A very popular pastime here in the most heavily populated state of the US is watching our new eagles being born each year.
Eagle Cam focuses on 3 eggs ready to hatch at Duke Farms March 19, 2014 original HILLSBOROUGH — Spring is the season for new life and you, along with 8½ million others, can witness the marvel of birth through Duke Farms’ Eagle Cam. The webcam focuses on a bald eagles’ nest perched 80 feet in a sycamore tree on the 2,000-acre property that has been preserved as center for environmental stewardship. The web cam is located higher in the sycamore tree and though it can be operated remotely, it is mostly pointed down to give a birds-eye view of the nest. There are now three eggs in the nest. The eggs were laid at 3:55 p.m. Feb. 17, 3 p.m. Feb. 20 and 4:45 p.m. Feb. 23. With a gestation time of about five weeks, the time for the eggs to hatch is fast approaching. The first hatch date could be March 24. “So far, so good,” said Nora Wagner, director of public programs at Duke Farms. You may see the progress yourself by going to MyCentralJersey.com. Since the eagle nest was discovered in the fall of 2004, 18 eagle chicks have been hatched and fledged — growing feathers large enough to fly — at Duke Farms. Fledging usually takes 10 to 12 weeks, Wagner said The webcam first was installed in 2008 and began transmitting video in March 2008. Since then, Wagner understated, “it’s gotten pretty popular.” As of Tuesday, the Eagle Cam, Wagner said, had close to 8½ million viewers. Duke Farms and the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey have created lesson plans for students in schools along the East Coast to learn about the habits of the country’s national bird. For example, the mother and father share incubation duties, though the mother spends more time with the eggs. Most of the time, the webcam captures nothing more exciting than an adult eagle protecting the eggs and keeping them warm. When the eggs hatch, suddenly the nest becomes busy with activity until the chicks grow their wings. But occasionally there is drama. In one of the more harrowing scenes captured by the webcam, on March 24, 2013 a red-tailed hawk swooped down on the nest but was killed by one of the adult eagles, who then feeds the hawk’s remains to a chick. The webcam captured every second of the life-and-death drama. An eagles’ nest was first discovered at Duke Farms in 2004. But in 2012, Hurricane Sandy’s 90-mph winds tore the top off the upper half of the nest tree, destroying the nest. But like many New Jersey families whose homes were destroyed in the storm, the eagles returned to Duke Farms and built a new nest in the sycamore about 100 feet from the first nest two months after the storm. The camera was moved to the new nest tree in the fall of 2013. There are now 96 pairs of eagles incubating in New Jersey, according to the Conserve Wildlife Foundation. Link to the Eagle Cam: http://www.mycentraljersey.com/interactive/article/20140319/NJLIFE13/140319001/WATCH-LIVE-Eagle-Cam-Duke-Farms-Hillsborough Dan Matyola http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.