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On November 6th 2013 we started the sixth web camera season from the nest of white-tailed eagles Linda and Sulev..

 

 

 

This year we started transmissions from the nest even earlier than last year. The previous summer technology let us down and the camera in the tree top stopped co-operating in mid-June. We tried once, at the end of July, to get the system working, but it did not succeed. In the beginning of November together with Renno we took down the black stork nest camera, and after drying it went to the nest of Linda and Sulev. No eagles were near the nest. New aerials were set up by IT company Kernel. Finnish colleagues Ismo Nuuja, Matts Finnlund and Jarmo Mäenpää visited us to see the installation of the camera. They have plans to set up a white-tailed eagle web camera near Vaasa, Finland.

Discussing with Renno, Matts, Ismo and Jarmo when the large batteries have to be carried into the forest.

 

Already a few hours after installation of the camera white-tailed eagle calls could be heard but no eagles came to the nest. We hope that the nest with the camera will be used by the eagles but nobody can guarantee this.

 

The camera system is arranged so that when darkness falls all power consumers will be turned off and as light arrives, they will be connected again. This allows use of power to be considerably reduced, and so it will not be necessary to risk disrupting the nest life of the eagles by replacing batteries. The solar panels work well as long as they are not covered with snow and the sun is shining. From the transmitting aerial in the nest tree there is direct visibility to the Elisa mobile tower, where the receiving aerial is placed, and from there the signal is transmitted along the Televõrgud cables to the EENet server. In the server the image is split for the thousands of viewers all over the world who want to take part in what is happening in the nest. We use a power-efficient Mobotix  camera and Mikrotik aerials.

So the camera looks to those in the nest.

 

From February 15 until August 15 all human movement in WTE nest surroundings is prohibited by nature conservation laws (without special permission). Now we can verify obedience to this law, and all have the opportunity to be invisible environmental protection officers at this nest ...

 

... but we hope that all goes well and we will see the first flights of eaglets in July.

 

Use of the stream from the nest elsewhere is not prohibited but we ask to be informed of this (see contact information at the end of this page or send a message to urmas@kotkas.ee).

 

As always a great number of splendid and helpful people are connected to the enterprise. Operation of the system is supported by the Environmental Investments Centre, Keskkonnainvesteeringute Keskus, by way of the Estonian Ornithological Society’s project.

 

For more information about what is happening in the nest see the Looduskalender forum and white-tailed eagle camera news.

 

Participating in the enterprise: