Decorah Eagle Cam back on line

The Decorah Eagle Cam went live again Friday morning after being off line for several months when the parent eagles switched nests.

“Here we go again,” said Bob Anderson, director of the Raptor Resource Project, the nonprofit organization that developed the nest cam viewed on millions of computer screens each year.

More than 1,000 people had logged on within 20 minutes of the cam going live, he said.

“One of the eagles was in the nest, so viewers had something to look at right away,” Anderson said.

Anderson said it was not clear until this week which nest the parent eagles would use next year. “They have been there (at the new nest) every day, bringing sticks and lining the nest bowl with grass,” he said.

Anderson said it cost more than $17,000 to fit the new nest with cameras, microphones and cables. Horizontal boring to bury 700 feet of cable was the main expense, he said.

The new nest, about 400 feet from the old one at the Decorah Fish Hatchery, could not be wired until this year's three chicks had left the nest.

“After the chicks left, the parents spent a lot of time at the old nest, which enabled us to rig up the new one,” he said.

The Decorah Eagle Cam can be accessed at

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles