By way of introduction,
My name is TalonStrike and I am an Eagleaholic!
They say (not sure who “they” are) that the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. I’m not sure that Eagleaholism is a recognized problem yet. I am enjoying it so far!
I am one of the moderators privileged to be asked to help out with the MN Bound Eagle Cam this year. I’ll be posting here frequently to keep all of our Eagle friends updated with the latest news from the nest and with some pertinent facts about Eagles and the cam we are using this year.
There are about 13 of us “mods” right now and we will be trying to help keep all the other Eagleaholics sane when the eggs arrive and while the eaglets grow up. There will be more of us as the season progresses and we see just how many Eagle watchers join us in the Social Stream on the site. In addition, we will be using the Chat room for classes and we will be having a expert from The Audubon Society of the North Woods on hand to answer questions from the classes.
Moderating can be a tough job but we enjoy it and feel that we are providing a needed anchor to guide the chatters as they watch and post. Our mottos at this nest are “Be Nice” and “Eagles not Egos”.
Now a little about the doings at the nest and with the cam this past week.
Mom and Dad Eagle (yep, thats what we call them, they haven’t been named) have been prepping the nest for the arrival of the eggs. They have been bringing in grasses and sticks to build up the nest. The arrival of a new stick usually results in a tug-of-war between them to place it in the right spot. Mom usually wins until her back is turned and Dad moves the stick again. Also this week has shown us that they will defend their nest vigorously. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday there have been intruders at the nest at dusk. Mom and Dad have gone after them and chased them away each time. So the score is MandD 3, Intruders 0. Since Eagles are the top predators in the skies, this is not surprising. I would not like to go up against them, their talons are bigger than my hand. Last years eggs were laid on March 6 and 9 so we may see an egg or two this week!
The main glitch at this time (Sunday Mar 3) is power. Broadband Corp reused the solar array from last year and installed a completely new array to more than double the power capacity available to run the cam, the radios that carry the signal back to BBC, and the new night illuminator. They have been testing various power scenarios trying to give us the best bang for the buck right now. Because of the cold the batteries are not putting out their full capacity right now. As we warm up and the days get longer this situation should improve and we should have full-time viewing 24/7. There is no power backup as this is a completely solar installation with no way to hook to the grid as it is too far from any other power source. Mark and the team will be revamping the power supplies this week to give us the most out of what is available. They will do well by us as they always have.
Well, I have rambled on long enough for this blog entry and will say So Long and Sweet MNB Eagle Dreams to all until the next one.
Happy Eagle viewing and we’ll see you on the nest!
TalonStrike
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below or in the chat room. Also, we'll be updating our official MN Bound LIVE Eagles Facebook Page regularly so you can follow along, like, or share with your friends. We have several site moderators this year to help give optimal information to all that want to learn more about these magnificent birds.