Minnesota DNR relaunching popular "eagle cam" after last spring's nest crash
MINNEAPOLIS — A popular and intimate view of the majestic birds will be turned back on Thursday when the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources re-activates its "eagle cam."
The live stream had been going strong for 10 years, but this spring the nest fell from 100 feet to the ground, and the eaglet did not survive. The DNR says the nest weighed about 2,000 pounds and was 20 years old. The addition of heavy snow was too much for the already dead branch supporting it.
Despite that, the camera will activate anew this week, showcasing a variety of panoramic views for those tuning in.
"What we're gonna do this year is we're going to have it on a tour. We will still be operating it but probably not as intensely as we would be if there were birds there, but we will have it set up on a tour so that it's touring an area, maybe every 100 seconds, and we can set up several different scenes," DNR spokesperson Lori Naumann said. "And then it'll stop at where the perch where we've seen the birds perching since the nest fell."
The eagle couple on the site remains loyal to this territory and has built a nest about half a mile from the camera's location.
Minnesota DNR staff will monitor them to see if the nest officially becomes their new parenting home.