Category: animal cams

DuckCam upgrade

June 19, 2023 • 1:12 pm

Amy, the duck nesting on a ledge at Regenstein library, now has an upgraded cam and a new website. It’s worth watching her, as all kinds of stuff can be seen.  For example:

a. Two days ago, someone saw a squirrel encounter the duck, supposedly trying to steal an egg (I don’t think it’s possible for a squirrel to run off with a duck egg). The duck pecked it, and the squirrel DIVED UNDERNEATH THE DUCK, so that the duck was plopped down on a belly-up squirrel. Apparently the squirrel ran off.

b. Someone saw at least five eggs in the nest. That means there are more buried in the leaves and feathers.

c. Yesterday someone watched her fly off for about 1.5 hours (they do this every few days for a drink and a bath). She probably went to a nearby pond or lake. But before leaving the nest, she carefully covered up all the eggs with her bill. This not only keeps them warm, but hides them from potential predators.  When she returned, she shuffled the leaf-father covering off the eggs, but using her feet.

If you click the picture below, you can go to the new duckcam. Say hi to Amy! Right now the sun is on the nest, so it’s not all that easy to see. At other times she’s clear as a bell. And you might get to see her cover or uncover her eggs. (She also turns them from time to time to ensure even incubation.)

Be sure to click the triangle to start the video (you can also scroll backwards).  There may be an annoying buzz that you’ll have to silence by muting the screen.

She’s always futzing with her nest, too.

More ducks: A new duck cam shows a nesting hen at our Regenstein Library

June 16, 2023 • 1:30 pm

I was informed yesterday, not to my huge delight, that a mallard hen is nesting across the street from my office—on a window ledge at Regenstein Library. This would not normally be a problem, for when her babies hatched and jumped down one floor, we could herd them to BotanyPond (we’ve done it before from this area). The problem, of course, is that there IS no Botany Pond this year, which leaves us with a dilemma. Let nature take its course and let the mother lead the babies to water? But the nearest water is well over a mile and a half away: large ponds and lakes to the east and west, and the family would have to cross big and busy streets.  Most of them would probably not make it.

The other solution is to get the ducklings as they drop, put them in a box, and take them to the rehab people. (This is what I did this morning.) While this assures complete survival of the brood, it requires breaking up the family, as it’s impossible to catch the mother duck and take the whole family to the water.  \

Well, you can see the duck, whom the library folks have named Amy, at this site (be sure to press the “play” triangle), or by clicking on the screenshot below. I’m told the camera and feed will be upgraded soon.

In the meantime, I have about a month to get anxious; she just started incubating, and it’ll be about 28 days to Hatch Time. I had hoped to have a duckling-free season while Botany Pond got renovated, but it doesn’t seem to be working out.

Note to U of C people: this ledge is in an office, so don’t try seeing her from inside the library. And please don’t disturb her from the outside. Thanks!

The bears are eating well today

August 10, 2022 • 1:15 pm

Here’s the live bear cam at Brooks Falls, Alaska. I have to tear myself away from watching it. We have a slew of bears (yes, I know that’s not the right name for a group) standing in a stream to gobble spawning salmon as they try to get over a waterfall. Fall and winter are coming, and the bears need to fatten up. (Fat Bear Contest coming.)

The cam is live, and the bears are dining like kings today! I just watched a salmon leap right into the gaping maw of one.

The Alaskan BearCam is back and the salmon are a’leaping

July 4, 2022 • 1:45 pm

The salmon are jumping up Brooks Falls in Alaska right now, and the soon-to-be fat brown bears  (Ursus arctos) are at the top and base of the falls, waiting to catch some live sushi. Click below to see the live action. I find it mesmerizing and often have it on in the background. And in a few months Fat Bear Week will begin!

From the site:

Brooks Falls is on solar power and will be live whenever we have enough sun. Brooks Falls in Alaska’s Katmai National Park is the best place in the world to watch brown bears feasting on salmon as they swim upstream to spawn. Find out the best time to watch live and learn more about Katmai and its brown bears on Explore.org @ https://goo.gl/fhMmQy.

If you go downstream a bit, you get to the “riffles” where the marginalized bears catch salmon. Below is the livestream from that area, too.

The “riffles” area of Brooks River in Alaska’s Katmai National Park is just 100 yards downstream from Brooks Falls–and it’s a favorite spot of mama bears, their cubs, and young sub-adult bears. Watch live and learn more about Katmai’s brown bears on Explore.org @ https://goo.gl/5XcsHu.

Finally, a 4.5-minute video of old bear friends returning to the area, and a “best of” compilation. Lefty, Grazer, 503, and the famous 480, “Otis” are back. I believe Otis once won the fat bear contest.  The competition for salmon is keen, but watch the livecams above: the falls are swarming with them.

h/t: Barry

Albatross fails to stick landing

March 10, 2021 • 2:30 pm

This about as awkward a landing as I’ve ever seen a bird make, and this albatross must have been really embarrassed in front of that chick! The Northern Royal Albatross (Diomedea sanfordi) is limited in range during the breeding season:

Northern royal albatrosses nest on the Chatham Islands (Forty-fours Island, Big Sister Island, and Little Sister Island), Enderby Island in the Auckland Islands, and at Taiaroa Head on the Otago Peninsula of New Zealand. The Taiaroa Head colony is the only albatross colony found on a human-inhabited mainland in the Southern hemisphere. When they are not breeding, northern royal albatrosses undertake circumpolar flights in the southern oceans, and in particular like the Humboldt Current and the Patagonian Shelf.

The video below is from Tairoa Head, and is from a collaborative Albatross Cam:

You can watch the 24 hour livecam here or here; it’s a partnership between New Zealand’s conservation department and the Cornell Bird Lab; the second link tells you about the collaboration.  Here are some of the YouTube notes:

Flying for the Northern Royal Albatross is mainly effortless, landing can be a little bit harder. #RoyalCam​ chick had a front row seat to a ‘how not to land’ lesson.

Landing is challenging because of the narrow wings of the albatross, which do not generate sufficient lift to fly slowly. Their preference is to take off and land when it’s quite windy, which allows better control at slow speeds while using the angle of the wing and the speed of the wind to control the descent. However, on calmer days, things can get tricky, as is seen here.

Lucky for the somersaulting alby, recovery was quick and only the chick was watching!! Albatrosses are sturdy birds accustomed to periodic mishaps on landing, and true to form, this adult walked away and appeared fine.

Royal Cam is a 24-hour live stream of a Northern Royal Albatross nest during the breeding season at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head on the southeast tip of New Zealand’s South Island.

Baby otter cam!

February 13, 2021 • 2:30 pm

Below is a livecam of Joey, a rescued baby sea otter, and his friends, disporting themselves at the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre in Vancouver (I’ve been there!). As I write this, it’s snowing, and the otters are having a fine old time. And no worries about the animals: they’re being rehabbed for release, and are getting the finest of care!

Joey is actually a teenager now, as he entered the Centre in July. You can watch an adorable video of his early days here.

h/t: Jean

The DuckCam and Botany Pond website are live!

April 28, 2020 • 8:30 am

There is now an official university website for the Botany Pond Camera, as well as new social media sites and a YouTube site. The website is called “On Botany Pond.” There’s also a Twitter site (@OnBotanyPond), where the University can post duck and pond pictures, and a Hashtag site, #OnBotanyPond, where you can share your own thoughts and photos.

First the official website (click on screenshot to visit). The cover photo was taken by a University photographer:

Note that there are five links, including “Meet Honey the Duck” (I’m not yet sure that the picture on that page is Honey, but rest assured we’ll get it right).

Clicking on the LiveCam takes you to a 24/7 view of most of the pond (not all of it is visible, but what you can see covers most of the action). Or you can watch the pond live on YouTube at the site below, which is part of the website. Right now you’ll be able to see Wingman and his buddy swimming around, as the hens are still on the nest.

Fortunately, when I fell into the pond this morning (a first, and that post will be up later), it wouldn’t have been visible as it would be just out of view at the lower right corner of the screen.  But you’ll probably see me on camera feeding and tending the ducks from time to time. Look for the old guy with shaggy hair tossing food to the waterfowl.

Note that the University’s first tweet on its site was a retweet of a lovely drake photo (Wingman?) by Arne Duncan (below) You’ll remember Duncan as the man who served as Obama’s Secretary of Education for seven years.

Go knock yourself out, and in a week there will be ducklings.