feet deep. The tree's main trunk has 2 large branches (approximately 12 inches in diameter) that the nest sits on as it hugs the main trunk. The camera is placed on the trunk as it bends away from the nest. The camera is placed about 10 feet from the center of the nest.

As you all know, it appears that the mail (sic, male) this year is very young and banded. We are pretty sure that the male last year was not banded. This could mean that this is the third pair of eagles that have used this nest. We don't know if its the same female and its partners have all had untimely passing or if they are completely different pairs.

We hope to do some research and find out who banded the Male. This will be an interesting story!

MN Bound and Broadband want to thank all of you for sharing your excitement and interest in the MN Bound Eagle cam.

First egg laid 3-6-12

A video of chick #1 hatching April 12, 2012--5:47PM

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/21797501


Second egg laid 3-9-12

Chick #2's hatch day. April 14, 2012--6:14AM

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/21835122

Sadly, the younger eaglet, Kirby, fell from the nest and did not survive on April 30th--soar high and free little one.

The older and larger chick, Harmon became stuck in the nest in a mud hole on Thursday, May 3rd, by either it's wing or talons or both and could not move. Harmon was removed from the nest by the Raptor Center at the U of Minnesota on Friday, May5th as the eaglet was found to be in very poor condition, This is well documented on the thread. By Sunday Harmon was doing so well that it was decided to put the eaglet back into the nest and to watch to see if the parents would return. After 24 hours on Monday, May 7th, and no parents having been seen in the nest, it had been decided to remove Harmon from the nest for good when lo and behold--there was a miraculous return by the parent eagles and reunion in the nest the likes of which those of us who have watched eagles for many years have never seen before!! Members Debs and Lori both made beautiful collages of the reunion of our little family and they are proudly posted here for all to see!! Thank you so much ladies--they are wonderful!

collage by Debs

collage by Lori

A view from the ground of the nest tree and nest

(courtesy of KARE)


A little more background about the nest and information on just what Minnesota Bound is and their connection to the nest.

The Minnesota Bound Bald Eagle nest is located in central Minnesota, USA, less than 30 yards from the flowing waters of the Crow River.

Working through the harsh Minnesota winter, the eagles start rebuilding their nest in early February, preparing to lay their eggs in March. We anticipate from 1 to 4 eggs, but 2 is fairly typical. Incubation typically takes about 35 days and once the chicks are born, you will see every aspect of raising the young and a close-up view into bald eagle parenting.
Minnesota Bound is a popular Minnesota based television show that has now been on the air for 16 years. They highlight anything and everything to do with the Midwest outdoor lifestyle. Hosted by Ron Schara and his love able black lab Raven, these two have shared thousands of stories. From unique animals to incredible characters, they’ve covered nearly everything. They’ve had an interest in web cams for the past 4 years and their most popular one thus far has been the live loon cam. They really enjoy bringing nature to everyone, LIVE. Their dream is to continue growing the amount of camera’s they have placed and to give several great experiences throughout the entire year.

Ron Schara Productions is a production suite based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. They currently produce 9 television shows locally, regionally and nationally. They have won many awards and they pride themselves on being the leader in outdoor variety television.

The eagle eye view from the nest

(courtesy of KARE)

April 19, 2012

9:00 Parent is brooding. It may be raining.



9:15 Parent up, shruggles and off the nest.



9:20 Parent still off nest.



The oldest eaglet is one week old today and the other is 5 days old.

April 20, 2012

These two eaglets are really cute. However the older one does bother the younger one more than I like to see. Dad has a black mark on his head so that might help id him. I asked chatters if they had names, a school class is going to name them.

Here are some pics from today.

8:15


10:04

Donna! In my very first post on page 1, I have pictures of both parents including one that shows Dad's black feather...and his leg band. I don't know of any other nest on a cam where a parent has a band--do you? Am I fogetting anybody? I know the Chil eagles have wing bling but I can't think of any others with leg bands. He is also in his first year here so is probably a very young eagle. They are going to try to see what is on his band . I'm sure they will let us know if they figure it out. It would be interesting to find out where he from and how old he is!

7:10PM-- Mom and her little "peeker"



What are you doing out here?



A bit of preening

Mary both eagles at Fort St. Vrain are banded. Your opening pages are very inclusive...really excellent, I just thought it could be mentioned again.