Here’s my current favorite live-stream cam, of wild Bald Eagles.
https://vinsweb.org/exhibits-activities/wild-eagles/
This is at the bird rehab and nature center where I volunteer, the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS)
Last year they discovered a pair of wild Bald eagles nesting in the trees right on campus (a beautiful wooded campus, on the edge of a river) , and after the last breeding season ended they set up live cameras, in hopes the pair would return, which they did.
VINS does have bald eagles in captivity; they are birds that are unable to be released back into the wild, which is true of all their residents. These eagles were never captive.
How cool is it that they chose such an appropriate location? Even more cool, the nest is actually visible from the top of a “canopy walk” on the campus - so visitors can watch them with scopes and binoculars. They don’t seem to have been bothered by all the attention they received last year, since they returned this year, and have a single egg again.
Of course it’s not acceptable practice to take screenshots from cams like these, and make iNat observations, but VINS is interested in seeing screenshots of anything interesting the public sees (info. on the website)
These cameras are not being actively monitored by the staff - they are always much too busy.
To put my excitement for these birds in context, in my long-ago youth Bald Eagles were nearly exterminated in mainland U.S., so to this day I am thrilled to see them. (Also, they’re pretty darn majestic.)
You’ll have to excuse me if a do a bit less identifying than usual in the coming days… I might have my eyes on the eagles!
Mine is the fish doorbell.
In the heart of the city lies the beautiful Weerdsluis, a manually operated lock. When the lock gates are closed, fish are forced to wait, wasting valuable time and energy – making them easy prey for birds and predatory fish.
To help the fish, an underwater camera is installed at the lock. If fish appear on screen, you can press the doorbell! This alerts the lock keeper, who will open the lock when many fish are waiting.
You can “ring” the Fish Doorbell from early March to late May
People do so enthusiastically every year. In 2024, the Fish Doorbell attracted around 2.7 million viewers, from America to Brazil! The project has gained global recognition, helping people worldwide learn about fish migration and Utrecht’s underwater world.
edit to add: I am not sure if these fish are considered wild for iNat purposes.
Haha, I was expecting this to pop up in this post.
My personal favorite is the Cornell Panama fruit feeder cam. Not only does it attract cool birds, but you can occasionally see other tropical creatures that I don’t get to see up here in Ohio.
My wife and I (especially my wife) also watches a Bald Eagle Nest Cam - this one maintained by the Sutton Aviation Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The Center was instrumental in reintroducing Bald Eagles to Oklahoma. https://www.suttoncenter.org/nestcam/ In 1984, there were zero nesting pairs in Oklahoma. Today, it’s estimated there are 500 nesting pairs in the state. Like @danly I am always thrilled to see an eagle. When I was a young man, a Bald Eagle was a very rare sight. The wife and I drive around our area of Oklahoma a couple times a week, doing nothing but trying to spot eagles. We seldom come home with a blank slate.
It is a fun one, for sure.
My husband reminded me of another one we have enjoyed: this bat one.
In our old house we had fruit bats, two types large and small, come nightly to our fruit trees, but they only came to feed and did not stay so one day we went looking for more information about bats and found this, even though obviously they are not the same bats. But it satisfied our desire to see bats being still rather than swooping. I had forgotten about it.
I like the entire collection of livecams offered at https://explore.org/livecams The ones I look at varies by season and by time of day. There are Eagle cams, but you can also watch the Aurora in Winter, Grizzly Bears fishing for salmon in Summer and Fall (leading up to the popular “Fat Bear Week”), etc. My favorite livecam experience was when an elephant tore up a section of PVC pipe at Tembe Elephant Park in South Africa and discovered the delights of drinking out of a hose. I’m sure the park rangers considered that an act of vandalism–and they wouldn’t want to encourage “unnatural” behaviors in any case–but I watched for a couple hours and would have gladly contributed to installing an extra pipe to be their “elephant drinking fountain”.
The Cornell Lab has some pretty good ones! The Panama one is in my top 5, but my ultimate favorite is the Barred Owl cam. Really fun to see the owl’s bring mice for the fuzzy chicks.
I always have to stop watching the raptor ones, once the parents start bringing mice. I know, it’s “the circle of life,” but I like mice…
Project Rattlecam is one of my favorites. They set up in multiple locations with different species of rattlesnake. In the YouTube livestream, a specialist is often monitoring the chat to answer questions.
This made me laugh out of pure joy! How fun! Thanks for sharing.
I also watch the Ontario Cam in the winter.
I like the Naledi Dam webcam in South Africa’s Greater Krueger National Park because it has so many animals I would never otherwise see in their own habitat:
https://www.webcamtaxi.com/en/south-africa/limpopo/naledidam-wildlife-cam.html
