Harrison Bay Eagle Nest Visits Begin

The Harrison Bay Eagle Cam Project has been a tremendous success this year.  Despite a few technical issues with equipment we have been able to enjoy watching the eaglets, affectionately HB3 and HB4, over the internet.  Although watching them on the computer is great, we began hosting eagle nest visits this morning.  We had a good turn out for the first tour this morning with 10-12 people coming out to get a closer look at the nest.

Photo by Bret Douglas

Elliott and Eloise both put on a good show for the people who came out for the tour.  They flew around the nest area picking up sticks and fresh nesting material all to the enjoyment of the visitors.  The tours are provided by Harrison Bay State Park rangers each Tuesday from 7-9 AM.  We are lucky to have two very knowledgeable rangers which provide the tours.  Interested persons should contact the Harrison Bay State Park office to register for a visit.

Two Weeks Since Eaglets Arrived

It has been two weeks since the eaglets at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay hatched.  Watching the eaglets hatch and grow has been the highlight of my year so far and I am excited to continue to watch their growth and anticipate them fledging the nest.

Here is a great video (or at least I think it is great)  of a family dinner last week.  The eaglets are getting fed a steady diet of fish, turtle, and waterfowl about every thirty to forty minutes during the day.  Without the benefit of infrared cameras we don't know if they are getting any midnight snacks or not. 






I like this video because it shows off the huge "feet" these little eaglets have.  All the better to catch fish with later in life with.

New Eaglets have Arrived at Harrison Bay

We are thrilled and blessed to announce the hatching of two eaglets at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay.  The first eaglet arrived on Wed. March 20, 2013 around 7:30 AM and the second arrived Thurs. March 21, 2013 around 7:30 PM.  Both eaglets appear to be strong, healthy, and thriving.  This is great news, especially considering the failure of the two eggs last year.

 

This is a video of the first eaglet hatching.  What a wonderful site.

 

 

Feeding time this afternoon.

 

I can not thank the United States Golf Association and the Friends of Harrison Bay State Park for their funding and support.  Without these great sponsors this project would not be possible.

 

It was great to see the little ones come into the world but as a result of all the attention the website crashed and our web host has been working diligently to get it back up and going.  We are so sorry for any inconvenience this has caused any of our visitors.  In the meantime you can view the video feed at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/harrison-bay-eagle-cam

 

Hope everyone is enjoying this awesome site.

Expected Hatch Date is Quickly Approaching

March 17th is quickly approaching.  What is so special about March 17th you might ask?  Well it is the expected date for the much anticipated hatching of the first egg Eloise laid on February 10th.  Hopefully a few days later little brother or sister will emerge from the second egg which was laid on February 13.

Both Elliott and Eloise have been very busy and attentive parents this year, with Eloise taking the brunt of the parental duties.  She has stayed on the nest through bitter cold temperatures, driving rain, and wind storms that have swayed the treetop enough to make some viewers feel ill.  After last years sad and disappointing failure of the two eggs laid we are praying for a happy and successful hatching and fledging of the two eaglets.

It has been great to see the attention the Harrison Bay Eagle Cam Project has received this year and we are very appreciative of all the articles, email and Facebook passes, and tweets that everyone has sent out.  It has been especially thrilling to see entities such as TurfNet, The Golf Channel, and USGA spread the word about the project, along with emails and tweets from organizations such as Audubon International and GCSAA. 

Here is a photo my mom sent me of some eagles having a "family reunion" in Homer, Alaska.  Don't know if we will ever have this many eagles at Harrison Bay but we can hope. 

 

 

TurfNet article about Elliott and Eloise

The great folks at TurfNet continue to promote the Harrison Bay Eagle Cam as they have for the past several years.  Below is the latest article by my good friend John Reitman of TurfNet.



Bird's eye view

Mar 04 2013 | John Reitman

Monitoring the happenings high atop the trees in Tennessee's Harrison Bay State Park has resulted in some recent highs and lows and the constant reminder that nothing in life, even tomorrow, is guaranteed.

 

Two years ago, a pair of bald eagles first were spotted near The Bear Trace golf course within the park. They gained worldwide acclaim when park ranger Angelo Giasante, a former Army ranger, shimmied up the tree and installed a Web cam so people everywhere could get a birds-eye view of how a nesting pair of bald eagles really live thanks to the efforts of a group known as the Friends of Harrison Bay .

 

Named Elliott and Eloise by Hannah Carter, daughter of Bear Trace superintendent Paul Carter, CGCS, the eagles have had mixed results in their attempts to successfully hatch eaglets. In 2011, a pair of eaglets hatched and eventually flew the coop, so to speak. Last year, however, the results were not as positive.

 

Two eggs, laid February 11 and 14, hatched March 16, but neither eaglet survived the process. This year, the Web cam is back in place and the couple is again keeping vigil over the nest after Eloise laid another pair of eggs.

 

The eggs, which were laid Feb. 10 and 13, are expected to hatch about March 17.

 

Last year, the golf course received a Governor's Environmental Stewardship Award from Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam for Carter's work in the pursuit of sustainability. The award specifically mentioned the Eagle Cam project as a factor in the course winning the award.

 

In its 26th year, the Governor's Environmental Stewardship Awards program recognizes exceptional voluntary actions that improve or protect Tennessee's environment and natural resources with projects or initiatives not required by law or regulation.  

 

According to the Web site www.baldeagleinfo.com and the American Bald Eagle Foundation [http://baldeagles.org/home], both the male and female share time guarding and incubating the nest for an average of 35 days before the eggs hatch. Once an endangered species, bald eagles are on the rebound thanks to conservation efforts that have resulted in an estimated 7,000-plus pairs now nesting in every state except Hawaii. 

 

The Friends of Harrison Bay Eagle Project is a cooperative effort of The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, Harrison Bay State Park and the USGA.

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.

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.

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.

Eagle attacks owl for "squatting" in nest

For several weeks now the Harrison Bay Eagle Nest has been visited by a pair of owls during the nighttime hours.  We have been wondering what would happen if both the owl and the eagles encountered each other in the nest at the same time...well I guess we know now.

We are patiently waiting on Charter Communication to install our cable internet before we can broadcast from the Harrison Bay Eagle Cam for this year.  The high definition cameras we purchased for this year produce a massive amount of video information and our phone internet simply will not upload the information. 

Please bear with us.  We are hoping for an interesting and successful nesting season this year.

New Season, New Tree, New Equipment

Another exciting season for the Harrison Bay Eagle Cam has begun.  It has been several months since the unfortunate loss of Elliott and Eloise's little ones this past April and with the prospect of a new season they have decided they need a new home.   They have moved nesting locations to a different tree on the golf course for reasons maybe they only know.

The new nest is still located on the golf course and in a pine tree that is only slightly taller than the previous one.  We were hoping they would return to the home nest where all the cameras are located but they have found another home.  With gracious funding from the United States Golf Association and support from The Friends of Harrison Bay State Park, we have been able to continue the Eagle Cam Project and have recently installed a set of three cameras in the new nest.

Electrical power was extended from an existing irrigation control box to power the cameras for this year.  We have upgraded the equipment to transmit the signal wirelessly which minimized the amount of trenching needed.  We have also upgraded the cameras to 2 megapixel cameras which provide a crystal clear picture.

Angelo Giansante, a park ranger at Hiawassee State Park, was gracious enough to come back down this year to install the cameras in the tree.  With better equipment and experience from last year he installed all the camera and secured all the wire in less than four hours. 

The nest is about 100 feet in the 120 foot tall pine tree and Angelo said it looked very similar to the one from last year.

As with all projects at Harrison Bay, it was a team effort, but Mitch and Bill were responsible for the electrical and communication portion of the project.  Using wireless communication and ethernet cables this year were interesting to figure out but made it much easier to hook up and get working.

Angelo safely back on the ground after another successful camera installation.  Hopefully they will stay in this nest for a few years.

We will be working over the next several days to get the video feed out over the internet and loaded onto the website.  This is a still photo of the computer monitor in the office using my cell phone camera.  The detail and clarity of the new cameras is amazing and we can't wait to share this project with the world.

Camera Replacement

Well, it was always a major concern of ours that the cameras would be damaged by lightning and that is exactly what has occurred. The cameras were damaged during a storm last Thursday and so Angelo came back to Harrison Bay and removed them from the tree.  We had them checked by our electricians and we will have to replace them before this year's nesting season begins. 

 Angelo's visit was needed anyway regardless of the camera situation. To the left is a goosegrass plant which had started growing in the nest about a month ago.  It was beginning to take over the nest and the eagles were having to sit on top of it when they visited the nest.  The plant is about 5 feet across and the nest is only about 8 feet across.  Removing the plant will give Elliott and Eloise all the room they need in the nest.

We will repair the cameras and replace them before the season begins.  We are looking at adding audio to the project when we replace the cameras and are looking for someone who has some connections with Charter Communications in Cleveland to assist us with getting cable internet to the golf course maintenance building so we can provide a better outgoing signal.  If you can help please let us know.

Update on Elliott and Eloise

We wanted to share with all our Harrison Bay Eagle Cam Friends and followers that Elliott and Eloise are still at the golf course and are routinely seen returning to the home nest with new sticks and twigs.  They are very active around the course and we hope this year will be a much more successful year than last.

Update on the Eagle Cam Project itself.  For those who were concerned about the quality of video and the lack of sound last season we are currently investigating the possibility of getting high speed cable internet to our recording and broadcasting location and are talking with our electronic experts about the best small outdoor microphone for our location.  Hope everyone is having a fun and safe summer. 

Keep Elliott and Eloise in your prayers.

Better luck next year, let's hope

The Harrison Bay Eagle Cam Project has been a source of great pride, excitement, and yes, even disappointment this year. The failure of the eaglets to survive is not a failure of the project but rather a common act of nature. It is a quick reminder that we are watching wild animals in their natural environment and with that come the good and bad aspects of nature.

Whether it was the unusual early spring temperatures this year or the disruption of the storms and tornado that came through our area or just simply nature itself that caused the nesting attempt to fail we may never know. This year’s project was a great learning experience and allowed us to accomplish exactly what we set out to do; view and experience the nesting process of the two bald eagles that so graciously call our golf course home. So with that in mind the project itself was not a failure but a resounding success.

Since December 2010 when the eagles first arrived at the golf course til now the sight of them flying overhead has not lost it’s sense of wonder and awe. The eagles have not left the golf course which gives us great hope for a return to nesting next season. They are spending the nights in the trees near the nest tree and have built several roosting platforms around the golf course where they can peacefully sit and keep watch over their domain.

We cannot thank all of the project supporters that made the project possible enough. Beyond the financial support they provided encouragement and expertise which aided in the project’s success. We would especially like to recognize The Friends of Harrison Bay State Park, the United States Golf Association Green Section, Volunteer Electric Cooperative, the East Tennessee and Middle Tennessee Golf Course Superintendents Association, and the TORO Company and their Tennessee distributor Smith Turf and Irrigation of Nashville, Tennessee for their generous support. The support of these organizations along with the continued support of individual donors will insure the Harrison Bay Eagle Cam Project will continue on for many more years.

We were equally grateful of our friends in the media which provided a great deal of publicity for the project with newspaper articles, radio and news interviews, and special features in magazines and websites. Articles such as these below created a great wave of excitement and brought many interested parties to the project.
USGA
Times Free Press
Times Free Press

The good news is the eagles have not left the area and regularly return to the nest, still carrying sticks and rearranging the pine needles as if they are ready to begin nesting at any minute. With this encouraging activity happening we eagerly look forward to our next nesting season, one which we hope will be successful on all accounts.

As with many first year projects there were many lessons learned which we will take note of with the intent of improving the project for the years to come. We quickly became aware of the need for a microphone near the nest so we could hear the eagles call out to one another and this will be our main priority as we look toward next year. Another area which we will look to address will be a quicker internet connection which will allow for a clearer, crisper picture without the distortion we experienced this year.

We are very thankful for the support and encouragement we have received for everyone. The website was a huge success with over 52,000 visitors from 37 countries logging on to view the eagles. We are thankful for those who have donated their time, talents, and money for the future of the Harrison Bay Eagle Cam Project.

Almost Eaglet Time

photo by Bret Douglas

It appears to me that we are getting very close to time for some little eaglets to venture into the world.  Elliott and Eloise have been excellent parents so far and I am sure they will continue along this path.  The frequency of the egg turning and the maintenance of the nest has drastically increased over the past few days and all eyes are on the eggs to see when they will hatch.

We are getting a lot of great press over the Eagle Cam Project and will hopefully pick up much more in the future.  Thanks to John Reitman of TurfNet for the latest article on TurfNet.com A Project for the Birds.  It is great to see the interest and attention the project is receiving from around the world.

World Wide Eagle Watching

I am thrilled with the amount of viewers who have fallen in love with Elliott and Eloise.  Above is a screen shot of the Feedjit Traffic Feed that was current this morning.  The power of the internet has allowed people from virtually all around the world to enjoy this project. 

Can't wait for the little fuzzy eaglets to hatch out.

Happy Viewing!!!

Elliott Brings Eloise a Gift on Valentine's Day

Sorry for the absence in posts but it has been busy around here.  

Lots of activity in the eagle nest and Elliott and Eloise are now proud parents of two eggs right now.  The first egg was laid on Saturday, Feb. 11 and the second on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012.  It has been great to watch both parents taking turns watching over the eggs and taking care of them.  Interesting how the same beak that can rip apart a fish or duck in seconds can tenderly turn a freshly laid egg without a scratch.

Video is Elliott's Gift to Eloise on Valentine's Day.  True love.

Eagle Cam Gets National Exposure

Golf Course Management is the official monthly publication of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.  This month our Harrison Bay Eagle Cam Project is featured in the Environment Section.  It is a very nice article written by Ms. Bunny Smith of GCSAA and featuring a great photo by our friend Bret Rogers. 

"Eagle Eye"

(click link to view)

Thanks to everyone that has logged on to the eagle cam website

http://www.harrisonbayeaglecam.org/

to enjoy Elliott and Eloise getting ready for this years hatch.

Harrison Bay Eagle Cam is LIVE and Active

Elliott and Eloise

Wow! What an exciting and active week this has been.  It has been a week today since we launched our Harrison Bay Eagle Cam Project live and streaming to the world.  We have had visitors from almost every state in the US and from several countries abroad.  It is great to see so many people interested in Bald Eagles and in our project.  We have had a few minor glitches to work through but that was expected and we will have them all taken care of by the time Eloise takes to her nest.

I would like to thank Mr. Richard Simms of News Channel 9 in Chattanooga for his great article "Harrison Bay Eagle Cam Goes Live" which reached people all over the Tennessee Valley and got picked up and posted to several other sites and FaceBook accounts. 

Another huge "Thank You" goes to Mrs. Angie Underwood who has taken on the task of creating and maintaining our website, and putting up with all my crazy requests.  Please visit our website and let us know if there is anything we can do to make it more beneficial and educational to you.

We would like to encourage all that are interested to "like us" on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/HarrisonBayEagleCam and follow us on Twitter at hbspeaglecam as this will be a quick and easy way to keep up with what is going on.  We will be posting and tweeting activity in the nest and news about special events as they happen. 

Thanks for your interest in our project and for your support!!!

WWW.HARRISONBAYEAGLECAM.ORG

Nesting Activities

I know everyone is anxious to be able to see the live video stream of the Bald Eagles at Harrison Bay.  Trust me, no one is looking forward to that day more than I am.  We have several people working on the solution and we are confident we are heading in the right direction.  You just can't run down to Wal-Mart and pick up an Eagle Watching Kit and set it up.  It has been a learning experience to say the least but we are getting there.  Until we can get it up and running I will be archiving as much footage as I can to YouTube and posting it on the blog and website so all can enjoy.  Keep your fingers crossed and we will get there soon.  Thanks for your interest and patience.

This is a quick clip of one of last year's juvenile bald eagles returning to the nest.  It only stays for a few seconds until it sees Mom or Dad coming back to the nest.

Bald Eagles Working on the Nest and Having Some Fun

The Harrison Bay Bald Eagles have been very active lately rearranging and adding to the contents of their nest.  This past Sunday was the first day that both of the eagles were seen in the nest at the same time.  She has spent a good bit of time fluffing up the pine needles from last year and he is bringing in larger sticks which she is placing around the perimeter of the nest.








I love this video clip as I think it shows that the eagles have a playful side also.  Don't worry she gets her revenge later and runs him out of the nest.

I know everyone is excited about seeing the live video feed and we are working everyday to make it happen.