Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Streaming Video and Sound

We have had many people comment on the lack of sound on the broadcast and the fact that the feed is sometimes "jumpy".  I wanted to take a moment and address both of these concerns.

Sound for the project is something we have worked on each year but it is very difficult to find an outdoor microphone that is compatible with our cameras.  I agree that it would be great to be able to hear the eagles call to one another and we will continue to work on this feature.  The other thing about the use of a microphone is the fact that audio takes up valuable bandwidth on the broadcast which we can not afford to waste.

Being is a rural area of the country is great in some instances, such as the fact that Bald Eagles like to be away from populated areas and out "in the country".  The bad thing about our location, however, is that modern technology, such as cable internet, is not readily available to us.  We are working diligently with Charter Communication of Cleveland to install cable internet to our facility and we are confident that once the upload speed on the broadcast is increased compared to our current DSL service that the video feed will smooth out and be less "jumpy and jerky".

We hope everyone is enjoying the show so far and we are anxiously, but cautiously, waiting on the little ones to pop out of their eggs.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Eloise lays two eggs for the 2013 Season

 After some early indecision about which nest Elliot and Eloise were going to call "home" for this year, they have returned to the original nest on #10 and she has laid two eggs for this season.

The first egg was laid on Feb. 10 and the second on Feb. 13, both between 4:30 and 5:00 PM.  This is only one day different from the laying schedule last year.  With a 35 day incubation period we will be looking for some new eaglets to hatch around March 17th. 

Thanks to all the sponsors and supporters which make the project possible.  We are praying for a successful season this year but just knowing they are safe and sound is very nice.


Friday, February 1, 2013

Harrison Bay Eagle Cam 2013


The Harrison Bay Eagle Cam is up and running at www.harrisonbayeaglecam.org and we are hoping for a successful nesting season this year.  As you may or may not know, Elliott and Eloise built a second nest on the golf course this summer and as of yet have not decided which nest they are going to use this season.  The footage that is being streamed on the website is from the original nest which at the current time is the only cameras we can broadcast.  The cameras in the new nest, used to take the photo above, require a greater upload capacity than we currently have but once our cable internet gets installed we will be able to broadcast both nests if needed.

The Eagle Cam project has been getting some good publicity as of late and the site has been regularly visited by interested viewers from around the world.  Here is a link to a nice article by Richard Simms of Nooga.com. http://www.nooga.com/159718/harrison-bay-eagle-cam-returns/  The photos are by our good friend and official Harrison Bay Eagle Cam photographer Bret Douglas.

Since Eloise laid her eggs on February 11th and 14th of last year and they have been actively rearranging the nests we are expecting and hoping to have some eggs laid rather soon.  Just waiting to see which nest they decide is the proper one for this year.