Eagle watchers will have to be content with just one bald eagle web camera site again next year.
A webcam trained on the historic bald eagle pair — the first pair to nest within the city of Pittsburgh in more than 150 years — attracted almost 3.5 million views for its inaugural webcast this year.
But the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania wants to provide the public with an even richer experience with another pair of eagles nesting in Harmar. That pair successfully reared one chick last year.
Audubon Society Executive Director Jim Bonner says his group has plans to install a 24-hour live web camera at the Harmar eagles nest along Route 28.
But they've run out of time to install it for next year's nesting season.
Some media outlets erroneously reported that there would be webcams on both nests next year.
However, Audubon on Thursday completed its purchase of about 2 1⁄2 acres surrounding the Harmar nest.
The society intends to conduct fundraisers in the future to offset the $35,000 needed to buy the land and pay for other expenses to install the web camera at the Harmar nest in time for the 2016 nesting season.
“The greater Pittsburgh community has truly embraced the bald eagles, and we hope that they will continue to support the eagles' growth and success in our area by donating to our funding campaign,” Bonner said.
In the meantime, Bonner said his group will install still cameras at the Harmar site to document the 2015 nesting.
Both pairs of eagles have been spotted in and near the Harmar and Hays nests recently by the “eaglerazzi,” a band of amateur photographers who lovingly follow the birds, documenting their movements.
Bonner said Audubon will reinstall web cameras at the Hays nest in early December.
This time, there will be two live cameras at that site, giving bird watchers different viewing angles.
There will be a greater push for an educational role for the webcam.
In fact, the Audubon Society is serving as an educational partner for the Hays webcam this year.
“We are thrilled to be working with Audubon,” said Bill Powers, CEO of PixController in Murrysville.
“They've put together some educational programming,” he said, “and they have the staffing and expertise that nobody had last year.”
While some classrooms watched the eagle webcam, Powers ultimately wants to get the webcam in schools throughout the greater Pittsburgh area.
Mary Ann Thomas is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-226-4691 or mthomas@tribweb.com.
