Do you ever wonder what they are looking at from the edge of the nest? With all the wing flapping you can tell they are about to start jumping from branch to branch. The river is up a bit again this week, so we actually have a few inches of water in the parking lot below the nest. Below are a few pictures of Liberty or Justice along with some other shots from today in the neighborhood of the nest.
We seem to have stabilized our feed from the new camera to keep it from locking up on a freeze frame every so often. We are planning a little bit of downtime tomorrow (Thursday) morning to try to connect audio to the feed. Hopefully it will be quick and successful. Below is a shot of one of the parents from today watching Glory and Honor from a branch a little distance from the nest. Don't forget you can help charity and get a keepsake from this experience. Click the link above or go to www.qceaglecam.com to order t-shirts and more. A portion of each purchase goes to charity.
The good news is that the river is receding. It looks like it could still be a few days before we can get back down to the nest area to work on the video feed. We will keep you posted on progress. In the meantime below are a couple of pictures from earlier today. One parent flying, one parent keeping watch from a nearby branch and two little heads sticking up above the top of the nest. Make sure you check out the Alcoa EagleCam merchandise link. In the next day or two look for new items available for this season. The link is above or you can click on www.qceaglecam.com
Alcoa was recognized for the educational aspects of Alcoa EagleCam during an awards ceremony on Friday evening. River Action, a river advocacy group in Davenport, presents its annual "Eddy" awards in several categories each year. This year Alcoa EagleCam, and specifically the connection to a grant from Alcoa Foundation to the Bettendorf Schools to create online learning modules, was recognized with the award. Public Affairs Manager, John Riches and Davenport Works Director of Manufactuing, Rob Woodall, accepted the award from River Action Founder, Kathy Wine. Alcoa was nominated for the award by Jerry Neff, a member of the local chapter of the Sierra Club.
We have about a foot or so of water in the parking lot below the nest here at Alcoa. This building near the river is outside of the plant's normal flood protection. It is not unusual to get some spring flooding. What this does mean is we will not be able to install our other camera in an alternate location until the water goes back down. Right now that looks like it will be at least late next week. I will try to provide some updates over the next few days as the river forecast changes. Below are a couple of pictures taken today. We can clearly see one of the parents in the nest and the other shot gives you a sense of the visit we are getting from the Mississippi River.
We have isolated the problem to the camera itself. After consulting with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service we understand and agree we will not be able to do any repair work to the current camera until after this nesting season.
We have come up with a plan to install a camera from a temporary location a distance from the nest. We are hoping to get that done in the next few days. Complicating that is the fact the Mississippi River is rising and the property with the nest is low-lying and will have some water rising over the next few days. We will post another update as soon as we have more information. Below are a couple of pictures taken last Thursday and Friday.
We are still working to get back online. We had a strong line of thunderstorms move through early this morning and more rain expected throughout the day. In the meantime, here are a few frame grabs of the eaglets during the day yesterday.
Happy April Fool's Day to everyone. It was a great weekend in the nest with lots of food and both eaglets getting plenty to eat. It is amazing how quickly they grow at this age.
Just to give you an update on the name poll. We have had about 55,000 votes so far and Glory & Honor is currently in the lead followed by Al & Coa. You can continue to vote until midnight eastern this Friday night and we will announce the wining names next Monday.
Here are a few still images from the nest over the Easter weekend.
This afternoon marks two weeks since our first eaglet hatched at Alcoa EagleCam. Below are a couple of images from some of the nest time yesterday. Remember to keep voting for the names (see poll below the video box), and don't forget to help charity by grabbing some Alcoa EagleCam merchandise (link above).
It has been an active morning in the nest already today. See a few pictures below. We want to remind everyone to keep voting for their favorite names. As of last night we have had over 30,000 votes cast. Also remember to check out the educational link above and the one for Alcoa EagleCam merchandise. A portion of each sale goes to charity.
Not that the Eagles and Eaglets have any interest in the NCAA tournament, but it seems like the Alcoa Eagles should wish good luck tonight to the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles!
