Eagle cam, Ozzie and Harriet are back
If it’s early October in South-west Florida, it must be time for its most beloved bald eagle clan to return to nest.
Ozzie and Harriet returned to their nest in North Fort Myers off Bayshore Road a couple weeks ago, and the Pritchett Eagle Cam began live streaming on its new website Wednesday, the first official day of Florida’s bald eagle nesting season.
The eagles have begun preparing the nest with sticks and pine needles to get ready.
Just like last year, the eagle cam will feature two camera angles of the nesting tree.
The first camera will be positioned just feet away from the nest, with a second camera, that has been moved to a new tree, positioned 30 yards north with the ability to pan and zoom on action happening around the nest.
“Last year the cam was positioned in a dead tree and it was no longer safe to put a camera on it,” said Andrew Pritchett, who runs the camera. “We knew we had to have it again. It was a great experience.”
The second camera came in handy when the eaglet was ready to fledge or when people wanted to know what the eagles were doing when they were around the nest, Pritchett said.
Over the last two years the eagle cam has shown some of the triumphs and tragedies as the adult eagles have cared for their eaglets. Last year saw the death of E3 the eaglet just a few weeks after birth.
“We saw firsthand what happens when nature takes its course. It was hard for people to see, but in the end it gave them a good perspective of reality,” Pritchett said. “It actually bumped up viewership. Everyone was talking about it. Whenever there’s drama it bumps up ratings.”
Legally, there was nothing the Pritchetts could do about it. Still, Pritchett said they were criticized by some because of it.
The 2012-13 nesting season marked the first year the nest was streamed live. More than 16 million viewers worldwide tuned in to watch Harriet and Ozzie raise their two eaglets, in a nest that resides 60 feet above the ground in a slash pine, from birth to fledge.
The eagles are already at work putting the nest together and preparing to mate. The eggs are expected to be laid right around Thanksgiving, with them hatching between Christmas and New Years.
The pair relocated the nest from across the street to its current location on the farm at the Pritchett property for the 2006-07 nesting season. It has been monitored at this location for seven years, according to the Web site.
The nest gets dozens of up-close visits daily from bird lovers who either watch from the road leading to the Pritchett offices or at the church next door.
“There’s a group of people who come daily. On a Saturday you’ll see between 10 and 15 people, but the rest of them haven’t shown up yet,” Pritchett said.