Eagles Winter Feeding Ground 2012 - 2013

[Jo UK]

Eagles Winter Feeding Ground webcam

http://pontu.eenet.ee/player/nova.html

or, for VLC users
rtsp://193.40.133.138:80/live/nova

This is the Pan Tilt Zoom camera which we first enjoyed last winter. A clearing in a forest at Nova (West Estonia) is where natural food for eagles and other birds of prey is available to them.

[Jo UK]

We can read about this camera set-up here -

http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/15464


This year there have been various problems with connections from the winter feeding ground of the white-tailed eagles. Urmas and Renno from Kotkaklubi (Eagle Club) managed to resolve the last bottlenecks on December 29th.

The camera can be directed (viewing angle changed, zoom function) by an authorised operator. In daylight the focus can be adjusted.

As always a great number of splendid people have been involved in the enterprise. Kernel and the Beta group helped for instance to get the transmission system going after the summer standstill. The general system setup is supported by the ESTLAT programme through the "Eagles cross borders" project of the Estonian Ornithological Society.

And the Looduskalender forum provides information on what goes on.

[Jo UK]

I unlocked the new Winter Feeding Ground topic - Liis will post a translation of a news article which was in Paeveleht, about Urmas and Renno preparing for the new webcam. Also something about Linda and Suleve's camera, coming soon.

[Liis]

Thank you, Jo!
Here is an article by our favourite eagles and storks reporter, Ulvar Käärt, after having been invited to assist in the camera installation work for the eagle feeding ground and at Linda and Sulev's new nest - really hard work, too.

From newspaper Eesti Päevaleht yesterday http://www.epl.ee/news/eesti/kotka-pilg ... d=65381840
Photos and video - see in article at link above.

In eagle view or Apprentice at eagle camera installation
EPL, Eesti Päevaleht, 10. December 2012 05:00
Reporter: Ulvar Käärt
Photo: Getting stand for solar panels ready. Ilmar Saabas / Delfi

Setting up the popular eagle web cameras is not as easy as it may seem from watching the webcam on your computer screen.

See video here! [ video link in EPL article, URL above]
The Eagle Club men once again plan to run the webcams that have offered happy watching on Internet for hundreds of thousands of nature lovers all over the world. One camera has to be moved from its former location to the new nest of white-tailed eagle pair Linda and Sulev, the other must be set in working order at the winter feeding ground of the white-tailed eagles. As days are short but job list long, Eagle club men Renno Nellis and Urmas Sellis invited newspaper Eesti Päevaleht to assist.

Linda and Sulev have chosen a new location for their nest in Noarootsi, surprisingly close to human settlements: the nearest house is only 400 meters away and the sound of traffic on the Haapsalu road can be heard at the nest. Last spring the eagle pair that raised two eaglets this year decided for some reason to leave their old nest and moved one and a half kilometers closer to the sea.
The new nest, with a sea view, is built in the top of a pine growing on a bog islet in the middle of reedy water pools,. The beautiful eagle home, untouched by human activities, is surrounded by a protecting wall of dense thicket full of muddy mire patches.
We must force this thicket with rucksacks, cable rolls and solar panels while kilos of snow spill from the branches down our necks. The first target is to get the solar panels that charge the nest camera batteries securely in place because the camera must start working quite soon in the new location so that the birds get used to it before the breeding period.
Domestic peace undisturbed
We find a spot suitable for the solar panels about 80 meters from the nest, in a part of the thicket that is open to the sun. The ground is soggy, in places we have to struggle in knee-deep mud. We start to build a stand on posts for the panels using material at hand, that is, poles cut from young alders.
Fortunately there is not the slightest sign of Linda or Sulev and we can concentrate on our work. Fortunately, because eagles are very sensitive to being disturbed in their nest territory. Renno and Urmas believe that Linda together with Sulev probably has gone searching for food further away in Saunja bay, at open waters.
Sawing, pounding the posts into the rebounding ground and hammering in nails takes several hours before the thing is ready. The clumsy but secure stand is precisely big enough to accomodate two shining blue solar panels that now can look up to the sun without danger of falling over, and so can produce electricity.
Checking with a tester shows that the panels are working perfectly: when the weather is sunny they create a voltage slightly over 20 volt, but even in the present snowfall the tester device screen shows 19,8 V. That should be enough to keep the batteries that feed the web camera from being drained down to a critical limit.
Knowing that the camera and the 44-kilo batteries have to be carried to their places at another time we quickly set off to the white-tailed eagle feeding ground near Nõva so that we can use the last of the short daylight time.
There a data transmission cable part waits for replacement; it was evidently chewed through by squirrels or mice in the summer. An adapter for the power system has started to play up and must be replaced too, and finally the web camera has to be fixed on a pine at the edge of the feeding ground. Omar Neiland from the Beta Group comes to assist with the electricity work, he has plenty of experience in keeping eagle cameras running.
Eagles quickly in place
The feeding ground, now buried in snow, where on favourable days in previous years tens of eagles have gathered for meals, watched by thousands of eagle enthusiasts thanks to the webcams, is empty now because no game carcasses have been brought here yet to be dished up to the eagles. Only the call of a raven is heard now and again.
But our doings are not unnoticed by the eagles. We have only quietly unrolled and connected cables for some ten minutes in the shelter of trees when suddenly a big brown bird silently passes above the pine tops. It is a white-tailed eagle that evidently came to check what goes on at its customary dinner table that is decked with meat in winter. All doings are supervised by eagle eyes.
In the evening dusk we finally get the camera fixed on the tree. It is no little amateurish gadget but a very powerful ”web eye” indeed that forwards an extremely sharp image. Urmas notes that with the 30x magnification power of the camera it is possible to sit at home at the computer and easily read the rings of eagles at 40 meters distance on the feeding ground and so also determine their origins.
The power supply gets the camera alive but setting up the necessary link for transmitting image and sound to the nearest mobile tower does not succeed. If things go well the feeding ground eagle TV should however be running already this week. Hopefully we can also peek into Linda’s and Sulev’s nest by webcam this year.

Photo: Trudging in the thicket with snow by kilos falling inside collar.
WIDE CHOICE
Wealth of nature cameras in Estonia
This year the white-tailed eagle nest camera transmission runs within the Estonian-Latvian co-operative ESTLAT Eagles program. Beside Linda and Sulev a Latvian white-tailed eagle nest will also be on webcam in the project.
The many nature cameras in places difficult to reach is unique for Estonia. During the nesting period eagles and black storks can be watched. In Alutaguse the brown bear camera hums in summer and the grey seal camera on Vilsandi. In winter, the wild boar feeding ground and the winter bird feeder can be seen in addition to white-tailed eagles. And from Soomaa the ”fifth season” is shown.

[ame]

this is news which we have been eagerily been looking forward to!

Fireblade has keeping an eye on the link and yesterday he noticed that the transmission was on. he posted the first picture on the Seal camera forum while this was still locked.

Oh, wrong place, I think

this is the right place!
i made a short test recording. there was so silent now when there was no food so far and therefore no dinner guests. when food is served there's always birds looking for food from the break of dawn till the dark of evening. even in the darkness there will be raccoon dogs and foxes looking for food making voices.


then after some time the nõva-camera was disconnected again, after being on for at least about half an hour.
hopefully it will start transmitting soon!

thank you Liis for the translation of the article!

[Fleur]

but I do not know if I can look as much as last year
I also like the sealcam

[Jo UK]

Another news article from Delfi, telling about the webcam and solar panel set-up.
http://www.delfi.ee/news/paevauudised/s ... d=65384766

[Jürgen]

This camera will please my needs to see the birds at home

No birds of prey left for winter here in Stratford . At not least any that you can see in daylight...

[Bea]

Another news article from Delfi, telling about the webcam and solar panel set-up.
http://www.delfi.ee/news/paevauudised/s ... d=65384766

My goodness .... the pictures tell that all the installation is an adventurous enterprise!
Thank you for all this work

[Manu]

Ouuh yes, it looks like REALLY hard work to install the webcam and panels.
@all who are involved: Thank you so much for your efforts. It's really great what are you doing .

[Lussi05]

Ouuh yes, it looks like REALLY hard work to install the webcam and panels.
@all who are involved: Thank you so much for your efforts. It's really great what are you doing .

I couldn't agree more..how exciting, winter eagle cam and Linda & Sulev

Thank you so much

[ame]

in the end of the news posted by Jo there's a picture album. it seems that pictures 29 onwards are from the winter feeding place and the earlier ones are from the new nest site of Linda and Sulev. -in the photo gallery there are a lot of interesting pictures.
this is our winter eagle camera. rather impressive, isn't it!

Foto: Ilmar Saabas

thank you Urmas and Renno and the third guy for your efforts!
(Urmas is the man with the beard and Renno is without. - there seemed to be two other guys there on that outing, a third without a beard in the above picture and a fourth guy with a beard, too. who were they?)

[Hellem]

- there seemed to be two other guys there on that outing, a third without a beard in the above picture and a fourth guy with a beard, too. who were they?)[/color]

The man in red jacket is journalist Ulvar Käärt who writes in newspaper "Eesti Päevaleht" about nature (about case Nimeta too). The fourth man is photographer Ilmar.

[Manu]

@Hellem: Thank you for this background informations. It's really interesting.

[Liis]

Another news article from Delfi, telling about the webcam and solar panel set-up.
http://www.delfi.ee/news/paevauudised/s ... d=65384766

A lot more and interesting photos, same text as in the EPL article. So if you fit that in, you have the whole in English!

EDIT: 4th photo, explanation added: no, they are not carrying the bathroom door but a solar panel.

[Jo UK]

Unfortunately, there may be a bit more delay in getting the camera online. More technical stuff is needed - cables, switches or something.

[Kitty KCMO]

I can hardly wait! And *sigh* Renno is as handsome today as he was when we unmercifully teased him about it a couple of years ago.

[kojupoika]

I have waited for the feedingcamera. Last winter i saw the Finnish eagle D402 ringed by me here.

[Jo UK]

kojupoika - how exciting for you. Let's hope we see him/her again this season!

[Wil Muller]

Thank you all for the information and all the hard work to install everything to see the winter feeding ground but also a new nest for Linda and Sulev . Really great job. But to see at the pictures they enjoyed it as well.