Local Technology Reveals Eagle Marvels

Thirty four years after setting my grubby little teenage fingers on a computer keyboard for the first time (a prehistoric Data General Nova 2, built ca. 1973), I still remain amazed at the things technology can do.  And in recent years, birding has found the most wonderful uses for Internet, mobile, and other technologies.  One of these is webcamming.  And a local example is the Jordan Lake Eagle Cam Project of North Carolina State University.  Their EagleCam was re-activated yesterday for 2012 and is approximately eight miles west of our own Cary BirdCam site. (Approximately 35.76 N and 78.98 W.)

Bald Eagles have made a marvelous recovery in the Piedmont, and they are now relatively easy to find on our major lakes, especially Lake Benson in Garner (to my immediate east) and Lake Jordan on the western side of Cary.  Lake Jordan is a huge reservoir that filled to its current level in 1982 and offers ideal habitat for the eagles.  I fondly remember taking advantage of an overlook of the bay at Crosswinds (long closed due to vandalism) to see a Bald Eagle nest in that area.

The EagleCam (streaming through UStream) provides a once-hidden view of the activities of one of the Lake's five active nests.  Two chicks were born earlier this week, and thus we can now see the care and feeding of two hungry little eagles.  Will wonders ever cease!