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Environment

Eagle Webcam Restored

Photo of the eagle trio provided by the Stewards of the Upper Mississippi River Refuge. Taken in March, 2016
Photo of the eagle trio provided by the Stewards of the Upper Mississippi River Refuge. Taken in March, 2016

Fans of a family of three eagles had been missing access to a webcam of their nest.

But, the Stewards of the Upper Mississippi River Refuge have restored the webcam, and now, fans can watch a different duo after Starr, and her two male companions left the nest.

In 2021, a derecho knocked the nest over, and a new camera was put up. But last fall the camera feed cut out again, and was only recently restored.

Ed Britton, Manager of the Savanna District says the nest livestream gives viewers a unique opportunity. Only a few eagle trios have been documented, and one was previously in Fulton, Illinois.

"Another pair of eagles apparently wanted their nest. And they attacked them, killed the female, to the best that we know. And the two dads stood up and protected those chicks and they ended up recruiting another female to the trio. So, some of those stories we never know about when you're on the ground.

Bonnie Thoren is the media manager for the Stewards. She hopes the livestream encourages people to give eagles their space.

"The whole concept originally was just for educational purposes. To allow people that glimpse, to hopefully satisfy their interest, so that they would leave nests in the wild alone."

Thoren expects the eagle eggs to hatch in the next week. She also encourages those interested in the eagles to leave them alone, and instead to watch the livestream, which can be found on the Stewards website.

Environment