Camera on eagles’ nest relocated
An offseason video surveillance upgrade is expected to have little impact on the home of a celebrity couple in Hays.
Recognized globally during six years of live-streamed drama, the bald eagle pair nesting on a hillside overlooking the Monongahela River have watched the flights of fledglings, the deaths of offspring, predator attacks, human encroachments and the collapse of their home — twice. All the while, the eagles were being watched by a global audience totalingnearly 6 million page views.
Workers with the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania are likely to ruffle few feathers
Tuesday when they move the camera and its power source nearer to the birds’ newest nest.
A February windstorm knocked down the eagles’ nesting tree during the female’s egg laying period. Jim Bonner, executive director of the Audubon chapter, said it is believed that one egg was destroyed in the collapse and another, which had to be laid onthe ground, was lost.
The resourceful eagles quickly built a replacement nest in a large sycamore tree located on the same hillside a couple of hundred yards to the northwest.
“More than likely, what would have been the third egg was laid in the nest and they successfully raised and fledged that one,” Mr. Bonner said. “All things considered, they did a good job.”
As per routine, the camera was turned off after the fledgling left the nest and the parents stopped using it in late August or early September.
“We’ll be taking the camera down from the current tree, determining which tree to move it to [in order] to give us the best angle into the nest, and setting it up there,” Mr. Bonner said. “We’re also moving the battery and solar array closer to the new site, and there’s some talk that some of the camera components may be upgraded.”
The camera and power source were constructed and donated by Pix Controller, a Murrysville company that builds the largely self-sufficient camera systems for industrial security, the military and law enforcement.
Another reason to move the equipment is the pending sale of the Hays hilltop to the city Urban Redevelopment Authority, which intends to develop real estate located some distance from the nest. Mr. Bonner said Audubon is expected to acquire a landowner agreement with URA permitting the group to maintain the nest.
A live-streaming wildlife camera in Harmar will be relocated to provide a better view into another bald eagle nest. Mr. Bonner said that would should be completed by Dec. 31, and a second camera may be added to the site.