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 Installation

Mitch Sivley, Assistant Golf Course Superintendent at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay did a great job of camouflaging the cameras that were to be placed in the tree.

Mitch used Leyland Cypress leaves on the cameras because the pine needles that he first tried didn't quite work out like he wanted.

Close up of the camera after being painted.  The cameras are high definition stationary cameras that have an internal heating system to keep the lens from fogging over. 

Mitch and Steve Bloom, Equipment Technician for Bear Trace, soldered wires together on the ground so they would be stronger and just wire connectors.

Mitch applied heat shrink to the wire connections to protect them from moisture and to help insure a long life of filming eagles.

With the lowest live limb on the pine tree at about 60 feet up the tree it was rather interesting trying to get a line over the limb so Angelo could feel safe to climb.  After close to two hours of us trying to throw weighted bags, using a slingshot, and trying to cast a fishing line into the tree, Harrison Bay State Park Ranger David Hobbs came to the rescue with his bow and arrow and with some monofiliment line attached to it shot it up and over the branches.

Don Campbell, Harrison Bay State Park Manager saved the day on the camera installation by calling on one of his fellow State Park Rangers to help us out.  Angelo Giansante, Hiawassee State Park Ranger, a former US Army Ranger and certified arborist came down to Harrison Bay to install the cameras for us.  Here Angelo is starting his climb up the tree.

Angelo at the nest.  Every precaution was taken not to disturb any portion of the nest.  Angelo said that the view inside of the nest was one of the coolest things he has ever seen.  We all assumed that the nest would be deep on the inside but he said it was rather flat, just a small depression.

Self photo by Angelo while up in the tree.

Photo taken by Angelo looking down from the nest.

The above photo is a picture of the entire nest which measures about 8 feet across and is about 4 feet high.  The center is slightly depressed and is lined with pine needles and grasses.  Look closely at the right side of the photo to the right and you can see one of the turtle shells that were found in the nest.  Remains of a good dinner, I guess.

Angelo did a great job of installing and securing the cameras in the proper locations to give us the best views of the nest.  One camera(the one to his right) is positioned about 5 feet above the nest to give us an overhead view and the one he is in the process of installing is off to the side of the nest to give us a sideview.

It took Angelo two days to get both of the cameras installed and all of the wiring secured and insulated.  The feed back to the maintenance building is good and we have a computer expert coming Monday to get us up and running at http://www.harrisonbayeaglecam.org/