The Turtle Bay eagle cam, which is focused on Patriot and Liberty's nest in downtown Redding, went live Wednesday afternoon after a premiere at Turtle Bay Exploration Park.
The beefier camera is connected to a server by fiber-optic cable and should withstand the north state's harsh elements better than the first eagle cam did earlier this year. That camera sent a wireless signal to the server that became blocked by vegetation and weather, stopping the show before the pair's young eaglets took flight.
"We have confidence that this picture will last even during the ugly part of winter," said Phil Baker, manager of the Dana to Downtown Project for the California Department of Transportation.
Despite the problems, the eagle cam Web site still drew close to 1.2 million page views between Dec. 1, 2008, and May 30, said Toby Osborn, spokesman for Turtle Bay.
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About 55 people came to the premiere, including an inquisitive third-grade class of 20 students from Turtle Bay Elementary School. Their questions varied from the scientific to personal - how do you tell male and female eagles apart to what is a bald eagle's favorite color?
A panel of three eagle experts answered the questions.
Sharon Dale, animal programs manager at Turtle Bay, said female eagles are typically larger than their male counterparts.
Craig Martz, an environmental scientist for the state Department of Fish and Game, suggested the birds are likely fond of a brown-and-white color scheme. One of the students said yellow also might be in the palette.
The pair of bald eagles came to prominence in fall 2007 when Caltrans attempted to move them away from the Dana to Downtown construction project along Highway 44. The eagles rebuffed the effort and have since raised five eaglets in the two nesting seasons despite the nearby construction commotion.
The eagle cam was installed as part of a monitoring effort by scientists on contract with the state, Martz said.
"Our goal is to make sure we have eagles in downtown Redding for the foreseeable future," Martz said.
And while they're there, the webcam will be recording from about 6 a.m. to approximately 5:30 p.m. daily.
The new armored fiber-optic cable linking the camera to its server is designed to resist the pressures of 550 feet of ocean water, said Jonathan Foster, senior environmental consultant at ICF Jones and Stokes in Redding. Caltrans contracted with the company to keep watch on the eagles.
"Our hope is that it will last 25 years," Foster said. "We want this to be a long-term thing."
The $64 million bridge construction project should be finished in February 2011, Dale said. Turtle Bay plans to keep operating the eagle cam as long as there are birds in the nest.
"It's in our backyard," Dale said.
http://www.turtlebay.org/eaglecam
