PROJECT 9 - 2005-2006-2007 – LAKE BARKLEY OSPREY CAM - LOCATION THREE

Although the 2004 mid-lake osprey nesting cam site (Project 4) was very exciting to plan, install and maintain, a more dependable power source and easier access location was greatly needed for our future osprey cam-nesting seasons.

Ospreys successfully nesting on KEEP’s new inland osprey nesting platform, donated to KEEP by a power company (Project 6), provides all the desirable elements for a good web cam site. The nest is easily reached by automobile for setting up, maintaining and placing the camera, has dependable power, DSL Internet service close-by and land owner support. With these considerations in mind, KEEP/Caldwell County Elementary School (CCES) relocated our osprey camera donated by Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology for the 2005-2006 nesting seasons. A CCES osprey project teacher, students and student parents played major roles in setting up the cam equipment at the new site.

The landowner provided use of a nice storage building for placement of a computer. The computer was necessary for digitizing our images and sending them to CLO for placement of our nesting images on CLO’s web site for school and public viewing. Donations to KEEP, Inc. made it possible to fund Internet service and electricity to power the computer and camera.

The local electric power source and DSL Internet provided much welcomed and needed reliable service at our new inland osprey cam site. Instead of possible electrocution from nesting attempts slightly above or on a near-by electrical transformer, the osprey pair raised their osprey chicks on camera with thousands of images viewed by schools and the public worldwide! If the platform had not been placed at this site, the ospreys would be attempting to nest on the dangerous power line location where the pair attempted to nest for two seasons before our new platform was installed. KEEP really appreciates the power company’s donation of the 45 ft. pole and the new osprey platform!
 

During 2006 the camera donated by CLO started developing poor quality images near the end of its third season of use. For the 2007 nesting season CLO donated a new camera that for the first time provided day and night images. Before the ospreys returned to nest, a great horned owl was recorded perched on the osprey nest. This caused concern for future young ospreys but so far, ospreys have not been lost to owls at this inland nest near woods. Thousands of good osprey images were sent to CLO for school study and public viewing from 2005-2007. CLO also donated a new lap top computer for use during 2007 with new and improved software and a better image digitizer.

The new equipment and program was the most reliable to date. Near the end of the viewing season a message was posted at the CLO interactive web site stating that we would soon be shutting the osprey camera down for the season. A lady from England e-mailed her request that we delay shutting down the KEEP/CCES cam site since the fledged ospreys were often returning to the nest. She messaged that she and others were enjoying watching the osprey family very much. KEEP posted that we would operate the camera an additional two weeks. Unfortunately, one of the young ospreys made a fatal mistake of landing on and touching two near-by electric lines during its first and last flight. 

Advantages of having a dependable power/DSL source and an osprey nest that can be reached by road instead of boat were proven at this new project location. KEEP hopes to upgrade the camera system at this site so that KEEP can control the camera from administrative computers on the Internet to increase the variety and quality of images. Additional donations and technical expertise will be needed to make these improvements possible for the 2008 cam osprey nesting season. Please consider supporting our efforts by joining KEEP as a volunteer or with a donation.