QUECHEE — This spring and summer, a family of bald eagles made their home at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science and people from around the country got to see their story play out online.
“I still can’t believe that they decided to nest here,” Alden Smith, executive director of the Quechee-based nonprofit organization said in a phone interview.
It was the first year of the Vermont Institute of Natural Science’s Eagle Cam, which officially went live in March. It starred bald eagle pair Windsor, a female, and Dewey, a male. Staff observed that the two had successfully raised an eaglet last summer and because eagles are known to return to the same nest year after year, staff set up a live stream this year to see what would happen.
“The margins are so tight for eagles,” Smith said. “Everything has to go just right.”
Windsor and Dewey’s eaglet, V-2, hatched on April 24 and left the nest July 26. The Eagle Cam went offline in late July due to technical issues, Smith said. Staff had initially planned on keeping it running through some time in September. Visitors can still observe the birds in person from the Forest Canopy Walk, using binoculars and scopes.
Alden took time last week to reflect on the first year of the Eagle Cam and the organization’s plans for next year.
How did this year go?
Smith described this year as “incredibly successful.”
When VINS staff started planning the Eagle Cam, they were told by organizations with more experience running bird-based live streams that it could take years to get off the ground and gain traction among the public.
“There’s so many factors outside of our control,” Smith explained. The health of the eagles. We were always one lightning strike away from all the technology being fried or one wind storm away from the nest being thrown off the tree.”
While there were some admittedly difficult moments (more on that later) when staff and viewers alike worried about the birds, Smith said the season played out better than VINS could ever have hoped for.
“All of the near misses and close calls and all the prey that was brought to the nest, all of those milestones V-2 successfully reached, learning to eat, self-feed, learning to perch, learning to fly,” he cited as some of the highlights.
Viewers were engaged as well, and the metrics show that.
This summer, page views were up to 5,000 some days. VINS also saw an increase in the number of people who donated: This April, May and June, 300 new people gave an average of $87, according to the nonprofit organization. Last year during that same time period, VINS had 19 new donors.
“The only thing that has substantially changed is the nest cam,” Smith said about the increase in donors. “I think mostly it was eagle-related.”
Were there any moments you were worried the Eagle Cam would go south?
VINS’ biggest concerns surrounded technology. Originally, VINS had two cameras set up: One that provided a wider view from a neighboring tree and another that was on the tree Windsor and Dewey built their nest on. The second camera died in the spring.
“We really were left with the one view,” Smith said.
The cameras were set up over the winter when Dewey and Windsor weren’t near their nest. Once they returned, staff could not adjust the cameras because doing so would more than likely disturb the birds. Smith — and VINS staff as a whole — has emphasized throughout the Eagle Cam is a “purely educational project” and that their job is to bear witness to the raptors, not interfere with their lives.
That doesn’t mean they weren’t concerned for their welfare: When V-2 was about 10 days old, Dewey brought a largemouth bass to the nest and dropped it on the eaglet’s head, causing a spot of blood. Smith worried about the weather, how a strong storm could knock the nest from the tree and send it careening 100 feet to the forest floor. In July when a tornado touched down nearby, the Eagle Cam went dark as VINS lost power. Smith went out during the storm to confirm V-2 was safe.
“There were weather moments like that,” Smith said.
He recalled another day when a branch higher up on the tree fell, narrowly missing Windsor who was sitting on the egg.
“I remember thinking just how close to the edge and the margins this all is,” Smith said. “It’s amazing that they survive at all, having witnessed them. It feels sort of like a miracle.”
He cautioned that success won’t always be the case.
“At some point, other young eagles are going to come into the territory and challenge Windsor and Dewey for this coveted space around Dewey’s Pond; the more and more eagles there are, the more those dramas are going to unfold,” Smith said. “In some ways we’re readying ourselves for the real life that happens around eagles.”
What’s something that surprised you about the Eagle Cam?
Over the months, Smith has heard from teachers who would watch the Eagle Cam with their students, a dentist office that kept the live stream running for patients, and a crew at Dartmouth Health that had it running in its break room. There were families living far apart that would tune in together and people caring for parents with memory disorders who found it comforting.
“I was surprised by the way the community came together around the eagles,” Smith said. “It was just wonderful to (hear) the stories of these pockets of people.”
When VINS started the Eagle Cam, it was seen as a way to learn more about raptors and help the public learn as well. People who care about raptors are more likely to take steps to protect them, as the thinking went.
“I think what impressed me was the extent to which it became a way for mental health for a number of viewers who really saw it as an important part of their day and a way of finding calm and peace,” Smith said.
What’s something that you learned from the Eagle Cam and watching the trio all these months?
While many viewers were (understandably) focused on V-2, Smith often found his attention turning to Windsor and Dewey.
“Where my heart got wrapped up in this was more with the adult eagles and how they were collaborating on the care,” Smith said.
He liked seeing how the duo shared parenting responsibilities and the dynamic that developed over time. “They always seemed to be filling in while the other wasn’t there,” Smith said.
Will the Eagle Cam be back next year? If so, what’s something you’d like to do differently?
The Eagle Cam will be back next year, Smith confirmed.
“It’s just agonizing to acknowledge that even next year even after all we learned this year there are going to be aspects of this well beyond our control,” he said.
Staff is currently working on plans to improve the technology and make it more resilient.
“We have to do it in the heart of the coldest part of the year where the eagles are less present,” Smith said. “Our job is to make those changes as subtle as possible so it’s still there for the wilderness nest and it doesn’t look like it built out with this infrastructure that we’re putting up there.”
They’re also considering what type of educational events they can plan around the eagles and other birds of prey. Mostly, though, Smith is just amazed that the Eagle Cam worked out and brought so many people together.
“While we just hope and hope for Windsor and Dewey to be healthy and come back and do this again, all of our time is limited, including theirs,” he said.
Visit eagles.vinsweb.org for more information about the Eagle Cam.
